Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - Laptop coolers

DoubleF · 06-05-2017, 01:52 PM

TL;DR

A decent laptop pad with fans will help. You've spent a bit on your laptop, an extra $20-30 won't hurt even if some people feel it's negligible.

Also, 5C is a bigger difference than you might think.

IMO, overall help depends on the design of the laptop.

IMO, the biggest reason laptops overheat is due to the design. Many previous designs had air intake at the bottom of the laptop. This made airflow poor as there really wasn't much space to pull air into the laptop. In such a situation, using items like pencils/pens to ramp up the laptop so that there actually is air for the laptop to suck in helps a lot.

A laptop stand that achieves this and uses fans to increase airflow to the intake helps. The fans inside most laptops IMO are probably too small or unable to disburse heat fast enough (especially if it's having problem pulling in cooler air), a laptop fan cooling pad with fans help disburse that heat. Temperatures on average should be lower. IMO, there is also a type of a cooling pad not designed to increase airflow, but just absorb heat away. These IMO are not very helpful and of poor value. These types of laptop were easiest to destroy as someone using them in bed were the #1 reason these laptops hot boxed to death or damaged over time due to excess heat.

Some of the newer laptops have air intake on the side. Using a cooler or fan as per the above still helps as heat can dissipate on the bottom vs previously insulated at the bottom.

Then there's (but probably not your situation) fully sealed laptops and ultra portables. Theses are generally tablet based laptops like a Lenovo Yoga etc. The above can help, but not as much as before. If it's over heating, it's either a load issue or design flaw.

70C is ok, but not great. However, even if those fans are only dropping 5C ish, there's also (to my understanding) the fact the hardware may drop performance to keep temperatures low. So even if in both situations the laptop is at 70C, the one with a fan may work better as it doesn't need to slightly lower performance to maintain a safe temperature. Some people feel if the temp gets that high, your thermal paste may need replacing. I honestly don't know what to think about that. On one hand it makes sense. On the other, I feel like it's a band aid solution at best if the laptop chassis was not well designed to get rid of the heat.

There's also this thing:

https://www.amazon.ca/Portable-Tempe...rds=laptop+fan

I've never tried it, but I believe if I need something like this to keep a laptop cool, I might as well get a desktop.

I may be out of date in how some of the newer laptops displace their heat, but in general, I found many of them have bad air flow designs. Giving good airflow on the bottom of the laptop helps immensely with heat but on occasion, it's debatable if a $20-30 laptop pad with fans will help more than a pencil/pen on the bottom allowing around 1 cm of air under the unit.

06-05-2017, 01:52 PM	#3
DoubleF Franchise Player Join Date: Apr 2014 Exp:	TL;DR A decent laptop pad with fans will help. You've spent a bit on your laptop, an extra $20-30 won't hurt even if some people feel it's negligible. Also, 5C is a bigger difference than you might think. IMO, overall help depends on the design of the laptop. IMO, the biggest reason laptops overheat is due to the design. Many previous designs had air intake at the bottom of the laptop. This made airflow poor as there really wasn't much space to pull air into the laptop. In such a situation, using items like pencils/pens to ramp up the laptop so that there actually is air for the laptop to suck in helps a lot. A laptop stand that achieves this and uses fans to increase airflow to the intake helps. The fans inside most laptops IMO are probably too small or unable to disburse heat fast enough (especially if it's having problem pulling in cooler air), a laptop fan cooling pad with fans help disburse that heat. Temperatures on average should be lower. IMO, there is also a type of a cooling pad not designed to increase airflow, but just absorb heat away. These IMO are not very helpful and of poor value. These types of laptop were easiest to destroy as someone using them in bed were the #1 reason these laptops hot boxed to death or damaged over time due to excess heat. Some of the newer laptops have air intake on the side. Using a cooler or fan as per the above still helps as heat can dissipate on the bottom vs previously insulated at the bottom. Then there's (but probably not your situation) fully sealed laptops and ultra portables. Theses are generally tablet based laptops like a Lenovo Yoga etc. The above can help, but not as much as before. If it's over heating, it's either a load issue or design flaw. 70C is ok, but not great. However, even if those fans are only dropping 5C ish, there's also (to my understanding) the fact the hardware may drop performance to keep temperatures low. So even if in both situations the laptop is at 70C, the one with a fan may work better as it doesn't need to slightly lower performance to maintain a safe temperature. Some people feel if the temp gets that high, your thermal paste may need replacing. I honestly don't know what to think about that. On one hand it makes sense. On the other, I feel like it's a band aid solution at best if the laptop chassis was not well designed to get rid of the heat. There's also this thing: https://www.amazon.ca/Portable-Tempe...rds=laptop+fan I've never tried it, but I believe if I need something like this to keep a laptop cool, I might as well get a desktop. I may be out of date in how some of the newer laptops displace their heat, but in general, I found many of them have bad air flow designs. Giving good airflow on the bottom of the laptop helps immensely with heat but on occasion, it's debatable if a $20-30 laptop pad with fans will help more than a pencil/pen on the bottom allowing around 1 cm of air under the unit.