Torn Between 2 Laptop Coolers

Hello everyone, new here. I own a G73Jh and lately I have had some serious overheating problems. Ambient temp in my apartment varies between 70-76* and every time I go and play Global Agenda and a few other games (everything maxed) it's almost like it instant overheats. I may be able to play for 30mins or so but it does shut itself off. It's happened 5 times already.

I'm worried I might permanently damage something if I haven't already. Replacing thermal paste isn't an option for me until this summer when I can get it into the shop. I've dealt with desktops but never a laptop (this is my first laptop) and don't really trust myself with the task of taking it apart.

I've done quite a bit of forum browsing on this topic.

Anyways my birthdays coming up this month and I am going to ask for a laptop cooler. I have 2 in mind that I've read about that seem to get pretty high reviews.

CLN0008
Thermaltakeusa»Cooler»Notebook Cooler»Massive23 CS : Massive23 CS CLN0008

ZM-NC2000
::: Zalman, leading the world of Quiet Computing Solutions :::

Now the Thermaltake has one pretty beefy lookin fan but I am looking at the RPM speeds and it is significantly lower then the Zalmans. However the Zalmans has 2 itty bitty fans but spinning at faster RPMS could cool better? I could care less about how quiet it is as long as it gets the job done.

Basically I just want opinions and feel free to throw in other cooling pads you think are better.

 

A cooler isn't going to do you much good for the G73 because of how the chassis is set up. The case itself doesn't get too hot.

Check out the cooling section from the sticky, you'd be better off cleaning the fans with compressed air as a first step.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...hreads-read-before-posting.html#g73jh-cooling

 

What ALLurGroceries said. That's crummy that your paste is bad but I don't think there is enough opportunity to shove air in from the bottom to compensate for the failure to transfer heat from the chip to the heat sink. You'd be wasting a perfectly good opportunity to get something cool for your birthday on something that's not going to make a lick of difference in your particular case.

Taking the laptop apart for a repaste isn't too bad. I found the disassembly video and thread to have all the info I needed to do the job properly and I've never taken a laptop apart before. Just be careful with the speaker wire connector because it's tight and fragile.

I don't see any workaround that will help you. My advice is not to play games until you get it fixed. I assume you can't take the down time for the repair because you really need your laptop right now. Mine shut down on thermals before I repasted. The way it happens seems pretty hard on the hard drive so you're going to get data corruption or mechanical drive damage if you keep dropping the power on it like that. Make sure you have some good data backups if you want to keep gaming on it without a repaste.

I don't personally think that it is causing damage to the GPU. It's probably not good for it, but it is supposed to be shutting itself off before it hits thermal runaway and I think it does so. The greater concern in my opinion is smacking the hard drives like that all the time.

 

ALLurGroceries- I have done a lot of reading and many people with this same laptop say that it drops it between 5-8*. There are vents on the bottom so it has to do a little something. In my case it's better then nothing. I don't have any program that actually reads how hot it is. Cleaning fans is already a done and it might have helped some but I'm still shutting off.

Jody - I would agree that the only way to truly fix the problem is with a re-paste. I would rather have both actually, fan and re-paste. There is only 1 computer shop I trust and that is 3 hours away back home. I have a break coming up but we will see just how much money I get for my birthday but if they can't get it done for me within that week then I can't leave it behind. Gas would be way to much to travel back and forth like that plus I need it.

Data corruption is another thing I'm paranoid about. I've been threw 5 hard drives on my desktop... maybe I'm just unlucky with these things. First 2 that failed I had no backups, lost it all. I do have everything I need backed up though, pictures and such. But as for a full backup/restore point I got nothin.

I still am hellbent on getting a cooling fan though. I know it's not a permanent fix but it is going to help.

 

If you have high ambient temperatures it could help for a few degrees C. If you're shutting down due to thermals a cooling pad solving that is optimistic -- you need a repaste more likely. Good luck.

 

Oh how embarrassing. I thought I had read most of the threads on cooling from this website and others. Apparently I didn't look hard enough! Now everyone's reading this going "Great another cooling thread". Whoopsies.

ALLurGroceries - What you say makes complete sense. I am still going to get a pad though. Re-paste will come later, or the week of the 18th sometime if the shop can squeak me in and I have the funds, I will keep you updated on that and let you know what the shop says and does. Regardless I'm still getting the pad, I've read in many places that it does help with a few degrees. Thank you for your advice!

 

If you must get a cooler lol get the NC2000, two high rpm fans that put most of the air out in the front, right where the vents on the G73 are

 

Contrary to popular opinion, the g73 DOES NOT suck in air from the top. If you've dis-assembled your notebook, you would have seen how there's no space below the the KB or grill to suck air so coolers do help...

If you've done a good repaste job on your notebook then hopefully idle temps will drop to the point where you cpu and gpu fans switch off, if you've got a decent NB cooler which is throwing air directly into the bottom vents then it'll prolong the time it takes for the cards to heat up to the point that fans have to start again, thus prolonging fan life when not gaming....
They also shave off a bit at full load..

If you use it mainly as a desktop replacement and don't move it around too much then i recommend the SF-19, as it runs on AC power and moves a LOT of air..

I'm using a MASSIVE23 LX, it helps reduce temps a bit and prolong the time before fans switch on but not as much as i like, i'm planning on upgrading to Sf-19 myself...
Here's a video showing it's performance with an Un Re-pasted G73, the temp drop in the cpu temp shows approx how effective it will be..
YouTube - Keeping Your Laptop Cool With The CM Storm SF-19 Notebook Cooler Tech Byte

I've also used the zalman cooler and they're very effective ONLY if you're in a cool environment where the aluminium can remain cool, otherwise the CFM is very low and you can barely feel the air.

 

+1

I would say, a G73 don't need a nb cooler. But it will benefit from it.
My G73JH alone idles for almost 1 minute without any fan. Then 30 seconds cooling.
With a NC-3000 at low speed (really silent), the gpu fan is off for almost 3 minutes, cools down in 20 seconds till fan is off again for 3 minutes...

 

If you want to be serious about laptop cooling and want to really get hardcore, replace the fans with high powered ones. They would be custom of course but you are better off with a repaste with IC7 Diamond.

 

I got the Cool Master U3 (Hybrid) you can use it with or without fans. The fans, if you need them, can be placed exactly where they're needed. I got some pictures of it with my G73JW in this post I also posted a link to a youtube video that describes the Cool Master in some detail. I bought the U3, but there's also a U2 which is smaller and comes with just two fans instead of three. Some folks use the U2 with 17" laptops.

 

I don't think anyone is suggesting that laptop coolers have no effect at all on the G73. There's a vent or two on the bottom. It makes sense that you can knock off three to five degrees by pushing a little extra air in there.

The point is that if your TIM between the GPU and heatsink has failed, a cooler is not going to help with that. If you are getting thermal shutdowns after thirty minutes of normal gaming, you're going to get thermal shutdowns with or without a cooler. You can move lots of air over that heat sink and pull heat from it faster. The heat sink in this case is not getting enough of the heat. The heat is staying with the GPU die underneath the heat sink. There is no air getting to it and blowing harder into the bottom vents will help none at all.

 

yea so no one's saying a cooler is an alternative to a re-paste!
a Re-paste is a must!!

i'm just saying that most people on the forum keep sayin the g73 doesnt need a cooler, that true but like @tilla, it will definitely benefit from one

@OP - repaste first, if you still find the need for a cooler then Sf-19 is my recommendation if portability isnt an issue, else Massive23 or Zalman

 

I completely agree with you all a cooler will not fix what needs to be done (re-paste) however I am still going to get a cooler regardless because as you say it'll benefit. Whether or not this happens before I get it re-pasted is unknown to me at the moment. It will get a re-paste, just not sure when yet.

That SF-19 looks beast and I love the RPM rates of the fans on it.

I have called Asus tech support (as much as I loath the thought of sending out my laptop to be beatin up by the mailing system only to be half fixed again then sent back being beatin up again by the mailing system to get to me.) the guy told me to reinstall my graphics driver... I'm downloading the driver now (takes forever with my dorm internet connection) and will reinstall and try it out. Doubt it will help but I'll make the tech guy happy.

On another note though, say I do send it in for a re-paste. What about illegal software? Problem?

In all honesty I would rather give it to the shop back home that I can trust and choose my thermal paste then send it out to the wolves like that. Free or not free.

 

Before looking into a laptop cooler, I would definitely try an air can first. Then if that doesn't help, spend $5-10 on some thermal paste, and do a re-paste. Better than spending $60+ on a cooler off the bat. Try the cheaper and better alternatives first.

 

Contrary to what kurtcocaine says, the air is INFACT sucked through the top. The air intake is the fine mesh right under the monitor.

Coolers do VERY LITTLE to cool this laptop. The only thing that laptop coolers to for this laptop is to keep the HDs a little cooler and during idle, the notebook maybe 1 - 2 deg cooler. When load is applied to the CPU or GPU, coolers do little or nothing to help.

 

I need to find one of those colored smoke bombs we use for testing drafts in our equipment and turn one loose on a G73 with a video camera to settle this.

 

I have tested it with incense sticks, the air doesnt move anywhere..

@Nakano2k1 please open up your notebook and see that there's nothing under the mesh!
people who've repasted their notebook by themselves, please back me up here..
i honestly don't know where this business about air being sucked from the top started??

Edit: please have a look at the disassembly guide - http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-gaming-notebook-forum/475907-asus-g73-series-disassembly-guide.html

and see that their's a metal backing plate behind the KB
and the grill is Solid plastic on the backside (with the exception of the speaker panel in the centre)..

 

Lol!
People have been arguing about the air intake for this laptop since it debuted a year ago!
Air definitely gets sucked through the bottom vents on the access panel.
If you run furmark and let your fans spin up to max and then partially cover the vents you can feel a feint rush of air being drawn in.
However there is evidence that the laptop possibly intakes air from the top as well.
There are two hidden openings underneath the screen hinges. If you hold the laptop up to a lamp at the right angle and and look through this opening you can see light shining through the rear vent.
Furthermore if you take a can of compressed air and insert the straw into that opening with your laptop off and spray some air in there your can hear the fans spin very fast.
I don't really recommend that because I've heard it can damage them!

 

I've seen temp charts from people re-pasting and also from people adding a cooler. I am not trying to fix this problem with a cooler be any means but I have seen it drop as much as 5-8* with peoples charts when using a cooler.

Someone in this thread said it very well when they said coolers are a compliment but are not going to fix the problem. I completely agree. Which is why I'm going to do both I am just trying to get feedback on people's cooling pads that they have used with this laptop. My laptop hardly moves at all and I do all of my gaming at my desk I could care less about how noisy it is or how light and easy to carry around it is.

 

So I called tech support again after reinstalling my video drivers didn't work (big surprise).

Now they want me to update my bios to the latest version... I have 209, I guess the newest one is 211... however the lady informed me that if I screwed up it would void my warranty... but they want me to go ahead and do it... I'm not sure I understand this at all. I'm not going to do it because I don't feel competent to do it and don't believe I should just "go ahead and do it but if I screw up my warranty is out the window". She then told me that I could have someone else that knows how do it for me. Well the only people I have enough faith in computer skill to do that is the people I'd need to pay $$$. She said if that didn't work then it would need to be sent in for repairs...

I think I may just say screw you tech support and once I get my income tax take it to the shop back home. I know this could also void my warranty because they would be opening up the laptop but in all honesty I don't trust any place that I have to send my things back to threw the mail. For my own peace of mind and also to make sure they fix it right and put good paste on I might go this route. I guess I'm just super anal about who works on my computer. Also then I don't have to worry so much about what I have on it for software.

Onto the cooling part of this I looked up the SF-19 reviews and in temperature tests the thermaltake seems to beat it out. So at this moment I am leaning towards getting a thermaltake. However I do like the fact that you can customize the SF-19 and add 1 big fan and a few small ones on the sides since there are a total of 4 fan plug ins. I just don't know if that would make a difference or not. It does spin much much faster 1200-2500(SF) versus 600(thermaltake).

 

I second that .. the mesh is just superficial - it does not actually have holes. While disassembling my system to re-paste the GPU I held up the mesh against a light bulb and I could not see thru it (no, it wasn't dirty

Based on my disassembly I could not see ANY vents/holes/gaps thru which air can be sucked from the top or front - As has been observed numerous times before, the ventilation seems to be only from the bottom.

BTW I use a Zalman NC3000 with my G73jh and I get a 3-4 C reduction in GPU temps across the board (Idle and Load).

@DieselJunki - a laptop cooler will not help in your situation - you will need a GPU repaste.

 

Even the cooler may help a little, it is like putting a band-aid on a wound that needs stitches. I advise you to do the repaste at a shop or yourself.

If you are going to do it yourself you will need to take your time. There are a lot of pictures and videos of the dis-assembly of our notebook.

 

I am going to ask a really really dumb question but here it goes. How do you read temperatures on the inside of your laptop? I see people throw numbers around but I have no idea what program you are using (or maybe there is one already installed I don't know about). And this Furmark program, I guess I should get that and run a test.

 

You need a hardware monitor application. I suggest HWINFO32, Core Temp, GPU-Z, and AMD GPU Tool for HD5870

 

I have installed the HWINFO32 program and looking at the temps:

My computer has been on for quite a few hours just idling and I just got back from welding so it hasn't been in use for 3 hours.
GPU Thermal Diode: 77*C
GPU TS1 MemIO: 77*C

CPU: 53*C

I do have the back propped up so it's not flat on the desk to try and help with temps but am not sure what the temps were before I did that.

So is it safe to say that if I just re-pasted the GPU and left the CPU alone (since that has the tape and would void warranty if I were to rip it up) it would fix my problem?

I called the shop I might take it too. They said depending on if they had to tear into the whole thing or not it could be $35-$140... well I went and looked at the thread on tearing it apart and I have a feeling it's going to be more in the range of $140 (2 hours of bench time). I forgot to ask them if I could tell them to use IC Diamond but I'm sure it wouldn't be an issue.

 

I have good news! I brought my laptop to the shop in town and they fixed it all up for me. They cleaned it from top to bottom, inside and out. They also applied the latest BIOS update for me.

They told me when I went to pick it up that it was just as I suspected (from reading on this forum of course) that it was the GPU thermal paste. They said it was all crusty and burnt off which was why I was idling at 77*C. They replaced the thermal paste and stress tested it for half a day. They said it peaked at 80*C and it no longer crashed under a load.

I am happy to report that my idling temp for my GPU Thermal Diode is 58*C.

So happy to finally be able to play and not have to worry about my temperatures spiking so high.

 

Huzzah!! \o/

 

Up the irons! \o/ Way to go!