best notebook cooler for 17" laptop

hi,

as the title suggests, i'm looking for a really good notebook cooler. My last laptop fried due to overheating and I'm not gonna make that mistake again. I currently have a Cooler Master notepal U2, not really a fan of it.

Would dual fans be better or one large one? Noise is not an issue, and my budget is flexible...but would like to keep it under $50.

 

You can look at a few CM coolers:

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Storm-Laptop-SGA-6000-KKYF1/dp/B004C5MVBK (USB 2.0 version)

Amazon.com: Cooler Master Notepal X2 Notebook Cooler R9-NBC-4WAK-GP: Electronics

Or Zalman:
http://www.amazon.com/Zalman-ZM-NC2...1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1329582633&sr=1-1 (I used one on my old Asus G51VX-A1 and it worked really well, maybe ~10C difference).

Never heard of or used this one but it gets decent ratings:
Amazon.com: Thermaltake Massive23 LX Laptop Notebook Cooler Oversized 230mm Blue LED Fan USB CLN0015: Electronics

The biggest issue is finding the vents and finding a cooler that provides cool air through those vents. If it's just hitting the plastic under the laptop it's doing no good as the air isn't going through those vents.

You could also check out the sticky at the top of the forum here and find some reviews on at least the NC2000

 

although a cooler helps, the best way to lower your temps is to reapply an aftermarket thermal compound like ICD 7 or AS 5 (they would generally lower your temps a lot more than a cooler

 

i wouldn't bet on that.

too bad the NZXT Cryo LX is very rare, and hard to find now. that was, and is, the best cooler produced til this day. the only other "powerful" cooler that i personally recommend is the SF-19. u stated that noise level wasn't a concern, so the SF-19 might fit your bill. the thing sounds like a jet engine.

 

i'd love to apply some acs5 or ic diamond but that may void my warranty..plus ive never toyed around with laptop hardware before.

liking the big fan on the thermaltake but the design is a bit much. does anyone know whether dual fans would be better or one huge one? I want this thing to be ice cold.. lol

 

Unlikely since you'd have to test every notebook to find that out. However, you should keep in mind that multiple fans do offer more flexibility as well as redundancy as long as they're not in a series.

 

I have a thermal take cooler I would self, massive fan that's near silent. Its black aluminum. I don't need it anymore.

Sent from my ARCHOS 80G9 using Tapatalk

 

Could you tell us which notebook you own? Also if possible a picture of the bottom of your notebook. It would really help

 

I have a black aluminum Thermaltake with one huge fan in the middle. I've used it with two different laptops over the past 3 years and it's cooled both of them pretty nicely. It is one of the older Thermatakes they were making 3 years ago before they started getting all crazy looking. It's just black aluminum. It fit my old 15" Asus and now it fits my 17" MSI. The fan itself is dead silent. You can't hear it even if you tried.

I think the larger fans tend to be quieter. A smaller fan will need to spin faster than a larger one in order to push the same amount of air.

 

i'm going to have the msi gt780dx next week

 

My Cool Master notepal U3 is pretty quiet on idle but you can hear it on full. Even so, it doesn't typically cause so much noise that it becomes distracting; and to be honest, my internal fans are twice as noisy at all RPMs.

 

^ does the cooler fans' speed change based on the load? i have a Cooler Master Notepal U2 for my VAIO SA, and the fans have a constant rotation speed.

EDIT: just checked Amazon; the U3 has a knob to change the fan speed but U2 does not.

 

Correct. There is a rheostat for a manual adjustment of speed depending on load/need.

 

does aluminum > metal mesh? i'm thinking of picking up the thermaltake massive. it's only $30 right now