t43p (2687EJU) initial impression and comments

[tumorim]

I got my t43p (2687EJU) about one week ago. 2GHz PM 760 sonoma CPU, 256MB memory, 80GB 7K100 drive, FireGL v3200 video, 1600x1200 UXGA display, fingerprint reader. I added 1GB Kingston DDR2-pc4200 memory. Overall I am pretty happy with it except some slight problems, including missing a big screw in the back of the machine, and having a light blue stuck pixel. As for the missing screw in the back of the laptop near the ultrabay slim, I do not know what it is used for. I found another photo online that also has the missing screw (http://www.notebookforums.com/showthrea ... 50&t=99379). Obviously something is not aligned well so a screw cannot be applied. I did find a screw in a small plastic bag in the big plastic bag containing the manual, and it has similar size as the hole in the back of the laptop. Still has no idea what it is used for.

I did some testing and benchmarking on it, so I'd like to share the information here as reference for those interested in buying t43p.

pcmark04: 3800 (score is very low and unsatifactory, presumably due to slower CPU than other t43p).
3dmark01: 12245
3dmark03: 3465
3dmark05: 1674
3dmark05 (overclocking to 505/305): 1997

I used RMClock to do the voltage control. I prefer it over NHC, which requires .NET 2.0 and is relatively unstable when overclocking GPU, and has conflicts with tpfancontrol. Except 6x, all other multiplier used a voltage that is one stop higher than the stable voltage. "Stable voltage" means the voltage that does not generate error in Prime95 for about 10 minutes.
6 0.700
8 0.748
9 0.796
10 0.828
11 0.876
12 0.908
14 1.004
15 1.052

What really bothers me is the temperature. Fully loaded (CPU loaded, GPU idle) temperature is 55C for CPU and 57C for GPU (25C room temperature) after voltage adjustment in RMClock. Fan controlled by BIOS at 3940rpm. Idle temperature is 39C for CPU and 45C for GPU, and fan runs at 3919rpm.

I investigated the possibility of using ATI catalyst 6.1 driver on the machine. As expected, catalyst really helps benchmarking scores. 3dmark05 scores 1727. After overclocking to 470-300 for GPU/MEM, 3dmark05 scores 1985. But here is the big problem: catalyst 6.1 increases the GPU temperature. Without overclocking, GPU remains at 85C during 3D rendering. It should be much higher when doing overclocking but I did not measure. When I use IBM stock driver, however, GPU temperature remains 80-82C during 3D rendering. To be safe, I uninstalled catalyst and continue using IBM stock driver.

However, I have to say that 80-82C is still a high temperature that is relatively unacceptable. Presumably it will decrease the life span of video card. Fortunately, I do not play 3D games that much, and my sole video-intensive work is molecular modelling which requires OpenGL at most.

My overall conclusion is that (1) there is big heating problem for GPU in T43p, which makes its fan running constantly even when idling. Undervolting CPU and underclocking GPU does not solve the problem. (2) tpfancontrol can be very helpful in not only eliminating fan noise when machine is idling, but also increasing fan speed (to level 7) and noise when playing 3D games.

[FTC]

Hi, how do you measure GPU temps ?

[christopher_wolf]

To measure GPU temps; you can use the Fan Control Utility to look at the sensor output.

[FTC]

Hi, thanks for the input. I knew about TP Fan control but was not using it because of its incompatibility with NHC. However, just to check temps it's fine... even if once in a while it crashes due to NHC.

However, I can now tell you that my T42 2373 L77 (undervolted and w/artic silver applied) 1.8Dothan / 6900GPU does never get hotter than 67º GPU / 64º CPU (even after the hardest GPU/CPU tests).. maybe useful as a reference, take into account that a Sonoma 2.0 *ought* to be a bit hotter than that.

[smugiri]

The missing screw near the Ultra Bay is for securing the drive into the bay so that it can not be removed "casually" for the lack of a better word. For large IT departments, this is usually used in conjunction with a crazy variant of a Torx(TM) type screw / bolt to secure the removable drive to machine since with a screw in place, it is impossible to pull the little nib that lets out the tab you pull on to get the drive out of the bay. To the best of my knowledge although I could be wrong, this screw is not in place in all Thinkpads when they ship.

[christopher_wolf]

Indeed; it serves as a locking mechanism for the release switch that pops the bay carriage slider out. It is possible, I don't know why a single user would do it though, to find a screw and lock it down....But that defeats the purpose of the Ultrabay.

[tumorim]

I use tpfancontrol to monitor the temperature. The GPU temperature can drop >15C within several seconds so the monitoring has to be real-time (i.e., you cannot close a full-screen 3D game then check temperature). Thanks for the answer about the screw hole; I did find a big screw in the plastic bag that contains manual. For me the locking mechanism is useless, but it may be useful in office settings to prevent theft of the optical drive.