T60p vs. T61: Temperature?

So this was addressed in Andrew's great review of the T61, but it was a comparison between the older, hotter, noisier T4x series and the T61. I know there are some major advances in the cooling tech for the t61, but how does it compare to the T60p? I have heard some stories about crazy temperatures in the t60p, so the better cooling is really the only thing that I can think of that might get me to cancel my t60p order and go for the T61. Any opinions? I guess no one has both in hand to compare, but does anyone have temp. measurements for the t60p? Is the T60p uncomfortable to work with?

Also, are we sure that the T61 is going to come out in the 14" 4:3 aspect? I just can't settle for a lower-resolution screen, but if they come out with a SXGA+ T61 14", I'd be all over it.

 

Supposedly it's coming, but who knows.

 

Does the T60 review have temperature readouts? if so then you can compare that way or if not then perhaps someone in the forum has posted their temps

 

My T60 WS can get as cool as 41 C on battery (1 GHz) and as high as 62 C on AC (2 GHz) under full load on both cores. I don't know how Andrew measured the temp, but I just used RM Clock which polls the CPU sensor on chip. "After running" as app isn't as good as while running it, it cools off in a few seconds at most. I'm sure he did it fine, but it isn't clear how. Mine are the min and max CPU sensor temps, you won't feel that much of a heat difference obviously...

 

Thanks for the info. One question: You say T60, so I'm assuming that it does not have the V5250 video card that the t60p has, right? Do you think that would contribute much to temperature differences?

 

The temp measurements I have provided are of the core temperature. The video card will contribute to the heat you feel on the outside but I don't know how you would really measure it. Clearly Andrew's numbers are also of core temps. In a sense that isn't a great measure of if this will feel hot on my lap. 64 C is about 150 F and that would be hot enough I think you would at least have a ouch hot pull away reaction... But of course you don't feel the 64C probably more like 30 or 35 C

So if you have a T60P yes it will get hotter for the system over all, but neither my nor Andrews numbers are probably a good measure of it.

 

I was trying to figure out how to read the temperature. I found this handy utility for the cpu (select Core Temp):

http://www.benchmarkhq.ru/english.html?/mon_e.html

 

I have had a T60p for over a year and I have to say that it runs hot. The video card (FireGL 5250) is rated to go over 100C, but usually stays in the 60-70C range during normal use. This heats up the rest of the computer and taxes the heat sink. I could complain but I chose to go with a high performance video card. The fan has run continuously since I bought it and is starting to make an ominous buzzing noise. I know this is an old thread, but I highly recommend against getting a powerful video card with your laptop and spending whatever you have to for better cooling.

From the Ars Technica review of the T61p

 

I have had a T60p for about a year and it has run hot with a noisy fan...
so I tried a chill pad [targus] and that didn't accomplish much...
then I got a docking station for it because it's more comfortable...
to my great surprise, it is now running cool and absolutely quiet???
I installed an applet to keep track of CPU temps and its in the low 50s'C or around 130'F... at 50% power...
I was ready to open it up and clean/lube the fan which I may still do...
I also heard that the ATI Radeon V5250 video card dissipates a lot of heat which was remedied in the T61 by replacing it with an Nvidia card...

 

In my opinion your choice on whether you get a T60p vs T61 is if you will ever use the raw power of the FireGL.
I went from a T42p with a FireGL T2 GFX that also made the laptop heat much more although idle temps were in the low 50's idling and 70's at load.
I opted to go for a quiet and silent machine, a T61 4:3 SXGA+ with integrated graphics. I don't regret my decision. I don't game that much like I did before with my T42p.

T61 is the LAST Thinkpad ever to have the standard screen 4:3 (available on XGA and SXGA+ resolutions). If you want one you better hurry, last time I checked on Lenovo's Outlet all T61's there were WideScreen. You may be lucky checking on eBay if there's one available. I love my T61 SXGA+

Good luck

 

^ same here, but I got nVidia cause I play games on it too