Laptop cooling help

Enterprise_1701C

I had an old Dell that kept overheating and shutting down. I tried cleaning the fan etc but to no avail. I bought a cheap cooler with 3 fans off Ebay, something like £4, and it kept it going until I could afford to replace it. It did not totally eliminate the problem, but it solved it on all but the hottest of days.

grumpycrab

At the risk of being shot down in flames by Hammyman I've got an Antec Notebook Cooler. This keeps the hard disk temp well below 40degC; without it temp is above 40degC. I've no fluff. I'm sure I didn't pay anything like the current price (£30).

DatabaseError

i know i repeat this each time i see this question, but


just pop it back in the oven when you need to

Hammyman

grumpycrab wrote: »

At the risk of being shot down in flames by Hammyman I've got an Antec Notebook Cooler. This keeps the hard disk temp well below 40degC; without it temp is above 40degC. I've no fluff. I'm sure I didn't pay anything like the current price (£30).

Laptop hard drives are good for 5C-55C so why is being above 40C an issue?

More money needlessly wasted.

liam8282

Hammyman wrote: »

Laptop hard drives are good for 5C-55C so why is being above 40C an issue?

More money needlessly wasted.

I think you may have answered it yourself earlier:

"can get to the point of being virtually unbearable to have on my lap when I'm really hammering it yet that would imply an overall temperature of around 40C"

JDPower

Well my take is that they are worthwhile, particularly if you're the type that ignores manufacturers instructions to use only on a hard surface, NOT to use on your lap or on soft furnishings. If you're one of those then you absolutely should buy a cooling pad, or some other solution to allow air to circulate unhindered underneath.

A female friend had a Tosh that would get too hot and cut out. Cleaned it out spotless, still cut out. Refreshed the thermal paste on the processor, still cut out. Got a cooling pad (a cheap three fan one) and it would run forever without dying. Now I know the laptop was almost certainly damaged for it to play up like that (fan worked fine), but it kept it going for a good year or so till she bought a new one.

I personally keep my laptop sat on the cooler the whole time. Not necessarily turned on, just provides a solid base to allow airflow (you can cobble up a free alternative no probs, but I already had the cooling pad), and if i start a game I'll flick the pad's fan on.

Dave_C_2

Our solution for the laptop being too hot on the lap is a sheet of hardboard just a little bigger than the laptop. Not only does it stop your lap getting too hot but it also ensures good airflow to the fan.

Dave

the182guy

I had this problem and solved it by buying 4 cheap Helix rubbers and using a small bit of blue tak to stick them to the existing 4 rubber feet under the laptop, this raises it off the surface a lot and allows air to easily circulate. They are also an almost exact match of the size of the existing feet so they aren't blocking any vents. You need to be using the laptop on a flat hard surface like a desk, not a bed or anything like that.

Other things you can do is stop services/programs that you don't need, you'll be suprised how much rubbish is running that you don't use. Have a look to see if a particlular app is eating the CPU usage (other than the game). Make sure the Windows Update and Backgroung Intelligent Transfer service is stopped while you game. Make sure there are no scheduled spyware/virus scans that could be running without you knowing. If you have the Windows theme that has all the nice animations and graphics etc, change it to the Windows Classic theme while you game, that will speed things up. If you have a big photo as your desktop wallpaper, remove it and use the one that the Classic theme uses which is just a blue background, no graphics.

JasX

I got one of these for OHs (over specced gaming laptop) and worked wonders, was overheating to the point of siezing even after dragging out all accessible dust using on a hard surface etc etc.

http://www.akasa.com.tw/update.php?tpl=product/product.list.tpl&type=Notebook%20coolers&type_sub=NB%20Coolers

definitely recommend going for an aluminium one (of an appropriate size) and try to read reviews to grab one with fairly quiet fans. -assuming the de-dusting etc doesn't work.

was definitely worth spending £20 on one of these to extend the life of a £1,000 laptop by an extra 18 months so far and still going. plus when it eventually dies I can keep it for next time

EIGHTOF8

I just put 4 frozen cooler box ice packs under mine - Been doing this for years and it works really well.