Interesting Laptop Problem

Working on a IBM thinkpad Edge 15 the laptop works for about roughly 15+ minutes then just powers off, I have applied arctic silver thermal paste to the processor / cleaned out the fans. Problem Occurs in Windows 8 when I run Prime95 and Speedfan to benchmark temps will go up to 80s on maxmimum load and then the laptop will randomly power off.

I have down-clocked the processor by 10% problem still occurs.

I have reapplied thermal paste numerous times

I have changed the memory

Laptop completes one pass on Memtest and powers off randomly after so problem is not occurring in just Windows.

Thoughts? further diagnosis I do not have a Spare i3 processor to eliminate CPU or do you think the board has had it?

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Comments

WafflesAndRootbeer

Bad thermal sensor tripping the BIOS shutoff for thermals or bad board electricals popping under stress. Either way, you'd be wasting your time continuing to fool around with it.

f0rgiv3n

If the temps are in the 80s Celsius then it truly is a thermal problem. Anything over 60C is truly too hot IMO. When you applied the arctic silver, you made sure not to use too much correct? Also, you said you cleaned the fans but have you verified if the CPU fan is actually spinning when it's turned on?

BTW: The default for speedfan is to use Celsius I believe. so if it's hitting 80C... DAMN I'm surprised it's not on fire!

ally_uk

Thin layer or Arctic Silver was used, Heat-sink was secured properly (the old thermal paste was cleaned off) The Fan is spinning up you can hear it when the laptop is being bench marked / memtested it blows out warm air.

During the intensive benchmark using Prime 95 Temps reach about 83-84 Max, The time the laptop cuts out isn't consistent what I mean by this it cuts out from 15-25 minutes in and a set temperature doesn't seem to trigger the power off it shuts off randomly.

I am really stumped

f0rgiv3n

Did you check the BIOS to see when the emergency thermal shutdown goes off? How about trying to let it just sit in the BIOS for 15-25 minutes, see if it stays alive for longer? Leave it on the hardware monitoring page in the BIOS to watch the temps and see what happens.

ally_uk

I had a look in the BIOS couldn't seem to find any Hardware Monitoring options. The BIOS seems rather limited in that respect (running latest version)

About7Narwhal

80C isn't a bad temp for a load test. I think ~60C-75C is the average I see at idle depending on the case and all that good stuff. I agree with Waffles that it could bad sensor or an expanded or busted electrical component on the board. I run my laptop at about 95C with no issues. Anything over 100C should be a concern for processor damage as it is usually considered the TJ. Max (point where most processors throttle down automatically). Another 5C or so above that should trigger a shutdown (~105C). That said, I have accidentally run mine to about 110C with some overzealous video encoding before it finally kicked off.

If it powers off after about 15 minutes, it might be how long it takes a cracked resistor to expand and leak. But unless the sensor is bad, I highly doubt 80C is causing a power failure. If you didn't see the setting in the bios you might want to check and see what Intel has to say, maybe they did set it to 80C and it cannot be changed.

f0rgiv3n

About7Narwhal wrote: »

I think ~60C-75C is the average I see at idle depending on the case and all that good stuff.

:O Holy crap! You're crazy

. My PC idles at 40C... 60C is too hot to touch.

Another thing to look into would be the GPU. Looking online this issue seems to be a common problem with the Thinkpad Edge, overheating and turning off. Some say the GPU is getting too hot. Does the PC heat up and shut down when idle? Or only when you're doing the stress test? If it was a faulty sensor then it wouldn't matter if it's under a stress test or idle.

About7Narwhal

Laptops tend to run a little bit hotter than desktops and when they are trying to push every ounce of power into a tiny box, things tend to get very hot very quickly. When I open WoW or some other game, I have to set the device on a cooling pad. Not for the laptop, but for my lap. My desktop though? I would be surprised if it was at 60C. I don't think it would be dangerous, but generally they have much better airflow and allow better performance at lower temperatures.

ally_uk

I will leave the laptop in the BIOS today and see if it powers off will report back results

cnfuzzd

Find one of those manual fan-speed control programs and set the fans to blow at max. I bet your fans are running, but not at full speed.

ally_uk

The machine died when it was idle in the BIOS it just randomly cuts out, I also have tried another charger Do you know of a program that will allow me to set the fan speed to maximum?

When I did a maximum benchmark or a memtest you can hear the fan spinning up and it's blowing out warm air. I would love to get to the bottom of this but part of me is saying that the problem is intermittent. If only I had another i3 processor I could test.

The Thinkpad Edge 15 range from research i'm not the only one having issues. I initially thought it could of needed re balling but the graphics is handled by the CPU.

About7Narwhal

If you crashed in the BIOS it wouldn't be heat. Unless the unit has some truely horrible design flaw, the bios would not run the system hard enough to generate any high heat range. I would also rule out RAM and HDD failure. To confirm, when you say cut out you mean everything stops? Fans and all?

It is sounding more and more like a faulty board.

hoktauri

Would popped caps do that?

About7Narwhal

Like a drive by?

hoktauri

popped / bad capacitors

Capacitor plague - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

About7Narwhal

I got what you meant; I was just making a joke. But yes, even if heat is not a factor in the overall scheme of things, idle over time would still allow a capacitor / resistor to expand and eventually cause a short IF the capacitor has integrity issues or poor construction. Sometimes these things happen quickly after a few uses, others can take months or years.

hoktauri

I figured, I included the link so he could see what to look for. If you have some skill you can change a blown cap.

sanctified18

Sorry to say you will have to replace the motherboard. Seen this issue many times and a new board will fix it.