Need significant laptop cooling power

[Winter_Wolf]

My laptop is NOT a hot weather beast. Also the internal fans are automatic and Asus has not seen fit to allow me a documented way to turn on max fans.

I have a chillpad/laptop cooler/whatever you'd like to call it, but it's (of course) not here, and it was kind of iffy last time my wife tried it on her laptop. So it's probably dead by now.

Anyway! What are recommendations for a good quality chillpad to save this little laptop from incinerating itself? It's an Asus K53S (http://www.asus.com/Notebooks/Versatile_Performance/K53SD/) (Mainland China, so not sure how different it is from other K53 models). A 2.5GHz i5 quad core with a 2GB 610M Nvidia graphics card (and integrated Intel, but come on we all know that's a joke). Speedfan reports temps of 80C :smallannoyed: upon trying to play Civ 4 or NWN 2 on modest settings, and HWinfo64 supports those temps.

I have a desktop, but it like my laptop cooler is not here, and my needs are quality laptop cooling. I'm missing the freezing butt temps of February every time I try to do anything even remotely needing the ability of the CPU (graphics programs) and GPU (gaming).

[Brother Oni]

I can't really help you on the laptop chiller front, but I can offer some suggestions on improving the current cooling systems:

First one would be to clear out the fans and heatsinks with compressed air, taking off the cover if need be to get access to the CPU block. If you can't find a compressed air can, a decent hoover will do, but be careful of over revving any small fans.

Fan options on laptops are usually buried in one of two places, either in the power management section of the Control Panel, or in the BIOS. You have an intel processor, so it's unlikely you have AMD's Cool n' Quiet functionality in the BIOS, so I suggest digging around in the Control Panel and turning whatever options you can find to maximum performance.

[Winter_Wolf]

My wife's Asus has a fantastic case, easy to open and clean the fan. Mine, sadly, is built to void the warranty if I can manage to get the freaking thing open other than to change out RAM or the hard drive. One might almost think that Asus is trying to make their product impossible to work on by oneself and break down faster. :smallyuk:

I'll take another look in the control panel, I haven't been comfortable with the idea of fiddling with the BIOS overmuch. Also need to look into compressed air. Shanghai's air is filthy.

[Archonic Energy]

dry ice and a fan...

yes i'm serious, dry ice is cheaper than you think ans since it's CO2 there's no need to worry about water getting into the system.

[Mando Knight]

dry ice and a fan...

yes i'm serious, dry ice is cheaper than you think ans since it's CO2 there's no need to worry about water getting into the system.

Plus, it sublimates rather than melts, so there's no liquid at all.

On the other hand, dry ice is a consumable cooling method... I wouldn't recommend it except as an auxiliary system since it has a non-negligible operating cost.

[Neftren]

My laptop is NOT a hot weather beast. Also the internal fans are automatic and Asus has not seen fit to allow me a documented way to turn on max fans.

I have a chillpad/laptop cooler/whatever you'd like to call it, but it's (of course) not here, and it was kind of iffy last time my wife tried it on her laptop. So it's probably dead by now.

Anyway! What are recommendations for a good quality chillpad to save this little laptop from incinerating itself? It's an Asus K53S (http://www.asus.com/Notebooks/Versatile_Performance/K53SD/) (Mainland China, so not sure how different it is from other K53 models). A 2.5GHz i5 quad core with a 2GB 610M Nvidia graphics card (and integrated Intel, but come on we all know that's a joke). Speedfan reports temps of 80C :smallannoyed: upon trying to play Civ 4 or NWN 2 on modest settings, and HWinfo64 supports those temps.

I have a desktop, but it like my laptop cooler is not here, and my needs are quality laptop cooling. I'm missing the freezing butt temps of February every time I try to do anything even remotely needing the ability of the CPU (graphics programs) and GPU (gaming).

Interesting. You're unable to modify fan speed using Speedfan? Did ASUS firmware lock fan control?

80C for a modern GPU is hot, but it's not really in a danger zone. My GPU (6750M) routinely hits 80C and I don't notice any problems. Are you getting framerate drops, or is this merely a personal comfort thing?

[Brother Oni]

I'll take another look in the control panel, I haven't been comfortable with the idea of fiddling with the BIOS overmuch. Also need to look into compressed air. Shanghai's air is filthy.

Fiddling around in the BIOS isn't as scary as it looks. Just don't mess around with any voltage or timing settings and there shouldn't be any permanent damage.
Even if your computer refuses to start because you've messed up your boot device/OS choice order, you can just go back into the BIOS and fix it again.

Another suggestion - do you have a large fan or a room with an AC unit? Have you considered putting your laptop in the path of the fan's airflow or having it in the same room as the AC?


80C for a modern GPU is hot, but it's not really in a danger zone. My GPU (6750M) routinely hits 80C and I don't notice any problems. Are you getting framerate drops, or is this merely a personal comfort thing?

Oh true. I assumed that Winter_Wolf had his laptop on a stable surface like a table top. If he actually has it on his lap, aside from not having sufficient space for ventilation, I've heard that men can have *cough* fertility issues as the laptop can overheat the *cough* relevant anatomy.

I doubt it would have much of an effect, but would improving air circulation by putting the laptop on something like a wire grill (like an oven shelf) be of any use?

[Mando Knight]

One trick that my family's used in the past is to use a metal sheet (such as those used for baking) as the surface you put the laptop on. The fairly large metallic surface then functions as an external heat sink.

[Winter_Wolf]

Right sorry for huge long post, this is attempt four to get something written and posted before either my ISP or the Great Firewall or Giantitp's servers post-block me. Again.


Interesting. You're unable to modify fan speed using Speedfan? Did ASUS firmware lock fan control?

80C for a modern GPU is hot, but it's not really in a danger zone. My GPU (6750M) routinely hits 80C and I don't notice any problems. Are you getting framerate drops, or is this merely a personal comfort thing?
Asus did do something so that I can't just adjust the fan speed with Speedfan. I probably would have to try fiddling with the BIOS. As to my personal comfort, it's my comfort in seeing a laptop get hot enough to destroy itself. I've already killed one from overheating, and I'd like to keep this one for a little longer than warranty period plus one day. Plus the lag, framerate drops, general slow responsiveness of keyboard input and mouse movements when hot.

Fiddling around in the BIOS isn't as scary as it looks. Just don't mess around with any voltage or timing settings and there shouldn't be any permanent damage.
Even if your computer refuses to start because you've messed up your boot device/OS choice order, you can just go back into the BIOS and fix it again.

Another suggestion - do you have a large fan or a room with an AC unit? Have you considered putting your laptop in the path of the fan's airflow or having it in the same room as the AC?

Oh true. I assumed that Winter_Wolf had his laptop on a stable surface like a table top. If he actually has it on his lap, aside from not having sufficient space for ventilation, I've heard that men can have *cough* fertility issues as the laptop can overheat the *cough* relevant anatomy.

I doubt it would have much of an effect, but would improving air circulation by putting the laptop on something like a wire grill (like an oven shelf) be of any use?
I constantly sit in the direct path of the AC unit, but it's not exactly helping. I have to keep it at 24C-26C depending on my wife's presence and the presence of a youngling, so I can't just drop it down to 21C. Subtropical summers are brutal here.
As to laptop on lap, never happens. It's on a hard wooden surface, which is about the best I can manage at the moment. At least it's not glass.

One trick that my family's used in the past is to use a metal sheet (such as those used for baking) as the surface you put the laptop on. The fairly large metallic surface then functions as an external heat sink.

How well does that work for you? My wife's got hers up on a cookie sheet, but it doesn't seem to do much. Certainly less than cleaning out her fan and exhaust did.

Sadly, the case on my Asus is built to probably void the warranty if it's opened for any reason other than RAM upgrade or hard drive swap out.

Right, probably missing a few things, but I'd rather have a post that's covering some bases than a fall reply which I can't get posted.

[Ulysses WkAmil]

Step 1: Get plastic gallon bags. thickness is irrelevant
Step 2: Cut the bottoms out of all but one
Step 3: Tape them all together in a tube-like fashion, leaving the uncut one at the end, akin to a giant bag
Step 4: Poke holes at the top of the sealed-end of the tube, facing up
Step 5. Tape the other end to your AC vent
Step 6. Place computer on pie-cooling rack, stick inflated end under rack
Enjoy your (limited mobility) cooled laptop. Unfortunatley, this defeats the purpose of a laptop, unless you want to bring a pie cooling rack and plastic bag-tube with you wherever you go (that has an AC vent).

[Asta Kask]

Is there a special reason why ice packs won't work? Two under the laptop and four in the freezer?

[TSGames]

Significan? No... fresh out of that for laptop cooling. You see, I'm a rather pessimistic guy, so I invested in significant, not significan.

[Winter_Wolf]

Significan? No... fresh out of that for laptop cooling. You see, I'm a rather pessimistic guy, so I invested in significant, not significan.

So glad I could have my spelling error in the thread title pointed out in a snarky manner and yet not have to deal with an actual attempt at a helpful comment. :smallannoyed:

Re: icepacks. Wouldn't that introduce more moisture into the air as they warmed? I mean I'd be all for it if I wasn't deathly afraid that it would increase the ambient humidity above the threshold of "shorts out electrical equipment". Current humidity is 77%, and even with the dehumidifier effect of the A/C, it's still enough to make cloth damp.

[Reluctance]

Re: icepacks. Wouldn't that introduce more moisture into the air as they warmed? I mean I'd be all for it if I wasn't deathly afraid that it would increase the ambient humidity above the threshold of "shorts out electrical equipment". Current humidity is 77%, and even with the dehumidifier effect of the A/C, it's still enough to make cloth damp.

If they're sealed, the liquid stays inside. There's a decent chance of condensation, but that's water being pulled out of the air rather than additional humidity being added.

[Asta Kask]

If you''re really worried, put them in a plastic bag.

[Brother Oni]

If they're sealed, the liquid stays inside. There's a decent chance of condensation, but that's water being pulled out of the air rather than additional humidity being added.

There's still a significant difference between highly humid air and actual liquid water though, particularly when electrical equipment is concerned.

I'm somewhat leery of using ice packs at that level of %RH, since it's likely to cause condensation where the laptop contacts the icepack, even if wrapped up.