T420s: Suggested settings for TPFanControl

Just got a brand new T420s But to my chagrin the fan was a jet engine. I found the suggestion to install TPFanControl on this forum and it is working wonderfully.

I was wondering what best to use for the fan settings? Default Smart 1 seems too lax and Smart 2 too stringent. Currently I have set-


Level=40 0
Level=45 2
Level=50 3
Level=55 4
Level=60 5
Level=65 6
Level=70 7
Level=75 64

 

These are my settings. It keeps the machine quiet under light usage (it's currently on 55C and fan level 1) but the speed increases quickly when under load.

Level=50 0 0 1
Level=55 1 0 1
Level=60 2 0 1
Level=65 3 0 1
Level=70 4 0 1
Level=75 5 0 1
Level=80 128 128 1

One issue that I haven't investigated is that sometimes the fan stays under BIOS control after a period of heavy load. When that happens I get reminded of the noise I would get without TPFC.

Some people say that their T420s is very quiet. I don't know if this is a quality problem. I only notice my fan noise when I'm working at home. The background noise in office conditions tends to mask any fan noise unless it is running at full speed.

John

 

The T420s I sold routinely ran at about 1900 rpm which in a home office setting is nearly imperceptible. It was an early model T420s with the i7, Optimus, 160GB SSD, etc.

 

Thank you, John. I'm curious to what it means that you have three numbers for each speed. 0 0 1, etc.

 

That was my interpretation of the instructions. The line above the fan control table in the .ini file says:

However, I don't see a description of the last two parameters but just edited the defaulti .ini file with my own temperatures.

I would note that I'm using the W520 version of TPFC which was tweaked to give better support for the EC of the latest thinkpads.

John

 

Personally, I'd avoid having the fan spin up and down often; the most wear happens when the fan is starting/stopping.

I keep my W520 at 2000RPM at the very minimum in my config.

 

Don't run the 420s, but I use these exact settings on both of 220s. Fan basically never spins up under light load, and even then I rarely get above 70C. Several minutes of full load will get you up past 80C, though.

 

not sure how it works out on this laptop, but on my T61 only these settings actually change fan speed: 0,1,3,6, and 64

 

have you guys tried repasting the CPU? It might lower the temps and reduce the noise even at stock /BIOS fan settings. I have repasted numerous thinkpads in the past was always able to slash about 5-10C off the load temps.

Just 2 cents here.