Laptop overheating. Opinions on my purchase list of notebook coolers

[garyrizzo]

Hi guys,

i just bought diablo 3 and am currently playing it on my laptop.
The laptop is overheating intensely! the gpu is going above 100 degrees celsius!

i am looking to buy a decent laptop cooler of ebay which will keep the laptop from turning into lava when it is under load and found these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Notebook-Laptop-PC-cooler-reading-pad-Large-Blue-lighting-16cm-cooling-fan-/280908380289?pt=US_Laptop_Cooling_Pads&hash=item416771b881#ht_3013wt_1163

http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-Fan-Blue-LED-10-17-Laptop-Notebook-Cooling-Cooler-Stand-Pad-Extra-USB-Port-/130662564888?pt=US_Laptop_Cooling_Pads&hash=item1e6c188418#ht_5320wt_1396

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Laptop-Cooler-Notebook-Cooling-Pad-With-4-Port-USB-2-0-Hub-3-FAN-/280912243518?pt=US_Laptop_Cooling_Pads&hash=item4167acab3e#ht_3131wt_1163

Which one is the best?
i have no idea weather 1 big fan is more effective than 5 smaller fans. or if the surface is metal (plate gets cold and traps the cold in).

Do you guys have any opinions ?

also i would like to know your experiences with laptop coolers and your methods for cooling your laptops

THANKS!

 

[DarkOutlaw]

I tried playing Diablo 3 on my laptop. My cooling solution was to build a desktop. The issue with laptop heat is there is no room in the laptop to disperse it sufficiently. You are probably going to be in a position of this game causing hardware damage to your laptop. You could get away with a budge PC around $500-$600.

 

[garyrizzo]

I tried playing Diablo 3 on my laptop. My cooling solution was to build a desktop. The issue with laptop heat is there is no room in the laptop to disperse it sufficiently. You are probably going to be in a position of this game causing hardware damage to your laptop. You could get away with a budge PC around $500-$600.

that did come to mind actually, but this is not my main rig so i do not really want to set up a PC at this specific location( at the GF). So you think a laptop cooler will not do the job ? or at leasy prevent the cpu from exploding ?

 

[zootnerper]

Laptop coolers blow air against the plastic on the bottom of the machine. Plastic is not a good heat conductor. And heat rises unfortunately.

They do raise the laptop up though, which means the air underneath can be drawn in more easily by the laptop's fan.

I don't think they do much more.

 

[ram1009]

Welcome to the world of gaming laptops. Now you know why I say : gaming laptop=oxymoron. If laptops could play games acceptably, desktops would already be extinct. It's difficult to cool a CPU/GPU in a desktop. It's impossible in a laptop. Like the man said, all the "cooler" is going to do is blow air on the plastic shell. The CPU/GPU will still be frying.

 

[DarkOutlaw]

I was able to get my laptop to stop overheating and shutting down with this:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Targus+-+Laptop+Chill+Mat+-+Black/1263631.p?id=1218245469062&skuId=1263631&st=laptop%20cooling%20pad&cp=1&lp=8

but realistically I was beating a dead horse. My FPS was horrid, and barely tolerable. You will see significant heat reduction with a cooling pad. My temps still hit the roof but did not cause the heat protection to kick in until my desktop was usable.

Maybe look into like...some kind of portable case? People have LAN parties all the time (or used to) and would bring there whole PC's + water coolers. I am sure there must be something out there that might work as a go between.

 

[carbonfountain]

I had a Sony Vaio before for playing WOW and it did have overheating issues. When the laptop got hot, the CPU/GPU gets throttled and my FPS would drop rather heavily.

My solution was to purchase a Zalman laptop cooler. See link here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834998686

Contrary to some of the posts above, I actually saw a noticeable difference using the cooler (about an 8 Celsius drop) and my FPS stopped dropping when I have the laptop cooler on.

 

[DarkOutlaw]

I had a Sony Vaio before for playing WOW and it did have overheating issues. When the laptop got hot, the CPU/GPU gets throttled and my FPS would drop rather heavily.

My solution was to purchase a Zalman laptop cooler. See link here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834998686

Contrary to some of the posts above, I actually saw a noticeable difference using the cooler (about an 8 Celsius drop) and my FPS stopped dropping when I have the laptop cooler on.

8 degrees off 100+ is still realistically dangerous...

 

[carbonfountain]

8 degrees off 100+ is still realistically dangerous...

Maybe his tjmax is like 115? He seems intent on using his laptop to play games, and if it's a disposable machine I say why not.


Another thing OP can consider doing is maybe opening up the laptop and reapplying thermal paste. Sometimes the stock thermal paste is badly done and redoing it might bring the temps down another 8 degrees or so.

 

[garyrizzo]

All the above posts make Sense. Laptop doesn't really have that much room to evacuate the hot air. You guys have any mini pc's recommendations i can take a look at ?

 

[DarkOutlaw]

I was imagining something with a handle that you would take to a LAN party:

http://www.xoxide.com/aspire-x-qpack-two-nw-black.html