Lenovo T61 High CPU Temp Issue

[miwster]

Hi everyone, new to the forum, but really need some advice:

Lenovo T61, 4GB memory, Intel Core 2 Due 2.4 GHz, purchased 3 years ago with XP.

I installed Windows 7 x64 recently, in part to gain access to my remaining 1 GB of ram, since XP can only address 3GB. It runs great, but the CPU now gets super hot. I was suspicious so I installed TPFanControl (tpfancontrol.com, past the donation part), and found the processor generally running between 85 - 90 degrees C. The software has a smart control to run the fan more, which has helped actually, and makes me think the T61 hardware or BIOS drivers are not cooperating with windows 7, or at least its new x64.

I also just updated my lenovo T61 BIOS, and it seems to actually have made the problem worse.

I've checked also what programs are running to make sure there is not some software bug hogging the CPU, and nothing seems out of the ordinary. Also, these high temps are just when doing nothing in particular--just internet, etc. When I'm doing high CPU things, like 3d modeling and rendering, it easily goes up to mid 90s, which I know is bad.

Also, despite being very hot, it does not seem to be using very much of the CPU, so its not as if it is running at 100% all the time--it's more like 10%.

Anyone else have similar problems? Is it just upgrading to x64? Does anyone know of better fan control software? Would it make sense to limit the BIOS memory to 3GB again, to perhaps leave the OS a little more for itself? (not even sure that would work, but under XP with 3GB the machine never got very hot, even when rendering, doing heavy CPU, etc)

Thanks in advance for all your help!

 

[TVeblen]

Do you know if that laptop has Intel Speedstep on it? I think it's in the BIOS.

 

[strollin]

I recently acquired a similar vintage laptop and discovered it was running quite warm, about 60C at idle and would spike up from there. I first tried using some compressed air to blow out the air vents but that didn't have any effect so I disassembled it and cleaned the fan and it's housing. Here's a pic of what I pulled out of the housing:

Because I didn't know how long it had been running this warm, while I had it apart, I also disassembled the cpu heatsink, cleaned off the old thermal paste, applied new paste and reassembled.

The system now shows temps around 34C at idle.

Even if your laptop has been well cared for the vent system may still be clogged with lint and dust.

Here's a link to instructions for how to replace the fan, should be good for getting it apart to clean it as well: replace-cooling-fan-thinkpad-t61-laptop