Thinkpad overheating on dock

Question

My T-410 overheats while on the dock when performing intensive tasks, such as rendering video. Is there a piece of hardware I can purchase that will actively cool the bottom of the dock? Something more powerful than just a stand with fans built into it (maybe something with some kind of refrigerant looping around inside it).

Solution

If you have an external graphics card, ensure your using the onboard intel one if you don't need the graphics power. The PCI Express ones can get really warm. If your doing video stuff, depending on the encoder, you might not need the GPU, just the CPU.

Also, we have had two T410s's recently (based on the same components) that have had similar problems. The tech that came said there wasn't much thermal paste, but when I called Lenovo and mentioned heat issues, they quickly routed the ticket to another group, which sent out the tech with a new motherboard and stuff.. (although we have onsite support)

Comments

[Stacey Hanson]

Perhaps an obvious question, but are you keeping the laptop lid open while it's on the dock? If not, doing so could help a lot.

[andyn]

Yup, keep the lid open. See my answer below. I consider this a rather fatal design flaw, because Thinkpads are supposed to be corporate laptops that are extensively used with docks.

[BramMooij]

I suspect that by this time, you should also replace your cooling paste. Aftermarket cooling paste is generally of better quality than OEM ones anyway. This should reduce your temperature even further.

[Todd Dabney]

xpcgear.com appears to have been hacked, that first link is redirecting to a Chrome extension and going directly to the site offered to install some helpful malware