Thinkpads Forum

Hello everyone.

I've been watching this board for a few months since getting a T60p. Since then I've upgraded the CPU from a T2500 to a T7600 and I've tried the 1 penny thermal pad extra heatsink trick.

The CPU upgrade is excellent but the 1 penny trick has not worked as well as I liked.

I use thinkpad fan control to help control the GPU temp but it is really annoying me that I don't really need the FireGL but got this T60p because it had a 15" UXGA.

Is it worth me tracking down a T60 motherboard with a lower spec GPU (mine has the ATI FireGL V5200) and simply swapping all my other components over or do I persist and keep trying different GPU heat reduction techniques.

emconuk

Did you change from a Core Duo fan to a Core 2 Duo fan when you changed CPUs? I know this will mostly affect CPU temps, but it may affect GPU temps as well. How hot does the GPU run?

no I still use the same fan from core duo. The GPU can reach 75-80 degrees with no fan on at all.

If I use tpfancontrol and set it to level 1 then the whole system hovers around 60-65 degrees. Level 1 is not that bad but it is audible.

I have used Arctic Silver 5 and a British 1 penny piece as a thermal pad replacement on the GPU. I could tidy it up a little and perhaps get a piece of copper sheeting but I am not sure how much better it will ever be.

emconuk wrote:no I still use the same fan from core duo. The GPU can reach 75-80 degrees with no fan on at all.

If I use tpfancontrol and set it to level 1 then the whole system hovers around 60-65 degrees. Level 1 is not that bad but it is audible.

I have used Arctic Silver 5 and a British 1 penny piece as a thermal pad replacement on the GPU. I could tidy it up a little and perhaps get a piece of copper sheeting but I am not sure how much better it will ever be.

My jaw dropped open when I read this. Have you seriously placed a 1p coin onto your GPU? Could you please direct me to where you read about doing this?

At any rate it seems clear that tracking down the right fan for your CPU and installing it would be the most elegant solution at this point.

What % copper is the british penny? The american penny is very low % and would not operate as a good heat sink. If you really feel you need the extra padding, you should be able to find a square of 100% copper at a jewelry supply store (or ebay)

I already have what I think is the only heatsink/fan option for my t60p. I was thinking about using a t61 fan assembly in a T60.

I do not know the % of copper in a UK 1p but it seems to have done the trick. It's not ideal and I do want to consider using a proper sheet of copper.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_one_penny_coin
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/therm ... d_429.html

According to wikipedia, your coin is steel, which has about 1/10 the thermal conductivity of copper. It seems that all British coins are steel or nickel. Silver, aluminum, gold, and copper have higher conductivities (copper the best per cost). US "Wheat" Pennies have a high copper content.

cool (or not in this case

I've ordered some 1.6mm copper sheeting from ebay. I'll replace the coin with some of that. I will cut it so it sits over the RAM chips as well. Slap some Arctic Silver 5 on it and I'll report back.

Last night I ran my Thinkpad with no fans on and it topped out at 83 degrees which was not too bad. I ran a GPU thrashing tool as well.

I will report back when I've done some more experimenting.

cheers.

emconuk wrote:cool (or not in this case

I've ordered some 1.6mm copper sheeting from ebay. I'll replace the coin with some of that. I will cut it so it sits over the RAM chips as well. Slap some Arctic Silver 5 on it and I'll report back.

Last night I ran my Thinkpad with no fans on and it topped out at 83 degrees which was not too bad. I ran a GPU thrashing tool as well.

I will report back when I've done some more experimenting.

cheers.

Please tell me how you get your home brew heatsinks to stay firmly on the GPU?

Well at the moment while I am using the British penny the tension of the holding screws and the stickiness of the Artic Silver keep it in place.

When I use the copper plate (which it .5mm slimmer) I will cut it larger so to cover the VRAMs. I will still use Artic Silver.

To be honest when I recently took it apart again the Penny had to be prised off of the GPU so the Artic Silver is very sticky.

need to find someone with a Dremel now so I can cut the copper plate.

emconuk