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T440p - Worried about chipset overheating

T430-T490, T530-T590 Series
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kyletv05
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Joined: Mon Jul 08, 2019 11:59 am
Location: Michigan, USA

T440p - Worried about chipset overheating

#1 Post by kyletv05 » Fri Apr 03, 2020 1:45 pm

So I did a mobo swap on my T440p, and I forgot to install the thermal pad for the chipset. I think it's the Southbridge chip. It's on the side of the motherboard with the keyboard/touchpad connectors. I'm not sure if the new motherboard had a thermal pad but I'm guessing not.

So far I've noticed the laptop is a bit warm just left of the touchpad. It's not that hot, but I worried about the chipset overheating and possibly dying. But I also don't want to take the entire thing apart just for that and risk putting too much stress on the clips for the palmrest and base cover. Can I get away without a thermal pad? I did a Prime95 test and the CPU temps got up to 90C.

I'd also mention I swapped in a board with GT730M graphics, and before I had a standard iGPU motherboard. Yes, I did get a heatsink to go along with it.

ThreeIguanasPerSecond
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Re: T440p - Worried about chipset overheating

#2 Post by ThreeIguanasPerSecond » Sat Apr 04, 2020 5:05 am

first, let's get the terminology right to prevent unnecessary confusion. Intel's chipsets after the Core 2 series was just the PCH (platform controller hub), defined by Intel themselves. in the Core 2 series and before, it was a northbridge and a southbridge setup. in older platforms, there would be an additional chip called the FWH (Firmware Hub) in some of Intel's chipsets.

you don't need to worry about the PCH's temperature, it has a built-in thermal sensor to tell if it's overheating. and yes, you can. some or most laptops that i've seen had no thermal pads or even a heatsink on the PCH. in fact, i own a laptop which doesn't have a heatsink on the PCH, and it still runs reasonably cool. the idle temperature sits somewhere between 131 F, under load it would be 150 F at most.

the CPU's temperature doesn't matter if the PCH is located far away from it, and from what you're saying about the position of the PCH, i'm guessing it isn't close to the CPU. i'd also like to inform you that the PCH's thermal sensor can be read from software, by using HWInfo64: https://www.hwinfo.com/download/ just remember to tick a box called 'Enable PCH Thermal Device' in HWInfo64's startup options.

as long as the PCH's temperature doesn't exceed 226 F, you will be fine.
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kyletv05
Posts: 42
Joined: Mon Jul 08, 2019 11:59 am
Location: Michigan, USA

Re: T440p - Worried about chipset overheating

#3 Post by kyletv05 » Sat Apr 04, 2020 1:49 pm

ThreeIguanasPerSecond wrote:
Sat Apr 04, 2020 5:05 am
first, let's get the terminology right to prevent unnecessary confusion. Intel's chipsets after the Core 2 series was just the PCH (platform controller hub), defined by Intel themselves. in the Core 2 series and before, it was a northbridge and a southbridge setup. in older platforms, there would be an additional chip called the FWH (Firmware Hub) in some of Intel's chipsets.

you don't need to worry about the PCH's temperature, it has a built-in thermal sensor to tell if it's overheating. and yes, you can. some or most laptops that i've seen had no thermal pads or even a heatsink on the PCH. in fact, i own a laptop which doesn't have a heatsink on the PCH, and it still runs reasonably cool. the idle temperature sits somewhere between 131 F, under load it would be 150 F at most.

the CPU's temperature doesn't matter if the PCH is located far away from it, and from what you're saying about the position of the PCH, i'm guessing it isn't close to the CPU. i'd also like to inform you that the PCH's thermal sensor can be read from software, by using HWInfo64: https://www.hwinfo.com/download/ just remember to tick a box called 'Enable PCH Thermal Device' in HWInfo64's startup options.

as long as the PCH's temperature doesn't exceed 226 F, you will be fine.
Yeah I just did Prime95 again and the PCH temps are about 40-50C, I'm not going to worry.

refujee
Posts: 9
Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2009 12:09 pm

Re: T440p - Worried about chipset overheating

#4 Post by refujee » Sat Apr 04, 2020 7:17 pm

The only thermal pad I'm aware of in this machine is the one for the voltage regulators near the CPU. I'd recommend getting a replacement if you can.

stocvet
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2021 10:50 am
Location: Sofia, Bulgaria

Re: T440p - Worried about chipset overheating

#5 Post by stocvet » Wed Jan 27, 2021 8:17 am

Hello, my motherboard has a problem, when I plug in the ac adapter, the motherboard overheats and throttle the CPU to the minimum frequency. The voltage regulators next to the CPU are cooled separately by thermal pads and a metal piece above, seems that they have malfunctioned. I ordered a new motherboard, but I have to buy new thermal pads for the voltage regulators. Does anybody know what is the thickness of the thermal pads? And do I need any other thermal pads, for example for the chipset? Any advice will be appreciated.

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