The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Homemade Laptop Cooling Device

    Discussion in 'Alienware' started by FirecatF7, Mar 23, 2009.

  1. FirecatF7

    FirecatF7 Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    84
    Messages:
    129
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Alright, So I had a couple old VGA coolers laying around and I decided to wire them from MOLEX to USB. Now, I realize that there will be a performance drop due to lower USB voltages but my conservative estimates came in at a 50% drop in fan RPM. This drop these fans from 2000rpm to about 1000 rpm. Rated CFM at 2000 rpm was 48. So each fan would now produce 24cfm. That's why I have 2! 24 x 2 = 48 cfm! Needless to say I have a lot of work ahead of me with the plexiglass case and USB hub that I want to put on the side. But here's the work so far!

    Wow, they show up HUGE. I even had to downsize them by 40% to allow them to be uploaded here! haha
     

    Attached Files:

    FirecatF7, Mar 23, 2009
    #1
  2. whizzo

    whizzo Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    769
    Messages:
    5,851
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    206
    oh, you're using those kind of fans. interesting. how do they blow air? from where do the pull air, and push it to where? remember, for the m15x, you want to push air upwards towards the bottom of the notebook. hotspots are the back corners (CPU on the left, GPU on the right) and the HDD under the right palm rest.
     
    whizzo, Mar 23, 2009
    #2
  3. The_Moo™

    The_Moo™ Here we go again.....

    Reputations:
    3,973
    Messages:
    13,930
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    455
    lol mine was a sheet of plywood and 8 i inch cubes(1 in each corner top and bottom to let air get sucked in ) :D it dropped my temps 8c-10c coarse i lined up the fans directly on the vents. nice +1 rep for hard work
     
    The_Moo™, Mar 23, 2009
    #3
  4. FirecatF7

    FirecatF7 Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    84
    Messages:
    129
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    well they blow air through the portion I have facing the camera at all times. I have included pictures that show where they primarily suck air through. I will be removing most of the plastic from the intake area to allow better air flow. Also, the bottom (where air is induced) will be inside the plexiglass chamber. So I will be placing relief holes on the bottom side of the plexiglass chamber under where the touchpad is. The fans will be blowing air towards the laptop under the top of the keyboard/touch controls area. The cold air will travel through the chamber, via induction from the fans at the top of the unit. I chose this path because I believe the coolest air will be found near the user, and not towards the rear of the system.
     

    Attached Files:

    FirecatF7, Mar 23, 2009
    #4
  5. julian-nold

    julian-nold DELETED

    Reputations:
    596
    Messages:
    1,266
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Ah I have one of them for my old old desktop ... it's quite quiet :rolleyes:

    What about sucking the air from the sides (so you do not open what you see on the second pic). Than you can place it eg on your lap without problems?

    Greetings
    Julian
     
    julian-nold, Mar 24, 2009
    #5