X200 temperatures vs T400/T500

My X200 and previous X200s have always been running very cool and quiet. Recently I started measuring the CPU temps and found that they are extremely low.

Even at idle my X200 P8600 is significantly cooler than my X61s L7500. Both with clean installs of XP and the same apps installed.

With ambient temperatures of around 22º celcius, the X200 is idling at a very low 28º celcius running Energy Saver mode.

In Power Source Optimized mode it is idling around 32º celcius (running at 2.4GHz). On my X61s it idles around 42º in Power Optimized mode (running at 1.6GHz) but is very sensitive to small tasks in the background and won't stay that low for long.

When putting some stress on the CPU the X200 still does a very good job of keeping cool. For instance when ripping or converting flash video formats using the X200, the P8600 only goes up to around 50% utilization when doing multiple conversions resulting in max 50º celcius. With my X61s it goes up to around 80º.

All the temps were recorded using Core Temp 0.99.5.

I could imagine the X200 being comparable to bigger machines like the T400/T500.

I would like to see temps from other ThinkPad owners, especially those with X200(s) and T400(s)/T400/T500. So post away

 

What software are you using to measure temperatures? Each different program (CoreTemp, HWMonitor, RMClock, etc) reports slightly different temperatures.

At the moment, since it's relatively cool in the house, CoreTemp reports the temperatures as 27/27, HWMonitor reports the temperatures as 22/22 on my T500, on integrated graphics mode.

My typical temperatures on idle, as reported by CoreTemp, are around 28-34 degrees.

 

Quoting myself from the first post: "All the temps were recorded using Core Temp 0.99.5." Thanks for the info - seems my temps are comparable with your T500. Considering your specs your temps are very good. Obviously more real estate, but still very impressive. After all I have more temp friendly hardware like integrated graphics and a SSD - but less real estate.

Just checked idle temps again. Lowest idle temp I get is 26 degrees when room temp is about 20 degrees. This is just incredible for an ultraportable.

 

Ah, missed that. Sorry

Yeah, I am still amazed at how well Thinkpads handle heat and yet remain so quiet - one of the main reasons why I chose my T500 over an Elitebook 8530p.

 

My X200s stays at ~ 33 deg at idle - SLFM lowest multiplier, but will go to just below 50 deg under 50% load (temps as reported by RMClock). And this is with an undervolted SL9600, otherwise the temps under load will be higher, the reason being Lenovo skimped big time on the X200s heat sink - both the cpu and gpu heat sinks are aluminium and they put only one (!) comon heat pipe for both. By comparison the X301 that uses only 10W CPUs - compared with 17W for the X200s SL series - has separate heat pipes for the cpu and gpu heat sinks.
Way to go Lenovo !

 

That's really not bad. Those numbers are close to my temps - although you are of course running in SLFM (I assume Maximum Battery life mode?).

What are your ambient temps? Also note I measure my idle temps after windows has booted and then wait about 5-10 minutes. Also remember that things running in the background can spike the temp. On a different note, it is quite a nice SL processor you have there. SL9600 would be my choice if I was to buy another X200s.

Eventhough the X301 comes with a lower W CPU it is more cramped due to the optical drive and chassis thickness - so it would make sense with extra cooling.

Under 50% load my X61s L7500 runs at around 65-70 degrees. The thing is that generally tasks which take up 50% on my X61s L7500 would only take up around 25-30% on my X200 P8600. But even when my P8600 is running at 50% load it is at about the same temps as your SL9600, namely up to 50 degrees. In any event, it is a huge improvement compared to the old X-series.

 

That's still well within spec, but is surprising nonetheless. I wish NBR would give us internal readings in the reviews. The external readings are great for lap use, but that doesn't always tell the whole story, and it makes it tough for us to compare. Right now we have no idea if this is just the difference between the SL9400 and SL9600, or if maybe they designed things to let the CPU get a bit warmer in favor of keeping the bottom of the laptop cooler (which I'm ok with, the CPU being well within spec/comfort.) Maybe the choice to use aluminum has something to do with that.

I haven't gotten mine yet, but from pictures in the review, it looks like they're still using a copper base on the heatsink. Is that true? That might actually be a preferable solution, since copper has a higher capacity for heat, but aluminum moves/releases it more quickly.

Maybe there's some other issue. If you have the confidence, maybe pop the heatsink off and see if you're getting good contact, and that they used enough/not too much paste. Are you sure your CPU is throttling properly?

Or maybe this is why Lenovo isn't readily offering the SL9600 anymore.

 

JabbaJabba - my ambient temps are prety low ~ 22 deg, and did not have much cpu activity in the background when reporting the above temps. The x301 is not that much cramped compared with x200s; my point was that for a small extra heat pipe, that would have easily fit in there and copper plates instated of aluminium ones the x200s would have been much pleasent to use machine - now when you do something that loads the machine ~ 50 % for more than couple of min the fan starts to spin in the audible range which is quite annoying : (

Ethyriel - I found a picture online - can't remember now where - and the plates are aluminum, with only one copper heat pipe.

 

Getting off-topic, but: could you please explain more fully what you mean, and/or post links?

 

Well for the difference between your x61s and your x200 maybe be as simple as the die size for the CPU. Your x61s CPU is based on the 65nm process while your x200 is based on the 45nm process. This means more efficient, less heat producing chips. That alone will make the difference between machines. That being said, I'm sure both machines are handling temperature nicely.

 

The temp differences between the X61(s) and X200 were to be expected. I am not surprised. The X60/X61 is notorious for having warm palmrests (even with the extra fan next to the WLAN card) and generally not handling heat very well - mainly due to the CPU type as you mention yourself. In addition the X61 design is very cramped and add to that the inferior fan compared to the new generation "owl" design fans on the X200, T400/500, etc.

Just wanted to show how big an improvement there has been from X61 to X200. But even when not comparing, the X200 definitely holds its own compared to bigger footprint laptops. I have not yet experienced an ultraportable running as cool and quietly as the X200(s).

Seeing you have a T400, can you post your temps as well?

 

Im working pretty hard and have the ATI card enabled.

 

That really is low. CoreTemp reports 37/39 Celcius on my T500, under a load ranging from the high single digits into the twenties percentage-wise. Still, it is very cool to me, especially compared to my HP Pavilion.

Bill

 

Those temps are good considering it is under a certain load. I get the same on the same P8600 CPU. I think you will get the same kind of idle temps (around 27-28 degrees) if it has been idling for some time and provided that the room temp is not too high. Also you would probably need to run in i.e. Energy Saver mode or something else which downclocks the CPU when idling. Mine goes does to 1.6GHz in Energy Saver mode and down to 800 MHz in Maximum Battery life.

 

I'm sure you're right about the idling temps. I've been really impressed with my T500 temps compared to my HP notebook. I bought a small desk fan to blow directly on my HP, but I've put it away now that I have the TP. The way the T500 handles heat is sufficient reason to buy it over the HP. There are additional reasons, of course.

Bill

 

According to core temp my T400 idles at 30 degrees Celsius

 

I just installed this on my X200s just to check, I can hit 32 deg w/ 17 deg ambient. Not undervolted.

 

that's a pretty chilly ambient . Could you run something like super pi, on adaptive or high performance power mode for couple of minutes and report your temps? super pi would load your cpu ~ 50 %.
if you really want to see how hot it gets you can do Orthos for 10 min, mine goes to ~ 64 deg, but this is continue 100 % load, not a very realistic scenario.

thanks,

 

Thanks for posting. That sounds about right. I get about 33 degrees when not downclocked at 22 degrees ambient.

This is interesting. Based on your post and the previous ones, it shows that from a temp perspective the X200 and X200s are more or less identical despite one having a P processor and the other having a SL processor.

 

Yep, TDP is peak power draw.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_Design_Power