Best Notebook Coolers for 18" Alienware Laptops

Good info! Thank you! +1

 

I echo this. I have the same pad for my M18x. Fully customisable fan positions with variable fan speed. Fits the under the 3 fan slots on the M18x perfectly. System low 40s on idle and max high 60s even after several hours of gaming.

Very happy with it.

 

I keep reading that coolers don't really work, but sounds like some people have good luck with them as well. More important to me, does anyone know if using the cooler keeps the louder system fan from going on?

 

I hear that a lot as well, which is why I asked...

Spoiler

...but, from the feedback we are seeing, it appears they may actually be useful. I'm not quite as skeptical as I used to be, thanks to the good feedback. Under normal use and gaming conditions, I still don't think they are needed by everyone because the M18x cooling system is awesome and they typically don't get hot enough to require supplemental cooling. At least mine does not, but I live in an area where the climate is mild most of the year, and use my M18x in an air-conditioned environment most of the time. I'm more interested in the practical application for infrequent heavy-duty uses, like overclocked benchmarking. I would still be interested in hearing more performance results for that type of application.

I like the looks of the U3 better than the SF-19, and I like the fact that it is metal. But, the SF-19 includes an AC adapter, which I would prefer over using USB power or an AC to USB power converter. The SF-19 lighting is a very nice touch, but not a compelling enough reason for me to buy it. I also have reservations about the ABS plastic, but everything I read indicates it is built very solid. I am curious if anyone reading this has owned both, which does a better job, which one they prefer and why. Decisions, decisions...

 

Mine fan tend to kick on around 70C and most of the time my U3 keeps my temps under that, when I used to do heavy gamming the 18x would kick on. I have noticed that my 18x fans are hardly running at all under heavy loads.

The U3 absolutly keeps my machine cooler, one bc it has a mesh top witch allows more airflow to the 18x fans and the U3 fans witch I have possitioned with two on the left side and one on the right.

I took temps from the normal 18x resting, on the U3 stand by itself, ad finnaly with the fans running. The biggest droip was simply putting in on the stand, that was around 8-9 degrees, then I kicked the fans up (witch by the way are exremely queit) and it dropped another 6-7 degrees and average I would say im getting a 10-15 degree change. I am not overclocked and im using games to define a heavier gpu load.

 

Mr.Fox, what temps would you consider as overheating on 6990 x fire not overclocked? Also when people are quoting their temps according GPU Z are they using A: the highest one of the 4, or B: the the first one from the top? Just trying to get a feel how mine are compared to the rest.

 

Yes, that is what I go with. Same for CPU. I go with the core package temp, since that generally represents the highest peak in core temps. Under extra-heavy load, such as overclocked benchmarking, I define CPU overheating as "high enough to cause thermal shutdown." That is generally 100°C unless settings have been tweaked. For moderate use, such as gaming (no CPU overclocking necessary) I almost never see anything above 80°C-82°C on CPU under the harshest conditions and my GPU package rarely exceeds 80°C even while overclocked. The way I define heavy load might be slightly different than some. If the CPU and GPU are not overclocked, I don't really consider any conditions to be "heavy load" per se because they are operating within the parameters they were designed to operate. Although, we all (including me) use that term frequently.

I would consider sustained temps of 87°C or more to be too hot for CPU or GPU under heavy gaming conditions. A very short peak above that, say for a minute or less, I don't consider to be problematic if thermal maximum is avoided. If I see temps jump above 82°C under normal use (web browsing or using Office productivity apps, etc.) I start asking questions and get nervous about what might be happening.

When I had my first M18x with 6970M CrossFire and second M18x with 6990M CrossFire, I did see very brief GPU package temperature peaks up to 89°C to 92°C under overclocked conditions while benchmarking. I like to see GPU temps stay under 85°C. More than that makes me uncomfortable because it seems the GPUs can be a bit fragile. With the GPUs, memory temps are also important and I don't know of an effective way to monitor that accurately. So keeping the GPU core package down to 85°C or less is probably wise. When benchmarking with the GPUs overclocked, using HWiNFO64 to run the fans at 100% is very effective. Based on the feedback I am seeing here, the right cooler might enhance that a bit. A 3°C to 5°C drop may be all that is needed in most cases, especially for AMD CrossFire systems, to bring the temps down into what I consider the "safe zone" for GPU temps.

The Intel i7 CPUs are a different story. They're built like a Sherman tank and are very resilient. They generally have the "intelligence" needed to take whatever steps are necessary to prevent damage from user abuse.

 

Thank you for this very elaborate answer! Playing with Battlefield 3 at the moment, running everything maxed out, seen max 80 degrees on 1 cpu core and max 83 on GPU 1 (shader portion I think temp sensor 4) GPU tends to be cooler. This all at an ambient temp of 20 degrees c. Will see how things are during summer before I start freaking, or otherwise I may turn the settings down a wee bit to keep it cooler.
Anyway, thanks again, have a good weekend!

 

Thanks for all the new info. I use a duplo block myself to raise up my laptop at an angle to get more airflow under the machine.

Overall, for the cost, it sounds like getting the laptop screen higher and at an angle is probably worth it for me. Time to look for a sale now.

 

I don't know if such things are worth it... With my old laptops I noticed that the fans kicked down in speed whenever the laptop was lifted up more. Just a few days ago I ran Furmark and let my GPUs heat up to about 80-85°, then lifted my laptop to allow more airflow. Nothing changed... I'm pretty impressed with the design of the M18x from an airflow standpoint.

Maybe an active cooler would help more.

 

Raising the back of the laptop does help, but raising it after the temps are already too high doesn't do as much to help cool things down. The M18x does have a great cooling system. (Most Alienware systems have great cooling.) Raising the back of the laptop before temperatures are off the hook is more effective at keeping them under control. I tested both ways and there is an improvement. The improvement is more noticeable on an overclocked XM than it is on the GPUs.

I will not use Furmark any more. Personally, I find no reason to place that degree of stress on my video cards. Not only can it damage them, neither games nor the more useful benchmark tools (i.e. Futuremark utilities) cause as much load or stress.

 

Is there a problem with Furmarn and the 580's or just in general.

 

Furmark is a brutal test and has been found to sometimes cause damage to video cards. That is not specific to the 580s, but NVIDIA has worked to blacklist it at the hardware level because of the risk of damage. OCCT's video stress test is rather harsh as well.

The risk is probably greater in an overclocked condition, but there are other equally effective benchmark tools that are low risk. Use Furmark at your own risk.

A safe approach, which also better represents true in-game performance, is to use a Futuremark program such as 3DMark11 or 3DMark Vantage.

 

I dont like anything thats too hard on my system it would make me cry and hug it. Thanks for the info.

 

Agreed! . Treat the machines with TLC and they will take care of you(most of the time )

 

I completely agree on Mr. Fox comment, Furmark and OCCT can be very harmful for your video card, specially for Overclocked. On Alienware, we recommend as benchmark and graphics test tool 3DMark 2006, 2011, Vantage and the Unigine Heaven 2.5.

 

I ordered the strike force cooler today and I hope it lives up to its expectations. It was one of the few that was AC powered and did not rely on USB power.

Has anyone here tried one on the m18x?

 

This is true, my temps using Furmark are easily 10+° higher than running a normal game

I only used it shortly to test the fans and cooling system. Before I cleaned out my GPU fans, Furmark was running the GPUs up to 100°+. After cleaning, they reach only 85°, and that after a long while (1 min or so). In games, I rarely see 76° with 90-100% GPU utilization on both cards after long, multi-hour sessions.

 

For those interested, J&R is selling the Notepal U3 for 24.99 on Amazon...
Amazon.com: Cooler Master NotePal U3 Notebook Cooler with 3 Fans R9-NBC-8PCK-G: Electronics

Seems to be the lowest price according to camel x3.

I decided to pick one up for my old Dell Inspiron which seems to be running at:
73.8 CPU
59 GPU

right now...

 

New egg has an additional discount of 10% on all coolermaster items.

Use code EMCNGNJ34 and you can see everything here: Newegg.com - Cooler Master/Laptop Accessories


I got the Cooler Master SF-19 Strike Force Notebook Cooler for 60 bucks and 2 day shipping free (3day free if you don't have roadrunner).

 

Yep I have one under my M18X. It keeps things running nice and cool. The lights look good aswell and match the M18X colours perfectly.

 

I could not find any discussion about this so I decided to make a thread for it.

So is there any laptop stand/cooler people could recommend for M18x?

There has been few mentions about Cooler Master notepal ergo stand but it's up to 17 inch laptops. Though there is Cooler Master SF-19 which might be a good choice.

Any thoughts about this?

 

i use the U3 cooler master cooling pad and it just fits the m18x fine you can also manually assign the location of the fans beneath, at the same time, m18x fits along when you integrate it on U3.

 

Are you sure??

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m18x/593626-notebook-coolers-m18x-22.html

 

You will find tons of advice on coolers in this thread.

 

Thank you for popping this up. I used the search option but for some reason it only found similar thread for M17x, but not for M18x.

Anyhow I will find answer to my question from here.

 

I purchased a SF-19 from Fry's Electronics earlier this week. It looked nice, but I was disappointed in (1) buzzing/rattle sound at full fan speed; and (2) poor cooling. It actually made my M18x run a few degrees warmer. The grille blocked too much air and the fan position blows air into the center of the chassis instead of where the M18x fans are located. I returned it the following day.

I purchased a U3 cooler and find it much better. It cools better, seems to be made better (aluminum versus plastic) and it was $39 versus $59. It does not have fancy lights, but those were only for looks. The SF-19 had an AC adapter as well, which was a plus. I am using an AC USB adapter that I already had instead of a USB port for the U3. The big plus for the U3 besides the aluminum construction is the 3 fans. I was able to position each of them in direct alignment with the CPU and GPU fans.

The U3 will cool well enough for basic computing and gaming. It does not cool well enough for extreme overclocking. I doubt there is a cooler made that is effective enough for that purpose. It works pretty awesome with the hotel AC though.

 

Glad you like your U3 Mr Fox - personally i have it too but don't really notice much if any dif in temp... Where do you attach the fans too? Directly below the vent where the cpu/gpu fans are located?

 

How I attatched mine was to flip the M18x over onto its lid, place the U3 (without its fans attatched) inverted onto the base of the laptop. You can then see EXACTLY where to place the fans - FYI, I placed them directly under each system fan and it works very well.

Also, what I did find handy.....when trying to position the U3's fans directly under the gpu, I peeled back the rubber feet at the back of the U3 so that I could clip the fans in the exact location I wanted.

If I get chance, I will post a photo.

 

I reccomend you use this if you decide to build a custom one

 

Thanks for the review on the U3. Have any pictures of it under the m18x ?

Laughing at pic on the hotel air conditioning, As I'm sure your well aware of, I thought I might point out for those newbs and youngsters who may think it a cool idea.. This is a good way to build up allot of unwanted condensation in a small amount of time.

 

Just took a few piccie's of my M18x with my U3 from a few angles for you, top one taken with me lying on my back, looking up at the fans :laugh: LOL - here you go!

 

Good piccies Steve!
I am getting one for the summer!!

 

Thanks! - its the only cooler that I have had that I would recommend. All the rest have been junk. LOL

 

Good photos! Below are a few more. It seems to have lowered my idle temps by about 3°C. This is idling at 4.4GHz with c-states disabled. I suspect there would be less difference running in a normal configuration. I have not owned it long enough to elaborate more than that. The point for me is, the temps did not go the wrong direction, which is sometimes the case with so-call "coolers" for laptops. This is working much better than the SF-19.

Spoiler

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I don't like using USB ports for powering something like this. I have nothing against USB, I'm just a geek that is OCD about many things, including stuff sticking out of ports and don't like how it looks. I have the BT Orochi mouse and using the USB wall charger works great. With nothing connected to the M18x except the AC adapter, Mr. Fox is a happy guy. (Still looking for a way to deliver 330W to the beast wirelessly, LOL.)

Definitely don't leave it sitting there idle for a long time. If you're in a humid climate, this is especially likely to occur. I've never seen condensation, but that's probably because I watch for it and use caution. There most certainly is a risk of this happening if you're not paying attention to what's going on. I start with the system turned off, just sitting there for a while and getting as cold as I can get it. Leaving it with cold air circulating through warm heat sinks for a while would likely produce condensation. Run the benches, then stop and move it off the AC.

 

Great pics Mr. Fox! - I see you also lifted the rubber feet at the rear of the U3 to get the fans into their best possible position....if I had one criticism of the U3, it would be that the cables between the 3 fans could have been a bit longer....their isnt that much play in mine by the time I put them where I wanted to...could have done with a bit more "slack".....

 

Thanks for the pictures. I like it, looks sleek. I'm going to have to go by frys this week. Nice setup by the way.

 

Thanks bud. It suffices for my humble needs!

 

Im just wondering for all U3 users out there with the m18x beast, the m18x is thick enough as it is which makes it sometimes not so much ergonomic to type on, adding the U3 to it makes it even higher and less ergenomic. Doesnt it bother to play/use the m18x with a laptop cooler ?

 

I agree they need a bit more slack, although not very much. It seems they could have engineered the length of the fan wiring a little more effectively. An extra half inch to one inch would have been just right. I made up for that by orienting the left outer fan (under the left GPU) with the release button pointing away from the adjacent fan (under the CPU). It works OK and I would prefer it being a close fit like it is now over having a lot of excess wiring if push comes to shove.

Yes, I did lift the rubber at the extreme corners like you did. The only complaint I really have is one of the fan bracket tabs is cracked and that one fan keeps falling out of the bracket. I have it held in place with transparent tape for the moment. I am going to register for the warranty and ask them to send me one bracket.

No. I actually like it better with the the angle. I used to prop up the rear with a couple of rubber shock absorber bushings under the rear pads and this is not much different.

 

I actually like the inclined angle.....my palms/hands rest alot better on it rather than it being on a flat surface - I personally find it very comfortable to use for anything. As the thickness of the bed of the U3 is only a couple of millimetres, its not really elevated at the front, meaning your hands/wrists arent actually elevated any more than they would be using the beast on a flat surface - maybe a few millimetres.

 

Here's another thing I like about the U3. It's easy to pack and takes up little more space than the laptop.

 

Has anyone tried some of the simpler coolers that just raise the laptop further off the ground to allow better airflow? I think I've read just doing that can almost have the same effect as the fan based solutions. I would be talking about things like these:

Amazon.com: Belkin F5L033-ICE Laptop Cooling Strip (White): Electronics
Amazon.com: ThermaPAK Laptop Cooling Heatshift Pad: Electronics
Amazon.com: Everki Mobile Notebook Cooler EKF810: Electronics

Any other good options?

 

The "Ultimate Cooling Mod" to End All Cooling Mods

Free and environmentally friendly!

 

Just a tad unsightly though - and somehow I cant imagine being so penny-pinching that I would have to resort to grabbing a thick book off the bookshelf to prop up my uber-expensive laptop! LOL (I'm careful with money, but I am not that skint - and my U3 isnt gonna put the world into global meltdown )

Great research though buddy - +rep!

 

Hey pal, your Alienware is unsustainable, get a hacky sack!

 

Damn - guess I should sell it and go hug a tree.... (j/k - I'm all for saving the environment, just not whilst I am gaming LOL)

 

LOL, dude tell me about it, "can we save the planet and still play video games?!"

But looking at it in a different light, I believe the Natural World that our ancestors freely roamed was so full of adventure and beauty, most of it lost ( especially the autonomy)and inaccessible today, that video games fill this innate demand.

I believe this was the implicit message in and philosophy behind James Cameron's highly acclaimed film Avatar.

 

I have had my cooler master sf-19 3.0 for a while now and I love it. Although I never really thought about it, but the 4 port USB hub has allowed me to use the cooler as a quasi docking station...

 

^do you notice a drop in temps with the sf-19? If so would you mind comparing temps with/without.