T43P ... reducing HEAT

[sfara]

Hi, i got this 2668P4U model T43p...2.26 Pentium M, SXGA+, 80GB 7200, FireGL 3200 etc. I use mostly at home.
This thinkpad really rocks in performarce but the operation temperatures really disturb me.
Working in Windows (Word proc, web, email) takes the CPU and the GPU to 45-50 Celsius....but man....when i play a game (like CS or EVE) they go up to the roof....CPU 87....GPU 80.

Questions: are these temperatures a real threat to my Thinkpad? Could it break? Or it was design to run at these high temp? OBS: even at these high temp. the system is solid rock stable.

I am considering to buy a notebook cooler like this http://www.zalman.co.kr/eng/product/view.asp?idx=224 hoping it would bring the laptop temp. down with 10-15 Celsius.

So, using it at home...it lays directly on the table. I could make some high rubber legs to lift it up a little. I wonder if this would help.

Anyways...bottom line is that i'm afraid of not breaking this superb Thinkpad by running demanding apps...so feel free to tell any methods of bring the temperatures at decent level.

PS: i had a T41 before this....and i had not such problems with it (true...it was a 1.6 Pentium M with Ati 7500).

Thank you very much.

[CZOLG]

This is a mobile workstation. The temperatures you are reporting while quite high are still acceptable. I had similar values to yours before I used NHC to undervolt my CPU. Now the temperature does not go above 75/80 degrees Celsius.
Bottomline: as long as the system is stable I would not worry.

[Pascal_TTH]

GPU and CPU can work flawless until 100°C. It's written in the datasheets from Intel, AMD, ATI and NVIDIA.

[aaa]

Hard flat desk. It's designed to be used on one, and unless it's clogged/broken, any temperatures reached on a desk are fine.

Second that NHC recommendation.

[egnatius]

I use a Vantec Lapcool (kinda old and not nearly as sleek as the Zalman cooler you mentioned but it does the job) with my T43. It really does lower the temperature. The palm rests are noticeably cooler and more comfortable.

I say go for it.

[Johan]

As CZOLG points out above, you could (significantly!) reduce heat (and by that power dissipation, hence increasing battery life) by installing Notebook Hardware Control and use that to undervolt the CPU and downclock the GPU.

If you check the post of Mon Jul 30 in that thread, you will find link to an ACPI file for a T43p.

By the way, check if your T43p has the long fan (I guess it has - check the Hardware Maintenance Manual); this will better cool the GPU compared to the short fan, used in some T4x's

Good luck!

Best tregards,

Johan

[danny_isr]

what really make a difference on mine is the "power play" in the ATI display settings ,
i dont know if you tired it or not. but give it a shot. it will reduce the temp !
i'm using the NHC as well to downvolt it. both together do help.

i can reduce the temp from 60C to 40C just by doing that.

the annoying thing is , each time i'm unplugging the laptop from the wall and re connecting. the power play goes to maximum again ...

[agarza]

T43p's generates lots of heat. Solutions:
1. Undervolt of course the CPU with NHC
2. Blow compressed air in the heatsink exhausts (conducts where hot air comes out): You might need to remove the keyboard
3. Replace thermal paste with MX-1 or Shin-Etsu X-23 (Arctic Silver 5 is way too overrated)

[gunston]

hot generated in T43 is quite subjective compare to other T4x series

[monkey243]

The Temperature is Normal in you thinkpad. You can use tpfancontrol to cool down you thinkpad. Search this forum, you can find many topics about this software.

[Paul Unger]

what really make a difference on mine is the "power play" in the ATI display settings ,
i dont know if you tired it or not. but give it a shot. it will reduce the temp !
i'm using the NHC as well to downvolt it. both together do help.

danny,

I've used NHC since it was CHC--a long time--but I've never been able to select 'Enable Powerplay' . . . It's always been greyed out. I tried troubadix's modded Catalyst driver about a week ago, and was finally able to enable Powerplay in NHC, but now I'm having wierd shutdown problems (i.e., it won't shutdown normally--I have to kill it with a hard shutdown [hold power button until it turns off]). So I'm wondering: any idea how you have Powerplay enabled in NHC? Are you running the modded ATI driver? If not, what version are you running, and from which source--ATI or Lenovo? Finally, would manually underclocking the GPU in NHC with "ATI clock control" achieve the same results as enabling Powerplay? I'd sure appreciate some feedback on this. Thanks.

[danny_isr]

Hi Paul ,

i didn't use powerplay on NHC . i'm going directly to the windows "Display properties -> settings -> advanced -> powerplay then
Plugged In to Optimal Battery Life.
from my experience doing so from NHC is buggy. the trade of the way i'm doing it , i need to do it every time i'm pluging/unpluging the main power. if you do it on NHC it will stay that way .. but like we both saw it doesnt work well.
try it the way i did it. works for me.

[Paul Unger]

Thanks danny_isr. I'll give it a try!

[agarza]

Unfortunately ATI CONTROL PANEL doesn't allow to reduce the voltage and core speeds when AC mode. The only way is to use modded drivers, but everytime I use those after the driver is installed, the screen would have some kind of flickery very annoying to my eyes, It 'cures' pressing the LCD close button (screen goes OFF and then ON)

[Paul Unger]

Unfortunately, I don't have those options . . . This is all I've got: http://picasaweb.google.com/pcunger1/Op ... 9715902578.

I just deleted the modded ATI Catalyst driver and control panel and installed the latest from Lenovo (1rd635ww driver version 8.133.2.1.1-061116a). I had a wealth of options with the modded driver, but it was causing problems with shutdown. I guess it's a bit of a balance between performance and useability, eh? Any idea how I can get a full featured control panel with the Lenovo driver?

[Esben]

Just by using RMClock, my power consumption at full load dropped from 47 W to 35W, measured with watt-meter, before the AC-adapter. That means ~10W less heat is expelled inside the computer.