Reduce X61 Heat - any ideas?

I'm working on the computer mainly at home, and on AC with the battery out. The right palm rest is getting very hot, I've understand it's because of the WIFI card.

Is there a way to get the fan working more? I've found no option to maximize the fan performance in the power manager settings.

any ideas on reducing the heat will be gladly appreciated.

 

Try to blow out the fans/vents.

For more about cooling check out NBR's cooling central. You will find many tips there on how to keep its running cool.

 

It's a 2 week old notebook, there is no dirt. But I will read the guide.

 

Enable power saving mode for the wireless card by "echo 5 > /sys/bus/pci/drivers/iwl4965/*/power_level". My palm rest gets warm but not hot anymore.

 

I wonder where they have put the shell on windows XP How did you know I've declined to accept the vista license agreement?

thank for the tip: I've lowered the transmit power in Access connections and chose the power save mode.

btw: I understand that lowering the transmit power will have an effect on the range of the wireless transmit, but does it have an effect on the speed of the connection also?

 

What happens after you put the battery in and let it charge fully, say over 24 hours. Is the palmrest hotter or cooler?

The battery is part of the power system. I would expect the system to get warm while it charges, then cool down once it is fully charged.

I have a 2.4Ghz X61 with WWAN here, the palm rest is not hot, but I have never operated it with the battery out.

 

I've inserted the battery when it's fully charged, and I see no noticable change. Following your logic, if I use the notebook without the battery it should be cooler, since there is no charging?

in the mean time I've switched from using 802.11g to b, and using only 10% of the power of the antenna. Strangely, the right palm rest is still hot even when the wireless switch is set to off.

 

undervolt with RMclock

 

@techboydino:

Is this utility is safe to use? isn't that a bit like overclocking?

If I understand all the responses here, I've bought the latest in technology just to undervolt the CPU and lower the specs of the wireless connection. that's just great.

thanks for the tips, anyway.

 

i undervolt all my laptops. i cant say ive had any problems. the cpu will let you if the voltage is too low. it actually takes stress off the cpu and reduces heat, maybe increading battery a little too.

 

Thanks techboydino, but I think the problem is not in the CPU but in the wireless card and ventilation.

What temp' range should I expect on the CPU?

And If anyone thinks we deserve a better support from Lenovo on this, he/she is welcome to join the petition:

http://forums.lenovo.com/lnv/board/message?board.id=X_Series_Thinkpads&thread.id=3388