Why are some x220 fans not high pitched?

That doesn't mean you should try it before you tear your machine apart. Mine runs fairly cool even with the new BIOS, though I'm usually parked in low power mode.

 

I agree, which is why I tried it. However, I think for a lot who haven't tried they already realize it won't solve the issue as a whole. You still have the whine... just won't hear it as often. A helpful band-aid.

 

Has anyone gotten their i7's fan replaced yet?

I'm dieing to know if it is possible to get a quieter replacement!!!

Many thanks for your replies on this issue.

 

Note - I'm old, so probably just hard of hearing. My i7 X220 arrived this morning, and after about 4 hours of playing with it, I still don't notice any excessive fan noise or whining.

During this time, I've run Prime 95, monitoring loads and temps with RealTemp 2.67, surfed the net, played Guild Wars - all with no issues. Keeping my fingers crossed it stays this way.

 

Congrats

What is your typical browsing temp (real temp) and ambient temp?

 

Anyone got a link for *.iso update file?

I'm using Linux and the linked .exe update file won't work.
Changing the url from .exe to .iso gave me 404 error.

 

installer: Lenovo Support - BIOS Update Utility for Windows 7 (32-bit, 64-bit), XP - ThinkPad

ISO: Lenovo Support - BIOS Update Bootable CD for Windows 7 (32-bit, 64-bit), XP - ThinkPad

 

Thank you Erik.

I didn't know that the update was officially released recently. It's now listed on support page.

 

hmmm.... updated to 1.16, but did not notice any chance though.

Under Linux :
- v1.15 - idle, fan pegged at ~3500 rpm.
- v1.16 - idle, fan pegged at ~3500 rpm.

No difference whether thermal settings in bios is set to "Max. Performance" or "Balanced".

If you are seeing changes in fan speed with the 1.16 bios, it probably works in conjunction with Thinkware under windows.

Next step : tear it apart and reapply thermal paste, and hope that heat transfer will be a bit more optimized. (I try to maintain fan speed at 2000rpm as it's the max speed without high-pitched noise.)

 

Hi - has anyone returned their laptop and got one without the whistling fan noise?

The x220 is probably the best fit for my needs by miles, and I'm trying to
work out out if this is a common problem (and I'm just being overly sensitive), or if there's substantial variation between individual machines.

 

One person reported that their "repaired" machine came back sounding exactly the same, even though, supposedly, the fan had been replaced. That was one report though, and I'm waiting for some more.

 

I think he said it was a bit quieter, although the whine was still audible

 

No, you're right. In my mind I attributed that to be a placebo effect.

The whine is the problem, not necessarily the "total loudness".

 

I would say it's typical for X220 fan to make that high pitched noise.

But it depends from person to person whether the noise is annoying to you or not. For me, yes. --- I configured my fan to spin at 2000rpm most of the time. System temperature is increased by ~5-10c as a result. Of course, my system lifespan will be shorter, but sanity received in return is well worth the price.

 

Thanks - getting a replacement machine probably isn't going to help, then.

I was mostly concerned about it bothering other people when used in quiet, public places, but as lots of x220 owners don't mind the noise then it's probably not a problem. The new bios helps a little (by not spinning the fan up as much).

 

No, the lifespan of your cpu will not decrease. As long as you keep it under the TJMax, which is 100c, the lifespan of your cpu should be pretty indefinite.

 

You can always use fan controlling software to run your Thinkpad in "stealth mode" in that case. Your system will just run a little warmer than usual.

 

With that in mind, do we tend to get too obsessive about heat/ temps on this forum?

 

One question, i've seen many of people use the low cpu setting on power manager, can someone explain what is the difference in low, balanced, turbo, max turbo/max performance settings? At the moment I use the optimized power setting on power manager and it has cpu balanced on battery and max on ac? Is this a good setting for battery saving or which one is the best setting? And on ac power is it good to always use max performance/max turbo setting? I know that in that setting the cpu is always running at 3000+ mhz and the fan makes a lot of noise on this setting. Thanks.

 

If you don't do anything processor intensive I think the noise is fine. I actually got a replacement motherboard and fan from Lenovo but it sounded the same to me. Installing the 1.16 BIOS generally drops the fan rpms to 2000 which is pretty quiet (at least quieter than the hum from the 7200 rpm HD). The high-pitched noise is inherent to the fan design though so doing anything to tax the CPU is going to create problems.

 

I just started to realize about the fan issues. Although not as loud as my aging Presario V3000, the low intense pitching sound is there. Currently have 1.19 on my board.With the stock bios I didnt realize about the pitch, maybe too excited upon arrival of the machine.