Are laptop cooling pads worth it?

[Froug]

I have a laptop that, under a load such as gaming, can heat up to about 80-90°. A friend of mine has a gaming laptop that goes up to about >90°.

 

So is it worth buying a cooling pad or even a vacuum cooler?

[MellowCream]

Generally speaking, they can lower temps up to about 10c, depending on the laptop obviously. Anecdotally, they're not worth the money. 

[MedievalMatt]

4 minutes ago, Froug said:

I have a laptop that, under a load such as gaming, can heat up to about 80-90°. A friend of mine has a gaming laptop that goes up to about >90°.

 

So is it worth buying a cooling pad or even a vacuum cooler?

 

Just now, MellowCream said:

Generally speaking, they can lower temps up to about 10c, depending on the laptop obviously. Anecdotally, they're not worth the money. 

 

 

probably better off re-pasting with a better thermal paste, and giving it a good clean internally. IMO.

[Wh0_Am_1]

I don't know about modern laptops, but with older ones, yes these pads are life savers, I have had laptops that will literally burn you if you don't have one, (one even managed to melt it's plastic casing)

[kirashi]

14 minutes ago, Froug said:

I have a laptop that, under a load such as gaming, can heat up to about 80-90°. A friend of mine has a gaming laptop that goes up to about >90°.

So is it worth buying a cooling pad or even a vacuum cooler?

For cooling purposes while still being something small and quiet? No. A good laptop cooler can definitely help with temperatures, and thus laptop life and performance, but all the good ones are either noisy or larger to accommodate big fans. If you're OK with this, then you could totally look around and find a cooling pad, but otherwise the only reason I have one is because it's more comfortable having the laptop on the slim padded cooler on top of my legs when sitting in my POANG chair, rather than the laptop itself being on my legs.

[Theguywhobea]

They alright

[Froug]

5 hours ago, MellowCream said:

Generally speaking, they can lower temps up to about 10c, depending on the laptop obviously. Anecdotally, they're not worth the money. 

How about the other advantages, such as a cooler keyboard and less sweaty palms?

5 hours ago, MedievalMatt said:

 

 

 

probably better off re-pasting with a better thermal paste, and giving it a good clean internally. IMO.

What thermal paste do you recommend?

5 hours ago, Wh0_Am_1 said:

I don't know about modern laptops, but with older ones, yes these pads are life savers, I have had laptops that will literally burn you if you don't have one, (one even managed to melt it's plastic casing)

Yeah, my laptop is not that old... Did older models have poor thermal paste?

5 hours ago, kirashi said:

For cooling purposes while still being something small and quiet? No. A good laptop cooler can definitely help with temperatures, and thus laptop life and performance, but all the good ones are either noisy or larger to accommodate big fans. If you're OK with this, then you could totally look around and find a cooling pad, but otherwise the only reason I have one is because it's more comfortable having the laptop on the slim padded cooler on top of my legs when sitting in my POANG chair, rather than the laptop itself being on my legs.

"Noisy" is what I call my stock cooler lol. Good quality laptop coolers are quieter right?

5 hours ago, Theguywhobea said:

They alright

alright

 

 

[kirashi]

14 hours ago, Froug said:

"Noisy" is what I call my stock cooler lol. Good quality laptop coolers are quieter right?

Yes, however, if your laptop still thinks it's too hot, you'll then have noise from both the cooler and the laptop, so it might not be quieter lol.

[Wh0_Am_1]

On 4/10/2018 at 12:26 AM, Froug said:

How about the other advantages, such as a cooler keyboard and less sweaty palms?

What thermal paste do you recommend?

Yeah, my laptop is not that old... Did older models have poor thermal paste?

"Noisy" is what I call my stock cooler lol. Good quality laptop coolers are quieter right?

alright

 

 

My laptop was from 2011 it was a Toshiba

[minervx]

No.  It's just a bandaid.  It won't improve performance really.  I'd rather put a bunch of nickles, dimes and quarters under my laptop.