Is there a better gaming laptop cooler?

[Lightingbird]

I currently have this cooler under my gaming laptop. Which is a i7 on a 19 inch screen.

http://www.amazon.com/ACC-NT-CRYO-L...ZFZ4/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1303078387&sr=8-3

I've had it for a few years and it has gave me so much headache. When I first got it, the thing was missing the power supply. Then they sent me another which worked. A few months later the fans stopped working. So then they sent me another fan base case. Which works but goes out and I have to shake it to make it come back on occasionally. Not to mention, the USB ports on it have never worked. Well today, it finally went completely. Which made me happy because I can replace it.

So I've been looking for a replacement and I think I can settle on this one.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004C5MVBK/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Here is some other information on it.
http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/product.php?product_id=3020
http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/sf19_strike_force/

It has two 140mm fans that are removable, LED lighting, and USB 3.0 on it as well, so I figure why not. So I was just wondering if anyone knows of a better product.

 

[Tmagic650]

These are nice, but a bit of an overkill. You can get a basic laptop cooler for around $20

Example:
Laptop Cooler

 

[Lightingbird]

Not really looking for a simple cooler. This is for a gaming laptop. Something simple will not get the job done. Anyway, I got one now, thanks for your feedback.

 

[Tmagic650]

I tell people all the time to keep laptops off the carpet, beds and their laps without having a cooling platform under the laptop. With laptops like yours, I'm sure the internal cooling structures are basically sufficient for proper cooling, as long as you keep the cooling ports clean and open. If you want to spend $70 for a cooler, so be it. It can't hurt anything

 

[Lightingbird]

I tell people all the time to keep laptops off the carpet, beds and their laps without having a cooling platform under the laptop. With laptops like yours, I'm sure the internal cooling structures are basically sufficient for proper cooling, as long as you keep the cooling ports clean and open. If you want to spend $70 for a cooler, so be it. It can't hurt anything

No offense, but if you actually think that you then you clearly do not know anything or own a gaming laptop. The reduction alone will help with frame-rates and extend the life of the laptop. Not to mention, people who own gaming laptops usually will be careful enough to maintain the existing dust going into their pc's. A simply fan is just not strong enough to get the job done. Sure the existing ports can help but when you max out the graphics on demanding games, a efficient fan makes a world of a difference.

Just talking from experience and research.

 

[Leeky]

You're missing the point Lightingbird.

The cooling system of the laptop should be sufficient enough to keep the laptop cool. It will have been extensively tested to ensure it can keep the laptop in question cool under all different kinds of ambient temperatures and loads.

My Toshiba gaming laptop at almost 1/2 metre wide struggles to sit on many coolers, but in reality it doesn't need one, and I've not bothered replacing the last one I purchased that didn't fit on it.

You cannot expect PC style temperatures from a laptop, whether gaming or not, as they're totally different. That said, a correctly breathing laptop cooling system should be more than sufficient to keep the temperatures acceptable in all but the hottest of conditions.

The highest I've had recorded for my GPU after over 3 hours solid of gaming on mine was 56'C, the CPU maxed out at 58'C and 63'C, and the hottest the internal temp got to was 68'C. The reality was more about 55-60'C, once the temperatures and load had settled. All of these temps would in my humble opinion be considered absolutely fine given the restricted confines of a laptop.

If you're finding its overheating I suggest you inspect it and find the reason why it is. Framerates should only change if the laptop is overheating. Otherwise they should be consistent, because the laptop should be capable of keeping them even at any temperature below the critical for thermal power reduction.

 

[Archean]

I can understand where you are coming from Leeky and generally you are spot on. But I would like to share a little experience here, 2.5 years ago I bought this DV5, and another friend of mine bought similar DV series notebooks with 8400M (not the faulty ones by the way) + C2D processors etc. Funnily enough both of his notebooks suffered from guess what ........ graphic card failures; and only difference between the usage of three machines has been that, I use a cooling pad. But I think this problem is mainly with HPs as they have all their cooling vents at the bottom.

 

[Leeky]

It would be plausible to assume it might be due to overheating, but its by no means conclusive Archean. I do agree however that in your scenario it is the most likely (to my mind) cause of GPU failure.

That said, of the 6 HP laptops I've had, 5 have been nothing short of awful. Only the original HP6720 we purchased has been reliable long term, if you exclude its annual battery replacement.

Parts failure is a lottery, I know that better than most now. They can fail at any time, for any reason, so its hard to really say thats the cause.

I do not feel I am risking premature aging of my components by not running this Toshiba without a cooler though, as the temperatures are within acceptable limits. The same should be true for the vast majority also.

I also feel it is incorrect to suggest that a cooler must be used if you own a gaming laptop.

 

[Archean]

I agree, as long as the vents are not blocked by any means, any gaming notebook should be okay.

However, (if the current HP notebooks are still using that older design of vents on the bottom) then I would always advise people to use them with a cooler, because I am not sold on having vents at the bottom. People use notebooks on tables with glass tops and what not, and such design only means trouble.

In fact, the friend I was referring to in my earlier post, is an Corporate IT Manager of one of the largest industrial groups here, so he buys 400-500 notebooks every year, and according to him, HPs suffered the greatest hardware failures for roughly the same reasons as above + probably lower quality parts, so they are now switching to other manufacturers.

Another peculiar change I have noticed about HP is, their newer laser printers now have 'smaller' cartridges (when compared to similar older models), but roughly same price, so they are trying to 'milk' their customers more and more.