Thinkpads Forum

Hi, haven't been posting for a while.

Just want to let you know that my X61S had been overheating for about 6 months. I finally called Lenovo and it turned out the motherboard was bad. They replaced the motherboard and the computer has been running very cool even I keep it on for a few days.

If you are experiencing overheating problem, chances are that you have a bad motherboard. Please call for warranty service asap.

Sadly my x61s is out of warranty, I have been combating the overheating issue by using TPFanControl, at the max setting (7). Keeps the processor down to around ~50-61c.

I tried all of the following:

install TPfancontrol;
Cleaned the fans;
Downgraded the video driver (according to some experts);
Reinstalled the whole system numerous times;
Got a new AC adapter;
Changed new battery.

Nothing helped. The machine will run burning hot after only about 10 min and then stay like that. Whenever I play HD movie, it will sudden-die after about 30 min or less. I finally called for warranty service and they replaced the motherboard for me. The machine has been very cool even if I run HD movie or watch DVD for hours.

Your case might be different, but most likely, it is the motherboard. Do not waste your time.

bigtiger wrote:Hi, haven't been posting for a while.

Just want to let you know that my X61S had been overheating for about 6 months. I finally called Lenovo and it turned out the motherboard was bad. They replaced the motherboard and the computer has been running very cool even I keep it on for a few days.

If you are experiencing overheating problem, chances are that you have a bad motherboard. Please call for warranty service asap.

Was yours one of the first ones? The first Core 2 Duo chips sure ran hot. I had a X60s with C2D 1.5 GHZ and it would go to 94C before shutting down even after the heatsink was replaced.

Intel screwed up on some of the chips, and didn't fit within the power envelope.

IvanAndreevich wrote:Was yours one of the first ones? The first Core 2 Duo chips sure ran hot. I had a X60s with C2D 1.5 GHZ and it would go to 94C before shutting down even after the heatsink was replaced.

Intel screwed up on some of the chips, and didn't fit within the power envelope.

Mine is type 7666 1.6G. It was pretty hot but I do not recall it ever reached 94C at all though.

bigtiger wrote:Mine is type 7666 1.6G. It was pretty hot but I do not recall it ever reached 94C at all though.

I mean is it one of the first ones to be manufactured?

X61s would not exceed 90 degrees celsius if the fan is working properly.

lead_org wrote:X61s would not exceed 90 degrees celsius if the fan is working properly.

Wrong. Had an X60s Core 2 Duo 1.5 GHZ hit 94C and throttle or reboot even after a new fan was installed.

IvanAndreevich wrote: Wrong. Had an X60s Core 2 Duo 1.5 GHZ hit 94C and throttle or reboot even after a new fan was installed.

No, right. Thermal shutdown isn't normal operation. You may have had a new fan installed, but that's still not correct behavior -- there was still something wrong with the machine if it's reaching those temperatures.

ThinkRob wrote:No, right. Thermal shutdown isn't normal operation. You may have had a new fan installed, but that's still not correct behavior -- there was still something wrong with the machine if it's reaching those temperatures.

read what he said again and read what I said. You aren't even disagreeing with me.

In my case the problem was with the CPU which just sucked too much juice. In fact, if ran from a battery, the machine would even shut down when a heavy stress test was ran because the battery couldn't deliver that much juice. One of the first Core 2 Duos from 2006 on a very unrefined 65nm process. Supposed to be 17W for the CPU alone, power consumption was over 35W for the whole machine, so that's over 25W for the CPU.

IvanAndreevich wrote:Wrong. Had an X60s Core 2 Duo 1.5 GHZ hit 94C and throttle or reboot even after a new fan was installed.

So you are using a X60s with L7400 to prove that a X61s would exceed 90 degrees celsius when the fan is operating normally? nice extrapolation of result.

lead_org wrote:So you are using a X60s with L7400 to prove that a X61s would exceed 90 degrees celsius when the fan is operating normally? nice extrapolation of result.

First of all, the OP had the same experience as me with his X61s. Second, as far as I know, the cooling system is pretty much identical.

If they can stick a higher than normal TDP chip into an X60s, then the exact same thing will happen if a similar chip ends up in an X61s. Besides, it could be even worse if it was a juice guzzling L7700.

If you disagree with what happened to the OP (that's cpu being replaced for overheating) or me with an X60s, care to explain on what grounds?

Well i had one of these case happened to the other X61s i have at work, the repair center keep on saying that the motherboard was defective and quoted that there was liquid damage, thus refusing to fix the laptop and wanted couple of hundred dollars for a new motherboard.

When i got the machine back, i just replaced the heatsink/fan on the overheating X61s with a known working heatsink from my personal X61s, and the problem with the overheating went away, so instead of changing the motherboard, i just bought a second hand heatsink and that fixed the issue.

Personally i think the heatpipe on the heatsink was defective.

Also, i am interested in how you measured the power consumption on your X60s to be over 25 watts, what instruments did you use to measure that.