Notebook cooling?

goosmurf · 19th December 2004, 2:31 PM

I've got a Dell Inspiron 8600 which I play a lot of games on. When it gets real hot I think it slows the CPU down, and possibly the gfx card (not sure about this bit). Its very noticeable when you're playing coz the frame rate suddenly goes drops to about 5 fps when it was previously totally smooth.

So I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions on how to keep my notebook cooler?

Even though its summer I don't mind the heat and don't want to waste power running air conditioning for the whole room. Targus make a Notebook Chill Mat - has anyone used this and is it effective? Anyone know of similar products? HT sells the Targus product for $60.

Another related product - Targus Podium CoolPad - no fans but increases airflow?

Jaffa_Cree · 19th December 2004, 6:04 PM

i would also like some feed back from people who have these notebook cooling devices

its summer, and with no a/c in my room it sure gets toasty

meggala · 19th December 2004, 7:49 PM

got to say that targus site has lots of goodies hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
thanks for the link
I might invest in a cooler pad my lappy spends 80% of its time on my desk

meggala

goosmurf · 19th December 2004, 9:43 PM

I've since done a bit of digging and settled on the Vantec CoolPad 2. Its cheap at CoolPC (other stores have it for $68 up to $98!!) and also has a 4 port USB hub.

If there's no other comment by tomorrow morning I will order it - gotta get this sucker before the Giftmas long weekend.

There's also one by Antec which seems about the same price but looks much wackier and doesn't have the USB hub.

iceazn · 20th December 2004, 2:38 PM

i've got the Targus Chill Mat and it works pretty well. The fans aren't noticable at all and keeps my laptop nice and cool.

Jaffa_Cree · 20th December 2004, 9:13 PM

i read through all the reviews but i couldnt find the sound levels of the dual 70mm fan, anybody know?

also something i realised, are these notebook cooling devices only targeted at cooling the base of the notebook, because all the review sites were measuring the temp on the base?

would a device such as this also help CPU, HDD, DIMM, GPU temps in the notebook itself?

stroggos2k · 20th December 2004, 9:18 PM

Use this to set the CPU & Video fan speed to high.

goosmurf · 20th December 2004, 11:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaffa_Cree

also something i realised, are these notebook cooling devices only targeted at cooling the base of the notebook, because all the review sites were measuring the temp on the base?

would a device such as this also help CPU, HDD, DIMM, GPU temps in the notebook itself?

They target the base coz that's where most of the heat gets trapped. Am guessing its intentional since people would use the keyboard above, and also rest their hands on the non-keyboard sections of the upper surface so you wouldn't want to heat that up too much.

On the bottom of my Dell there are two clear hotspots - one is the HDD, the other is the RAM (I think). They aren't close enough to the CPU fan which is the only built-in fan. So one of these coolers should definitely help ... I've ordered the Vantec so I'll let y'all know in a few days.

stroggos2k · 20th December 2004, 11:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by goosmurf

They target the base coz that's where most of the heat gets trapped. Am guessing its intentional since people would use the keyboard above, and also rest their hands on the non-keyboard sections of the upper surface so you wouldn't want to heat that up too much.

On the bottom of my Dell there are two clear hotspots - one is the HDD, the other is the RAM (I think). They aren't close enough to the CPU fan which is the only built-in fan. So one of these coolers should definitely help ... I've ordered the Vantec so I'll let y'all know in a few days.

I dont know about yours, but my i8600 definately has two fans, take off the section with the power buttons and look for yourself. I dont know how you'd expect to get a Mobility Radeon and a Pentium M running on the one case with only one fan...

Secondly about the heat, set the fans to always run at slow in that program and it wont ever get to 80C+ and have to throttle, Dell's sensing of when to turn the fans on is shocking. I have no worries with heat on mine, the Radeon 9600 Mobility Turbo is clocked at 415/310 up from 345/340 with no ill effects.

goosmurf · 20th December 2004, 11:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stroggos2k

I dont know about yours, but my i8600 definately has two fans, take off the section with the power buttons and look for yourself. I dont know how you'd expect to get a Mobility Radeon and a Pentium M running on the one case with only one fan...

Secondly about the heat, set the fans to always run at slow in that program and it wont ever get to 80C+ and have to throttle, Dell's sensing of when to turn the fans on is shocking. I have no worries with heat on mine, the Radeon 9600 Mobility Turbo is clocked at 415/310 up from 345/340 with no ill effects.

Sorry I didn't really examine it that closely - but the main point was that it isn't sufficient...

What environment are you operating in? And what temps do your CPU run at with no load, and 100% load?

I'm sitting in my bedroom right now its probably 25 C (no thermometer, just guessing) and if I run Folding@Home to bring the CPU load to 100% my temp shoots up to 86 C even with the fan on High (forced using the tool you linked - thanks btw). Without any load and fan on High its still sitting at 50 C

ixeo · 21st December 2004, 1:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stroggos2k

I dont know how you'd expect to get a Mobility Radeon and a Pentium M running on the one case with only one fan...

my 600M runs on one fan.. Mobility Radeon & Pentium M.. ofc..its a Mobility Radeon 9000 only

read a recent comparison of Vantec Lapcool vs Coolermaster Coolpad here and i've ordered a Coolermaster Coolpad from here after saturday's crazy hot day (32C) whereby my friend's Pentium 4 M kept rebooting while playing WC3 and my 600m was toasty till the point it smelled toasty. $47, cheaper than the lapcool/antec/coolpad @ coolpc. i went with the coolpad cause i didnt need the extra ports as i have a powered usb2.0 hub already.. and have all the usb ports that i need.. so i went with the coolpad for maximum cooling ability...and silence while at it.

stroggos2k · 21st December 2004, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by goosmurf

Sorry I didn't really examine it that closely - but the main point was that it isn't sufficient...

What environment are you operating in? And what temps do your CPU run at with no load, and 100% load?

I'm sitting in my bedroom right now its probably 25 C (no thermometer, just guessing) and if I run Folding@Home to bring the CPU load to 100% my temp shoots up to 86 C even with the fan on High (forced using the tool you linked - thanks btw). Without any load and fan on High its still sitting at 50 C

With an ambient room temp of 32C, my i8600 under full load with both fans on slow is running at 64C.

goosmurf · 21st December 2004, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stroggos2k

With an ambient room temp of 32C, my i8600 under full load with both fans on slow is running at 64C.

Thanks stroggos. I also checked with some mates here at work who also have the Inspiron 8600 and there's definitely something wrong with my unit - everyone else runs with 100% CPU load (Folding@Home) at 50 C or below (if fan speed is set high).

stroggos2k · 21st December 2004, 10:20 AM

I'm curious, my i8600 is reasobly old (Early feb 2004), does your unit have a vent on the right side of the casing, next to the PCMCIA slot, a friend got one of these last week and doesn't have one there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ixeo

my 600M runs on one fan.. Mobility Radeon & Pentium M.. ofc..its a Mobility Radeon 9000 only

You sure about that? isn't there a small vent under the screen near the power LED's?

cvidler · 21st December 2004, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by goosmurf

What environment are you operating in? And what temps do your CPU run at with no load, and 100% load?

I got my 2.4 P4M Toshi A100 to 100°C! CPU and 92°C for the second sensor.

I had it forced to full speed (and fans to full speed), and was playing NFSU2 during a hot day.

19th December 2004, 2:31 PM	#1
goosmurf Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Harbord, NSW Posts: 41	Notebook cooling? I've got a Dell Inspiron 8600 which I play a lot of games on. When it gets real hot I think it slows the CPU down, and possibly the gfx card (not sure about this bit). Its very noticeable when you're playing coz the frame rate suddenly goes drops to about 5 fps when it was previously totally smooth. So I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions on how to keep my notebook cooler? Even though its summer I don't mind the heat and don't want to waste power running air conditioning for the whole room. Targus make a Notebook Chill Mat - has anyone used this and is it effective? Anyone know of similar products? HT sells the Targus product for $60. Another related product - Targus Podium CoolPad - no fans but increases airflow?

19th December 2004, 7:49 PM	#3
meggala Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: melbourne Posts: 348	got to say that targus site has lots of goodies hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm thanks for the link I might invest in a cooler pad my lappy spends 80% of its time on my desk meggala __________________ http://meggala.com Stuff on nissan import cars & drifting. Asus notebook M6R 1.6 Centrino 1Gb RAM 60Gb HDD connected via vodafone gprs card.

20th December 2004, 9:18 PM	#7
stroggos2k Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Rozelle, Sydney NSW Posts: 6,155	Use this to set the CPU & Video fan speed to high. __________________ Tune in to my radio show "Adam & The Stooges" from 8-10pm every Friday night on Sydney's 2RRR 88.5FM for obscure/classic/awesome rock, game, movie & tv reviews and random fun.

19th December 2004, 6:04 PM	#2
Jaffa_Cree Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 1,908	i would also like some feed back from people who have these notebook cooling devices its summer, and with no a/c in my room it sure gets toasty

19th December 2004, 9:43 PM	#4
goosmurf Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Harbord, NSW Posts: 41	I've since done a bit of digging and settled on the Vantec CoolPad 2. Its cheap at CoolPC (other stores have it for $68 up to $98!!) and also has a 4 port USB hub. If there's no other comment by tomorrow morning I will order it - gotta get this sucker before the Giftmas long weekend. There's also one by Antec which seems about the same price but looks much wackier and doesn't have the USB hub.

20th December 2004, 2:38 PM	#5
iceazn Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Sydney Posts: 113	i've got the Targus Chill Mat and it works pretty well. The fans aren't noticable at all and keeps my laptop nice and cool.

20th December 2004, 9:13 PM	#6
Jaffa_Cree Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 1,908	i read through all the reviews but i couldnt find the sound levels of the dual 70mm fan, anybody know? also something i realised, are these notebook cooling devices only targeted at cooling the base of the notebook, because all the review sites were measuring the temp on the base? would a device such as this also help CPU, HDD, DIMM, GPU temps in the notebook itself?