Thinkpads Forum

My son has a T500 with a P8600 (2.67 GHz) CPU and switchable graphics in the discrete graphics mode (ATI 3650) which he uses for playing games. Occasionally the machine just shuts down and i wonder if it is related to overheating. Looking at the temperatures, T1 (CPU) and T4 (GPU) are usually above 65°C even when the machine is just idling. When playing games I've noted them go up to 75°C but haven't done any constant monitoring so they could well be peaking above that.

Comparing it to my own more modest T400 (P8400/2.26 GHz also with switchable graphics (ATI 3470) but I leave it at the Intel setting to conserve power) the CPU temp usually idles around 45°C (no GPU temp sensor in integrated mode). I rarely play games although we do play Minecraft together on our respective machines occasionally.

I've had the T500 apart, in order to inspect and clean the fan, and also to replace the thermal paste on the CPU. The fan spins freely and appears to be doing its job, and there's no dust in it.

After replacing the thermal paste the situation has gotten slightly better, but the computer still does get rather hot in the rear left corner when operating, much warmer than my T400 ever gets.

I was wondering if it could be related to the fact that the slightly faster CPU gets much hotter due to its higher maximum speed, still seems odd to me.

My other theory is that there is something wrong with the memory chips which eventually manifests itself when the machine gets warm.

Anyone have any other ideas?

Overheating will definitely be a source of instability.

I have 4 of these T500 with switchable graphics (Intel and 3650), it definitely runs hotter with ATI graphics even at idle. Best you can do is take everything apart, clean and blow out the dust and reapply thermal paste. After doing this my T500(s) are definitely cooler (avg of 10 deg C). I don't game much on my laptops (that's the domain of my desktops) but when I do the temp gets up there but not high enough for it to BSOD on me.

Another thing that I found held is elevating the back of the laptop a little bit to allow some cooling on the underside of the laptop. Putting it on a dedicated fan cooling laptop pad helps too. I found this really helps, especially during the summer months when the ambient air temp in my non-AC house is higher.

I don't know what causes the problem - but it isn't normal.

I have played game on my W500, even Battlefield 3. And i have never had problems with it. I even had it in the dockingstation.

So something seems wrong.

My T500 tends to get warm as well however most of the time my idle temps are in the lower 40C range (~45 w/ATI graphics on). When gaming GPU is ~58-65C and CPU is ~50C. Games that my family and I have played on the T500 include: Alan Wake, Amnesia, Bastion, Batman Arkham Asylum GOTY Ed, Dead Space, Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion, the Last Remnant, Left For Dead 2, Limbo, Lumines, Mass Effect, Metro 2033, Mirrors Edge, Plants vs Zombies, Portal, Psychonauts, Tales of Monkey Island Chpts 1-5, Trackmania Stadium, and The Walking Dead.

All work fine however the ATI Mobility HD3650 GPU is ~6 years old now. The newer games I have tried will run albeit at lower resolution and with visual extras turned down. I will say that for an older GPU the ATI Mobility HD3650 is impressive despite its age. The HD3650 trounces the HD3470 of the T400 IMO.

Some factors I take into consideration when gauging the 'whys' and 'hows' a laptop may be getting warm are: ambient temp (~90F/32.2C on avg for my current operating environment), state of thermal compound integrity (e.g. dried and in need of reapplication of new compound), dust accumulation in ventilation system, making sure the laptop is operated on a flat and hard surface, that the rear of the laptop is perched up/unobstructed to allow greater intake of air into the ventilation system, note if the fan rotates fine with no audible telltale signs of failing (e.g. unusual noises that deviate from normal fan operation), and if my drivers are correct for my system.

These are the main considerations I take into observations for getting decent and safe temperature conditions while the family and I work and play with the T500.

Questions for you: Is your son using switchable graphics control while in Windows? Which switchable graphics driver is installed? If so does he have the latest power manager program, power manager driver, and updated BIOS?

Some of my hardware and software: T500, Windows 7 64-bit, C2D 2.53 Ghz P9500, 4gb of matched RAM modules, WSXGA+, ATI Mobility HD3650, Lenovo Power Manager Driver 1.66.00.22, Lenovo Power Manager 6.55, Thinkpad Switchable Graphics Driver 8.792.5.2-120504a-138564C, and T500 BIOS version 3.23.

Hope you find a solution for the shutdowns and heat! Good luck