Thinkpad cooling shots...

I composited a shot showing the cooling and internal chassis of various Thinkpads. Note the extensive cooling on the new T510/W510. I included the new Alienware 15 inch laptop as it has a very quiet, well designed cooling arrangement.

 

Cooling has always been a Thinkpad's strong suit... and Apple macbook pro's worst area....

 

Great pics! Thanks a lot! The scale's not perfect, but it seems the T410's fan is slightly smaller than the T510's? That could certainly explain the T410's noise issue that does not seem to be present in the T510.

I wonder what the W510 looks like inside - according to the Hardware Maintenance Manual, its heat sink area is slightly different from the T510's.

 

If you look at the T410 heat vent, you would notice that the vent cross sectional area is smaller than that of the T400.

I just noticed that the T510 speakers are not even aligned

 

They weren't perfectly aligned with the speaker grilles in the T500 either - acoustically, I doubt it makes any noticeable difference.

 

I pulled these screen caps off the Lenovo service videos. T510/W510 have the same series of videos. So I am assuming they have the same cooling arrangement specced to cope with anything from an i5 to a quad core i7.

 

when looking for a notebook cooler for my incoming t510, i wonder where fans would be most important. i know the top left corner gets the most hot, but what are the other most important parts to move air to?



where are the ram and cpu?

im thinking of using low rpm 120mm fans with about 30cfm.

id like to absolutely plaster it, but would that be overkill?



i have figured some more strategic arrangements.







what would you do?

 

Just set it on top of a box fan.

 

i would just sit it in a fridge....... the T510 shouldn't get that hot, so having these laptop cooler fans, seem to be an overkill.

 

Cool thanks for posting these pics.

 

If the T510 is anything like my T500, it won't get very hot at all. What I do is set my T500 on a custom-built K'nex passive stand that lifts it about 2" off the desk. It reduces load temperatures quite significantly, actually.

 

i apologize if i seem to be overreacting. im toughing it out with scorching hot t61 thats already had a motherboard replacement because i cant afford the downtime. i ordered a t510 with discrete because i wanted the fhd screen, and i dont want to have long term problems.

 

I was just joking around with you! I also think most Thinkpads run fairly cool and quiet. If yours doesn't have you looked into possible issues like no thermal paste, improperly placed pads, or other assembly type issues? Hopefully your next one has no issues.

 

The T60p and T61p do tend to run hot at full load. However, even during some very demanding tasks, my T500 keeps temperatures under control - I have never seen the CPU go past 53 (HW Monitor) to 60 (CoreTemp) degrees, and have never seen the GPU get past 79 degrees (HW Monitor).

I think you should be fine with a passive stand - however, if you do want to get a notebook cooler, make sure it is wide enough for the T510, and that the fans are towards the rear - CPU and GPU are concentrated in the upper left.

 

that depends on what GPU and CPU you have... if you have a T7xxx then it will run hot. Also, nvidia faulty gpu doesn't help either.

I tend to aim for Thinkpads with integrated, since they run cooler and doesn't stress out the battery or fan that much, which is something that i like. I guess the hybrid GPU on the T400, T500 and W500 really help in that regard.

 

My T60 runs at 90C at full CPU load (Converting video file formats) using a 2.3Ghz C2D T7600 processor. It is not the fastest processor out there, so it does suffer in trying to keep cool.

So far, nothing is broken. I keep the computer on a table when running intense tasks. The keyboard and the battery area are fine to touch with hands. My fingers begin to burn if I close the vents for over 20 seconds. Otherwise the vent outflow is only warm, nothing like 90C.

Should I be doing something more proactive than this?

 

Water boils at 100C so maybe you are pushing it a little bit...

 

I suggest you get a laptop cooler that can direct some much needed cool air at the bottom of the laptop. Also, if you are out of warranty, you may want to reapply the thermal compounds on the CPU.

Maybe you should give your heatsink/fan a good clean.

 

My T61p GPU runs at 83 max when gaming, decoding HD media.

 

One of the first things I do with any laptop computer is install a program that allows me to under-volt the processor. This typically reduces the CPU temperature by 10-20 C with no side effects, allowing my laptops to run with minimal, if any fans under most usage. Give it a try!

 

People seem to be very concerned about heat issues. I say get yourself a laptop with Intel CULV cpu, and build yourself a nice quad core desktop machine if you desire performance. I understand the fact that some people are in need of performance on the go.

Best Regards,
Leonid M.

 

What's the trade off you are dealing with? Performance? If there is no trade off why doesn't Lenovo do this out of the gate?

 

There is no trade-off if done carefully. If you get too over-zealous and lower the voltage too much the computer may get un-stable and lock up, but all modern versions of these programs restart the computer in a normal state if that happens.

I'd imagine the reason Lenovo doesn't do this at the factory is that, like over-clocking, finding the particular limits of each cpu is time intensive, since each particular processor will have different limits based on normal manufacturing tolerances. For an end-user who will live with it for years, it's a small price to pay for a cooler, quieter machine.

Just for example, my z61t with a T7200 typically idles at 45-55 with no fans and never goes much above 70.

 

i apologize if i seem to be overreacting. im toughing it out with scorching hot t61 thats already had a motherboard replacement because i cant afford the downtime.


Water boils at 100C so maybe you are pushing it a little bit...



My T61p GPU runs at 83 max when gaming, decoding HD media.







i apologize if i seem to be overreacting. im toughing it out with scorching hot t61 thats already had a motherboard replacement because i cant afford the downtime.


Water boils at 100C so maybe you are pushing it a little bit...



My T61p GPU runs at 83 max when gaming, decoding HD media.



My T61p GPU runs at 83 max when gaming, decoding HD media.

First of all. I think that it forgotten that there are two hardware populations. Desktops and Notebook. The high temperatures are most alarming in a desktop but not alarming in a notebook.

I have a t61p with the hottest CPU made for it and it never get's warm.

Renee

 

Yes Renee, but your CPU also is 45nm vs the T7xxx series being 65nm, you can even put an X9000 in your T61p and not have any thermal problems if you keep it at stock clocks (2.8).

 

i have a t7. its smoking.