Thinkpads Forum

Posted: **Wed Mar 09, 2016 9:01 am**

I have an older T420 that I love (i5, win 7 pro 64). Got it about 5 years ago but I LOVE IT. So much so I decided to get another. I purchased one in excellent condition on ebay and have installed a samsung 500GB SSD with clean install and added another 8gb of ram to make it 12gb total. My old T420 has an older Intel 160gb SSD and 6gb of ram and it is very fast. This new TP and SSD are driving me nuts. Here are my questions and complaints.

1. Could this be a hard drive or another problem? Samsung magician says drive is good and all setting are fine. Not getting what I expected for readings but to sure what they should be either. SR 318, RR 57395, SW 516, RW 59782. I believe it is the fan I can hear almost constantly. It seems to cycle on low and go to full speed and settle back down constantly. I installed fan control but it is still happening.

2. I have it in series 3 docking station which seems to be apiece of #$%^%$#. Why would a company design a docking station that covers up the fan outlet?

3. When flipping through web pages I must wait. I have an old core 2 duo and it is faster than this with SSD.

4. I downloaded HDDScan 3.3 and for some reason it will not run. Not sure why. Tried to uninstall and there is no uninstall link.

5. Is there a driver or something I need for the docking station. I have read where others have a undock button when they want to undock while in windows.

6. Could there be a problem with windows?

I have windows 7, 64 bit and my anti virus is Kaspersky. I have undocked it to write this post and have not heard the fan running at all, however I am not flipping through web pages. FC says cpu is 61 degrees c. Tried to change Fan Control from C to F but cannot figure out how.

Ran lenovo diagnostics:

Code: Select all

==========================================================
 Lenovo Solution Center - CLI
==========================================================
 
--------------------------------------------------------------
Executing all modules
--------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------
Id                        0
Display Name              Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2520M CPU @ 2.50GHz
Udi                       Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2520M CPU @ 2.50GHz - INTEL (0)
Cpu Model                 Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2520M CPU @ 2.50GHz
Cpu Vendor                INTEL
Cpu Cores                 2
Cpu Threads               4
Cpu Signature             206A7h
Cpu Max Speed             2.5 Ghz
Cpu Current Speed         2.472798 GHz
Cpu Features              MMX, EM64T, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, AES, AVX, CLMUL, PSE, PSE-36, IDA/Turbo boost, HTT, XD, VMX
Cpu Cache L1              2 x 32 KB CPU_DATA_CACHE, 2 x 32 KB CPU_INSTRUCTION_CACHE
Cpu Cache L2              2 x 256 KB CPU_UNIFIED_CACHE
Cpu Cache L3              1 x 3 MB CPU_UNIFIED_CACHE
--------------------------------------------------------------

Started diagnostic: Cpu Quick Diagnostic
=> Cpu Bt Instruction Test
   Test Status: Passed!
   Elapsed time: 0 seconds 

=> Cpu X87 Floating Point Test
   Test Status: Passed!
   Elapsed time: 0 seconds 

=> Cpu Mmx Test
   Test Status: Passed!
   Elapsed time: 0 seconds 

=> Cpu Sse Family Test
   Test Status: Passed!
   Elapsed time: 0 seconds 

=> Cpu Aes Test
   Test Status: Passed!
   Elapsed time: 0 seconds 

Finished diagnostic: Cpu Quick Diagnostic

--------------------------------------------------------------
   Result Code: WCP03E000-WLYXQL
   Total elapsed time: 0 seconds 
--------------------------------------------------------------

[Info] Scanning memory devices finished
 
--------------------------------------------------------------
Id                        0
Display Name              PHYSICAL_MEMORY
Udi                       PHYSICAL_MEMORY
Physical Memory           12.000 GB
--------------------------------------------------------------

Started diagnostic: Memory Quick Test
=> Quick Random Pattern Test
   Test Status: Passed!
   Elapsed time: 1 minute 54 seconds 

Finished diagnostic: Memory Quick Test

--------------------------------------------------------------
   Result Code: WME800000-WLYXQL
   Total elapsed time: 1 minute 54 seconds 
--------------------------------------------------------------

[Info] Scanning motherboard devices finished

--------------------------------------------------------------
Id                        0
Display Name              MOTHERBOARD
Udi                       LENOVO-4236A79
Motherboard Usb Host ...  2
Motherboard Pci Devic...  16
Motherboard Rtc Present   MOTHERBOARD_RTC_YES
--------------------------------------------------------------

Started diagnostic: Motherboard Quick Diagnostic
=> Motherboard Chipset Test
   Test Status: Passed!
   Elapsed time: 3 seconds 

=> Motherboard Pci / Pci-e Test
   Test Status: Passed!
   Elapsed time: 0 seconds 

=> Motherboard Rtc Test
   Test Status: Passed!
   Elapsed time: 10 seconds 

=> Motherboard Usb Test
   Test Status: Passed!
   Elapsed time: 0 seconds 

=> Motherboard Dma Test
   Test Status: Passed!
   Elapsed time: 1 second 

=> Motherboard Irq Test
   Test Status: Passed!
   Elapsed time: 52 seconds 

Finished diagnostic: Motherboard Quick Diagnostic

--------------------------------------------------------------
   Result Code: WMB01V000-WLYXQL
   Total elapsed time: 1 minute 8 seconds 
--------------------------------------------------------------

[Info] Scanning pci express devices finished
 
--------------------------------------------------------------
Id                        PCI_DEV
Display Name              PCI_EXPRESS_SYSTEM
Udi                       PCI_EXPRESS_SYSTEM
Pci0                      0:1b.0
Pci1                      3:0.0
--------------------------------------------------------------

Started diagnostic: Pci Express System
=> Pci Express Status Test
   Test Status: Passed!
   Elapsed time: 0 seconds 

Finished diagnostic: Pci Express System

--------------------------------------------------------------
   Result Code: WPE001000-WLYXQL
   Total elapsed time: 0 seconds 
--------------------------------------------------------------

[Info] Scanning raid devices finished
 
[Warning] No devices found for this module

[Info] Scanning storage devices finished
 
--------------------------------------------------------------
Id                        0
Display Name              Samsung SSD 850 EVO 500GB - 465.76 GBs
Udi                       Samsung-SamsungSSD850EVO500GB-S21HNSAG129309B
Manufacturer              Samsung
Model                     Samsung SSD 850 EVO 500GB
Serial                    S21HNSAG129309B
Firmware                  EMT01B6Q
Size                      465.76 GBs
Physical Sector Size      512
Logical Sector Size       512
Logical Sectors           976773168
Supported Standards       ATA8-ACS, ATA7-ATAPI, ATA6-ATAPI, ATA5-ATAPI, ATA4-ATAPI, ATA8-ACS, ATA7-ATAPI, ATA6-ATAPI, ATA5-ATAPI, ATA4-ATAPI
Spec Version              ATA8-ACS version 4c
Partition Schema          MBR
Unallocated               103.50 MBs
--------------------------------------------------------------
Started diagnostic: Quick Tests
=> Smart Status Test
   Test Status: Passed!
   Elapsed time: 0 seconds 

=> Targeted Read Test
   Test Status: Passed!
   Elapsed time: 0 seconds 

=> Random Seek Test
   Test Status: Passed!
   Elapsed time: 0 seconds 

=> Funnel Seek Test
   Test Status: Passed!
   Elapsed time: 0 seconds 

=> Short Self Test
   Test Status: Passed!
   Elapsed time: 10 seconds 

Finished diagnostic: Quick Tests
--------------------------------------------------------------
   Result Code: WHD00V000-WLYXQL
   Total elapsed time: 10 seconds 
--------------------------------------------------------------

[Info] Scanning video card devices finished

--------------------------------------------------------------
Id                        0002
Display Name              Intel(R) HD Graphics 3000
Udi                       Intel(R)HDGraphics300000:02.0
Location                  PCI bus 0, device 2, function 0
Directx Driver Version    9.17.10.4229
Driver Name               IGDUMD64.DLL
--------------------------------------------------------------

Started diagnostic: Quick Tests
=> Video Memory Test
   Test Status: Passed!
   Elapsed time: 20 seconds 

=> Texture Pipeline Test
   Test Status: Passed!
   Elapsed time: 0 seconds 

Finished diagnostic: Quick Tests

--------------------------------------------------------------
   Result Code: WVC005000-WLYXQL
   Total elapsed time: 21 seconds 
--------------------------------------------------------------

[Info] Scanning wireless devices finished

--------------------------------------------------------------
Id                        0
Display Name              Intel(R) Centrino(R) Advanced-N 6205
Udi                       IntelCorporation-Intel(R)Centrino(R)Advanced-N6205-08:11:96:F2:00:38
Macaddress                08:11:96:F2:00:38
Manufacturer              Intel Corporation
Name                      {3FB887B6-0F8D-49EB-98EA-757C62437041}
Product Name              Intel(R) Centrino(R) Advanced-N 6205
--------------------------------------------------------------

Started diagnostic: Wireless Diagnostic
=> Radio Enabled Test
   Test Status: Passed!
   Elapsed time: 0 seconds 

=> Network Scan Test
   Test Status: Passed!
   Elapsed time: 0 seconds 

=> Signal Strength Test
   Test Status: Passed!
   Elapsed time: 0 seconds 

=> Local Connection Test
   Test Status: Passed!
   Elapsed time: 0 seconds 

Finished diagnostic: Wireless Diagnostic

--------------------------------------------------------------
   Result Code: WWF00F000-WLYXQL
   Total elapsed time: 2 seconds

Moderator edit: Moved thred from initially being incorrectly posted in the T4x forum.

Posted: **Wed Mar 30, 2016 6:18 pm**

FIRST THING TO DO....IS INSTALL WIN 8.1...FULL OR DEMO PREVIEW COPY.. OR LINUX...AND SEE HOW IT ACTS...
WIN 8.1 LOVES INTEL SSD 160 IN T420 ! I KNOW I GOT ONE ITS SCREAMIN FAST...ITS LIKE 40% FASTER THAN 7... COMPLETE BOOT TO DESKTOP IN LIKE 8 SECONDS...

IF DIFFERENT OS DIDNT FIX ISSUE, THEN IT MAY BE BIOS ISSUE, GO INTO BIOS AND RESET TO DEFAULTS..TRY THAT...

OR.. THERE IS A PROGRAM OUT THERE...CALLED SSD CACHE... I THINK, ITS PRICEY... BUT IT CAN SOLVE THIS PROBLEM
ON SOME DRIVES THAT ACT LIKE THIS...

IM BETTING ITS THE BIOS... ITS STUCK ON SETTINGS AND TIMINGS FROM OLD DRIVE... RESET TO DEFAULTS...

Posted: **Wed Mar 30, 2016 6:26 pm**

ya thanks but windows 8 is not in my future. Hate it! I did update bios, update router (nighthawk) firmware and things are much faster. But its a not go on win 8 (and if you notice the comment on ssd 160 about another t420 and not this one. This one I posted about has a new samsung 500gb ssd.

Posted: **Wed Mar 30, 2016 9:44 pm**

It's a second-hand unit, so the first thing to do is check its condition.
You mention that the fan spins up and down, so you should check the CPU temperature. High temps will cause the CPU to throttle down its clock speed to minimize heat output.

Check the fan and cooling fins for dust buildup, and the heatsink contact plates for dried-up thermal paste.

Posted: **Thu Mar 31, 2016 3:31 am**

Here are some things to try.

1. Replace the old-and-drying drying thermal paste, between the cpu and the cpu's heatsink, with Arctic Silver 5 or IC Diamond 7
2. Clean cpu heatsink
3. Use a 90W (20V & 4.5A) adapter
4. Reinstall the OS
5. if you're using firefox you can speed up browsing with these two tweaks:
a) go to the address about:config
b) filter on 'google' and delete all of the entries
c) also filter on 'pipel' and change network.http.pipelining to 'true'

Posted: **Thu Mar 31, 2016 5:42 am**

open the resource monitor, and see whether the cpu or hdd is maxed out and causing the slow down.

one thing you can try, switch the 2 ssds between the 2 laptops, they should work without any issues because drivers are identical, and see how things behave.

Posted: **Thu Mar 31, 2016 6:29 am**

jaspen-meyer wrote:Here are some things to try.

1. Replace the old-and-drying drying thermal paste, between the cpu and the cpu's heatsink, with Arctic Silver 5 or IC Diamond 7
2. Clean cpu heatsink
3. Use a 90W (20V & 4.5A) adapter
4. Reinstall the OS
5. if you're using firefox you can speed up browsing with these two tweaks:
a) go to the address about:config
b) filter on 'google' and delete all of the entries
c) also filter on 'pipel' and change network.http.pipelining to 'true'

I will replace thermal paste in near future and I did notice I was using a 65w adapter. Changed that and things are already better. I am using firefox but cannot find out how to get to steps a,b,c.... Can you help?

Also not sure if I mentioned it but I did reinstall (clean install) the OS when installing this new Samsung SSD.

Posted: **Thu Mar 31, 2016 6:35 am**

axur-delmeria wrote:It's a second-hand unit, so the first thing to do is check its condition.
You mention that the fan spins up and down, so you should check the CPU temperature. High temps will cause the CPU to throttle down its clock speed to minimize heat output.

Check the fan and cooling fins for dust buildup, and the heatsink contact plates for dried-up thermal paste.

This laptop is in great condition and yes the CPU was throttling up and down which I believe was some of the problem. I noticed my DH has set up the system with a 65w adapter and changing that to the 90w did help. Also does not help that these darn docking stations block the flow of air. Not a wise design. Also updated to latest bios.

I think Firefox is a lot of the problem. What a resource hog this program is but I use it because I don't like IE and worse Bing.

Posted: **Thu Mar 31, 2016 6:39 am**

house kitten wrote:I am using firefox but cannot find out how to get to steps a,b,c.... Can you help?

Start Firefox, type "about:config" on the address bar (minus the quotes), then press "Enter".
Firefox will show a warning page. Click "I'll be careful, I promise".

Firefox will then display a very long list of its internal config lines.
Use the search function just below the address bar.

Since I wasn't the person that gave this suggestion (it was jaspen-meyer), I don't know if this would speed up Firefox or not.

I think Firefox is a lot of the problem. What a resource hog this program is but I use it because I don't like IE and worse Bing.

Monitor the CPU usage % with Task Manager. You can also download and run HWMonitor to monitor CPU speed and temperature.

Posted: **Thu Mar 31, 2016 6:58 am**

axur-delmeria wrote:
house kitten wrote:I am using firefox but cannot find out how to get to steps a,b,c.... Can you help?
Start Firefox, type "about:config" on the address bar (minus the quotes), then press "Enter".
Firefox will show a warning page. Click "I'll be careful, I promise".

Firefox will then display a very long list of its internal config lines.
Use the search function just below the address bar.

Since I wasn't the person that gave this suggestion (it was jaspen-meyer), I don't know if this would speed up Firefox or not.

I think Firefox is a lot of the problem. What a resource hog this program is but I use it because I don't like IE and worse Bing.
Monitor the CPU usage % with Task Manager. You can also download and run HWMonitor to monitor CPU speed and temperature.

ya thanks. I googled it and got in. Changed the pipel setting but was unable to delete google settings. No options for delete. (jaspen-meyer's suggestion).

I was using the TPfancontrol program and yes the CPU was getting very warm. I did delete that program.

Posted: **Thu Mar 31, 2016 11:43 am**

house kitten wrote: ya thanks. I googled it and got in. Changed the pipel setting but was unable to delete google settings. No options for delete. (jaspen-meyer's suggestion).

You can delete only the VALUES, which you do by double clicking on an entry, a box will pop up with the current value, delete the current value and then click 'OK'.

'browser.safebrowsing.provider.google.reportURL' and the other '*.google.*' values are telling firefox to send each and every page you visit (actually it's 20x more than just the pages you visit, it's every http(s) request) to google before it fills the request. This adds latency to each request which, in turn, slows down your internet browsing.

The 'network.http.pipeling' entry, set to false by default but I suggest changing to 'true', sets firefox to connect to any given webserver with multiple http requests in parallel. What this does in practice is, on the forum.thinkpads.com homepage for example, there are 31 http requests. Without pipeling enabled the 31 files would be requested in serial, one after the other. With pipelining enabled the requests would be sent to a given server 4 at a time.

Posted: **Thu Mar 31, 2016 11:48 am**

jaspen-meyer wrote:
house kitten wrote: ya thanks. I googled it and got in. Changed the pipel setting but was unable to delete google settings. No options for delete. (jaspen-meyer's suggestion).
You can delete only the VALUES, which you do by double clicking on an entry, a box will pop up with the current value, delete the current value and then click 'OK'.

'browser.safebrowsing.provider.google.reportURL' and the other '*.google.*' values are telling firefox to send each and every page you visit (actually it's 20x more than just the pages you visit, it's every http(s) request) to google before it fills the request. This adds latency to each request which, in turn, slows down your internet browsing.

The 'network.http.pipeling' entry, set to false by default but I suggest changing to 'true', sets firefox to connect to any given webserver with multiple http requests in parallel. What this does in practice is, on the forum.thinkpads.com homepage for example, there are 31 http requests. Without pipeling enabled the 31 files would be requested in serial, one after the other. With pipelining enabled the requests would be sent to a given server 4 at a time.

Awesome, thanks

Thinkpads Forum

T420 painfull slow with new SSD and docking station. Win 7 64

T420 painfull slow with new SSD and docking station. Win 7 64

Re: T420 painfull slow with new SSD and docking station. Win 7 64

Re: T420 painfull slow with new SSD and docking station. Win 7 64

Re: T420 painfull slow with new SSD and docking station. Win 7 64

Re: T420 painfull slow with new SSD and docking station. Win 7 64

Re: T420 painfull slow with new SSD and docking station. Win 7 64

Re: T420 painfull slow with new SSD and docking station. Win 7 64

Re: T420 painfull slow with new SSD and docking station. Win 7 64

Re: T420 painfull slow with new SSD and docking station. Win 7 64

Re: T420 painfull slow with new SSD and docking station. Win 7 64

Re: T420 painfull slow with new SSD and docking station. Win 7 64

Re: T420 painfull slow with new SSD and docking station. Win 7 64