Thinkpads Forum

I just replaced the Intel 3945ABG card with the Atheros card 40Y7026.
Using Access Connections with the Intel card, I could see:
jk.............70%
linksys......33%
Bigelow.....16%
BGNet.......11%

After changing out the card to the Atheros card, I could see:
jk...............100%
BGNet.........22% to 82% (very strange)
linksys.........81%
Bigelow........67%
101.............45%
B19 Net.......15%

Since everything else was the same, this clearly shows that the Intel card is less likely to work in a weak signal environment than the Atheros card.

IMHO, you may need a couple of more test to make such strong assumption.

Although, it looks quite different...

I have an atheros based card in my X60.
The best card I've ever seen!

It has a very good sensitivity...

Too bad the price you pay seems to be increased heat.

trentblase wrote:Too bad the price you pay seems to be increased heat.

Actually, the palmrest seems cooler than when the Intel card was installed.

Atheros cards are cooler than intel...

pdudas wrote:Atheros cards are cooler than intel...

Just curious if you have empirical evidence.

What are your http://sourceforge.net/projects/tp4xfancontrol/ readings?

My temps (after 3 hour working on wireless lan):

cpu:35C
aps:42C
gpu:35C
bat:32C
bat:30C
bus:39C
pci: 32C

This is not an optimal, because it was measured in bed.
When the TP is sitting on the table, I think the temps are lower.

Wow!

That is very cool...Is this on AC or battery?

@pdudas

Now that's what I call a cool running machine.
My X60s is nowhere near that. On battery with WLAN on I have something like 46°C CPU and 48 APS. Turning off WLAN APS goes down to ~42°C (Atheros card).
Congrats to your cool edition Thinkpad!

atlacatl wrote:Wow!

That is very cool...Is this on AC or battery?

This is on battery, I'm in bed....

Mmm my X60 (1706-85G) with Intel card is nowhere near those temps. It is more like 45°C cpu.

I have X60s with an Intel card. this is mine when running on battery on the table in the air con. room.
CPU 45ฐC (0x78)
APS 42ฐC (0x79)
GPU 43ฐC (0x7b)
BAT 33ฐC (0x7c)
BAT 31ฐC (0x7e)
BUS 40ฐC (0xc0)
PCI 39ฐC (0xc1)

35°C for CPU and GPU on a X60s???
I don't believe that! I am sure no one here in this forum has that low temperatures!

Weather is freezing cold in Hungary right now!

redburgundy - Have you done any throughput comparison of your Intel and Atheros cards? I'm curious to know if you're seeing faster download speeds as a result of the higher reported signal strength.

hoya wrote:redburgundy - Have you done any throughput comparison of your Intel and Atheros cards? I'm curious to know if you're seeing faster download speeds as a result of the higher reported signal strength.

No. I don't have any way to compare the speed of the two cards. My download speed is limited by my Internet connection to a few Mb/s, and the WiFi speed is much greater than that, regardless of which card is installed.

Does the Atheros card require any services running in the background?

Intel's driver installs at least three services (EveEng.exe, Dot1XCfg.exe, S24EvMon.exe) that consume 21,928 K of memory on my system.

Im also interested in knowing if the Atheros card runs any extra serices in the background.

Also, can anyone else report whether the Atheros card really is cooler than the Intel card? This will be a major factor in what X60s model I decide to buy.

Thanks!

I'm just curious whether we can choose either Intel or Atheros card when we customize X60s on lenovo website.

With the new system, yes you can.

Although I've yet to see anyone give some good evidence that the Atheros is cooler than the Intel (which is very important to me) to convince me to go with Atheros.

Still waiting for a solid comment on Atheros vs Intel temperatures.

[quote="Antioch"]With the new system, yes you can.
Although I've yet to see anyone give some good evidence that the Atheros is cooler than the Intel (which is very important to me) to convince me to go with Atheros.
Still waiting for a solid comment on Atheros vs Intel temperatures.[/quote]

The only choices you can make right now when you customize are either the Intel 3945abg or the Thinkpad miniPCI Express 11 a/b/g. Is this Thinkpad card the one you are referring to as the Altheros? Also, the part number they now show for the Thinkpad card is 41A4070 which is different from the 40Y7026 mentioned in the first post on this thread. If this Thinkpad card is not the Altheros card, soes anyone have an opinion on which is better between the Intel and the Thinkpad cards. Thanks.

[quote="Antioch"]Im also interested in knowing if the Atheros card runs any extra serices in the background.
/quote]

I think the answer is no.
I installed it under Vista Beta2. it has only 3 file in the wlanath/w2k folder.
It seems simple device driver files (inf, sys....).
It works well on vista too.

So, would the consensus be that the Atheros card has better sensitivity at the cost of increased heat?

For me, I'd sooner have the range and sensitivity, with a little added heat.

In my opinion the atheros is cooler than intel.

well, could it maybe be that the heat is caused not just by the card but by some combination of card + whatelse i dont know...
that would explain the fact that it seems to be just 'bad luck' , with either atheros or intel...

Let me rephrase....heat, or no heat, do most feel the Atheros has better range or sensitivity, or the Intel?