T60 fan replacement - T61 or W500?

[ChrisJ9876]

I have a T60 & a T60p, both 4:3 with ATI (X1400 & V5200). Both get kinda hot running HD video. Also gets hot doing a Ghost backup, to the extent of shutting down with no warning. TPfancontrol shows both cpu & gpu hitting the 90s (TPFC in BIOS mode; noise is not an issue). Can't tell how hot it gets with Ghost, since I'm running from the recovery disk.

I've already cleaned them out & replaced the thermal grease, and after reading several threads here, I'm looking at replacing the fan/heatsink with either the T61 or W500 one.

Would like a summary of the pros & cons of the T61 fan (p/n 42w2820 or equiv.) vs the W500 fan (p/n 45N5492 or equiv), and what mods to either are necessary.

Thanks.
Chris

[serekzolty]

I have T60p with T7600 onboard with T500 (p/n 45N5492) heatsink.It is a lot better.Temperatures went down really big time.Idle CPU is about 45C and GPU about 55C.Stress the CPU will go no more than 70 and gpu around 70 but that's 100% stress using prime 95.Also there's less noise now.

There weren't any modifications to fit the T500 heatsink.I just swapped it completely,and even used the T60 metal bracket.The only thing for me is that it doesn't cover the GPU 100%, there is really very small part of GPU that's not touching the heatsink, even though the temperatures are better.

[ChrisJ9876]

I'll take your word for it that it worked for you. But not so for me. I tried the 45N4592. The extra thickness over the gpu prevented the pressure plate from being screwed down (no interference, just too thick), and the fins near the fan inlet had to be cut off. So the original assembly went back in, with fresh AS5. (My T60 has T2500 cpu & ATI X1400)

[TuuS]

The T61p fan works great on T60, the only mod needed is to use thermal paste instead of the grey pad on your gpu and cut a small notch in your retainer clip as shown here...

http://www.e30tuner.com/assist/frankenp ... _hs010.jpg

No offense to the fans of the t500 fan, but they are a poor fit and the T61p's nVidia graphics requires more cooling than the T500 so there is no logic that suggest's newer is better. I've found you can drop the temp by 10c degrees if done properly. I've also had some decent results eliminating the grey silicone pad on the T60p heatsink, but the T61p works much better IMO.

[i love old thinkpads]

What tool did you use to cut a notch in the retainer?

[RealBlackStuff]

Use a hacksaw to make the 2 grooves (blue markings in the curve), then use a pair of pliers to wiggle the 'cutout' back and fore until it breaks off.

[i love old thinkpads]

Can I just tighten down the retainer without cutting a notch? Also how do you cut such a small area with a hacksaw?

[RealBlackStuff]

It won't fit properly without the cut-out.
Use any hacksaw you can find, turn the fan over and saw away.

[TPFanatic]

I did the job with a fine dremel tool.