Cooling Pads for Laptops

[ho0dzy]

My roommate, someone I consider to be particularly tech-savvy tells me that cooling pads are generally a bad idea to use for laptop cooling.

What I'm wondering is this: Is the cooling pad I'm using for my laptop (in its design, it harnesses two fans to sit below the computer which in turn blow air into the laptop). Is this going to help, or hurt the cooling for my machine?

Part of the reason I ask is that I've noticed my laptop fan has been shooting off like crazy lately... especially when dual-monitoring. Thanks!

 

[JC316]

Hmm, interesting question. Well, I would say that it depends on the pad. See, some can block the intake vents and not supply enough air, thus increasing the heat. I have seen higher quality ones that don't block the vents and help. IMO, it should work fine from the factory, you shouldn't have to get extra cooling to make it work as advertised. I would stay away from them.

 

[Beertintedgoggles]

I had this same question on my mind last week so I took my laptop with me to work on Saturday and placed it on top of one of our adjustable floor fans (one of the industrial wire mesh types that can be tilted to blow straight up... perfect for a 'cooling pad'). The laptop usually idles around 45 C and inches its way up to about 55 C before the fan kicks in sending it a little below 45 (the whole cycle takes about a minute to warm up, only a few seconds to cool it back down) then the fan stops and it warms again. With a T5750 and orthos loading both cores the load temp gets to about 65 C. With the laptop on top of the fan, idle was 23 C and load was 50 C. So the idea of cooling pads works, it's just most of them don't move enough air to justify their existence. A lot of the time, just having a breathable pad (think of some mesh perforated platform) will give you the cooler temps you're looking for.

 

[mlee49]

I think the pads are great for heat dissipation but with intake slots on the bottom and it could cause some problems. For gaming laptops I would suggest a full USB/12V powered fan laptop cooler.