X61 possibly overheating! How to correctly measure it?

[doodles113]

Hi,
After a long time out, i'm back to the forum writing from my newly acquired X61.And i'm loving it!
But a little problem is happening...
In a comparison between X61 and my previous T42 (my mom's machine from now on) X61 seems to be a little bit hotter.
Here in Brazil we are at the height of summer (currently 77.8°F) and sometimes is unconfortable
to type in the keyboard due to heat coming from inside the machine.
How to measure the temperature of X61 to determine if i need to check inside for cooling problems or if is in the normal condition of work?

Any hints?

Many thanks,

[dr_st]

The palmrest heat is due to wifi card. It plagues X6x machines.

Playing with the power management settings may help, but the long-term solution is:

* Flash Middleton BIOS to remove whitelists
* Upgrade Wifi to a newer Wifi-N card which will be smaller and heat far less

[dmdsoftware]

I Windows 7 or 8, make sure you select Maximum Power Savings for both battery and AC for wireless card in the power management.

[RealBlackStuff]

...Here in Brazil we are at the height of summer (currently 77.8°F)....

In our summer last year (2012) we had temperatures in NE Pennsylvania of well over 100°F...

[doodles113]

Modifying the power-related options will decrease the performance of my X61?

Ahn...Middleton Bios? Whitelists? I'm not sure if i heard about them before...what is the steps to apply it? What is Whitelists?

Thanks in advance for your hints and comments!

[dr_st]

Modifying the power-related options will decrease the performance of my X61?

It may affect the range of the wireless radio a bit. It may also not make a significant enough difference.

Ahn...Middleton Bios? Whitelists? I'm not sure if i heard about them before...what is the steps to apply it? What is Whitelists?

In a nutshell: X61, like most Thinkpads, will not accept any wireless card - only those tested and pre-approved for the model, i.e., "whitelisted".

The best solution involves replacing the existing Wifi with a newer, faster and cooler card. I think Intel 5300 is considered a favorable option. However, if you just plug it in - the BIOS will reject it since it's not in the list of approved cards.

A special BIOS by Middleton for the *61 series removes these whitelists (along with a few other improvements) which will allow you to install that card.

I must say I have never done the process myself. But poke around the forums and you should find detailed instructions. Good luck.

[RealBlackStuff]

You can download it here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo/ ... ost6501443
You need the first one on that page, click on the 2.22-1.03 under modified BIOS file.