Passive vs. Active Cooler?

Hi,

I want to get a laptop stand and/or cooler for my dv5t before it gets here next week. Right now, for my MacBook Pro, I have an iLap Rain Design which is a passive aluminum stand/cooler. It is basically an aluminum heat sink.

Right now with just Firefox, Office 2008, some background processes and it charging, the CPU and GPU are running at about 60 degrees Celsius as it sits on the stand.

So, I am wondering, if I don't do much hardcore gaming (Tiger Woods 2008 is my game right now), would a passive cooler be OK? I love my iLap and they have a PC version. Or should I go with an active cooler for the dv5t? I am getting the 9600M GT card, if that makes any difference.

Thanks.

 

The Dv5 is known to be a hot running notebook and the 9600m GT gets really hot. Instant would choose a active cooler over passive. If you look at most reviews of passive coolers they often either decrease the temperature by 1C or raise it substantially.

 

Go with an active cooler. IMO The two extra fans really help and the aluminum by itself won't draw too much heat away because of the rubber pads on the bottom of the notebook that helps to raise it off the surface.

 

Can you provide some models for the active cooler? Is the Zalman an active or passive cooler? This is all new to me so please forgive the ignorance.

 

I think Zalman is active because it has running fans keeping it cool.

My question is whether you can have the Zalman on your lap if you want to use your laptop on the couch?

 

Doubtful, but you can buy a tray and set the tray on your lap, cooler on top of the tray and notebook on top of the cooler.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834998492

That's the one I have for my DV9700T. On these forums people like the Zalman's (bit expensive for my tastes, especially the 17inch version)

I was in Barnes and Noble the other day and they were selling book-trays that looked almost perfect for setting your notebook on your lap with a cooler. I was going to get one to replace the old tray I have but I got sidetracked.

 

Thanks.

Does it cool your notebook as much as a zalman would, temperature-wise? I saw in the Newegg reviews about 5-10 degrees Celsius. Is that about right for the Zalman too?

 

A passive cooler would actually be very effective with the dv5t as long as it raises the back up a bit.

Still, active would be more effective. Take a look at the Zalman NC1000, it is extremely quiet and well built.

 

Anyone know how heavy the Zalman is? Just wondering if I can pack it up when I go out of town. Oh, can you use it on your lap?

 

Light, both are light enough to hold in one hand for decent periods of time.

Zalmans are active and but cannot run on your lap as the base sucks in air.

One misconseption people are having here is that you can just recommend any cooler for any notebook that is FALSE.

It is all based on the alignment of the cooler's fans/vents and the fans and vents of the notebook.

For a DV5 Look at the NZXT Cryo and the Zalman NC2000.

 

I've been using this Bytecc cooler with my Asus M6Ne.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834999336

Note - the Asus's intake vent is on the top deck, in the top left corner above the keyboard. The Bytecc fans blow air upward, so it cools off the bottom of the computer's case. It doesn't really matter if there's a bottom vent or not...

By the way, even though it's solid aluminum, it doesn't work very well as a passive cooler. If you leave the fans off, eventually it soaks up as much heat as it can from the notebook, and then starts re-radiating it back (well, in all directions). Then it all gets very warm...

 

I've had that one for my old compaq r4000 for 2 1/2 years now. The fans are noisy (probably need to replace them) but it still gets the job done.

 

The CPU cores idle at 24-26 celsius, and the GPU idles at 46c. THe HDD runs around 35c on idle.

It works pretty well, I'm not sure how much better the Zalman would do.