DV5T: 12 cell battery or cooling pad?

Hello,

The DV5T is one of two notebooks that I'm considering and I have a question related to the heat while gaming. Many have recommended a cooling pad, and many also suggest simply raising the notebook .5-1" in the back. With the natural lift of the 12 cell battery, would the cooling pad still be necessary for long gaming runs? I don't want to pay the extra $20 for the 12 cell only for minimal cooling gains and still needing to buy a cooling pad. Or is it cooling pads are highly recommending for all laptops when gaming?

Thanks,

ZJ13

 

I had my DV5t about 2 months without a cooler, but just used the 12-cell instead and it helped tremendously. I would recommend just getting the 12-cell for extra battery life and lower temperatures when gaming, instead of a cooler.

I wasn't going to get a cooler, but I started overclocking so I realized I needed one. With just the 12-cell I probably got a ~5-7 C drop, over the 6-cell, and with a cooler more like ~9-11 C drop over the 6-cell.

Hope this helps!

 

I'm burning the recovery DVD's right now. I have the 12-cell battery, no fan. The dv5t is on a hard surface, but in a cluttered area.

I'm running CPU-ID; the processor is reading around 48-62C; the GPU around 45-50C (P7350; m9600). I don't have a hard disk temperature displayed with CPU-ID, so I can't tell you the hard disk temperature.

I think the 12-cell battery is a good way to go.

 

Great, thanks for the replies. It looks like I'll get the 12 cell then just install CPU-ID and only look at a cooler if it gets real bad. But this way should save me a few bucks.