How many of you that game with your notebook use a cooler?

[jonnyGURU]

We had a bit of a debate here yesterday....

One guy thinks that notebook coolers are very niche. He said he played FarCry2, full resolution on his notebook with no issues at all.

Another guy here took the same make/model notebook to a LAN party and said it locked up on him a couple times while gaming until he propped the back of it up to allow better airflow.

Yet another guy here, same make/model notebook, said that his CPU kept throttling, killing his frame-rate, until he propped up the notebook.

Me, I ALWAYS use a notebook cooler because I can seriously tell when my CPU is throttling from overheating.

So that's three out of four people, but the guy that doesn't use a cooler at all says that we three are not "the norm" and that we're power users that are really discerning about performance. More so than the average user.

What does the average Anandtecher think?

 

[heymrdj]

I use a Coolermaster Notepal Infinite on my HP dv9550t. It sits on it most of the time because the laptop is mostly used as a desktop. I can do minor gaming like Serious Sam, Serious Sam II and the like without it but it gets quite toasty (enough to leave first degree burns on my unprotected lap). With the cooler I never throttle, even when playing the most demanding games. I just think it's good to cool your hardworking equipment. I will throttle without a cooler if i push the system too hard.

 

[VinDSL]

Originally posted by: jonnyGURU
What does the average Anandtecher think?

Hi Jonny!

I'm not much of a gamer. The only game I play is My Brute, which has no rules and is akin to yanking the arm on a slot machine, but...

I own a lappy and a netty. I'm on my lowly (resource-wise) Linux Mint 7 powered Asus Eee PC right now... and I'm using a LAP cooler.

I also use the same LAP cooler on my Toshiba A215. And, I always carry a LAP cooler with me, whenever I have a notebook or netbook in tow.

Whenever I place a portable computer on my LAP, I use a LAP cooler. If I'm placing it on a desk, an airplane snack tray, or resting it on my leg, I don't use a LAP cooler.

Why? Because I don't want my nuts to start on fire - and portables they WILL cause bodily damage without a LAP cooler!

Sometimes I tend to be too enigmatic, but in this case I want to be crystal clear... because I've thought about this a lot.

Lappys will handle heat just fine! We've got gamers in the house that play WoW for hours with their lappys resting on the bed (sheets) with absolutely no air circulation - and they've never had a problem. The problem is when you put a HOT COMPUTER on your balls and leave it there for 6 hours at a time (or however long your bladder holds out).

It's kind of like a frog being put into a pan of water and lighting a fire under it, you know? My Toshiba A215 actually comes with a warning about burning your hands on the palm rests, with extended use. Imagine what it's doing to your babymaker (on the underbelly)!

So... in my experience, (some of) your friends are right! The lappy doesn't need the cooler, but your woody does.

Make sense?!?!?

 

[VinDSL]

Originally posted by: heymrdj
I use a Coolermaster Notepal Infinite [...]

I'm glad Jonny brought up this topic!

Out of curiosity, does your cooler suck or blow (airflow)?

I'm running a Vantech LapCool 3. I added 6 rubber feet to this cooler so I can run my lappy/netty with their batteries removed, without having them 'walk around'...

The LapCool 3 sucks the hot air that gets trapped under the portable and shoots it out the front, away from the user. Other units suck cool air from underneath the cooler. or from the sides, and blow it under the portable, et cetera, et cetera.

These coolers come in every possible configuration you can imagine, including induction (no fans at all) and they all work - at keeping your crotch cool - but I'm not so sure if any of them actually make the portable cooler - kapeesh!

Personally, from the reviews I've read, LAP coolers don't do grunt for cooling your computer hardware, regardless of the configuration, sooo I'm a little suspicious of the claims that some of Jonny's friends made. It's probably more of a placebo effect taking place, IMHO.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Originally posted by: VinDSL
The lappy doesn't need the cooler, but your woody does.

No.. I mean yes....

I agree that a hot notebook is bad for the lap. You can easily burn yourself.

I think there's a difference between playing WOW on a notebook witn an Intel chipset playing and COD4 or L4D on a notebook with an Nvidia or ATI MXM card in it. Like I said, one user had the notebook lock up. Another kept having the CPU throttle.

But I appreciate your opinion. For you, you never needed a cooler to cool your notebook. And that's what I'm looking for... Individual opinions based on personal experience.

 

[VinDSL]

Originally posted by: jonnyGURU
For you, you never needed a cooler to cool your notebook. And that's what I'm looking for... Individual opinions based on personal experience.

It's all relative, I suppose.

Let's see what Conky reports...

http://vindsl.com/images/netty_temp.png (VinDSL.com - Current Eee PC values)

LoL!

My netbook's is 55C and that's with the magical cooler running. That's 3C more than the OC'ed P4 Extreme Edition CPU in the other room.

Did your gamer buds take the time to measure their temps? If so, what levels are we talking about, before and after?

EDIT

The screenie (above) will be available in a few minutes. Doing a kernel update...

 

[NitrouseXpress60]

meh i've never had the use for a cooler. on my new dv2, i play games like FEAR and BF2 which really push it to the limits but i've never had a problem. i also use it on my bed a lot lol.

 

[clipperfixer]

I have a gateway 6831fx and play a lot of COD5 maxed out everything. It gets hot, but I have never used a cooler. I do know that it overheats if you run the desktop at any resolution other than native when gaming. If you lower the desktop resolution it will overheat everytime. I have no explanation for that. But if I run it at native resolution and the game maxed out no problems.

 

[ArchAngel777]

I have a DV5T with a 9600M GT (HP's have bad cooling) and I don't use a cooler. I also overclocked the GPU. Just last night in the hotel I played for about 5 hours with it on a blanket, vents covered up. Now - Do I recomend doing this? No, probably not. But do I? Yes... All the time. My buddy has a MSI 627 with a 9800M GS and also does not use a cooler...

My Opinion - If a gaming laptop requires an external cooler to run properly, then you shouldn't buy that gaming laptop. In fact, the GPU/CPU should have never made it in that model. The laptop has to be able to stand on its own, without help. It also has to be usable at normal outside ambient temperatures. I have put over 400 hours on my DV5T in gaming over the 1.5 years and what I said above is how I use it... On a blanket, vents blocks most of the time... No problems (knock on wood). It does get very, very hot. GPU hits over 90C and the plastic becomes almost burning hot to the touch.

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

A laptop should be able to handle the heat that it generates. If it doesn't you shouldn't buy that laptop. The cooling systems in laptops should be able to handle 120% of the heat that the computer can generate.

 

[MrPickins]

I use a baker's cooling rack similar to this.

I never get any lock-ups without it, but it help keep the fan from throttling up to max.

 

[mpilchfamily]

I don't use one. But then my laptop isn't really a gaming class unit and i have to have everything at there lowest setting just to play wow at about 20 to 28 FPS.

 

[VinDSL]

Originally posted by: MrPickins
I use a baker's cooling rack similar to this.

I never get any lock-ups without it, but it help keep the fan from throttling up to max.

That's hilarious -- I thought I was the only sick puppy here!

As I said, up top, I always use a LAP cooler, but...

I use 'cooling racks' under all the routers on my LAN -- except I use round ones (stole them from the wife).

We have high ambients here, and those damn things get bloody hot without them!

 

[MrPickins]

Originally posted by: VinDSL

Originally posted by: MrPickins
I use a baker's cooling rack similar to this.

I never get any lock-ups without it, but it help keep the fan from throttling up to max.

That's hilarious -- I thought I was the only sick puppy here!

As I said, up top, I always use a LAP cooler, but...

I use 'cooling racks' under all the routers on my LAN -- except I use round ones (stole them from the wife).

We have high ambients here, and those damn things get bloody hot without them!

I like to call it "re-purposing."

 

[yh125d]

I gamed on an XPS m1530 for two semesters in the dorms, all I did to keep it cool was but a ~1/3" clothes hanger below the back two rubber feet to elevate it a tad. Temps were hot, but not out of whats intended

 

[VinDSL]

Originally posted by: yh125d
Temps were hot, but not out of what's intended

As an aside...

I was farting around with lm-sensors (Linux sensor detection app) the other day, and the CPU alarm in my Asus Netbook is set to 88C. It normally runs @ 54C to 64C.

LoL!

I guess I got a little wiggle room there, yes?

 

[CurseTheSky]

I haven't watched temps in my notebook, as I haven't had any problems. Any time I game, I make sure the area is flat and clear of obstructions. I have had the GPU fan screaming at 100% before though, so a cooler would have probably helped.

 

[Bateluer]

Depends, I use a cooler under my notebook because it kicks out a decent amount of heat and the higher 85F ambient temperature of my house makes me nervous with it. I only do this at home, however. When I visit family in Michigan, its usually in the winter and so heat is not as big a concern because the ambient temperature is lower.

On a marathon gaming session with a notebook though, I'd want to use a cooler pad though.

 

[VinDSL]

Originally posted by: Bateluer
On a marathon gaming session with a notebook though, I'd want to use a cooler pad though.

What we have here is failure to communicate...

Let's keep it simple!

LAP coolers won't do jack for cooling your laptop. What they do is protect your nuts!

There's a reason God hung your plumbing on the outside, guys. Think about it! And, it wasn't to heat up your sperm makers and kill them with a laptop - it was to keep them cool and protect your equipment. Your nutsack is on the outside of your body to keep your cum cool, and putting a hot computer on your lap is just asking for trouble! You're NOT even supposed to wear tight underwear, because body heat will kill your jizz! Look it up...

I'm sorry if this offends you, but... I don't know any other way of putting it. Being nice ain't working...

Stated another way, women have no use for LAP coolers. Their plumbing is on the inside. Eggs like heat - sperm doesn't!

I've read many, many, reviews of LAP coolers over the years, and they don't do anything for cooling your laptop - period. Exclamation! Do some checking on your own, if you don't believe me. Yeah, okay, maybe a degree or two drop is reported, to keep the vendors happy... and the freebies flowing.

Warning! Strawman argument approaching...

I'm running an OC'ed Intel EE in the desktop box I'm using at the moment. Question: Do you guys think putting a LAP cooler under my Mountain Mods case would make ANY difference whatsoever? Answer: Hell no - not unless I put it on my LAP!

The same applies to laptops - even more so. The internal fan on a laptop/netbook doesn't run all the time, like desktop machines. The fan turns on for a few seconds when the processor starts to fry, then shuts off almost immediately to conserve power, e.g. extend battery time. Blowing a little cool air under the case won't do anything, except keep your Johnson happy!

Heat-pipes do all the cooling in laptops, not the wimpy on-again, off-again internal fan - or the mighty USB powered LAP cooler!

Matter of fact, the HDD in my Asus 1000 is cooled by using the underside of the keyboard as a heatsink - that's how primitive these things are. A LAP cooler will do what for cooling the keyboard and (subsequently) the hard drive?!?!? Nothing! Dittos for the mobo, CPU and GPU, et cetera.

Bwahahaha!

Is this the kind of stuff you've been going through, Jonny - trying to make chicken salad out of chicken shit?

Really, it's just a total misconception and/or wishful thinking on the part of some ppl... that's all.

 

[ArchAngel777]

If you have a large enough heatsink, then you probably could cool it with just a passive heatsink. Problem is, laptops don't have the space for giant heatsinks. As such, the metal needs to have something blowing on it to dissipate the heat. The fan does an extremely important job on a laptop. If you are talking about a netbook only, you could probably get by with passive cooling (Dell does it in their Mini 9) if for no other reason that that most of the time the thing is only pulling 15-20 watts. A gamng laptop is pulling 65 - 120 watts under load. There is no way that a heatsink could handle any prolonged load without a fan, unless you fused the heatsink to a piece of a metal the size of a table or had H20 to move the heat away.

 

[VinDSL]

Originally posted by: ArchAngel777
The fan does an extremely important job on a laptop[...]

There is no way that a heatsink could handle any prolonged load without a fan[...]

I think we're ALL in agreement on that, but...

The primary reason for a LAP cooler is to cool your LAP!

The faster a laptop is, the hotter and noisier it gets, sucking more power and (eventually) rendering you sterile.

That's Point #1...

Point #2

Let's say you're a blue-sky thinker, hoping to cool down your laptop/netbook with a LAP cooler.

The problem now becomes fan placement - and all notebook coolers I've seen and read up on have this problem.

The fan placement and airflow direction in these LAP coolers is (mostly) useless for augmenting the internal heatpipes, fans, and heatsinks.

Most ppl have no idea how the cooling system in their laptop works, nor do they give a moments thought to intakes, exhausts, fan placement or airflow direction.

The funny thing is, they will buy a $14.99 cooler at Fry's Electronics and CLAIM a 15C drop - tantamount to installing a Tuniq Tower 120 CPU cooler. :laugh:

Anyway, yes, internal fans and heatsinks are "extremely important". They allow ppl to game for hours without starting their bedroom on fire.

The larger point is, LAP coolers are designed to keep you from becoming impotent. Any residual notebook cooling taking place is serendipitous.

 

[ArchAngel777]

Originally posted by: VinDSL

Originally posted by: ArchAngel777
The fan does an extremely important job on a laptop[...]

There is no way that a heatsink could handle any prolonged load without a fan[...]

I think we're ALL in agreement on that, but...

The primary reason for a LAP cooler is to cool your LAP!

The faster a laptop is, the hotter and noisier it gets, sucking more power and (eventually) rendering you sterile.

That's Point #1...

Point #2

Let's say you're a blue-sky thinker, hoping to cool down your laptop/netbook with a LAP cooler.

The problem now becomes fan placement - and all notebook coolers I've seen and read up on have this problem.

The fan placement and airflow direction in these LAP coolers is (mostly) useless for augmenting the internal heatpipes, fans, and heatsinks.

Most ppl have no idea how the cooling system in their laptop works, nor do they give a moments thought to intakes, exhausts, fan placement or airflow direction.

The funny thing is, they will buy a $14.99 cooler at Fry's Electronics and CLAIM a 15C drop - tantamount to installing a Tuniq Tower 120 CPU cooler. :laugh:

Anyway, yes, internal fans and heatsinks are "extremely important". They allow ppl to game for hours without starting their bedroom on fire.

The larger point is, LAP coolers are designed to keep you from becoming impotent. Any residual notebook cooling taking place is serendipitous.

No, I agree. I misunderstood your post. I thought you were talking about the fan inside the laptop, not the worthless ones on the laptop cooler.

 

[VinDSL]

Here's a weird one for you!

Bear along...

I'm in the process of fixing a friend's lappy. It started with, "Are you up for a challenge?"

The "challenge" was a dead Toshy A35-S159 with a 2.3GHz P4 flame-thrower and 12-cell battery. Hello!?!?!

Perp wouldn't boot, so I repaired the existing XP install by booting off an OEM CD and performed the obligatory updates. During this process, this Toshy got boiling hot, and spontaneously shut down and/or blue screened several times. The case was hot enough to cause discomfort, so I turned internal fan all the way up, and put my LAP cooler underneath it, even though the lappy was sitting on my workbench. This allowed me to complete repairs.

During the clean-up phase... running CrapCleaner and Auslogics Defrag, the HDD went belly up. The machine refused to boot up, and no amount of disk recovery programs would touch it. The HDD sounded like a bucket of bolts, and it had "the click of death", probably from the heads crashing into the platters. Toast, it was!!!

Sooo...

I pulled the lappy partially apart and replaced the Toshy HDD with a TravelStar (that was sitting in the closet).

While attempting to do a fresh install, the case got boiling hot, and the spontaneous shut downs started again. WTF?!?!?

Sooo...

I took the lappy apart again... this time digging down to the mobo. Eureka!!! The P4's heatsink was totally clogged with dust (on one side) and it wasn't visible from the exhaust heat. The vent side was clean as a virgin, but the fan side was blocked solid.

After a blast of air - cloud of dust - and reassembly - everything simmered down - and I was able to do a fresh install of XP. Before doing this, the CPU fans (plural - it has 2) sounded like a ShopVac! Afterwards, you could hardly hear them running - and the case was MUCH cooler to the touch.

Bottom line: Maybe the reason some of these 'gamer notebooks' are having problems (while others aren't) is due to a lack of housekeeping! While a LAP cooler might provide a modicum of temporary relief (as I proved) it's just putting a band-aid on the problem!

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: VinDSL
Here's a weird one for you!

Bear along...

I'm in the process of fixing a friend's lappy. It started with, "Are you up for a challenge?"

The "challenge" was a dead Toshy A35-S159 with a 2.3GHz P4 flame-thrower and 12-cell battery. Hello!?!?!

Perp wouldn't boot, so I repaired the existing XP install by booting off an OEM CD and performed the obligatory updates. During this process, this Toshy got boiling hot, and spontaneously shut down and/or blue screened several times. The case was hot enough to cause discomfort, so I turned internal fan all the way up, and put my LAP cooler underneath it, even though the lappy was sitting on my workbench. This allowed me to complete repairs.

During the clean-up phase... running CrapCleaner and Auslogics Defrag, the HDD went belly up. The machine refused to boot up, and no amount of disk recovery programs would touch it. The HDD sounded like a bucket of bolts, and it had "the click of death", probably from the heads crashing into the platters. Toast, it was!!!

Sooo...

I pulled the lappy partially apart and replaced the Toshy HDD with a TravelStar (that was sitting in the closet).

While attempting to do a fresh install, the case got boiling hot, and the spontaneous shut downs started again. WTF?!?!?

Sooo...

I took the lappy apart again... this time digging down to the mobo. Eureka!!! The P4's heatsink was totally clogged with dust (on one side) and it wasn't visible from the exhaust heat. The vent side was clean as a virgin, but the fan side was blocked solid.

After a blast of air - cloud of dust - and reassembly - everything simmered down - and I was able to do a fresh install of XP. Before doing this, the CPU fans (plural - it has 2) sounded like a ShopVac! Afterwards, you could hardly hear them running - and the case was MUCH cooler to the touch.

Bottom line: Maybe the reason some of these 'gamer notebooks' are having problems (while others aren't) is due to a lack of housekeeping! While a LAP cooler might provide a modicum of temporary relief (as I proved) it's just putting a band-aid on the problem!

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

After it shut down and blue screened numerous times, your first move wasn't to take it apart to clean out the inevitable dust and what not?

 

[Paperlantern]

Originally posted by: ChAoTiCpInOy
A laptop should be able to handle the heat that it generates. If it doesn't you shouldn't buy that laptop. The cooling systems in laptops should be able to handle 120% of the heat that the computer can generate.

X2. Any cooling system in a laptop should be able to support the cooling needs of that laptop. If you find you need a cooler one of two things has happened. Your laptop is dirty, or it was designed wrong.

I use a 5 year old laptop and game on Guild Wars regularly at 45fps+, the fan spins up, stays there, but i never lose frames unless i lose power and the power settings kick in and the cpu throttles. If i lose frames on AC power, then its time to clean the heatsink/fan. Once i clean it, runs normally again. All laptops should behave this way, period.