T61p owners: keeping the fan off?

Hello! The 14" T61P with 570m graphics seems perfect for me. Is it possible, when using speedstep (NotebookHardwareControl) for the lowest CPU frequency and voltage, and Powermizer (or GPU clockspeed) at it's maximum savings, to keep the fan off when the laptop is doing something? I believe tpfancontrol can keep the fan off, but will the laptop overheat? If someone could run 3DMark or something with maximum Powermizer and Speedstep, I'd be very grateful.

I currently have a laptop with two old videocards, and the integrated video combined with speedstep keeps the fan off even with a full load. The old nvidia has poor powermizer results, and the fan generally stays on with it.

Thanks for any replies!

 

I would be leary of messing with the fan settings in a laptop because things heat up in a hurry.

 

True, thanks for the reply. The tpfancontrol method would be a last-ditch effort, and I'd probably buy a laptop cooler with slow large fans, such as the Vantec Lapcool 3 with 2 80mmX10mm fans and disable the one further away from the vents. I haven't researched that one, so I don't know if it's a good cooler.

What I need to know is if the laptop can be made efficient enough through clock settings to not use the fan when under load. My current older laptop can do this. They don't sell Lenov anywhere near me so I can't test it, and they won't tell me anything other than the published fan specifications, so I need help from someone with a T61p. I need to know if the T61p can be set in a "silent mode" where it does not produce enough heat to trigger the fan.

 

Bump I guess.

Can the fan on the T61p be kept off when using the laptop? (eg. 3DMark, etc)

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Here's my thing. I have an Alienware m5500. I can switch to the GeForce 6600, or to the GMA900. With the GMA900, I can keep the fan off. The 6600's old version of Powermizer is incapable of keeping the fan off. The laptop is old and big, but the 6600Go is essentially more powerful than anything below a 7600Go or 8600M (IOW, it still beats the Quadro 140M). The only notebook I've found with the graphics switch thing is the Sony Vaio, which switches to a 8400m, which is still slower than what I have. The alienware laptop is two years old.

I've asked 1enovo, and they would only send me the acoustic information on the fan used. The specifications are essentially the same for the alienware's 5010 fan, which is too loud. I don't mind the fan when performance settings are on maximum (Speedstep and Powermizer), but there are times in the workday that I need to use my laptop silently.

The T61p has a more powerful videocard, and is even available in 14", but I don't know if it can be kept silent. There are no tablets with a non-ULV processor and discrete graphics (the Acer was discontinued), and a 14" notebook with a graphics card more powerful than the 6600Go is a rarity. Unless this laptop can keep the fan off, I can't upgrade. If I can't get an answer, then 1enovo is out, and I'll post in the "what notebook should I get?" forum.

 

My t61p is on maximum performance all the time and I am not even sure that I have ever heard the fan.

 

Ditto...I don't understand why one would want to turn it off, except possibly to save a trivial amount of power? Perhaps it's not as quiet for everyone?...

 

No Laptop can keep turned off its fans when running at highest CPU performance, but every laptop should be able to run without them when the CPU is at lowest speed. So you see it heavily depends on how often the system is running at low/highest rates. When the CPU is in work the temperature rises dramatically so running a 3D benchmark would turn the fan on for sure, unless the graphic card does all the job, but even this one would trigger the fan.

 

I've used HP, Dell laptops before. The T61 currently i'm using is the quietest one.

 

Thanks for the posts, it helps! I'm told that this laptop is very quiet. The alienware's 5010 50x10x10 fan is published to max out at 34dBa, while the T61p is said by the IBM published specs to be at max 37dB (31dB on low). Manufacturers lie about noise levels, but there are no resellers near for me to compare in person. In quiet work environments, when the m5500's fan spins up on low, people start staring at me until I fix the power setting.

Can anyone test it? In the nVidia control panel, Powermizer can be set to "max power settings", and in notebookhardwarecontrol (pbus-167.com), speedstep/voltage can be set to "max battery" (or the minimum frequency stepping and stable voltage. It can also control Powermizer). If you don't have either, I strongly recommend looking into it as they can increase battery life by hours. nVidia's drivers have been known to come with poor defaults for powermizer, leading to terrible performance when on batteries.

http://www.pbus-167.com/nhc/nhc_main/nvidia.gif
http://www.pbus-167.com/nhc/nhc_main/cpuspeed.gif

 

I've just been told to "order a laptop now.", so I'm going to trust all of your reviews on the fan noise.

I've found that RAM and HD prices are 2 to 3x the cost, so I'm going with the cheap stuff there. 2.6ghz is 2x the cost of 2.4ghz, and I'll be underclocking a lot, so it's the 2.4ghz. Ultranav with fingerprint reader, two batteries, hard drive bay adapter, mini dock, usb soundbar (it's cheap), 90w combo adapter, 2 years warranty protection.

I'm researching the accessories (bags, etc) and 2.6ghz benchmarks now.

 

in all honesty, i can't even heart my t61p when it's fan is on. even on the highest settings. the only way i know it's on is if i put my hand next to the vent and feel all the hot air being pushed out of the vent. but if there's any ambient noise in the room, that will be louder than the fan itself.

 

Just don't download any BIOS updates, I just downloaded the most recent bios update and it makes my fan run a lot more, and it sounds louder (for some reason). This fan almost sounds as loud as my t60p right now.

 

Ack, not again! I wish they hadn't done this with the T60 and now the T61p? Do you know what particular BIOS version made the change? There are quite a few embedded controller revisions (it controls the fan among other things) in the current crop of BIOS's.

 

Ordered today. eCoupon USPHOLIDAY.

I've been told that the T7800 processor is the same as an X7800, that they've just rebadged it and used a lower wattage. Passmark gives the T7700 a score of 1152 (like an Athlon 64 x2 5600), and the X7800 1653 (like an opteron 265). The lower wattage may slow down the processor, but that explains the cost difference.

Turbo Memory appears to do nothing yet. Maybe it will help someday, but the cash for it could be spent better on faster flash drives that will be useful, or on WWAN cards.

The thinkpad comes with a 90w adapter. The 90w AC/DC combo adapter is no longer available, though it shows up on the website, and the part should be replaced at some point soon. The ultrabay battery no longer shows up on the website, and I'm not sure if it's available.

The Thinkpad wireless may be more compatible with OSX86. I'm told that it is recognized as Airport natively, while the Intel is not recognized (or at least not easily). The graphics card is not QE enabled, but the resolution can be forced in the boot.plist. Ethernet may or may not work, but gigabit ethernet cards are available for both USB and expresscard.
( http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?p=354435)

I chose the T61p 14.1 SXGA+. It has the powerful graphics card, hobbled only slightly with less RAM. The lower resolution sounds like a disadvantage, but I'm at 1920x1200 on my current laptop, making the trackpad annoying and games run slowly/ugly. The 4:3 screen sounds stupid, but it makes it lighter and far smaller width-wise than a 15.4", while a 14" widescreen is nearly the same size.

I chose the 1gb in 1 stick, as the 2-stick option did not cost less, and I can buy 4gb of better RAM for less than the upgrade through lenovo. I bought the 160gb 5400 drive, since it's only 60$ more, and I can stick it in an ultrabay adapter, replacing it with a 200gb 7200rpm or an 8gb SSD for system partitions more cheaply than the other upgrade options.

BIOS/Firmware updates often make the fan run more on notebooks. It's probably to introduce laptops as quieter, but increase the fanspeed after-sale to decrease future returns. That doesn't have to be intentional, as they can underestimate cooling needs, and try to reduce the number of hardware failures. This happens all the time with Apple hardware.

Check out that Notebook Hardware Control. By testing lower voltage levels with the lowest clock frequency stepping, I was able to keep the fan completely off on my laptop, and get a lot more battery life. It has powermizer options, which will be important with the more powerful videocard.

I'm really trusting you guys on that fan. I'll be able to report back on that in three weeks, apparently.

 

i'm sure you won't be disappointed.
the 14" T61p is also hobbled by the 64-bit memory interface instead of 128-bit as in the 15.4" version.

 

I hope so . The lower SXGA+ resolution, I theorize, could make up for the lack of video performance compared to the equivalent 15.4" wuxga+ I would have ordered. I wish they wouldn't use these acronyms anymore, as numbers are more exact.

Well done on Ubuntu there. I'm afraid that the first thing I'll be doing with the notebook is reformatting Vista Basic off of it.

 

I updated to the latest BIOS on my T61p 15.4" 2 weeks ago and cannot hear the fan running unless I'm in a very quiet room and I still have to put my ear down near the vent to hear the fan at all. This was done with both cores under full load, so I assume the fan was running at full speed.

 

ubuntu definitely runs better than Vista. the only reason i have vista on the computer is if i'm letting friends borrow my computer since they don't know how to use linux (neither do i, but i'm learning).

gutsy gibbon gave me some troubles at first because of the video card (it wouldn't use the proper drivers) but there's an article about that.
this reading helps a lot: http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Install_Ubuntu_Gutsy_Gibbon_on_a_T61p

 

On my t61p 4:3 I just upgraded to the newest bios and the fan never turns off, I don't think it has turned off once since I installed the new bios. I can now hear an audible woosh of air, where as before I couldn't hear anything. I can even hear the fan over my typing (like right now) which makes it annoying. Its louder than the hard disk too, so maybe the heat dissapation technology in the 15.4's are different than the 14.1's, or the bios is optimized to run with the 15.4 units, but the fan now runs always and it is quiet noisy, if an owl was this loud it would starve.

 

So how did it go?

How's the silence with speed stepping control etc?

 

Hi, sorry about the delay. Things have been working well, so I haven't needed to reply.

The fan does indeed turn on. I'm not sure if the fan can be kept off, since it hasn't mattered. The fan is extremely quiet, even with powersaving on minimum. I can hear it in a moderately quiet room. I can also hear the harddrive, especially when it's seeking. A SSD HD would quiet the machine by a lot.

I believe the problem was my last laptop. It was incredibly loud. The T61P_ is a quiet machine despite the specifications. It is not a silent machine, but it's quiet enough to not matter. Well done to Lenov0 for that.

I haven't tested the ability to keep the fan off. A quick informal test just now, and with a heavy load, the fan was on low.

I can do a full review if anyone is considering the laptop and interested in my experience.

 

What I'm particually interested in, is can the fan be kept off during very light loading (ie reading)? I'd be happy for the fan to cut in under CPU load, but it's the sustained fan-off during CPU semi-idle, that is my number 1 buying question.

I'm currently considering either a T61 or the Dell XPSm1530, which apparently can do this. (BTW, with a SSD and the medical hearing issue I have, the difference will be very siginficant to me.)

So, maybe the T61 with a Penyn? But maybe not with current new bios???

Thanks.

PS

 

Same here.

 

"On my t61p 4:3 I just upgraded to the newest bios and the fan never turns off, I don't think it has turned off once since I installed the new bios. I can now hear an audible woosh of air, where as before I couldn't hear anything. I can even hear the fan over my typing (like right now) which makes it annoying. Its louder than the hard disk too, so maybe the heat dissapation technology in the 15.4's are different than the 14.1's, or the bios is optimized to run with the 15.4 units, but the fan now runs always and it is quiet noisy, if an owl was this loud it would starve."

Wished I had this info. before...shouldn't have updated my HP dv2700, but now I'm glad I didn't open my thinkpad.

 

shoebox,

It's the bios....and it's not exclusive to Lenovo...too bad it can't be rolled back

 

I have a 14'' as well and the fan runs continuously. I don't know if it's cuase I have the heater on, but if I am idle, it turns off but as soon as I start loading webpages, the fan turns on. It's pretty annoying actually. Anyone discover a solution?

 

It would be interesting to see if this is still the case with the new T9300 CPUs.

A review of the new desktop CPUs showed them eating 60% less power compared to the same clock cycle in the old/current range, which isn't miles off the "up to 80% less heat generated" that Intel have claimed.

 

I have the T9300 in my computer and the fan runs. It might be because my apt is at least 73 F. We don't pay utilities so that's about the lowest it ever goes.

On a side note, does anyone else have a T9300 and get CPU whine?

 

My fan has been running continuosly for a week now before it turned on from time to time. I called support and they said I need to send the unit for repair because it is not supposed to do so. T61 14.1"

 

I forgot to reconnect one fan (there were three fans) when cleaning my old laptop. It shut down from the heat 2 minutes after I logged on. So I suppose you could disconnect the fan from the board but don't disconnect the cpu fan, that's for sure.

I get cpu whine with my lenovo when on battery power. It doesn't sound good in the library.