t61p underload 90C ?!

I rarely see my t61p reach this high of a temp. Today, after about 25min. of playing gta4, everything started stuttering. Alt+tabbed out, and saw that my temp was 91C...but quickly dropped as I waited on the desktop. Going back into the game for another 5min resulted in a hang + BSOD.

running on 180.84 drivers
bought this laptop back in 2007 and have not had a problem...temps underload (Crysis) hovers around 80C.

idle temp is 48-50C

(tpfancontrol)

I know these chips are rated at around 100...but this is cutting it close...which i guess probably caused the BSOD

 

How's the performance in GTA4?

 

performance is fine if it were not for the stuttering that starts 15 min into the game...most likely due to gpu underclocking to protect itself from high heat i'm guessing...

benchmarking in game gives me a nice 22fps with about 97% gpu/cpu use


I'm thinking about undervolting to aid in lowering temp...esp since gta4 is a very cpu dependent game

 

Did you try blowing compressed air into the fan vents (from the inside of course)?

Maybe is time to so tweaking on the heatsink

 

Last summer (2008), I opened up my laptop and did a full cleaning. Took heatsink apart and got rid of all the dust inside. I also removed stock thermal paste and replaced it with some Arctic Silver 5, which helped lower the temp...

I don't think it's time already for another full clean...at least not yet..

I just want to know if any other t61p users are getting the temps that I am. Did anyone undervolt their t61p? What settings?

Either gta4 is too much for my t61p or cooling isn't working as effectively as it use to. However, I doubt that my t61p isn't capable enough to play gta4 as I get pretty decent fps (~22 fps)...until the stuttering occurs 15min in...when temps skyrocket to 90s...

 

i think my quadro peaked at 90 once for a small amount of timewhile gaming, but stays in the 80s for the most part when under heavy load.

I've undervolted my cpu, and you definitely get lower cpu temps (idle and at load). Just follow flipfires guide in the general hardware forum, its really easy.

 

Yea...i'll definitely undervolt...except your t8300 is a 45nm die while my t7500 is a 65nm one. I'm guessing here in lies the major difference contributing to much cooler performance. I believe they both use the same slot according to cpuz...maybe I can swap out a t7500 for a newer cpu like yours?

 

Yeah the t8300 runs cooler than the t7500, but in terms of undervolting, every chip is different, so you may see a bigger decrease in temps than me.

I don't know the logistics of switching out processors. But again, it looks like your graphics card is what is overheating or am i reading it wrong.

 

Yes...it is the gpu that is contributing more to the overheating. However, as cpu and gpu use the same heatsink, keeping either one cooler will help the other in dissipating more heat. So...I'll just undervolt the cpu...unless it's possible to undervolt the gpu without lowering its performance...??

 

Uh oh...i think this problem has gotten much larger than just the gpu. I tried putting the system under "medium" load playing a pretty old game... Need For Speed Carbon. After a while of playing...device driver stops working..fps drop issues...and temps skyrocket still

-___-' Seems like cpu temp even peaks higher than the gpu sometimes. Maybe I need to open her up and replace the AS5 thermal paste too, which has been on for about a year now...Why all of a sudden such high temps and cooling issues?? *sigh

 

warranty.?

 

alrighty...problem RESOLVED

I opened up the laptop and redistributed the thermal paste evenly on the cpu and gpu...apparently after numerous thermal cycles (hot/cold) the thermal paste expanded out and did not fully cover the top of the chip die (Arctic Silver 5), and I also cleared out any internal dust. Now...my laptop gallops along quickly and cool just like it did when brand new. =]

getting around 25fps on gta4...nice and smooth.

only issue that arises is when there are occasional lag spikes that coincide with my hard drive accessing data like mad...probably due to the limited 2gb of RAM I have?? Page file thrashing it seems.... (I usually just wait a couple of sec for it to stop)

 

I've had good success manually running TPFanControl and a CoolMax aluminum NB-400 cooler.


This is what kind of temperatures I'm getting on loads during 3dMark06.

Also the new 185.20 drivers work well with the T61p.

 

Yea...I'm also using tpfancontrol currently...although I tend to leave it on BIOS fan settings and just monitor the temp with the program.

Not using notebook cooler....however, I do elevate my laptop using bottle caps =P very easy DIY and helps with air circulation underneath

So exactly how high does your gpu max out at when under full load for extended periods of time...such as gaming/rendering?

PS...I'm STILL using 178.13 drivers. I have tried all the new ones but had always switched back to 178.13 because it seems to be the best performing/stable one AND the laptop in general runs cooler with it.

I will give 185.20 a try though since you say it's pretty good.

INTERESTING....(185.20)

Release Highlights
-Supports all mobile cards from 6-GT100 series and quadro equivalent

So it's an actual driver for mobile gpus and not just a desktop driver with modded inf?
http://laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=22943

 

I just recently installed thee new 185.20 drivers. Did a full clean uninstall of the old drivers then installed the 185.20 drivers with the inf file. Just drag modded inf file to the folder of the 185.20 driver and then install and done.


Using ExpertTool for NVIDIA. The newest one. Run the test with the settings. Still figuring out the best settings. The hottest that I have seen the GPU go is 74 degrees. I'm still working out the settings with the CPU in the bios to maintain a solid power supply. Very limited. It's all set, check and test.

Have only played Fall Out 3 with it so far and it works fine.

185.20 have allowed for much higher clocks than what I had before.


If I run into any problems with the driver I'll let everyone know.

 

Ok I've tried the latest drivers and apparently they still have NOT FIXED the SLEEP/WAKE issue where the laptop can not be awaken after initiating sleep mode. I'll stick with current 178.13 (DOX optimized) until a more reliable and bug free release is uploaded.

BTW how's the 4cas lat memory working for you? I'm planning to get either G skill 4gb or Kingston Hyperx....any higher temps as a result of faster RAM? Stock t61p ram is 5cas.

 

ctbear, what temps are you getting now under load for the cpu and gpu?

 

I am now getting a nice temp of around 76-78C for both when under load such as playing gta4...redistributing thermal paste and wiping down the heat sink for dust deposits did wonders...as did tightening the heat sink to increase pressure/contact between chip and heat sink

no more ridonkulous 90c temps

 

also thinking about upgrading to a "P" model intel mobile cpu in the future...uses the same Micro-FCPGA slot so should be 100% compatible with current mobo. P models have pretty good performance without the consequences of increased heat generation...

 

you might want to clean you computer and if it doesnt work i would recommend you to send in the computer so they can take a look at it. it sounds as if your heat sink doesnt have even thermal paste. i had that problem with couple of thinkpad. mostly t60

but yeah man just send it in. it just take like 5-7 days for them to get it back to you

 

have already cleaned it now it's working very well...nice and cool temps.

thermal paste can shift and expand due to all sorts of factors ranging from short bursts of heat cycles to my laptop jumping about inside my backpack. All you need to do is redistribute it evenly on the chip before placing back heat sink on top.

plus...my 1 year factory warranty has already expired...no point in sending it back to them (and paying) when I can simply fix the problem myself. I have already dealt with their shipping process before when the mobo in the laptop came bricked...lets just say... I don't want to let my precious get out of my sight

 

CL4 is fast. Going Windows 7 64bit soon.


I ditched the latest GPU driver for the same reasons. Back to factory drivers. Most stable.

 

Debating between 4gb cl4 or just waiting for 8gb (4gb x2) to come down in price...hmm tough choice