Are notebook cooling pads worth getting?

[Kross Mayne]

I recently bought a thermaltake massive 23 and had to return it due to excessive noise caused by the bearings being loose or poorly designed. Just got a replacement in the mail today and the new one is having the same problem (though a little less noisey, but definately defective/bad design). I was thinking of getting a refund and getting a Cooler Master X-Lite or X3, since those had the best reviews.

After doing more research on cooling pads, a lot of people have written posts saying they are not worth getting, don't help with temp or are in fact damaging to a system due to forcing more dust into the intakes and it's better not to get one. Since I only have experience with with the TT 23, can anyone shed some light on cooling pads for me? Looking for low cost and little to no noise.

-Thanks

[addic7eD]

I had problems with MSI Gx 633 which overheated like crazy, and i tried few different pads, none of them helped.

I ended up unscrewing bottom part of the laptop and then building the cooler rack from PC coolers myself, then i placed laptop on it. It is a bit noisier than normal pads but it helped my laptop get in norm temps.

[_I_]

yes

they will help prevent from burning your lap and overheating the notebook cpus

[Chompman]

I got this and love it as you can control the fan speed and even at full speed it's not that bad sound wise:

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-NotePal-X3-Cooling/dp/B0079T2KHG

The problem is it will simply use the air temperature in your house so if your house is hot it won't be that effective but it does keep mine fine to the point where the laptop fan does not have to speed up to cool it more in most cases as that fan is much louder then the pads fan sound.

The only problem with this one is it's not that comfortable for your lap so if you plan on using it like that try something else.

They definitely do help if you get a decent one and you can always blow them out for dust just like you can on the laptop itself if dust is a issue but forcing more dust with them is not a issue you should have as it's poor information.

Even with the fan off the laptop will be cooler as they tend to get more ventilation then simply flat on a desk but honestly don't expect miracles as they will only decrease the temperature in single digits in most cases but more importantly they help spread the heat around more thus you don't have one very hot spot, usually near cpu / gpu, that can hurt if on bare skin.

[Charrgaff]

You shouldn't need a cooling pad for your laptop. If you are having problems with overheating, then it is likely that your fan/heatsink is dirty.

Personally, my laptop requires a cooling pad, but that is because the manufacturer did not design an adequate heat dissipation system. The cooling pad is simply a stopgap for a poorly-designed laptop.

My definition of overheating in this case would by a situation where either the CPU/GPU operate outside of the manufacturer's specifications while the CPU and GPU are running at 100% load at 25°C.

[Seven7]

If you want a quiet cooling pad you need a model with a single | dual 160mm fan like this
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-NotePal-Ultra-Slim-R9-NBC-XSLI-GP/dp/B005C31HC0
http://www.amazon.com/AVANTEK-Cooling-Control-Powerful-LC-172/dp/B015H44DZQ

But remember, as stated above, cooling pad NOT substitute laptop its own cooling system, but to complement it, to reduce noise and works as insurance in case to failure integrated cooling system, that protect video card and processor is to burn.
You still need to regularly clean the laptop and ventilate the room (which is useful not only to laptop, but mainly for you ;) )

this type can be used on your lap
http://www.amazon.com/Targus-Saving-Laptop-17-Inch-AWE80US

[Chompman]

True you shouldn't need them but for $35-40 or so you can get something that will extend the life of your laptop by a decent amount and usually make it more comfortable if you use them on your lap.

[Kross Mayne]

Thanks for the comments so far.....

I have a Desktop Replacement with a GTX980m and it doesn't go anywhere but a desk or table. Runs every game thats out right now on max settings and graphically demanding games (The Evil Within.....etc.....) push the GPU to temps that I don't notice unless I put my hand behind the vents to check, but are still hot enough to start wearing on the hardware immediately.

So my reason for a cooling pad is better ventilation (which all of them do, some better than other's based on design), to keep the notebook fans off of max speed because it sounds like a jet engine and hopefully to extend the life of the motherboard, CPU and GPU.

I am not getting a cooling pad to stop a current overheating problem.

I am getting/have one to hopefully prevent thermal damage to the system hardware as much as possible.

I am looking for one that is reasonably priced, is built well, has good air-flow and doesn't make enough noise to be heard while wearing a headset (the friction from the bearings inside the TT M23XL cause too much noise presently).

So all that out of the way, I'm still trying to decide between the Notepal X-Slim or if I should spend double and get the X-3, but any suggestions from first hand experience would be welcome.

Цитата допису addic7ed:

I had problems with MSI Gx 633 which overheated like crazy, and i tried few different pads, none of them helped.

I ended up unscrewing bottom part of the laptop and then building the cooler rack from PC coolers myself, then i placed laptop on it. It is a bit noisier than normal pads but it helped my laptop get in norm temps.

Thats pretty hardcore, good work thinking outside the box.