My T480 gets very hot - almost 200 F -normal?

[mraroid]

Hi folks...

My T480 gets very hot after I boot to Windows 11 and with out launching any applications. It will get over 1805 F with in about 3 or 4 minutes.

I have older non lenovo laptops which at idle,are around 130 F and when I am really working them, 150 and maybe 160 F.

What is typical for the T480?

Any feedback would be helpful.

mraroid

[TPFanatic]

Is Windows doing stuff in the background when the temps are up? Windows will consume all your resources if it decides it has to get something done.

[mraroid]

I forgot to add that the the CPU is an i7 8650U and it also has a Nvidia MX150 GPU in it.

I just pulled the fan (it looked clean) and cleaned off the old thermal paste from the fan heat sync and CPU & GPU. I applied new thermal paste.

Now at idle, it quickly gets up to 174 F and on occasion drops down to 171 F or 172 F.

I am building this to give to a friend who needs a laptop for school. He is not a computer person.

Is 174 F at idle too hot??? It seems like it to me.

Can others with this CPU in a T480 give me some feedback please?

many thanks,

mraroid

[TPFanatic]

That is hot for idle.

Normal idle temps are under 60C.

Did you just reinstall Windows? Windows is going to be busy. 80C is not atypical for a PC under utilization which Windows, by default, is going to do lots of.

[mraroid]

Hello...

Thank you for your post. I bought this laptop used on ebay and it had Windows 11 already installed on it. I just put a video on the laptop and used VLC Media Player to play it. I wanted to put the laptop under some load. It spiked up to 188 F (87C) and then dropped down to the low 180s F and high 170s F.

This seem too high to me.

I used high end thermal paste, and did not put too much or too little on the heat sync. I cleaned the CPU and GPU as well as the heat sync before re applying new thermal paste. The fan spins, and when I put my hand to the left hand side of the laptop (front left) I can feel the hot air blowing out.

What more can someone do? Or is this normal???

Thanks to all for advice.

mraroid

[mraroid]

To answer your question....

No, Windows was not doing anything. I am unsure what to try next.

mraroid

[axur-delmeria]

IIRC the i7-8650U by itself is toasty on the T480-- it puts out so much heat that it throttles, bad enough that the T480 with i5 is faster because it doesn't get as hot and stays on Turbo Boost longer. With an MX150 attached, it's even worse.

You need to limit the processor's max boost clock via Throttlestop or similar program. I can't help you with that part though, since I use Linux primarily.

[RealBlackStuff]

I suggest to have a look here:
How to apply Honeywell PTM7950 Thermal Pads

[axur-delmeria]

I agree with RealBlackStuff suggesting PTM7950. It's probably the best thermal material you can get that isn't liquid metal.

Also, undervolting the CPU should be possible.

[thewaywardgeek]

IIRC the i7-8650U by itself is toasty on the T480-- it puts out so much heat that it throttles, bad enough that the T480 with i5 is faster because it doesn't get as hot and stays on Turbo Boost longer. With an MX150 attached, it's even worse.

You need to limit the processor's max boost clock via Throttlestop or similar program. I can't help you with that part though, since I use Linux primarily.

This'll work, but just to test things, disable Turbo Boost/Hyperthreading and see if temps normalize. If temps are still that bad, then there's something happening in the BG of Win11.

[mraroid]

Thanks all for the many suggestions. I will look into all of them and see what I can do.

mraroid

[mraroid]

Hello RealBlackStuff......

What pad thickness do you recommend for the i7 & Nvidia GPU in my T480?

looks like a great idea.

mraroid

[mraroid]

Hello thewaywardgeek....

You fixed my laptop! Beers on me next time we meet buddy!

I am running the latest BIOS for the T480. I was unable to find a way to turn off Turbo Boost in the BIOS, but I was able to turn off Hyperthreading.

Now, when I run the T480 under load, it might peek at 149 F (65 C) but often cools down to the mid 130s F (57 C) or cooler.

That really made the difference. I am no longer worried about this laptop any more.

Thanks so much for that great tip!

best,

mraroid

[axur-delmeria]

You can turn off Turbo Boost on Windows, by setting the maximum processor state to 99%



The problem is that the i7-8650U's base clock is only 1.9GHz, which is a bit low TBH.

[thewaywardgeek]

Hello thewaywardgeek....

You fixed my laptop! Beers on me next time we meet buddy!

I am running the latest BIOS for the T480. I was unable to find a way to turn off Turbo Boost in the BIOS, but I was able to turn off Hyperthreading.

Now, when I run the T480 under load, it might peek at 149 F (65 C) but often cools down to the mid 130s F (57 C) or cooler.

That really made the difference. I am no longer worried about this laptop any more.

Thanks so much for that great tip!

best,

mraroid

No worries, here to help, but truth be told you won't be utilizing your system to the fullest with this, so I suggest doing undervolting using Throttlestop. Word of advice though, it's a bit of a doozy to learn in. But if this works for your use-case, then I'm glad.

[mraroid]

axur-delmeria.....

Thank you so much for pointing that out to me. I had forgotten to go into Windows and set up the CPU, etc. The T480 is running *very* cool now. It might get as warm as about 135 F (57C) when I really push it under load for over 30 minutes or so.

I am quite happy with that temp.

Many thanks to all that have suggested help with this.

mraroid