Laptop (thinkpad x201t) with i7 overheats and shuts down. How to manage turbo boost?

Question

I have a Lenovo Thinkpad x201 tablet with Ubuntu 11.04. When I run mathematica or stress, the laptop overheats and shuts down. I loose all my work.

I would think that turbo boost (for intel i7) turns on and doesn't turn off when the temperature is too hot. Anyway to manage that?

which version of ubuntu are you using? – fossfreedom Jul 24 '11 at 21:05 — fossfreedom, Jul 24 '11 at 21:05
i edited the post. 11.04 – kirill_igum Jul 24 '11 at 21:12 — kirill_igum, Jul 24 '11 at 21:12

score 4 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 24 '11 at 21:19

4

There is a bug-report on launchpad which fits your tablet/laptop observation problem.

Reading through this, there are several suggestions, for example

In your BIOS - make sure you are using the latest BIOS version (see the Vendor website for any updates
Also in your BIOS - look for "Advanced Thermal Management" - Set this to "Balanced" rather than "Maximum"
Look at installing the package "thinkfan" from the repositories - NOTE THE WARNING IN THE BUG REPORT - read the documentation first, as incorrect usage can cause serious damage
Take a close look at your fans - clean out any dust etc

answered Jul 24 '11 at 21:19

fossfreedom

may I know why the Thermal Management setting should be set to Balanced instead of Maximum? My ThinkPad is overheating too, and incidentally my setting is set to Maximum. Thank you. – onvas Aug 28 '12 at 06:22
balanced is the automatic setting used on battery - maximum is for AC. Thus forcing "balanced" makes the laptop use battery defaults which basically slows various settings to reduce power - and therefore prevents overheating – fossfreedom Aug 30 '12 at 22:29

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