Thinkpads Forum

Hi Y'all,

My X61S is great little computer, but still runs pretty warm, so I'm looking at the X220.

Am I correct in assuming that the any X220 will be much cooler than my X61S?

With a modest work load, does an I7 run as cool and quiet as an I5?

Thanks and good health, Weogo

an X220 on a low-power power plan runs remarkably cool and quiet.   the trick is in keeping the air intakes unobstructed if you aren't using it on a table.

the X61s/X61T runs hot in comparison.   i'm swapping my X61T for an X60T for that reason alone.

It's pretty rare that I hear the fan. I keep CPU parked at the lowest power setting even when on AC.

Hi Erik and ZaZ,

Thanks for the information!

I ended up getting an X200S and it is running noticeably cooler than the X61S.

Good health, Weogo

It's a red-level heat alarm in my country and my x220i (tablet) is running pretty quiet. The air intake blows pretty warm air, but that means that the cooling system is doing its job (picking up heat).

My X220t never really get's above what i would call "Warm".

The fan will come on if i watch an HD video, or fire up mine craft or something like that, but, i never gets "Hot". On the X220t at least, the warm spot is the back left corner. Be sure to keep the vents un-blocked and you should be fine.

I have owned a X61, X200, and now I am using a X220. X220 is in between X61 and X200, in terms of "cool and quiet".

However, forcing the CPU to run and the lowest speed on the X220 makes it very cool and quiet, and the X220 remains fast and responsive at such low CPU speed, and is definitely fast enough for browsing the web, something I cannot say about the X61 and X200. I guess the extra threads in the Core i5/i7 (they are both dual-core, quad-thread CPUs) are what keeping it responsive even at low CPU speed.

My experience was the opposite, when I got my X200, it was noisy. I replaced the heatsink and that solved the problem. My X220i has been a cool quiet performer. My X200 was fine for Office and Internet, but had to kicked up a notch for HD video where my X220i with no turbo boost has no problem playing 1080p video in low power mode.