Thinkpads Forum

I've been experiencing an overheating problem with my T410S (with nVidia 3100M discrete graphics). CPU often goes up to 80-90, and GPU goes up to 90-100 (and sometimes beyond). Due to overheating, it shuts itself down once in a while. I've been very frustrated by this, so I've been trying to identify the cause of this problem.

After a series of experiments for isolating the source of the problem, I found that my T410S is more likely to overheat when I am using an external monitor. Without being connected to an external monitor (1600x1200), the GPU temp hovers around 70 and the CPU temp hovers around 60. But when an external monitor is connected (through a mini-dock), the temperatures go up sharply. This is probably because driving an external monitor increases the load on the GPU. Even so, it seems the temperature increase is too dramatic because it increases the GPU temp by over 20 degrees (and it often renders the PC inoperable). Is this something to be expected? Does anyone have a similar experience?

I would appreciate if you would share you experience and expertise. Thank you in advance.

Hi there

I have a T410s (with same card as yours +SSD+BluRay Writer) is kinda 'plug into a 1080p Tv' (Sony3D model)FULL TIME and often runs itself to 'sleep' and never have had issues.
Maybe you look at the HOOKUP wires , or maybe your need a NEW SYSTEM BOARD -if u under warranty -have it replaced!

Hope this helps!

Those temperatures sound way too high. Try taking off the keyboard, then tightening the screws on the heatsink a bit.

Also, when you do that, get some canned air and blow out the heatsinks.

Thank you for your helpful suggestions. I will try to tighten the screws around the heat sink, and blow dust out of the fan. I had to do this with my previous ThinkPad (T60).

Can anyone share the temperature information for his/her T410s when it is connected with an external monitor or two (dual monitor setup)? I also realized that the temperature goes up a lot when two external monitors are connected. I guess this is expected, but it will be helpful to be able to compare my temperature with others'.

Thanks!

if you arent running 3d you aren't straining that gpu.

update drivers. (up to and including verde-mobile drivers direct from nvidia.com if lenovo's are out of date, simply to rule it out)

*edit* and the rest of the advice, do that.

@balckomegax, I think it is not true that we are not straining the GPU if we don't run 3D. Running multiple monitors do increase the payload, and as far as I understand, it could increase the temperature of the GPU. But I don't know how much increase is normal.

Following your (and others') advice, I cleaned up the fan unit (using compressed air). The video driver is the latest one. The hardware tests (Thinkvantage PC tool) do not indicate any problem either. It even passes the stress test.

However, I still do observe very high temperature. Even in a well-airconditioned room, the GPU goes up to 90+ (with 2 external monitors, but with just normal operation such as web surfing and word processing) and the CPU lurks around 75-85 or even higher at times). The next step is to reapply thermal grease (high quality one such as Arctic Silver), but it appears taking apart the fan unit is not as straightforward as T61 because I have to take apart the system board. Does anyone have experience with doing this with 410s? Other than this, what is the next step to achieve lower temperature? I would appreciate any suggestion you may have.

Thanks.

I still think it seems like some weird driver issue that's causing the GPU to run at full throttle under no load.

Do you have the discrete switchable or discrete Optimus? Because if you have discrete switchable and you don't install the driver properly, then the GPU will get very hot with no usage like with the ATI switchable drivers. Optimus should be more tolerant.

@Colnel O'Neill,

Thank you for your advice. I have the discrete switchable model (I got mine when the discrete model first came out in U.S.).

I agree that a bad driver could be a culprit. Thus I tried to uninstall and reinstall the driver, but didn't see much improvement. Perhaps I am not doing this in a correct way. Is there a way in which I can ensure a complete removal of the old driver from the system?

Thanks.

Make sure your BIOS is set to Switchable.
Download the Lenovo switchable NVS3100M driver ahead of time here:
- 32-bit: http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-75244
- 64-bit: http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-75245

Uninstall all graphics related stuff (Intel and NVidia side graphics drivers) from Programs and Features.
Reboot into Safe Mode.
Go to Device Manager, uninstall drivers for both devices, remembering to check Delete device software from this system for both if possible.
Reboot.
Install the package you downloaded above. Make sure it's the right architecture.

Yes, Colonel! I will try to reinstall the driver again and will see if it makes any difference. Thank you for your advice.