X200 with SSD overheating

[tendim]

Hi.

Last year my HD died so I upgraded to an SSD. Machine now flies on boot-up and is generally quieter.

However since the upgrade I've had a number of hard crashes - the system will crash completely, and the BIOS will report that there is no HD installed. Leave it for a 1/2 hour and it will be fine; so I attribute the "no HD" to the SSD overheating.

Since installing TPFanControl I have seen my CPU temps hit the high 80s, and the system will be hot to the touch; this problem is more pronouced when I use the ultradock.

Any ideas on how to cool the system down? The fact that TPFanControl doens't report any issues, and that I can hear the fan gearing up to jet-engine speed, tells me that the fan itself is probably working. I am considering opening up the whole unit and using compressed air to blow everything clean, but on top of that, can anyone else recommend some other preventative maintenance I can perform while the unit is open?

Specs:

• Thinkpad X200
• Dual boot Windows 7 SP1 64-bit and Ubuntu
• 4GB RAM (2x 2GB chips pulled from an Apple MBP)
• 250GB SSD

TIA,
-10d

[Hans Gruber]

When is the last time you reapplied thermal paste to your CPU? My guess is your computer is overheating without exceeding the thermal max. High CPU temps is contributing to what appears to you to be HDD errors. It sounds as if it most likely overheating issues that is reducing the stability of your X200. If your CPU overheats, it simply shuts off without blue screens or error code crashes.

[brchan]

I would probably go in this order:

1. Clean the fan
2. Reseat the heatsink
3. Test results
4. Replace thermal paste with AS5 or Tuniq Tx-4
5. Test results

For the hard drive issue, you can check the S.M.A.R.T status for any odd information including temps. Also check the contacts of the ssd and hdd/ssd sata connector to make sure there isn't any dust or foreign material creating a bad connection.

In rare cases, the heatsink might of suffered from heatpipe failure and would have to be replaced.

[TonyJZX]

Fan is probaly on its way out. Its a sub $5 part. Problem is getting a new fan in there. Its tight.