Thinkpads Forum

Is there a way to make T60 (1,8 GHZ) completely silent? I need a silent notebook for web browsing and text editing.

I would install a SSD.

Rmclock would undervolt its processor while TPFancontrol would only start at for example xxx degrees as an overheat security backup solution.

I would also clock down GPU as much as I can with ATI tools. I am planning running Vista without Aero.

Is that possible? Do you know which highest temperatures CPU / GPU are around happy with?

This would be much more feasible, it would seem, with XP ---> as XP has much less background stuff running in the first place, and you can reduce things like services under XP to less than 10 running using the information supplied by my old pal Charlie Sparks at blackviper.com.

Vista has around 135 windows services running in the stock configuration. It is hard to get a CPU to run fan-free safely with all this junk running!

The undervolting will be a must, and probably a good idea to lap the heatpipe assembly CPU contact area as well as regrease CPU with a thin coat of arctic silver 5.

you will also need to be vigilant with hijack this in order to minimize CPU cycle leeching programs that are starting up with your machine, (primarily the ones indentified as O4 in hijack this)

hijack this is available here

I don't know about T60, but bare with me - The other day I bought my girlfriend an R60 (9457-w47). It has a Core Solo T1300, 3gigs of ram and 120gb Toshiba 5400 (instead of the original 60gb Toshiba 5400) and also a 14" SXGA+ screen with integrated Intel graphics...
First of all, this laptop is amazingly battery efficient. The same battery that lasts about 2 hours on my T60 (see my sig), here lasts about 3.5 hours. I think that the fan NEVER goes on - that's how much it's quiet. The only thing I can hear is the hard drive (very dull wind noise) - other than that, I can't hear a thing. The spots where my laptop is extremely hot - underside where GPU and CPU are - this one is cold as ice. A lovely machine if you ask me...
Now, for your problem - the main problem is the GPU, I would undervolt it as much as I can, and I would probably do the mod on the fan - bend the GPU part of the fan so you could phase out the thermal pad (copper touching the entire surface of the GPU) - much better cooling. Second, I would put the CPU speed on low or even lowest in Power Manager, and finally - SSD (fast and quiet). I would also try the TPFanControl and monitor temperatures so I could lower the fan accordingly.
Overall, I think that this would be quiet as hell.

May I ask, how do you undervolt a gpu?

Very much thanks to your replies. I really want to use vista without aero. For me it is an absolutely no-problem os-system which has most stuff already build-in. It looks like xp but has some more years of technology inside.

I did not buy a thinkpad yet. I make that completely dependant of which model can be the most silent. And has a good screen, too. Weight is also important. Therefore the R-Series are not that good, but their technology is. That's where a T60 with Flexview came into consideration. I was also thinking about buying a T42 with FlexView. The big hassle with cooling a T60 seems to be its GPU. As I do not need any GPU power (I need the power of a build-in gpu from 5 years ago) I wonder how much I can undervolt it and if it is then really much cooler.

As much as I heard, a X301 can be completely silent with TPFanControl, but its display seems to be not the best of Thinkpads last years.

Marin85 wrote:May I ask, how do you undervolt a gpu?

For NVIDIA GPU's there is a tool that can (supposedly!) do this; see NVIDIA BIOS Editor (NiBiTor) (may perhaps only work on desktop GPU's?). Unfortunately, I don't know of any similar tools for ATI GPU's. In any case, these tools are probably only for quite serious users... I would by far recommend using e.g. Notebook Hardware Control or RMClock.

To the OP: What specific T60 do you have? If having an X1400 GPU it may be less easy to silent compared to the X1300 - links in the thread Advice please - $700-$800 TP for college student.

Johan

Johan wrote:To the OP: What specific T60 do you have?

Currently I do not have any T60. I am considering buying either a T42 (which you favor) or any other thinkpad which I can have to be completely silent. I already read your very helpful post about T42 and also read about that x1300 seems to be the cooler gpu. I am yet undecided what to choose, or if a cool x301 would be great, too.

I will move this notebook often but when I am working, I'd like to have a nice display. Nicest flexview displays come only with 15'' T-Series, where most ultraportable x301 does not have greatest display at all.

Even with Aero turned off, Vista is still far more resource intensive than XP. Therefore I would forget the T4x series and it's older CPU & chipset generation. If you insist on Vista, get a T6x series, and make sure it has 3 GB of RAM at a minimum

The T60 & T60p can be easily upgraded to a 4MB cache Core 2 Due processor, either the T7200, T7400, or T7600 CPU's which would allow you to run Vista more effectively, especially in the 64-bit version which would then be possible.

The thermal pad removal and restructuring of the heat pipe to eliminate this gap or else some type of copper spacer will be necessary to get the GPU temps down, or else you could just find a T60 with the integrated graphics, rather than the ATI GPU's.

Currently I use a desktop computer with just below 4 points of Vistas CPU Performance Index, 1 GB RAM and SSD (more than 5 points in Vistas HDD Index ), its lightning fast. A T42 2 2GHZ CPU has around same Vista CPU Index. I also love to use vista on my old x40 with 1,5 GB RAM, though without any ssd its that slow. x300 you can buy with vista included and it has only 1,2 GHZ! It's very fast because its ssd.

wild_bill wrote:The thermal pad removal and restructuring of the heat pipe to eliminate this gap or else some type of copper spacer will be necessary to get the GPU temps down, or else you could just find a T60 with the integrated graphics, rather than the ATI GPU's.

I need to connect my Thinkpad with DVI, so I'd choose a T60 with X1300 GPU.

Wouldn't it be much cheaper and less hassle to just use earplugs, if fan/HD noise is such a concern?

basketb wrote:Wouldn't it be much cheaper and less hassle to just use earplugs, if fan/HD noise is such a concern?

Never thought of that But I am serious about it. My x40 is completely silent with TP Fan Control and CF CARD "SSD". My desktop is completely silent, too.

Just am searching for a real desktop replacement that connects to my monitor with DVI. As USB DVI solutions are not that good - they work fine until you want to display full screen youtube videos - I need an official way to support DVI - either by using a docking station with build-in DVI or by using build-in Displayport in which I put a Displayport to DVI adapter. Displayport adapters are only available in x301 and T500. DVI ports are not available on any Thinkpads, they are only available by docking solutions and only work when Thinkpad has discrete graphics. Even a x3x thinkpad can be digitally connected to an external monitor by using a dock ii which has a discrete dvi graphic card in it. Digitally connecting a x40/x60 to my monitor is only possible by using a usb dvi solution I do not want. Therefore I am looking for another thinkpad and T60 came into my mind. Question is, is it possible to make it completely silent.

jimmy274 wrote:this would be quiet as hell.

May I ask, how do you know how noisy hell is?

hausman wrote:May I ask, how do you know how noisy hell is?

(I know it´s not polite to answer instead of other people, but I will nevertheless take the shot...) He just returned from there

@Johan: Thanks for the clarification! I didn´t really know that it is possible to undervolt a gpu. I guess it´s not a usual technique either...

ssd_thinkpad wrote:DVI ports are not available on any Thinkpads, they are only available by docking solutions and only work when Thinkpad has discrete graphics.

That's not entirely true. According to tabook all T60 with integrated Intel graphics provide a pass-through on a dock. There are people here using such setups with no problems. I would try this too (I have a T60 with Intel gfx) if only these mini docks weren't so expensive.