T61p Fan Speeds?

[mixz1]

I have a T61p 6459 CTO running Win 7 Ultimate, 4 GB RAM, NVIDIA 540 GPU, running tpFanControl V.62. When gaming I usually select Smart Mode 1 and under heavy stress I'll occasionally get GPU temps in the mid to high 70s C with the fan turning at around 3200 RPM. Today I noticed that the fan sounded quite noisy and when I checked the tpFanControl panel, I found that the the GPU was indeed running in the low 70s but the fan was turning at 4200 RPM. I checked the tpFanControl panel and found that I has selected Smart Mode 2. I shut down the game and selected BIOS mode. The fan spun down to 2850 RPM as the GPU cooled down to its usual idle temp of 56 degrees C.

I should mention that this is a new motherboard replaced under warranty a couple of months ago after the GPU failed. My original motherboard's GPU idled at around 48 degrees C and when I called the repair depot I was assured that this was normal for the new motherboards. After several email exchanges with the manager of the facility in Monterrey, I got that info in writing with a specific statement guaranteeing the safety of the new GPU. I'll extend my warranty anyways, but that's not what I'm posting about.

My question is, what is the maximum RPM the cooling fan can run at. I was alarmed at the amount of noise it was making, and it was pushing a hell of a lot of air out of the case. Since the machine is quiet now, and GPU temperatures and fan RPM are as usual, I'm assuming nothing has been damaged, but I am curious if RPMs in excess of 4000 can be safely sustained by this fan. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[wap32]

Using the embedded controller predefined levels (0-7) the fan goes up to ~3700 rpm.
However, if I enable the "disengaged mode" it ramps up to ~4900rpm.
This is on my 14" T61, but I believe the fans are similar.

Disengaged mode is basically 100% duty cycle (constant voltage instead of pulse modulation), so the fan should still be running within spec.
You should have nothing to worry about with those high rpm's except for the fact that your thinkpad now sounds like a jet engine.

[mixz1]

Thank you wap32 and thank you for the link to thinkwiki. Great answer.