Best cooler for a 17" Widescreen Notebook?

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for a laptop cooler for my Gateway 17" Widescreen (1680x1050). I came across some of Vantec's, but they seem to be geared towards 15" and smaller sizes.
I also came across this page that has many listed, but again, they dont seem to stock coolers for my size laptop.

I definitely want something with fans, and ideally I'd want the fan speeds to be adjustable. If the cooler also has USB 2.0 hubs and any extra frills like that, that is a big plus.


So if any of you guys can help guide me in the right direction I'd REALLY appreciate it. Thank you! Price is a factor, I'm hoping to spend around 30-40 dollars, but I'll consider any and all options.

 

Look towards two:
- Zalman ZM-NC1000 (the best so far, in large number of happy owners)
- Cooler Master Infinite (new, but promising)

 

do coolers increase performance by reducing heat or does it just keep the laptop cooler?

 

coolers are helpful in a variety of ways.

For those with a messy desk, it gives you a place to put your laptop every time without being afraid of crumbs, dust or dirt.

For those interested in overclocking, it helps keep the internals of your laptop cool so you can push your processor / graphics card(s) safely knowing they're still getting cool air.

Also, the fact that the laptop runs cool extends its life.



However, I would suggest to anyone who is buying a cooler not to plug it in to their USB port, unless they need the port replicator capability.
Instead, I would buy a plug of this kind:

http://cgi.ebay.com/USB-AC-Mains-Tr...ryZ79846QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Its cheap and takes the load away from your usb port, allowing you to get the full benefit of the cooling effect on your laptop. It also means you can keep it plugged in for as long as you like without being worried of damaging your USB port.

Zalman NC1000 seems to be by far the most recommended cooler, even for beasts such as the Sager NP9261. Unfortunately, coolers for 17" are hard to find. I dont understand why though, Gaming rigs are usually 17" and they are the ones that need cooling the most!

 

i just got the zalman nc1000 last week and i LOVE that thing - it really is ultra quiet and you can actually feel the cool air shooting out along the entire face of the thing - its awesome

HOWEVER, i definitely wouldnt recommend it for a 17" notebook - i have a 15" machine (asus g1s) - and that thing sticks out on both sides by about a half an inch - id imagine a 17" notebook would stick out by an inch on either side - if that doesnt bother you, though, then i highly recommend it as an excellent cooling pad...

 

I have a 17" rig and it does hang over. But all of my rig's feet are solidly on the cooler and it is rock solid stable. You might have a problem if your "feet" are close to the edge of your notebook.

 

I havent found a 17" notebook that does not properly fit onto the Zalman yet.

They have all fit their footing on the cooler fine.

 

Gophn, can u post a pic of exactly how far the 9261 sticks out of the cooler?

 

i believe there are some pics on this forum already with people using the new Clevo's with this cooler.

Found it.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=146695&page=15

This is with the M570RU... which has the same width measurement as the D901C... and the footing is near the same as well.

 

I also have the Zalman NC1000 and am very satisfied with it for my Sager NP2090. There is a very noticable difference, especially during prolonged use when I am at home. The left side of the keyboard/palmrest used to get pretty warm as well, but that is no longer the case since I bought mine.

It also comes in both Black or Silver to match your notebook.

 

I'd recommend the Lapinator. It's passive cooling but it's extremely comfortable and great at dissipating heat.

 

If you're into DIY stuff, the performance is excellent. Mine dropped temps about 15*c on the right side compared to my old Vantec Lapcool4

2x120mm fans placed over the intakes = win

http://rageaholic.net/brian/cooler/ for pics
http://www.robertreznik.com/DIY/Laptop CoolerV01.htm for the guide I based mine off.

 

Hey, thanks for the post and the link, I was planning to build one out of a sheet of aluminum since none I've found will fit my laptop properly (X205). good to see some pictures of these.... your's looks great, thanks

 

that one does look really good - kudos!

 

Here is the cooler I built for my Voodoo lappy:

It has 2 176mm EBM PAPST Industrial cooling fans. Each fan pushes 565.5cfm of air at 4800rpm's. Yes my laptop cooler is 1131Cfm, nearly 100 times as powerful as stock notebook coolers. I bought the fans through PAPST for $176.00 each. The cost is justified in that they are made in Germany and have a 1million hour life.
I use the notebook cooler as both a cooler and a portable air conditioner for my room. The fans are quite loud at 24VDC. I believe they are 62Db. I usually run them at 7.8VDC. At this voltage they have a combined output of like 400Cfm, which is more than any laptop would need.

The fans are so powerful that my dell 8500 hovers quite a bit when the fans are on full.



Here are the fans used in it:


The power supply needed to run the 24V fans (THE PSU has 500 watt output, it has both 24 and 12 volt adjustable rails):


K-TRON

 

Dam K-TRON. What temps do you normally get with those crazy a** fans?

 

When I am crunching numbers at full system use, or playing crysis, my CPU stays around 38C, and my Gpu stays around 34C. The temperature is mainly determined by the temperature of the room. Whatever the room temperature is, my system runs at that temp +about 5C.

When I open a window around this time of year, my temps drop down to about 25-29C, and I have to wear a hat in order to use it.

Cooler the better, eh.

K-TRON

 

Ha, that's great.... looks like something I'd rig up.... curious, what does it run at without the cooler as a comparison? My SLI 8600 gpu's get up into the upper 80'sC when pushin em in crysis, would like to get em cooler.

 

My Opteron 185 usually pushes up to 55-60C under max stress. All of the fans come on when 50C is reached.
The harddrives usually run from 35-50C. 50 under full load
My Quadro FX2500M, runs between 40-58C.
These are under normal fan control

I usually run my system with the fans on max, because my cooler is too huge.
With all fans and my upgraded hdd fan, my cpu runs around 38-55C
Quadro runs between 35 and 45C
Hdd's run between 35 and 45C

K-TRON