Thinkpads Forum

I have recently installed the tpfancontrol program in order to illiminate the problem of the cpu fan switching on/off every minute. However I get a warning from the program (se below) and I am hesitant to proceed further ( the .ini files reads "active=0", at the moment).
Has anyone else encountered this problem?
I don't think I have any program running that monitor the cpu or other hardware, but maybe I have overlooked something.

Using tpfancontrol I can see that the fan swithces on (3000 rpm) when the cpu reaches 47C and shuts off at 44C. It is rather loud when it is on.

The problem is oddly enough, only when the x60 is on ac power.

tpfancontrol log:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[16-02-2007 11:13:37] Current Config:
[16-02-2007 11:13:37] Active= 0, Cycle= 5, FanBeep= 1200 30, MaxReadErrors= 10
[16-02-2007 11:13:37] IconLevels= 50 55 60, IgnoreSensors= XXX,YYY,ZZZ
[16-02-2007 11:13:37] Levels= 47°C -> 0, 50°C -> 3, 55°C -> 4, 60°C -> 7, 70°C -> 0x80

[16-02-2007 11:14:47] Warning: Can't read Status (possible conflict with other software)
[16-02-2007 11:23:00] Current Config:
[16-02-2007 11:23:00] Active= 0, Cycle= 5, FanBeep= 1200 30, MaxReadErrors= 10
[16-02-2007 11:23:00] IconLevels= 50 55 60, IgnoreSensors= XXX,YYY,ZZZ
[16-02-2007 11:23:00] Levels= 47°C -> 0, 50°C -> 3, 55°C -> 4, 60°C -> 7, 70°C -> 0x80

[16-02-2007 11:28:29] Warning: Can't read Status (possible conflict with other software)
[16-02-2007 11:33:14] Warning: Can't read Status (possible conflict with other software)
[16-02-2007 12:25:28] Current Config:
[16-02-2007 12:25:28] Active= 0, Cycle= 5, FanBeep= 1200 30, MaxReadErrors= 10
[16-02-2007 12:25:28] IconLevels= 50 55 60, IgnoreSensors= XXX,YYY,ZZZ
[16-02-2007 12:25:28] Levels= 47°C -> 0, 50°C -> 3, 55°C -> 4, 60°C -> 7, 70°C -> 0x80
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Are you running any other power control programs (like NHC or rmclock)? That can sometimes cause that message.

I would not worry too much about activating the program in the settings file. I've seen that message appear infrequently and it never caused any problems.

take it easy man,
should be no problem with it...
i think your CPU fan might be turning ON & OFF very often with these Temp. settings 47degC and 53degC

take it easy man,
should be no problem with it...
i think your CPU fan might be turning ON & OFF very often with these Temp. settings 47degC and 50degC

So, overcomming my fears of creating a $2000 thinkpad toaster, I tried the tpfancontrol program on the x60. And it works! However. not as well as I'd hoped.
The initial 7 fanspeeds are actually just three as 1-2, 3-4-5, and 6-7 are degenerate. The slowest speed available is around 3000 rpm and this too loud for my liking (I am rather sensitive to the fan noise:-(). Has anyone tried to lower the fan speed below 3000 rpm? If so, how?
What are the max. acceptable temperatures for the cpu and the gpu?

well, here are my experience with my X60s,
Without Ultrabase, the lowest Spinning speed is ~3000rpm as indicated in the TPfancontrol,
with Ultrabase, it would automatically adjusted to ~3600rpm with the Same speed Level.

easiest solution is to undervolt the processor I think.

benottomex wrote:easiest solution is to undervolt the processor I think.

I don't think you can "undervolt" the L-series processor. It's default setting in the lowest processor speed is .9500V and there is no way to go below that level. You can keep the processor at the lower speed or change the voltage tables for higher speeds.

On the X60 with the T-series processors, this may be a different situation; I don't own one so I can't comment on that possibility.

Has anyone got an idea of why the temperaure rises when I put it on ac power? (I use thinkvantage software to create the same parameters for both battery and ac power). My guess is that the thinkvantage sofware does not override the bios settings completely.

When the fan does turn on (3000 rpm), how loud should it be? Is there db limit on how loud the fan should be, before you can complain?

When the fan does turn on (3000 rpm), how loud should it be? Is there db limit on how loud the fan should be, before you can complain?

as for me this fan noise is bearable,
in fact it is hardly been heard unless you are using it in a entirely silent room.