Is it time to replace my X201 motherboard?

[lparsons]

I picked up a used X201 (laptop, not tablet) from ebay back in September 2013. It was "professionally refurbished", in as much as a laptop that ships with a larger-than-listed HD can qualify as such . Overall it's been a good system, but not without problems. I already replaced the fan once (with what was sold as a brand new OEM fan), after it was having a lot of problems overheating. This helped, for a while.

Now, it is overheating again. Every once in a while a process (usually a web page with flash) will go bezerk and overheat. The system successfully shuts down when it happens but gives insufficient warning to close open processes.

Perhaps more frustrating though is the problems I'm having with the wireless card. The wireless card (Intel Centrino) occasionally just goes away. I mostly run Linux but this happens in Windows as well. The WiFi works when I boot but at some random point after running for a while it just goes away, as if it was never there. Looking for interfaces with ifconfig (linux) or ipconfig (windows) shows the loopback and wired interfaces but the wireless is just simply gone; as if it were a USB device that was unplugged. I have replaced the card itself, and that helped for a little while.

I'm thinking the motherboard might be going on me now, with the heat and wireless problems. Is there anything else worth looking in to? I upgraded it to 8GB RAM a while back in the hopes of reducing HD access (although I wouldn't expect that the SSD would generate much heat anyways). The new RAM is made by Crucial and has tested out fine. It appears that ebay might be my only source for a replacement motherboard, what should I look for?

I don't have a lot of money to sink in to this right now. I also have the docking station for it at work which I'm quite fond of, so going to a different laptop isn't much of an option right now.

[lparsons]

It might be worth mentioning this is a 36801N3; core i5 2.53ghz. Certainly I wouldn't want to downgrade to a motherboard with a slower CPU; if I purchased one with a faster CPU would it be a drop-in upgrade?

I presume the CPUs on these are not intended to be removed from the motherboards. I know there have been earlier laptops from IBM where it was possible to remove the CPU but that doesn't seem to be the case with laptops any more as far as I can tell.

The other option that seems like it might be worth exploring - if I can get one for the right price - would be to pick up another used X201, and just move my HD over, then use my existing one for parts later on. This would also be dependent on finding one with a comparable (or better) CPU.

[ajkula66]

You may want to look into ThrottleStop and try to undervolt that CPU. That would be my first step.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads ... de.531329/

This, unfortunately, works in Windows only.

I'd also consider moving onto an Atheros-chipped card especially if you're primarily running Linux.

Good luck.

[axur-delmeria]

How long has it been since you replaced the fan?

Have you checked the condition of the heatsink? Have you monitored the CPU temperature?

If it's idling at a high temp, you should check the thermal paste.

[lparsons]

How long has it been since you replaced the fan?

I replaced it about a year ago (in fact, a little less http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=113979)

Have you checked the condition of the heatsink? Have you monitored the CPU temperature?

Linux automatically monitors the CPU temp for me, and shuts the system down if temp is too high for too long. The problem, IMHO, is that temp goes up too quickly. I would almost prefer a utility that would kill rogue processes when the temp gets too high than one that just shuts the system down.

If it's idling at a high temp, you should check the thermal paste.

The majority of the time it idles fine. It is mostly web browsing that causes the temp to spiral up. Checking the thermal paste might not be a bad idea, though. I'll look for a method for changing it; is arctic silver still the preferred way to go?

[axur-delmeria]

If the thermal paste has never been changed since the laptop was manufactured, then you should change it immediately.

By now it's already dried up, resulting in poor thermal conductivity.

[jdrou]

The problem, IMHO, is that temp goes up too quickly. I would almost prefer a utility that would kill rogue processes when the temp gets too high than one that just shuts the system down.

If the cooling system is working properly it should never get hot enough to shutdown regardless of how heavy the load is.
Potential problems:
ambient temperature is very high
fan is running too slow or not at all
heatsink or other part of airflow is clogged with dust
heat is not being transferred from CPU to heatsink properly (usually thermal paste problem)

[lparsons]

I finally bit the bullet and replaced the thermal grease and thermal pad on my X201. So far, so good. I bought a compound called "Z3" (sold in a small syringe at a local retailer) and it seems to be working pretty well.

One thing I'm not sure of though is I did remove the CPU thermal pad and replace it with the thermal grease. The X201 fan complex covers the CPU, GPU, and (I think) northbridge. Should I have left the pad in place and only replaced the previous grease? I haven't stress tested the system yet but things are looking promising. The pad was not torn or otherwise obviously in poor shape.

Unfortunately I managed to damage the space bar on my keyboard in the process, so typing is a bit difficult at times. This won't be a problem at my main job where I use a dock and an external keyboard but it does hinder general portability. I guess I'll be going back to flea-bay to get a replacement keyboard.

[axur-delmeria]

One thing I'm not sure of though is I did remove the CPU thermal pad and replace it with the thermal grease. The X201 fan complex covers the CPU, GPU, and (I think) northbridge. Should I have left the pad in place and only replaced the previous grease? I haven't stress tested the system yet but things are looking promising. The pad was not torn or otherwise obviously in poor shape.

The thermal pad on the X201 heatsink is for the southbridge/PCH, which handles the SATA, USB, and PCIe slots.
I don't have any experience with an X201 so I don't know if the heatsink makes proper contact with the PCH without the pad.

Generally I don't mess with the pad unless I have a replacement on hand.

I bought a compound called "Z3"

DeepCool Z3. It's their basic paste, but still OK I guess.

It's a bit on the soft side-- it spreads easily, making good contact even with the low mounting pressure typical in laptop heatsink mounts.

The only question is how long it'll take before the paste dries up.
Well, you'll know in a year or two.

[lparsons]

I should start by mentioning that this X201 is a "refurb" from flea-bay. Based on some of what I have noticed, I suspect it was carefully refurbished by an ape. That said, my favorite error in their refurb process went overwhelmingly in my favor as they gave me a 300GB SSD instead of a 160GB - so I'm not complaining.

At any rate, my point here is that it is very much possible that by the time they were done there could have been paste where pads should have been, or vice-versa.

One thing I'm not sure of though is I did remove the CPU thermal pad and replace it with the thermal grease. The X201 fan complex covers the CPU, GPU, and (I think) northbridge. Should I have left the pad in place and only replaced the previous grease? I haven't stress tested the system yet but things are looking promising. The pad was not torn or otherwise obviously in poor shape.

The thermal pad on the X201 heatsink is for the southbridge/PCH, which handles the SATA, USB, and PCIe slots.
I don't have any experience with an X201 so I don't know if the heatsink makes proper contact with the PCH without the pad.

Generally I don't mess with the pad unless I have a replacement on hand.

Based on the HMM, it does seem that the pad was on the CPU - which sits alone and under the end of the copper heatsink furthest from the fan - and there was paste above the other chips. The paste was pretty dry and pulled off easily.

I bought a compound called "Z3"

DeepCool Z3. It's their basic paste, but still OK I guess.

It's a bit on the soft side-- it spreads easily, making good contact even with the low mounting pressure typical in laptop heatsink mounts.

The only question is how long it'll take before the paste dries up.
Well, you'll know in a year or two.

Hopefully, I have a career-oriented job by then, and I can retire this laptop at this point. This is already 5+ years old, so I look at repairs on this as 1-2 year stopgap measures.

Thank you!

[RealBlackStuff]

The square closest to the fan covers the CPU and needs thermal paste, the square farthest away from the fan covers the Southbridge and has the thermal pad.
If those were swapped by your ape, UNswap them!

[axur-delmeria]

Based on the HMM, it does seem that the pad was on the CPU - which sits alone and under the end of the copper heatsink furthest from the fan

The chip furthest from the fan is the PCH. The i5 processor is the one with two silicon dies like this: http://cdn.cpu-world.com/Images/uploade ... 005833.jpg

Check your temperatures using TPFanControl or IBM_ECW + HWMonitor or Open Hardware Monitor.
Thinkpad-specific tools will read the sensors under the control of the embedded controller, while HWMonitor or Open Hardware Monitor will read the thermal sensors inside the i5 CPU, and hopefully in the PCH as well. Report any unusually high temperature readings (over 60c), preferably with a screenshot.

[alex.orlando]

my 2 cents in case it might help others:

I too am having the wireless going away issue in my x201... Instead of trying to fix the fan or trouble shoot based on advices from others, I spent $15 bucks and purchased a micro USB d link wireless card. I use that for my wireless connections.

hope this helps