Laptop cooling pad

What the title says really. Anyone use one for gaming? If so, which ones do you recommend getting if any at all.

M17x r4 i7 3610QM 7970M 16gb Ram are my specs.

 

there are a lot of threads containing the same discussion subject if you use the search bar.

a lot of people favor the NZXY Cryo LX

 

I just picked up a Cooler Master Notepal U3 earlier this week and love it. Idle temps have dropped nearly 10C.

 

Is there any overhang for the laptop? Did you get the 17" or 19" version? I ordered a Cooler Master Notepal X-slim (supposed to fit up to 17") and I would've loved it if it was actually big enough but it's not. The rubber feet does not touch the pad 100% even if I align the four corner feet. I was looking into the U3 as well but since I tried the Notepal X-slim, I wasn't sure if the U3 fits either...

 

U3 is slightly larger than the m17x. Laterally not as much, maybe half an inch, but in the depth department it has maybe an inch and a half. I think it works very well with the m17x

 

Loved it as well, makes quite a difference

 

i have the U2, bought it a long time ago even before i got my m17x r2

 

I got the U3 as well. Feels very solid. My R2 fits on with about 0.5" to 0.75" to spare on each side. I didn't like the stock fans though. It gets too hot here in Socal from August to Oct. so the stock fans were having trouble keeping my system cool. So I grabbed the bull by the horns and replaced the stock USB powered fans with a set of 80mm high powered case fans. Now my R2 temps stay between 40C and 50C at idle despite the ambient temp being 90F or higher.

 

Another U3 vote here. Great cooling pad.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I have heard of using case fans- which ones did you use radji and how do you power them?

 

I just got a pair of $6 80mm x 80mm case fans and made sure both fans together drew no more than 900mA (it said so on the package). I then found an AC adapter that outputs 1000mA at 12V. It has 2 4-pin molex plugs, that way the case fans will plug directly to it. I got both the fans and the adapter from Frys...it was only about $25 total. They only modification I had to make was I had to use a small chisel to carve grooves on to 2 opposite side of each case fan. The U3's fans hold into the plastic fan housing with two tabs on each side. Because the standard case fans are twice as tall as the U3's case fans, you have to carve the grooves in the middle of the new fans for the tabs to hold it down.

 

Thanks radji, good stuff.

 

I am really interested in what you did here I was wondering If you could help me out with this setup, but I would want a really powerful case fan, I was wondering if you could post some pictures of what it looks like so I can get more of an idea to see what I need to do. New to this computer stuff so might need a guidance if you dont mind.:thumbsup:

 

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B9H5v9LnPfsTWkNOems5c2NQdXM

I threw this pdf together quick so you can see what I did. I bought both the fans and the AC adapter from Fry's. Any 80mm case fan will work. You just need to make sure that the fans are 12v and both fans together do not draw more than 1000mA. I just bought two cheapo fans since any case fan would provide better air flow than the USB powered ones that the U3 comes with. Any questions, let me know.

Radji out.

 

radji how does your modification hold up against the Cyro as i may be in the market for a cooling pad soon

 

One big downside is it's MUCH noisier...but I'm not to concerned about noise (me be hard of hearing). Another con is there is no fan speed control switch. I just unplug the adapter to turn them off when I power down my notebook.

My ambient is about 85F in my room right now and my core temps are bouncing around between 47C and 55C. My Radeon 5870m temps are sitting between 57C and 65C. Right now the temps on the CPU and GPU sit higher because I run Windows Dreamscene...all the time, as well as Winstep Nexus Ultimate. So my CPU utilization is always around 10% and GPU around 5%. That's probably why my AMD card is starting to fail, because its always under a constant load. My SSD is sitting at 38C , and both my WD7500BPKT drives are at 32C. CPU and GPU fans are running at 1900 RPMs. I consider this VERY good since before I made the mods my CPU temps were sitting at 65C. Socal gets VERY hot in August (as compared to the rest of the year) and the stock U3 fans were having issues keeping enough airflow to the heatsinks.

Not sure about the Cryo pad though, I've not run across it yet.

 

This is what I use and I really like it

Amazon.com: Opteka X-Stand Ergonomic Portable Natural Airflow Cooling Stand For all 12-17" Laptop / Notebook Computers: Computers & Accessories

 

Hey Radji, thanks a lot for the guide. I just have a quick question, does it matter how thick the fan is? I noticed the original fan in the U3 is 80x80x10 so is it fine if I were to use 80x80x25??? I'm kinda worried the fan may not fit into U3 because it gets a bit thick. I was looking at some fans from Scythe, they have good airflow with very low noise. I hope it will be better than the original fans.

Thanks !

 

Any 80mm x 80mm case fan will fit into the fan holder. You just need to carve out a groove where the fan holder's tab meets the side of the thicker fan so the tab will hold the fan in the holder. As far as the fans fitting onto the bottom of the U3, I am using 80x80x20 fans and they have plenty of clearance on the bottom. But they are towards the back of the cooler where there is more clearance between the bottom of the U3 and the tabletop. If the fans are going to be closer towards the front of the laptop then they will need to be thinner as there is less clearance in the front.

 

Thanks Radji you are a genius =]!

 

Hey radji im getting my m17x r4 in about 2-3 months.. Anyway I was wondering since you do have a gaming computer that maybe I could add you on steam or something of the like? Since you know quite a bit about notebooks I could use your insight on somethings like ASUS & etc., and plus I'm going to need a gaming buddy anyway since I'm finally getting a gaming computer.

 

You can add me aswell just search my username on steam

 

I wouldn't mind that except, I'm not on steam. Not even sure what that is, must be a gaming site. I will have to look it up. I don't use my m17x for gaming. Last PC game I owned was Star Trek: SFC3. I used my machine's raw power to transcode all my DVDs, Blu-Rays, Wii discs and TV shows to my HDDs. I've finished with all 150+ movies. It would have taken me so much longer with a Dell XPS. Now I don't have to use any of my discs...at all. All Wii games and movies are on hard disc, thanks to my Alienware.

 

I have Cooler Master U3 and its okay. It drops the idle temperature by alot (~10C) but the load temperature stays about the same if not a bit worse. This is comparing to just lifting the back with some bottle cap by the way. It should still be better than just laying it flat on the surface.

 

I see that you like rts games, if you want we could give Star Trek Online a spin when i get my laptop, Im more of a star wars fan but even since the new star trek movie, it sparked some interest , also I play some league of legends if your into that.