My Homemade Notebook Cooler

So I have been experiencing heat issues with my 8600GT and M1530. While playing Crysis, temps would reach 85 (not OC'd) and 90 (OC'd at 575/1150/843). So I tried AS5 (didnt help much), elevated the rear of the laptop (helped a little), notebook cooler (wasted my ***** money).

So I decided to do a little DIY! I bought a 90mm CPU fan, made a hole in my desk and put the fan there directly under the vent of the laptop. Take a look at the pics.

The fan has a small speed control switch as well. Total budget - $30, 2 hours to do.

Without the fan.
Idle: CPU - 44. GPU - 61-68C
Load: CPU (orthos) - 73. GPU (crysis) - 90.

With fan at high speed.
Idle: CPU - 33. GPU - 55 A difference of 10C
Load: CPU (orthos) - 55 GPU (crysis) - 75 A difference of about 15C!

 

Nice Work .... How loud is fan?

 

Nice job, looks effective. If you ever use the desk later on for a desktop, you can just use the fan hole to run the cords.

Did you raise the back by an inch?

 

yay filpfire is now moderator

sry, back on topic

 

You havent been on nbr very much, have you

Nice project, integrating a fan like that is better than a laptop cooler for one big reason:
The way you mounted the fan has zero obstruction on the intake.
Most laptop coolers have the fan sandwiched between the laptop and the desk, greatly reducing the potential of the fan.
You can still push your idea further.
You should look for some fans which push a higher air pressure, not exactly volume, but pressure. These fans have less blades, with each blade being wide and curved.
EBM Papst makes them, as does Delta and Comair Rotron

Its a nice build, plus since the desk is cheap, you can always cut the hole larger if you wanted to put a larger fan in.

K-TRON

 

Genius!

 

When at low speed you can barely hear the fan, at high speed you can hear it. At the moment the CPU is 30C at low fan speed!!! I only put it on high when gaming.

I haven't raised the back, I dont see the need now that I am getting ice cold temps, I prefer it flat.

I have a 90mm Intel CPU cooling fan with a heat sink. I dont think it would make much of a difference compared to the current.

Let the Overclocking continue.....

 

nice stuff

 

nice, cheap and effective mod..but how come your table look ssoooo plain? lol do u use an external mouse nad keyboard? just saying. lol

 

How is it powered? i have a bunch of old case fans i want to mod into my entertainment center because i have a glass door on the front and i would love to not have to open it when my xbox is running inside to keep it from over heating. I want to put the fans out the back. Any suggestions? i have like 5 80mm and a few 90mm and a few 120 mm ones.

edit: i see these http://www.frozencpu.com/products/6...10v_AC_to_12v_DC_Converter_w_4-Pin_Molex.html

is there a cheaper way to do it?

 

That's a pretty cool homemade cooler!

Good job!


Cin

 

lol, thats pretty cool. Good idea.

 

I bought a 240V (in Australia) to 12V DC adaptor at local electrical store for about $10.

 

Nice idea. The only thing I see that's wrong with that is if you're out of your house, you're boned.

 

Nice mod I'd love to do that too! How did you do that hole?

You shouldn't be having the need for a notebook cooler when having it for mobility And who does carry their notebook cooler along when they take the notebook with them !?


And I guess he won't be playing crysis portable Also i don't think he uses the overclocks when having it on the go, that would be waste of batterytime
I thought notebook-coolers where there for a the reason when playing alot of games or doing alot of intensive tasks, and often you do that at home


But i guess he could take the whole table with him when going anywhere

 

2 words (technically it's 4 words..)

Lan Party.

 

Oh well everyone will have to come to him now. A great excuse if you ask me

 

I've got this desk with a hole in the corner designed for running cords through. Unfortunately, its placed too far in for me to mod it into something like this.

 

I suggest you use a slightly bigger fan for more cfm and lower rpm noise like I did: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox2eaBjDfEg

On that note building your own actual cooler rather than cooling desk is not too bad. A trip to home depot & radio shack can get you one perfectly tailored to your laptop.

The cheapest shopping list I can think of for something you can be proud of:

Home Depot or some store like it:
Plexi Glass -$6
Hand Saw -$5 (or barrow this or a jig saw, or some other good cutting tool)
Hot Glue & Hot Glue Gun -$5

From Newegg.com or something like it:
1 or 2 120mm fans $10 / $20

From Radio Shack or something like it:

Option 1: DC inverter preferably 12v DC and Wire

Option 2: USB cord for 5v power to the fans.

To complete it:
Cheap Way - Black Electric Tape
Normal Way - Silicon Beans & Crimps
Pro Way - Solder & Soldering Iron

You may not end up much cheaper than buying one pre-built but it will be perfectly tailored to your laptop and look pro. Especially if you add neon's or LEDS to it if you like that flashy look.

Also I actually combo on my options. I use a low power fan that runs at 5v to run it directly from the laptop, but it has a DC inverter jack to turn on the more powerful secondary 120mm fan and boost the power to the 5v fan.

The only tool not listed is a Drill & Hole Saw or a Dremel to cut the holes.

If you do any mod work get a Dremel its a super handy tool, I got the super ultra deluxe one for like $50 with a ton of attachments. The hole saw is the super easy way to do it but they cost a lot, so maybe see if you can just barrow some of the tools if you think you will never use them again.

 

how can you work on laptop like that?

 

Hehe you dont, it was a test I was running because my C90S was crashing and I had to determin if it was due to heat issues. It was RAM in the end.

So this was my ultimate on the spot no cost cooling solution to test for heat problems.

You could be creative and integrate something like thus into your desk though.

perforated metal plates in your desk with the fan mounted under would give you the super ultimate cooling pad built into your desk for little cost.

Speaking of desk mods. I am about to do one. A very interesting one that I have not seen anybody else do here. I want to start a thread on it now since I am excited about the idea but parts wont be here for awhile.

 

What the !#@[email protected] drilled a hole into the table!..

good idea though..its somewhat like Belkin concept....their cooler is like a basin..and a fan at the center.

i like stands which give elevation to laptop...i modified my 2 coolers and creative an elevated stand.

the passive cooler is an elevation stand..and the active fan based is the main heat sucker.

together mounted on thick books..my laptop's screen height is at my eye level so no strain on neck.


will post pics soon to give u a better idea.


how about giving your notebook some elevation too?