For anyone who feels that their T410 is running too loud, I would advise you to change the thermal paste like I have and use the smart mode of the TPFC in a profile like this:
Level=41 0
Level=42 1
Level=44 2
Level=47 3
Level=48 4
Level=50 5
Level=52 6
Level=55 7
Level=64 128

Level2=38 0
Level2=42 1
Level2=44 2
Level2=45 4
Level2=46 5
Level2=49 6
Level2=55 7
Level2=64 128

This is a little more aggressive in cooling than many setups, but the level 1 fan noise is less loud than the harddrive idling. Additionally I can walk into a small room without really noticing the T410 so I would say it is quite acceptable. However you may want to consider setting the levels to something like this:

Level=41 0
Level=42 1
Level=47 2
Level=48 3
Level=50 4
Level=52 5
Level=54 6
Level=55 7
Level=64 128

This provides a fairly silent but warm running T410 fan cycle but aggressively ramps up as the temperature rises over 47C, which is where you'll need the cooling.

Oh and one more thing, I have the discrete graphics T410 so for you lucky folks with Intel Intergrated Graphics, you can probably use less aggressive cooling profiles than I would.

Did you do any testing of just the thermal paste change? Any comments on what you found regarding the factory thermal paste application?

I love this laptop, if the fan was just not so incredibly annoying...

Thanks,
William

viewtopic.php?f=45&t=85643

Over long time as the Arctic Silver 5 sets, I have noticed that the fan will eventually turn off in BIOS mode while idling or with TPFanControl the T410 will stay at the lowest fan setting (2k RPM) which is less loud than the 7.2K HDD inside spinning. Otherwise the T410 no longer hits 75C under full load on the i7, instead it will reach something closer to 67C then slowly climb to 70C.

Oh and the vent feels a little warmer than usual but my temperatures are lower, good sign there.

So with Arctic Silver 5 and TPFancontrol the T410 fan noise is more tolerable and not as loud? I ordered a T410 with discrete graphic's should I replace the thermal grease on the GPU with Arctic Silver also?

You should clean the thermal paste on the GPU off and replace it too and you guys might want to tweak your fan profiles, I just checked the fan RPMs closely and levels 3/4 and 5/6 are the same.

Winco32, if you have any questions on that project, don't hesitate to ask me for help, I gained more respect for the engineers after seeing the insides of the T410.
Level / RPM
0 0
1 1925-1955
2 3580-3610
3 3670-3700
4 Same as 3
5 3840-3850
6 Same as 5
7 4540-4550


Level=41 0
Level=42 1
Level=44 1
Level=45 2
Level=46 3
Level=47 4
Level=49 5
Level=51 6
Level=56 6
Level=62 7
Level=64 128

Quietly idles on a desk at 43C, occasionally spinning up during web browsing.

Level2=38 0
Level2=42 1
Level2=44 2
Level2=45 4
Level2=46 5
Level2=49 6
Level2=56 6
Level2=62 7
Level2=64 128

"Aggressive" profile

I noticed that the copper heatsink on this laptop is painted black (T410s). I wonder if that has a negative effect on cooling.

I ran prime95 on mine in BIOS mode and I noticed even at 85 celcius the fan wouldn't go into mode 7 (4500 rpm) and stayed at 4000 rpm so I stopped using mode 7. Also fan mode 1 is the only quiet one (1900 rpm), besides 0 (off) so I like to keep it running at fan mode 1 to keep the temperature down. Therefore after a few months of using my T410s I use these settings.

Level=37 0
Level=38 1
Level=44 1
Level=50 2
Level=55 3
Level=60 5
Level=70 128

My T410 with i5 core routinely runs at 60C (TPFancontrol) doing - not much. And even with CPU power set to "adaptive", which turns the clocking down during CPU idle periods. Just running light text applications, and a few clock and monitoring gadgets.

It was overheating when running fullscreen Netflix on my 1080p monitor. Symptoms are jerky video and then it turns itself off.

I installed TPFancontrol and set it to this schedule:
Level=45 0
Level=50 1
Level=55 3
Level=60 4
Level=65 5
Level=70 6
Level=75 7
Level=80 63
Level=85 127

I'm also looking at CoreTemp which typically shows the CPU a 1-5 degrees lower than the sensor that TPFancontrol is reading.

Now I can get through an hour or two of Netflix w/o crashing.... while I'm watching I can hear fan "kick" into high...

BUT it still seems darned hot to me...

I pulled the keyboard and removed some sticky dust from the top of the fan. Didn't make much difference that I could tell.
Are there any other places that tend to accumulate dust?

Above, it was mentioned changing/inspecting the grease and heatsink...
What's the easiest way to access those parts?


Thanks!

Okay, to answer my own question....

To remove the fan/heatsink/heatpipe assembly, first remove the keyboard, that's pretty easy, just two screws and a little
prying/pushing/pulling. Second you've got to remove most of the screws from the bottom, a few (I think three) screws from the tabs that hold the bezel down just where the bottom of the keyboard was,
pry/lift/jiggle/flex up the single piece that includes the touchpad, speaker grills, the whole-top-bezel.
This is not for the squeamish or the clumsy - the screws are tiny, and then you've got to pry around the edges I used my fingernails, a bit at a time, with considerable flexing and tugging, it eventually comes off.
Almost there... just two screws holding on the left speaker. And another 6 holding the heatsinks...
Now jiggle and pull up and out the fan/heatsink assembly ---

And whoa! A lot of dust in fan blades, and more in the copper fins -- you can blow through the copper fins and get more out...
keep cleaning ... also clean the air intake screens and slots in the bottom of the case just below where the fan was...

Also check the thermal grease on both the top of the chips and the heatsink - looks like the factory did not apply it evenly, I smoothed it out a bit with my finger tip, then after re-seating the assembly press and jiggle to spread/even out the grease some more..

Put it all back together ... Was it worth the effort? Well I guess so, the HWMonitor shows the CPU cores, GPU, and other sensors at 10-15C lower than before the cleaning.

But maybe next time, I'll just pop the keyboard and blast the fins and fan with some compressed air - if that doesn't do it - use my company's swap out PC repair service.

I've also found that disabling Aero by switching to W7 Basic or Classic theme also helps the laptop run a little cooler.