T60p High Temps

[CeeDee]

I have a T60p (the one in my sig) I use TPFC and recently I noticed that my temps at idle were running quite high. CPU 80c and GPU 86c. So I did the obvious, cleaned out the fan and it helped a little but not a lot. The laptop then started to run quite slowly (not sure but I think it started after a windows update) So I decided to do a fresh install. WOW does it ever take a long time
End result is my CPU temp is really good now, idles at about 50c. However my GPU is around 72 - 73c and when I do any photo editing it gets close to 90 and sometimes more. Any ideas what I can do?

[ajkula66]

Which OS are you running?

[CeeDee]

Which OS are you running?

Sorry for the omission it's Windows 7 pro.

[ajkula66]

If you're running the old Vista driver, you may want to take a look here:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=118533

I'd re-seat the heatsink, check the condition of the thermal pad on the GPU and re-paste if needed...

Good luck.

[CeeDee]

If you're running the old Vista driver, you may want to take a look here:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=118533

I'd re-seat the heatsink, check the condition of the thermal pad on the GPU and re-paste if needed...

Good luck.

Thanks for the info George, my T60p has the v5200 not the v5250 but I do have the latest driver for it. I will check the pad on the GPU though.

[theterminator93]

My own T60p with the V5200 idles at about 66-68C with a .8mm copper shim between the GPU and heat sink and the fan at setting 7 in TPFC. Prior (with the factory thermal pad) it would cycle between 75 and 70 (my TPFC.ini file settings are fan 64 over 75C and 7 under 70, so the 70-75 range will cycle between those two fan speeds as temps climb to 75 and fall under 70); and at fan 64 it would eventually get down under 70, until the fan slowed down to level 7 again when it would climb back up into the low-mid 70s.

The .8mm copper shim was a tad on the thick side, if I did it again I'd look for a .5 or .6 mm shim. Pleased with the results overall though.

I use the driver Windows Update found for the GPU. I also found a slightly older Catalyst driver package that Windows doesn't like quite as much (it can't do the WEI assessment for Aero with the older driver) but Catalyst works with it at least. Temps are about the same with either driver, Aero enabled or not.

[CeeDee]

The .8mm copper shim was a tad on the thick side, if I did it again I'd look for a .5 or .6 mm shim. Pleased with the results overall though.

Did you leave the thermal pad in there as well?

[theterminator93]

No, the thermal pad was removed in favor of the copper shim. In actuality I cut it up and redistributed it to the perimeter of the heat sink so a greater surface area of the GRAM chips was in contact with it.

I paid attention to temps this evening as I was surfing the web; it was about 66-68 as I was actively browsing, then a couple minutes after I stopped (left the web page open) it was down to 65. CPU (T7600) was in the mid 40s the whole time.

[CeeDee]

@ajkula66 and @theterminator93
Thank you for your help. I will have to leave it until the weekend but will post my results when completed.

[CeeDee]

Well I said that I would let you know how my attempted repair went so here goes:
I stripped it down and went to remove the fan, then realised that I did not have the copper shim that I had purchased and "put in a safe place until needed" I can't remember where I put it Senior Moment? So I just cleaned everything and put it back together. Thinking that I will get a T500 or W500 fan (as per 600x guide) however my numbers have improved quite a lot. CPU idle 52c GPU idle65c. So that will be OK until I can get the new fan.