Thinkpad X60 going hot.

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raket · #1 Post by **raket** » Sat Dec 19, 2009 9:05 pm

I'm one of the few lucky [censored] with a Core 2 Duo 2.0ghz T7200 in my Thinkpad X60, however it gets overheated when running with speedstep turned on in bios and maximum cpu usage in both linux and windows. Linux just hangs at startup and windows goes .....and whines about IRQ changes with a BSOD every startup, however if i turn off speedstep in bios everything works fine at lower speeds. I just migrated from Windows to Linux Slackware 13.0 with full disk encryption, however running without speedstep enabled /proc/cpuinfo and 'this computer' still reports 2.0ghz however its way slower, might be a bug.

The unit is still under warranty would a mobo change fix it?
Or perhaps a Bios fix, u can see my model number in my comment line.

It's the maxed out X60 u can get (without WWAN however :/)

Will the guarantee cover such errors?

Perhaps thinkpad_acpi with disengaged fan will work but that's way to noisy.

#2 Post by **Harryc** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 9:12 am

What are the CPU and GPU temps when it gets 'overheated' ? Download and run tpfancontrol in BIOS mode.
http://www.staff.uni-marburg.de/~schmitzr/donate.html

dr_st · #3 Post by **dr_st** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 10:06 am

When you turn speedstep off, you are actually locking the CPU to its maximum speed of 2GHz, not lower.

Why do you think the problem has anything to do with overheating?

But it is strange that it locks up with speedstep enabled. Perhaps indeed there is some problem with the board/CPU.

#4 Post by **richk** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 4:02 pm

It is time to use the warranty, but they might want you to try to duplicate the problem under the original OS.

raket · #5 Post by **raket** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 11:04 am

Thanks for the replies, my machines have suffered more problems since i installed a ssd disk and a dockingstation (got it for free)

Gonna download the TPF thing you linked to and see..

Nowadays the machine just dies randomly. With Speedstep windows won't even start sometimes, but when it's enable machine runs way faster and get's WAY more hot!

edit: haha installed the program.

It says
State: Fan 7
Speed: 4032 RPM.
Mode: Manual 7.

1 cpu: 69C
2 aps: 52c
4gpu: 63c
5 no5: 42C.
7 bat: 39C
9bus 49C
10 PCI: 52C.

Speedstep turned off.
WMI processor info reports PowermanagementSupported = False.

Does this mean that the cpu is currently at 69c?

That would be very lame.

Edit2: Core temp seems to be 68C after 1 minute now, CPU stable at 2ghz.
Edit3: 100% cpu for 2 minutes, now 77c! let's see when it dies!
Edit4: i let the cpu go at 100% usage for 20 minutes, maximum temp was 88c, no hangup whatsoever, machine never turned off as it used to do before.

Seems that updating the wifi-driver to latest drivers (released 3/4/2011) fixed the problem with suddenly shutdowns. I have not experienced such

Going to try with speedstep enabled in bios and see if it crashes.

Both BIOS and Smart modes seems be enough to take care of cooling problems. Althought a temp of 88c is maybe not that good. When cpu is idle, it stays at 75c stable, but keeps getting cooler and cooler all the time.

will be back for speedstep test in about 30 minutes!

IvanAndreevich · #6 Post by **IvanAndreevich** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 1:51 pm

Which stress test did you run to reach 88C? It's a bit too hot. You should be topping out at <=80C.

raket · #7 Post by **raket** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 4:21 pm

I started Chrome and went to a xxx-site and opened 20 tabs of flash. I also opened holdem manager with a database of 450k hands and selected to view all of them.

Without Speedstep everything now seems to be fine because of the new wifidriver, as it does not overheat or shut down randomly as before.

Running with speedstep enabled, machine seems to work faster and it seems there is more power in the computer with it turned on. The new bios 2.18 (had 2.08 before) maxxed out the fan at 6k rpm at 85c, and it was stable there, and could even cold down the cpu to about 80c at 100% cpu usage. However i switched to "bios" mode and it went down to 4k rpm and temperature increased to 95c and machine just shutdown

Maximum with 2.08 was 4k rpm. .

Linux will be installed this weekend. Will give more updates then!

Brian10161 · #8 Post by **Brian10161** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 7:59 pm

If I were you, since the machine is out of warranty, I would be pulling the motherboard out and cleaning the heatsink and re-applying thermal paste. If your good with tools and can get the case open easily, you can do it in about an hour. I re-applied thermal paste on mine. I have the L2400 in my X60s so it runs cooler, but I max out at about 62'C after two or three hours of heavy usage.

IvanAndreevich · #9 Post by **IvanAndreevich** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 8:23 pm

raket wrote:I started Chrome and went to a xxx-site and opened 20 tabs of flash. I also opened holdem manager with a database of 450k hands and selected to view all of them.

Without Speedstep everything now seems to be fine because of the new wifidriver, as it does not overheat or shut down randomly as before.

Running with speedstep enabled, machine seems to work faster and it seems there is more power in the computer with it turned on. The new bios 2.18 (had 2.08 before) maxxed out the fan at 6k rpm at 85c, and it was stable there, and could even cold down the cpu to about 80c at 100% cpu usage. However i switched to "bios" mode and it went down to 4k rpm and temperature increased to 95c and machine just shutdown

Maximum with 2.08 was 4k rpm. .

Linux will be installed this weekend. Will give more updates then!

This is obviously not normal. If the fan is working properly (sounds normal and moves a lot of air) then the thermal paste is toast and needs to be replaced.

ThinkRob · #10 Post by **ThinkRob** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 9:24 pm

raket wrote: However i switched to "bios" mode and it went down to 4k rpm and temperature increased to 95c and machine just shutdown

You need to check your fan, heatsink, and/or thermal paste. This is not normal.

raket · #11 Post by **raket** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 12:20 pm

IvanAndreevich wrote:
This is obviously not normal. If the fan is working properly (sounds normal and moves a lot of air) then the thermal paste is toast and needs to be replaced.

I bought new screwdrivers and due to the fact i live in a suburb i went for a expensive Thermal paste named Artic MX-3.
You where right, see http://bayimg.com/PAejBAadK [warning: 2048x1536@1.7mb] thermal paste -> http://bayimg.com/bAEkCAadk

Now machine starts well with SpeedStep Technology enabled in BIOS and won't overheat at all.
CPU seems to be stable at 65c [with smartmode in TP fanctonroll, fact is that it's stable at this without fan on at all], (it's stable at 49c if i force level 7 fan speed in tpcontrol)

dr_st wrote:When you turn speedstep off, you are actually locking the CPU to its maximum speed of 2GHz, not lower.

Why do you think the problem has anything to do with overheating?

But it is strange that it locks up with speedstep enabled. Perhaps indeed there is some problem with the board/CPU.

This is NOT Correct, The CPU have Speedstep Technology and if it is disabled in bios it means that it won't be capable at running at full speed at all. However the bios will falsely Report 2ghz, Which i false. Running without Speedstep will force the cpu to run at lowest possible speed. It is Explicated in the BIOS menu and CPU-z reports 1ghz.

Harryc wrote:What are the CPU and GPU temps when it gets 'overheated' ? Download and run tpfancontrol in BIOS mode.
http://www.staff.uni-marburg.de/~schmitzr/donate.html

This program reports wrong CPU speed (2.0ghz when speedstep is disabled)*. FAN speed seems to be correct.
* = opening 20 tabs with flash with speedstep enabled wont push the cpu to 100% usage.

To moderator/admin: Thread can be closed, issue fixed!

Edit: hahaha, i've been using my x60 at 1ghz (falsely reported 2.0ghz) ever since the first post.. my machine is WAY faster now! ^^

Brian10161 · #12 Post by **Brian10161** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 1:01 pm

Don't quote me on this, but I think you have a bit too much on the chips. You don't want too much on it because it will limit thermal transfer. Just a thin film is all I find I need on the chips I have re-pasted.

raket · #13 Post by **raket** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 10:06 pm

You're maybe right, however i took some off after the picture. to bad there's no picture of that.

Undervolting rocks, see the video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sxm-gsEh-eQ

ThinkRob · #14 Post by **ThinkRob** » Mon Mar 28, 2011 9:53 am

Brian10161 wrote:Don't quote me on this, but I think you have a bit too much on the chips. You don't want too much on it because it will limit thermal transfer. Just a thin film is all I find I need on the chips I have re-pasted.

He's right. That's *way* too much!

You want literally the thinnest possible layer that you can make without creating any gaps or areas where the surface of the die is exposed. I find it's helpful to use a credit card or similar to help apply the paste. It takes some practice to get it just right.

Is 65C your *idle* temp? If so, I'd say that's still a little on the hot side...

raket · #15 Post by **raket** » Sat Apr 30, 2011 8:10 pm

Yeah, everything fixed.
ran that same test as the above and it now is 58c at max load.
maxload for 20 minutes and still 58c with 3500 rpm (forced)
1) re-applied thermal paste properly
2) screwed the screws extra tight.
3) used a vacuum cleaner to blow out the dust of the fan. It was really funny as the fan sounded as it did go really fast. :>

Everything works.

ThinkRob · #16 Post by **ThinkRob** » Sun May 01, 2011 1:51 am

raket wrote: used a vacuum cleaner to blow out the dust of the fan. It was really funny as the fan sounded as it did go really fast. :

!!

For future reference, you probably should avoid doing that. Blowing out the fan is fine, but you might want to use a toothpick or pen cap or something to make sure that you don't over-rev the fan.

Glad you got your temperature issues fixed though.

raket · #17 Post by **raket** » Fri May 06, 2011 5:03 am

Sorry - i had to.

Some of the alloy (probably NOT aluminum) on the heat-sink had melted/condensed - which means the CPU went over 660C. I'f im wrong and there's no alloy on the heat-sink and it's completely copper then it reached more then 1100c. Note that X60 maxes out at 60-70W without undervolting in 2x2ghz

This was an accident when turning of the cpu cooling completely without undervolt and turning of auto-shutdown with make -j 1000 in the kernel tree.

Nothing really happened - the battery got drained and the cpu-throttle kicked in and put the cpu in 1x1ghz it went down to 91c [without any cooling at all] before battery was completely dead. It seems that the T7200 or the thinkpad itself starts throttling the cpu when going down to 1x1ghz as it never goes over 91c in that mode regardless of how much load you put on it.

:p

Edit: can't be aluminum - must be something else

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