Laptop Coolers

[ItsMinJunLol]

Is it a good Idea to invest in a laptop cooler? I have a mac air early 2015, and when I play games like COD4, CS:GO, and Paladins, it heats up to around 100C. Will a laptop cooler help it? I was planning for the Cooler Master Notepal x3, which I'm buying from my friend. Should I get it? Thanks!

[AverageHardware]

It MIGHT help. Here's why: the Macbook Air doesn't have any vents on the bottom like traditional laptops. If you got a cooling pad, none of the air would reach the CPU/GPU inside, however, it will cool the aluminum on the bottom by a few degrees. This could drop the CPU/GPU temps by a few degrees, but don't expect anything drastic.

[ItsMinJunLol]

5 minutes ago, AverageHardware said:

It MIGHT help. Here's why: the Macbook Air doesn't have any vents on the bottom like traditional laptops. If you got a cooling pad, none of the air would reach the CPU/GPU inside, however, it will cool the aluminum on the bottom by a few degrees. This could drop the CPU/GPU temps by a few degrees, but don't expect anything drastic.

Soo, It will drop my temps to around 80-95C?

[tlink]

they are not really effective, probably just as effective as just putting a normal fan pointed at it.

 

 

[Inkz]

100C? Are you sure that is C? That is super hot, you are probably shortening the lifetime of your laptop like crazy. Like the previous post mentioned it is even harder for your laptop because it has no vents. I am not sure what to do here, but never let it get that hot.\

 

Also I thought the CPU was smart enough to throttle long before 100C, I wonder how you are even getting that hot.

[AverageHardware]

2 minutes ago, Inkz said:

100C? Are you sure that is C? That is super hot, you are probably shortening the lifetime of your laptop like crazy. Like the previous post mentioned it is even harder for your laptop because it has no vents. I am not sure what to do here, but never let it get that hot.\

 

Also I thought the CPU was smart enough to throttle long before 100C, I wonder how you are even getting that hot.

I don't doubt it. It is a tiny laptop, with a tiny heatsink. My old laptop runs at 90C constantly and it's fine.

[Inkz]

1 minute ago, AverageHardware said:

I don't doubt it. It is a tiny laptop, with a tiny heatsink. My old laptop runs at 90C constantly and it's fine.

I was just surprised it was at 100C, I thought Intel chips throttle at about 90C.

[ItsMinJunLol]

7 minutes ago, Inkz said:

I was just surprised it was at 100C, I thought Intel chips throttle at about 90C.

welp, our macbooks turbo boost up to 90C, so it's not too high.

[SpaceGhostC2C]

19 minutes ago, ItsMinJunLol said:

Is it a good Idea to invest in a laptop cooler? I have a mac air early 2015, and when I play games like COD4, CS:GO, and Paladins, it heats up to around 100C. Will a laptop cooler help it? I was planning for the Cooler Master Notepal x3, which I'm buying from my friend. Should I get it? Thanks!

I've had mixed experience with them. For my oldest laptop (which I eventually fried before getting the cooler) it was a night and day difference, absolutely worth it. Then I moved to a bigger laptop, and it was fine with the smaller base, but probably also without it as it was overall cooler.

Then I upgraded to a bigger cooler and there results were kind of meh. To be fair, it does help, but I think the main factor is separating the bottom of the laptop from the table so it doesn't enter some kind of feedback loop.

Now I have a newer, smaller laptop with a much hotter CPU (as in 30-40C hotter under full load) and a third, different cooler in my office. Once again, I can't see much of a difference under stress, CPU still goes to 80s, maybe a couple of degrees. However, the laptop in general is cooler.

 

...and that takes me to why I still use them: my original laptop died not because the CPU fried (although you could see drastically different CPU temps by using the cooler in that one as well), but because one of the bridges (NB I believe) eventually got loose due to the infamous BGA breaking issue (the one Linus "fixed" in an oven for a GPU, and then went to see the guy with the specialized machine, etc). Since then, I never underestimate the importance of keeping everything as cool as possible, and not just those components with a built-in temp sensor.

[Electronics Wizardy]

20 minutes ago, Inkz said:

100C? Are you sure that is C? That is super hot, you are probably shortening the lifetime of your laptop like crazy.

I have a macbook air, this is normal. I have had my air running at 100% cpu for weeks and its fine and over 4 years old now. They don't just die.

[Electronics Wizardy]

9 minutes ago, ItsMinJunLol said:

welp, our macbooks turbo boost up to 90C, so it's not too high.

The chips trottle at around 100c, depending on the board. Their max temp is 105

[ItsMinJunLol]

2 minutes ago, SpaceGhostC2C said:

I've had mixed experience with them. For my oldest laptop (which I eventually fried before getting the cooler) it was a night and day difference, absolutely worth it. Then I moved to a bigger laptop, and it was fine with the smaller base, but probably also without it as it was overall cooler.

Then I upgraded to a bigger cooler and there results were kind of meh. To be fair, it does help, but I think the main factor is separating the bottom of the laptop from the table so it doesn't enter some kind of feedback loop.

Now I have a newer, smaller laptop with a much hotter CPU (as in 30-40C hotter under full load) and a third, different cooler in my office. Once again, I can't see much of a difference under stress, CPU still goes to 80s, maybe a couple of degrees. However, the laptop in general is cooler.

 

...and that takes me to why I still use them: my original laptop died not because the CPU fried (although you could see drastically different CPU temps by using the cooler in that one as well), but because one of the bridges (NB I believe) eventually got loose due to the infamous BGA breaking issue (the one Linus "fixed" in an oven for a GPU, and then went to see the guy with the specialized machine, etc). Since then, I never underestimate the importance of keeping everything as cool as possible, and not just those components with a built-in temp sensor.

I'm not too sure if it's worth the try. In my mac's case, it intakes air from the right, then outputs it on the left. The left side gets pretty hot, and it has no other vent than a ~20 cm hinge vent, and I believe macs use their frame as a heatsink of some sort, so it might help but...

 

30 minutes ago, AverageHardware said:

It MIGHT help. Here's why: the Macbook Air doesn't have any vents on the bottom like traditional laptops.

For this reason, I'm not sure. I and I'm pretty sure my mac doesn't have feedback loop because it's on a different side. Buying this will result me in me being unable to get my keyboard in the due date. 

[ItsMinJunLol]

3 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

The chips trottle at around 100c, depending on the board. Their max temp is 105

What mac air is yours? Mine's max temp is 104.4C and it throttles to 90-96C. I've set a custom fan profile using mac fan control. I don't like my temps going up 100C.

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, ItsMinJunLol said:

What mac air is yours? Mine's max temp is 104.4C and it throttles to 90-96C. I've set a custom fan profile using mac fan control. I don't like my temps going up 100C.

2012 air, i7, 8gb

 

I would worry about temps, the laptop will be outdated before it dies.

 

Also after about 30 min at max loadd they will throttle down to about 80C

[ItsMinJunLol]

1 minute ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

2012 air, i7, 8gb

 

I would worry about temps, the laptop will be outdated before it dies.

 

Also after about 30 min at max loadd they will throttle down to about 80C

O I have a turbo boost switcher too, it allows me to switch off the turbo boost but for some reason, it stays at a 100C. Also, what do you mean about worrying about temps? 

 

P. S. I will return this laptop to my school & get a new one in 2018/2019.

[Electronics Wizardy]

2 minutes ago, ItsMinJunLol said:

O I have a turbo boost switcher too, it allows me to switch off the turbo boost but for some reason, it stays at a 100C. Also, what do you mean about worrying about temps? 

 

P. S. I will return this laptop to my school & get a new one in 2018/2019.

If this is your schools laptop, don't worry about it

 

 

for laptops, most are outdated before they will break of heat of simmilar issues.

[Bouzoo]

You probably won't see any significant improvement, since the Air doesn't have intakes on the bottom where the colder air might enter. I've had few coolers, and the one that I like the most is the Notepal U2 Plus, mostly for the angle and better airflow under the laptop since it looks like mesh (and it actually looks good). And you can put the cooler wherever you want and ist is practical as far as they go.

Does it help? Probably a tiny bit, but as I've said, don't expect miracles with anything on a passive cooled ultrabook.