TPfancontrol: Yes or No? How to control fan noise?

Hello,

I am new here, got my t400s 2801-CTO a few weeks ago.

Send it to repair after 2 days: I had issues with a high-pitched electric noise coming out of the speakers?(I think that many of you must have heard of this). Got it back (they replaced the speakers) and it wasn't any better. Until I found somewhere on the community forum that this sound is common to ThinkPads and that if I disable in Bios the CPU automatic power management (in config), it'll be better. YES IT WORKED. I figure that this community is way more helpful than the whole Service Center in Atlanta.



Now I need to take care of FAN SPEED before I turn this machine finally into a QUIET MACHINE.

I've heard that many use PTfancontrol to control the speed and noise of their Thinkpads?

How safe is this for the computer? What settings would be appropriate for T400s? And where to download this software?

Alternatively, what other forms of fan control does Lenovo offer?

i've found some fan control from Lenovo but I am not sure if this would work?

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?sitestyle=lenovo&lndocid=MIGR-73410



Any help will be appreciated.

Christina

 

I got a T400s. Wouldn't turning off the CPU Automatic Power Management effectively turn off Speedstepping? Did you test your battery life after you made this change?

I also sent it in to have the noise fixed. They ended up replacing the fan and the noise was still there. I turned off CPU Deeper Sleep in the Power Management and it reduced the noise significantly.

I don't find my fan to be loud at all though, therefore I never tried any fan control utility.

I am also interested in other t400s owner's responses.

 

threefiftyLi,
that is a great response.
Well to tell you the truth, I have not yet tried to run it on a battery with the CPU Automatic Power Management off. I will check that out to see what happens.
I am very curious how to work this out. I thought that buying a t400s for what it was worth would mean 100% satisfaction, but really this "noise issue" is something that much cheaper computers don't deal with at all. I am thinking of pressuring Lenovo into giving me my money back if I don't get this sorted out.

 

I thought the same way as you about my purchase but I think the build quality speaks for itself. At least in my opinion, the "noise issue" is a small matter. I think the biggest benefit the T series have in general is the ability to use another HD in the ultrabay. That was what sold me.

btw: my typical battery life with 75% brightness and wifi is 4h30mins

 

I've yet to find a laptop that doesn't make some electrical noise through the speakers. I own a few laptops, including a Gateway P7805u, Gateway netbook, and I've worked on (and use) IBM/Lenovo T30's, T40/T42's, T60/T61, and T400's, and even my old Gateway M6705 (Santa Rosa) based 15" laptop. I've yet to hear one not make noise through the speakers when it's on battery power and power management settings (in Windows) is set to High Performance. It's something to do with the current demand placed on the dc to dc voltage regulators from what I gather and have been told. I haven't used any Core Ix based systems yet so I have no idea if they do the same as previous gen models.

One way to reduce or eliminate the noise when on battery power is to set Vista/Win7's power scheme to "balanced" or "power saver". That usually does the trick.

Here's an interesting trick if you want to hear just how much RF noise those VRM's are throwing out. Get an AM radio, turn it on and tune into something in the 600 range. Put your laptop about two feet away and turn it on.

 

I always have gotten poor reception when using a laptop near a radio, the moment it turns off, static disappears.

 

ThreeFiftyli, I still didn't have time to check how long it'll surive if I have the automatic power management off. Once I do that, i will let you know.
as for the static electricity: in fact I used to have an IMB machine that was silent as a mouse. And my last 2 laptops (thinkpad x300 and Asus) were more silent than this one. Actually when it come to electric noise and fan activity, my old F3F Asus would be lenovo without any problems. So DidiDoc I disagree with you: not all the computers are having a problem with this one.
No no one has yet answered my question about TPfancontrol? Would anyone know?
And generally If I was to return this t400s and got money back from Lenovo, is there any other computer that would be of the same build quality, weight and size proportions but which would be really quiet? I am really ready to look at Asus again, maybe even the chaper brands such as Acer. I just want a silent computer...call it an obsession of mine.

 

Go to http://forum.thinkpads.com/ or specifically:

ThinkPad Utility Work Area forum