Thinkpads Forum

Really happy I stumbled upon this community as my W500 is on my last legs and I am trying to suck every ounce of life remaining in my poor W500 before having to buy a new laptop.

Some background:
Bought the W500 for Autocad 5+ years ago and well I don't use Autocad anymore, but I still game. I have a very nice gaming desktop, but I do enjoy sitting on the couch and gaming while watching TV with the girlfriend. Problem is that thing gets super hot.

Finally got the tpcontroller for the fan so that helps only a bit. However, it seems to be running around 85 which is only a few degrees before shut off I think. When it was still under warranty (many moons ago) I had overheating issues and Lenovo sent someone to my house (extended warranty) and I am pretty sure he cleaned everything out and even replaced the heat sink at the time. Can't remember.

Is there any cheap upgrades I could make to drop it a few degrees (or 10) and make it more manageable when on my lap? Even on a table the thing burns up. I never cleaned it out since so maybe a good cleaning is in order, but what else can I do? Only thing I touched on it was changing the hard drive to SSD, but I doubt that helps temps much. I see that some users have upgraded to the T9900 which eliminate the heat, but for $55+ I don't know if it is worth it at this stage of the game.. Most people did that in 2013 and here in 2015.. $60 may be better spent towards the upgrade..

What do you guys think?

How about just replacing the thermal paste?

600X wrote:How about just replacing the thermal paste?

Well that may help to bring down the component temps and is a cheap enough "fix" and while I am at it I can see if it needs a cleaning.

Would that bring down the overall heat it produces and how hot it gets to the touch? I would think it may a bit..

Does anyone have a W500 that doesn't burn their lap when they game? Or will all my efforts be wishful thinking?

I've been playing Diablo 3 which seems to run pretty smooth on low.

Yes, especially if you would use AS5.
http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appmeth ... d_v1.1.pdf

RealBlackStuff wrote:Yes, especially if you would use AS5.
http://www.arcticsilver.com/pdf/appmeth ... d_v1.1.pdf

Does tim go bad? I have some of that very tim, but its a few years old. I guess for $8 I could get new from Prime off Amazon haha..

Update: I ordered it from Amazon and I will take it apart this weekend. Any tips or anything else I should do while I am at it? From what I remember in order to get to the heatsink I have to take most of it apart.. So any other MODs should get done now

I used to have a W500 which stayed absolutely cool to the touch while gaming. Maximum temperature of the GPU was 65°C. It did have fresh thermal paste however which was spread correctly. Also, it was dust free.

Exchanging the thermal paste only requires removing the keyboard and palmrest (in order to reach the heat sink). It should take no longer than 10 minutes, probably less.

If you do want to take everything apart however, you might as well put a thermal pad on the southbridge so that the heat is transferred to the structure frame and away from the bottom. However, the southbridge doesn't get very hot on the W500, unlike its predecessor, so I don't recommend it. The RAM however does get blazing hot for some reason, so RAM with heat sinks might be an option. I have such RAM running in one of my older Clevo barebones and it does make a slight difference.

600X wrote:I used to have a W500 which stayed absolutely cool to the touch while gaming. Maximum temperature of the GPU was 65°C. It did have fresh thermal paste however which was spread correctly. Also, it was dust free.

Exchanging the thermal paste only requires removing the keyboard and palmrest (in order to reach the heat sink). It should take no longer than 10 minutes, probably less.

If you do want to take everything apart however, you might as well put a thermal pad on the southbridge so that the heat is transferred to the structure frame and away from the bottom. However, the southbridge doesn't get very hot on the W500, unlike its predecessor, so I don't recommend it. The RAM however does get blazing hot for some reason, so RAM with heat sinks might be an option. I have such RAM running in one of my older Clevo barebones and it does make a slight difference.

Thanks 600x. If its only removing the keyboard and palm rest then maybe I will stick to a $8 tim job and see how that treats me.

I think at this point even integrated graphics on the new CPUs would be better than ATI 5700.. I've been on the fence about dropping $1500 on a new Laptop with a shiny 970m for two months now.. But if my laptop will play Diablo 3 without burning my lap.. I can hold off for a bit longer and see about maybe snagging a cheap 965m in the future.

MSI has recently released their P (professional) series. They are really more like high end multimedia laptops with business users in mind. Quite a neat combination. Available with a GTX960M and higher if I'm not mistaken. Might be worth looking at. Especially since the 15" version comes with a high gamut FHD IPS. But most importantly, cooling has always been one of MSI's strongest points. It has some other neat features such as status LED's and dedicated touchpad buttons. (*cough* which ThinkPads don't have anymore*cough*)

Granted, I'm drooling over it myself but seriously, first impressions are looking quite promising.

Having your laptop on the lap is the problem.

The bottom of the case cools mainly by radiation to a cooler nearby surface. The human body is rather warm.

I don't use a W500 in my lap, but I do use an X61 tablet that way. In my lap, the X61 actually runs cooler attached to an ultrabase. There is a slight gap between the laptop and the ultrabase, with air pulled through the gap by the design of the fan inlets. Without the Ultrabase, the laptop is in contact with my warmer human body.

If you are a large person, you might consider rigging a platform between you and the laptop, perhaps cut from artboard. Spacing the laptop half an inch off the artboard would be even better.

To see what is achievable, perform this experiment: Put your laptop on a table. Raise the back off the table about 1/2" with two plastic milk bottle caps under the rear legs. Play your game, and record the temperature. It will provide a baseline of the best temperature obtainable by purely passive cooling.

Replacing the heatsink compound is always a good idea, but the above measures complement.

In my experience, replacing the heatsink compound is not as easy as described in this thread. I've done it on three W500's while swapping CPUs. After the keyboard comes out, an intermediate metal frame must be removed. Antenna wires loop on and around the frame. There are lots of tiny screws to be lost.

I got good at it

precip9 wrote:Having your laptop on the lap is the problem.

The bottom of the case cools mainly by radiation to a cooler nearby surface. The human body is rather warm.

I don't use a W500 in my lap, but I do use an X61 tablet that way. In my lap, the X61 actually runs cooler attached to an ultrabase. There is a slight gap between the laptop and the ultrabase, with air pulled through the gap by the design of the fan inlets. Without the Ultrabase, the laptop is in contact with my warmer human body.

If you are a large person, you might consider rigging a platform between you and the laptop, perhaps cut from artboard. Spacing the laptop half an inch off the artboard would be even better.

To see what is achievable, perform this experiment: Put your laptop on a table. Raise the back off the table about 1/2" with two plastic milk bottle caps under the rear legs. Play your game, and record the temperature. It will provide a baseline of the best temperature obtainable by purely passive cooling.

Replacing the heatsink compound is always a good idea, but the above measures complement.

In my experience, replacing the heatsink compound is not as easy as described in this thread. I've done it on three W500's while swapping CPUs. After the keyboard comes out, an intermediate metal frame must be removed. Antenna wires loop on and around the frame. There are lots of tiny screws to be lost.

I got good at it

Even on a table the thing was still just as hot as when its on my lap. I do try to let the left side hang off.. I kinda balance it on one knee haha..

As for reapplying the thermal paste.. I had someone change out the heatsink once.. I want to say he gave me a better one than stock, but he spent a pretty long time doing it and I recall almost everything coming apart. That is why I was shocked to hear it can be done in 10 minutes. But now that I think about it it totally had stock time on the new heat sink so some Artic Silver probably would help.

Sooner or later I will push the button on an upgrade. I have the money. In fact I have to go see a man about a ring this weekend.. Maybe if I "save" some money there I can justify getting a new laptop. I am sure that will fly with the soon to be fiancee. "Hey honey, I could of got you a nicer ring, but I really wanted a new laptop!" or "We both got something we wanted, except mine (the laptop) is bit nicer!" haha

I was thinking Clevo/Sager for the laptop though.. We will see. I just checked MSI's website and they only have the P line with 950s unless I am looking in the wrong place or it hasn't hit there website yet. I hear mixed reviews on the Gaming Series they have been putting out recently. Heard the quality isn't what it used to be, but then again you can find someone to say that about anything.. **Cough** Lenovo..

I have MSI's 2013 GX60. When comparing it to my old GX660R from 2010, I'd say there is a vast improvement in quality. Can't say for sure about their other lines.

Clevo has been making some good barebones recently as well. They would definitely be a good pick as well. Ultimately it comes down to preferences again. MSI has much better speakers for example, but most Clevos are sleeker.

I'm getting off topic now though. I have changed the heat sink and paste on T60's, T61's and T500's (=W500) countless times and it is really one of the easiest procedures, much easier and quicker than on most other laptops. Perhaps if it's your first time it could you a bit longer but generally, it really can be done in well under 10 minutes.

It pretty much comes down to 7 screws. 5 big ones and two small ones. Not counting the ones on the heat sink because I am referring to the procedure of getting to the heat sink.

Well I got the tim and reseated the heatsink. I have to say it was not as simple as removing 7 screws.. I mean if I did it a few times it would probably be pretty quick, but for a first timer it took a lot longer than I would of liked..

With all that said it did help! I dont have a report on temps exactly, but its a lot cooler to the touch. Is the heat unnoticable? No, but it's tolerable.

Overall it took maybe an hour while waiting tv to take it apart. I had a problem removing a screw for a bit, but other than it went well and only cost the price of new tim.

Thanks guys!

update: maybe one of the heat pads isnt making good contact with the GPU... during game play it hits like 90... even though the CPU is staying cool and it is a lot cooler to the touch.. even though i screwed it all in right and tight.. could I of missed up? I never check how much the gpu hit before..

Well since you have a fresh tube of AS5, pull it apart again and check the spread on the GPU heat sink. It's honestly the only way to be sure. Now that you've taken it apart once and the procedure is fresh in your mind, it won't be that hard a second time around.

I used GC Extreme in my W500 and stripped the cooler of anything that wasn't necessary like the clear plastic film (sticker) that was on the cooler. Also changed from T9600 out for a P9400 and that made a pretty nice difference. I also removed part of the clear plastic from the keyboard that is directly above the gpu portion of the cooler and used a thermal pad to help out.

Temetka wrote:Well since you have a fresh tube of AS5, pull it apart again and check the spread on the GPU heat sink. It's honestly the only way to be sure. Now that you've taken it apart once and the procedure is fresh in your mind, it won't be that hard a second time around.

AS5 is very old

much, much better is ICDimond 7
http://chlodzenie.net/wp-content/upload ... 76x484.jpg
in polish
http://chlodzenie.net/reviews/wielki-te ... ona-druga/
manufacturer web page
http://www.innovationcooling.com/
manufacturer test
http://www.innovationcooling.com/images ... arison.jpg
application
http://www.innovationcooling.com/application.html
cheers

Most of such tests are done in laboratories, under ideal circumstances, using expensive equipment.
Most important: ALL those tests are done on Desktops, where they have much better coolers than you will ever find in a laptop!
The end-result ON A DESKTOP? Maybe a 3 - 3.5 degrees Centigrade improvement. Big deal!
Nothing to write home about, unless you are fanatical about stuff like that.
On a laptop you may be lucky to find .5 to 1 degree C improvement.

In other words: don't believe everything you see printed on the web!

It's true though, IC Diamond is by far the best paste money can buy. On my MSI GX60, after overclocking the CPU and applying some Arctic MX4 paste, the CPU hit 99°C under full load. After removing the paste again and applying IC Diamond, the temperature went down to 89°C.

After that, I did the same to the GPU. With Arctic, the GPU hit 95°C. With IC Diamond, it reaches 87°C. However, it still needs to prove itself in the long term. We know that Arctic lasts an eternity, but I don't know how IC Diamond compares to that.

RealBlackStuff wrote:Most of such tests are done in laboratories, under ideal circumstances, using expensive equipment.
Most important: ALL those tests are done on Desktops, where they have much better coolers than you will ever find in a laptop!
The end-result ON A DESKTOP? Maybe a 3 - 3.5 degrees Centigrade improvement. Big deal!
Nothing to write home about, unless you are fanatical about stuff like that.
On a laptop you may be lucky to find .5 to 1 degree C improvement.

In other words: don't believe everything you see printed on the web!

I do test on my thinkpads. Always temp drop down. Some times few degrees is fan on 3 or on 1 lvl. I want 1 level

cheers