Thinkpads Forum

No question, just a comment on my X61s and heat.

My X61s has always run hot. By hot I mean I could not keep it on my lap for more than a minute or so before I had to remove it. When I bought it three years ago, I saw in forums that it ran hot so I didn't think too much of it.

Sometimes I'd get thermal shutdowns, especially when doing anything that stressed the graphics chip. Not enough to fuss about.

Almost a year ago, the fan started grinding to a halt, so I had it replaced. (I have a three year on-site warranty). The new fan worked but it ran just as hot.

This year, it seems to have run warmer still. The shutdowns have been more frequent. As it is still under warranty, I gave Lenovo a call and raised the shutdowns as an issue. They said maybe it is 1) the fan, and 2) dust accumulation. I said I didn't think it was the fan, as the fan runs and I had it replaced a year ago. But, I didn't object when they scheduled a technician to come out.

He replaced the fan. He showed me how he was careful with the silicone paste on the CPU heat sink, and to make sure the heat sink on the graphics chip was making good contact. The machine was pretty clean inside.

Since then, it runs remarkably cooler. I'd guess about 10 degrees F. cooler to the touch. (I didn't set up the temp. monitoring.) I can keep in on my lap. The keyboard doesn't get toasty anymore and is just warm. The left side and front left corner actually feel cool. (That never happened before.) And, no more shutdowns. The right front (above the Wi-Fi, I think) is the warmest part on top.

So, I suggest taking extra care with the fit of fan assembly heat sinks when replacing it.

The technician said if this didn't help, replacing the motherboard would be the next step. But I think that won't be necessary.

It sounds like you got a decent tech there. Good luck with the machine.

SteveDC wrote:No question, just a comment on my X61s and heat.

My X61s has always run hot. By hot I mean I could not keep it on my lap for more than a minute or so before I had to remove it. When I bought it three years ago, I saw in forums that it ran hot so I didn't think too much of it.

Sometimes I'd get thermal shutdowns, especially when doing anything that stressed the graphics chip. Not enough to fuss about.

Almost a year ago, the fan started grinding to a halt, so I had it replaced. (I have a three year on-site warranty). The new fan worked but it ran just as hot.

This year, it seems to have run warmer still. The shutdowns have been more frequent. As it is still under warranty, I gave Lenovo a call and raised the shutdowns as an issue. They said maybe it is 1) the fan, and 2) dust accumulation. I said I didn't think it was the fan, as the fan runs and I had it replaced a year ago. But, I didn't object when they scheduled a technician to come out.

He replaced the fan. He showed me how he was careful with the silicone paste on the CPU heat sink, and to make sure the heat sink on the graphics chip was making good contact. The machine was pretty clean inside.

Since then, it runs remarkably cooler. I'd guess about 10 degrees F. cooler to the touch. (I didn't set up the temp. monitoring.) I can keep in on my lap. The keyboard doesn't get toasty anymore and is just warm. The left side and front left corner actually feel cool. (That never happened before.) And, no more shutdowns. The right front (above the Wi-Fi, I think) is the warmest part on top.

So, I suggest taking extra care with the fit of fan assembly heat sinks when replacing it.

The technician said if this didn't help, replacing the motherboard would be the next step. But I think that won't be necessary.

Nice. I wonder how one could get the same to be done NICELY on a T61 that does not have a Onsite but Depot Warranty.

I had the same increasing temperature problem. I sent it in once and they replaced the fan; I noticed a little difference. When I sent it in to have the motherboard replaced (for other reasons) it came back consistently running 10-15 degrees C cooler. It used to idle at ~55-60C and, under load, regularly go as high as 90C; now it idles 45-50 and never goes higher than 75.

And you can drop the temperature by another 10C if you use a good thermal paste rather than the stock crap they put there. Something OCZ, for example.

I haven't done it with the "X" series, but I've done with the "T" series. The result is always the same: 10-15C temperature drop.

As soon as my warranty runs out, that's what I've got planned. I know the depot techs probably stick with whatever sticky garbage they ship from the factory, but on my desktop systems it has always been better to use even a cheap thermal paste.

j-dawg wrote:As soon as my warranty runs out, that's what I've got planned. I know the depot techs probably stick with whatever sticky garbage they ship from the factory, but on my desktop systems it has always been better to use even a cheap thermal paste.

They use thermal paste, but probably too much, and not the best type.

After using it a few more days, I believe I am getting more airflow out the fan exhaust. This is just by feel. I can't hear it. I'm running no fan monitoring routines.

So, I wonder if the new fan assembly is somehow handling the air better, and that is also contributing to the better cooling.

SteveDC wrote:After using it a few more days, I believe I am getting more airflow out the fan exhaust. This is just by feel. I can't hear it. I'm running no fan monitoring routines.

So, I wonder if the new fan assembly is somehow handling the air better, and that is also contributing to the better cooling.

I've never seen different fan assemblies for an X61s, I think there is only one.

Oh, and I had a motherboard replaced once on an X60s with a Core 2 Duo 1.5 GHZ CPU on it due to overheating. The [censored] thing got to over 90C easily. Bad CPU - one of the first batches. It didn't meet its thermal targets - it pulled way more juice than allowed by its thermal specs. New mobo was 15-20C lower temps.

Regarding paste used by the depot (mentioned above) it seems like good quality, but they often use too much

I'd just assumed they used those crappy little thermal pads that come with most heatsinks. The one you have to scrape away before installing the paste.

j-dawg wrote:I'd just assumed they used those crappy little thermal pads that come with most heatsinks. The one you have to scrape away before installing the paste.

No, it's actual thermal paste. But they do put too much of it, and I don't think it's that great in the first place.

richk wrote:Regarding paste used by the depot (mentioned above) it seems like good quality, but they often use too much

Why do you think so - did you actually test it somehow? I've never seen a good stock thermal interface. It's designed for cheapness and ease of application, in my opinion.

I'm pretty glad about the news posted in the OP, when my new bezel arrives I will also replace the thermal paste with some good Artic Silver 5. I just hope that my X60 has not too much thermal paste applied before. I remember seeing desktops where too much paste was applied and all the area around the processor was a mess.

When I was assembling my current desktop about 3 years ago I was appling a thin line of paste across the processor's die. This was the Intel recommendation at that time for my quad model and was also confirmed by some other forums. I guess it will be the same method for the Core Duo of the X60, will be?

Tasurinchi wrote:I'm pretty glad about the news posted in the OP, when my new bezel arrives I will also replace the thermal paste with some good Artic Silver 5. I just hope that my X60 has not too much thermal paste applied before. I remember seeing desktops where too much paste was applied and all the area around the processor was a mess.

When I was assembling my current desktop about 3 years ago I was appling a thin line of paste across the processor's die. This was the Intel recommendation at that time for my quad model and was also confirmed by some other forums. I guess it will be the same method for the Core Duo of the X60, will be?

Not exactly. Your Core 2 Quad has a heat spreader, while your mobile Core Duo will have a naked die. It's much easier to apply paste to a naked die - it's much smaller.

Oh! The old models without heat spreader. I should have known before, I have lying below my Monitor an old Athlon XP CPU with a naked die as well... How fast time pass by

Then I probably have to use the "dot" method... or spread the paste all over the die?

Tasurinchi wrote:Oh! The old models without heat spreader. I should have known before, I have lying below my Monitor an old Athlon XP CPU with a naked die as well... How fast time pass by

Then I probably have to use the "dot" method... or spread the paste all over the die?

Lots of arguments about that. It doesn't really matter - as long as you end up with a thin, uniform, layer of thermal paste on the die.

IvanAndreevich wrote: It doesn't really matter - as long as you end up with a thin, uniform, layer of thermal paste on the die.

IvanAndreevich wrote:as long as you end up with a thin, uniform, layer of thermal paste on the die

Thanks Ivan! That used to be the only method known to me. Was surprised when I start reading threads about spreading lines, dots (single ones or several dots applied in different places) or even X shaped forms on the heat spreader.

I remember a video in YouTube where they were trying these different approaches and were showing as result how the paste was spread. Interesting stuff...

IvanAndreevich wrote:as long as you end up with a thin, uniform, layer of thermal paste on the die

Tasurinchi wrote:Thanks Ivan! That used to be the only method known to me. Was surprised when I start reading threads about spreading lines, dots (single ones or several dots applied in different places) or even X shaped forms on the heat spreader.

I remember a video in YouTube where they were trying these different approaches and were showing as result how the paste was spread. Interesting stuff...

So whats the conclusive best heat dissemination pattern for this?

crashnburn wrote:So whats the conclusive best heat dissemination pattern for this?

Find the answers here and here

I personally use the line method on my Q6600 with excellent results (nearly full coverage from my H50 block).
I also used the line method on my SU9400 in my X301. MX-2 dropped my idle temps from 50*C (stock fan profile), to 46*C, and from 70*C load to 63*C load (p95). Both very notable reductions in temp, all were using the stock fan profile.

I prefer MX-2 over everything else (AS5, MX-3, etc) because in reviews it it performs better than AS5, with almost no cure time. Also it a supposed 8 year life

Investinwaffles wrote:Also it a supposed 8 year life

What do you mean 8 year life? After that period the paste is not good anymore?

Tasurinchi wrote:What do you mean 8 year life? After that period the paste is not good anymore?

All thermal paste drys out over time. I was getting some nasty temps from my dad's old 8600GS, I had applied AS5 to it 4+ years ago to reduce temps and it was very dry and cake like when I removed it. It was idling at 68*C and loading at 110+*C. Re-applied MX-2 and temps dropped back to 50*C idle and 85*C load.

Its just the nature of thermal paste's. 8 years is a lot of life from MX-2! I doubt ill ever even be able to test that because of how frequently I mod my stuff

Investinwaffles wrote:All thermal paste drys out over time

That is paste applyied to the processor, I thought the paste in the tube itself would dry with time. (It probably will as well, but 8 years lifetime in the tube is not bad either).

I think I will buy new thermal paste anyhow, the couple of Artic Silver 5s I have are at least 4 years old I think and they are cheap anyway...

I reapplied thermal paste on my X61s yesterday. Removing the heatsink is much easier than the manual would suggest. You can leave in most of the items that the manual tells you to remove. There is no need to remove the LCD screen, the wireless cards (those mini PCIe screws are attached very, very tightly and there is a good chance you might ruin them), the modem, the speaker (just unplug the cable), the DC power / modem jack, etc. You just need to take out the screws that secure the motherboard, which you can identify by feel once you have removed the keyboard and the upper casing.

The GPU uses a thermal pad, but it is not very thick (less than 1 mm). I threw it away and used thermal paste instead. I tried bending the heatsink lower a bit to compensate, but I am not sure if I am getting good contact or how to check.

CPU thermal paste was crusty and seemed like way too much.

My X61s now boots up at around 45 C. I think it used to idle around 50-ish so it appears there is some improvement. However under load, CPU and GPU still get up to 80 degrees or higher. I use the X61s as an HTPC and output 1080p to my TV (not just videos but also SNES games with hqx filters), so I probably load the X61s much more than most.

Thanks, claimui, now I have to try as well!