Fan and thermal compound issues

[craigmontHunter]

I seem to be having problems with the T41, where the CPU temp will jump 15-20 degrees in one update of tp fan control. I understand that you want to have the thinnest possible layer of thermal compound, but it does not seem to make contact with the bottom of the fan. I have read that you do not need to tighten all the screws down, so I just reapplied a very thin layer and left the screws about 1/4 turn loose, and it did not seem to solve the problem .

The other issue is the GPU. I just got it reballed and would like to keep this system working for another year, to get me through grade 12. At one time I had a set of drivers that would allow me to enable powerplay when the system was plugged in, and since I have desktops to game on, that is fine. If anyone has any idea, it would be greatly appreciated, as the ATI omega drivers only have options to slow down the GPU clock to PCI speed, which does not seem to help that much. If a long fan would make a big diffrence, I would appreciate a FRU and information on it.

Thank you

Jack

[sjthinkpader]

The fan/heatsink is actually spring loaded. Once the screws are tight, the correct pressure on the CPU is maintained by the springs. Whoever said to leave the screw loose is not correct. If this doesn't help, remove TP Fan Control and use the IBM/Lenovo Power Manager instead. You should get 45 deg C while idling or light web browsing.

If your machine has the ATI 7500 GPU, it is not designed to be covered by heatsink. If you have the ATI 9000/9600 GPUs, then you should have a long fan. For a T41, any long fan will do.

[craigmontHunter]

Thank you
I know that the 7500 is not supposed to be covered by the long fan, but I am worried that over the course of the next year it will unolder itself again, and because I need to put the system in suspend in between classes, I do not really have an option of leaving it running to maintain a constant temp.

With the CPU, what happens is that it idles at 35 degrees, then when I do something, it shoots up anywhere from 5 to 20 degrees at a time, then I always stop what I am doing when it hits 75-ish, and it drops almost instantiniously to 55 then down to 40 where it slowly drops. that does not seem right, all other systems that I have used the temp goes up very slowly one degree at a time. this system used to max out at under 70 degrees.

[JoshuaR]

My temps look like this for normal web browsing:
1 cpu 60°C
2 aps 51°C
3 crd 36°C
4 gpu 61°C
5 no5 42°C
7 bat 36°C
9 bus 53°C
10 pci 54°C
11 pwr 55°C

But CPU shoots up to 95 just when watching YouTube videos. This seems excessive to me. Should I be worried?

[sjthinkpader]

I had the same problem playing YouTube jumping from 45 deg C to 80+. It may be browser related. I want to try Chrome and see what happens.

[craigmontHunter]

Right now, browsing, the CPU is at about 35 to 40 degrees, and the gpu is at 41, with the omega drivers disabling all AGP acceleration. This has not been a problem so far, but I will need to wait to see.

I also have the problem of APS being higher than anything else - it hovers at about 43 degrees and matches the GPU when it gets higher.

[visionviper]

I'm a little confused as to what the problem is with the GPU... OP: are you just looking for prevention methods to keep you GPU from having problems again?

If so, I would choose to use the ATI drivers over the Omega drivers. Yes, Omega has support for PowerPlay but it seems to be a little unreliable at times. Also just make sure to always lift the laptop with both hands on opposite sides of the laptop.

[craigmontHunter]

Yes, I am just looking for provention methods.

The omega drivers sit at about 40-43 degrees and the lenovo drivers sit at about 47, so I am just trying to keep it as cool as possible. If I run into any other problems I will switch back to the official drivers.

Jack

[sktn77a]

If it was re-balled properly, it should be good for another 3-5 years. Make sure your heatsink surface is flat. Put a little more than a "monolayer" of thermal compound on the CPU core - it will squeeze out when you tighten the screws down (they have a rubber mount on the heatsink).

[visionviper]

Yes, I am just looking for provention methods.

The omega drivers sit at about 40-43 degrees and the lenovo drivers sit at about 47, so I am just trying to keep it as cool as possible. If I run into any other problems I will switch back to the official drivers.

Jack

I referring more to getting the drivers direct from ATI's website. Lenovo does do a decent job with putting updated drivers on their website but for certain things (like graphics) I prefer to go to the GPU manufacturer's website. That way I know I am getting the latest and greatest.

[craigmontHunter]

I can't seem to find any drivers direct from ATI for the GPU. The lenovo drivers are not too bad. it is also reassuring that it should last 3-5 years if the reflow is good. All I really need is one, then it is off to college/university in some computer-related course, so I will be upgrading anyway (hopefully to a thinkpad). If anyone has a download location for ATI drivers, I would be glad to try them, but for now they work just fine.

Thank You

Jack

[sjthinkpader]

...then it is off to college/university in some computer-related course,...

McGill, UT or Waterloo?

[craigmontHunter]

No idea - that is what I am aiming for, I still need to get through grade 12 - that is the year that I need.

[craigmontHunter]

Would this work as preventitive to keep temps down a save the system needing to be reballed for a longer time?

http://www.usedottawa.com/classified-ad/8427627

Thanks

Jack