Will it be worth getting a cooler pad with my Laptop situation?

eatingrich · Mar 14, 2005, 12:25 AM

basically the problem i have with my laptopis that it overheats, slows down, then turns itself off. this can happen between 30 mins or a couple of hours depending on usage, the more i use the net the quicker it happens basically, the more on the HDD affects it too.

i had this problem a while ago, contacted tech support for this place i got it from and they said it was the cpu had broken because i had filled the hard drive completely and i shouldn't do that (i know, shit company, thank god they went out of business). so anyway they changed the cpu but the same thing happened again but now they're out of business anyway so i'm stuck with this laptop. it works fine to a point, but overheats, i have about 14gig on a 20gig HDD free but it still does it. i think using the net alot overheats

anyway, i had my suspicions they were putting cheap crappy fans onto laptops or something, couldn't reduce heat enough (all the heat comes from the side the fan is on, and the left hand side, which is fan free, generally remains fairly cool) and therefore the cpu crashed when the hard drive gave it too much to do.

so i went on ebay to look stuff up and saw cooler pads, which i'd never heard of before. and they look like they could be the answer, if i keep the laptop cool it shouldn't overheat and i won't have problems...is that right? or do you think basically its completely fucked and even if it keeps cool it'll crash (though i'm 100% sure the cooler it is the longer it stays on, sometimes i have to point a fan at it to stop it from crashing while i'm doing stuff)

any ideas greatly appreciated!

SiS 630/730
AMD 1.4GHZ
256MB Ram shared with Graphics 64MB
20Gig HDD

thanks!

Tipstaff · Mar 14, 2005, 12:56 AM

The best cooling pads to get are the ones from Antec, Cooler Master, or Vantec. They do help as not only do they lift the laptop off of the surface of a desk or what not, but they cool the underside of the laptop in critical places (ie. spots where most of the heat is generated like where the CPU, ram, PSU/Battery are located).

However, my first suggestion would be to check to make sure that the CPU fan is ejecting the air from the laptop casing. If it's not functioning then you would still need to get that fixed as the cooling pads can only do so much from the outside of the case.

- Tip

eatingrich · Mar 14, 2005, 12:33 PM

cheers for the reply, it does indeed eject air, sometimes i think it could push the air out abit better, but i think its just a crappy case/fan. but yeah it does work, so i'm pretty pleased a cooler pad should help.

you know i do remember putting things underneath the corners of my laptop to take it off the desk but i didn't think it made much difference!

cool, so i better look round for some decent cooler pads, though i don't have much money either.

Vikingod · Mar 14, 2005, 01:21 PM

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...999-412&depa=0

here is a good one.

Have you tried a fan control program, one that monitors your temps and can adjust the fan speeds to combensate? One of those might help you out.

eatingrich · Mar 14, 2005, 11:51 PM

ah that sounds interesting, i'd never heard of them. know where i can fine one? download.com etc?

eatingrich · Mar 14, 2005, 11:53 PM

that one looks really good but i'm based in the UK, i'll have to check for UK versions.

eatingrich · Mar 15, 2005, 12:13 AM

does this one have a good reputation?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...5#rated-review

i looked round the net and the general consensus seemed to be that it did its job, but might be abit loud if you're not used to it. that it can't be used unless its a flat surface too. but to be honest i would have thought if you wanted a pad in the first place it meant you were using it as a desktop styled pc?

i'm quite tempted by this as it looks well within my budget and i'm using the laptop as a replacement desktop anyway. shame i probably wont be able to fully use it say, in bed, but i could always just get a board to put it on then it'd be flat. but for £20 it'll be alot easier than fixing the pc then i'd still need one anyway to stop it happening again.

eatingrich · Mar 15, 2005, 12:17 AM

sorry for all the posts, i'm trying out speedfan 4.1 from download.com, anyone here used it before?

GNetX · Mar 15, 2005, 08:16 PM

Your link to Amazon didn't work, so I'll just guess that it's for the Antec Notebook Cooler (this one: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...677708-4424412). I bought one of these a few weeks ago and have never had a heat-related crash since

. It's a good product and isn't all that noisy - it's mostly drowned out by the noisy laptop fan anyway!

I've been a long-time sufferer of heat-related laptop crashes. They were mostly brought on by a high-load usage scenario (CPU / GFX), such as playing games or encoding video. It seems really unlikely that your problems would be caused by the HDD usage, since most laptops are designed to use minimal CPU power when accessing data and it is only the CPU and chipsets that are cooled by the fan in most (if not all) designs, and I'm surprised that your problem manifests when you're just surfing the net.

From my experience, you'll be lucky if your laptop is recognised by the speedfan software for more than the CPU temperature, especially if your laptop was manufactured by a little-known company as seems to be the case... worth a try though, but I'm not sure how useful this information might be to you.

Speaking from experience, the best way to cool a laptop for free is to raise it up with a couple of pencils underneath - it certainly helps. Also, never use your laptop on your lap 'cos you'll block the vents and will seriously reduce its already-impaired cooling ability! If you can afford the £20 then the Antec Notebook cooler is a very worthy solution.

Good luck with it!

eatingrich · Mar 16, 2005, 12:24 PM

ah thanks so much for the reply, yeah it is the antec, sorry the link didn't work

i got speedfan but it didn't do anything, i think cos i need the fan to be 100% all the time.

yeah the HDD thing is weird, basically i phoned up tech support and they said had i been downloading alot and basically told me i shouldn't be filling up my HDD as that will overload the CPU. i felt they were talking rubbish but perhaps because the components were poor quality it couldn't handle it or something

it happens quicker when i use the net, as its constant, whereas if i use office then it takes longer, but playing games etc speeds up the heating too

i think i'm gonna go with the antec fan though, looks good!

cheers!

Mar 14, 2005, 12:25 AM	#1
eatingrich HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 159 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Will it be worth getting a cooler pad with my Laptop situation? basically the problem i have with my laptopis that it overheats, slows down, then turns itself off. this can happen between 30 mins or a couple of hours depending on usage, the more i use the net the quicker it happens basically, the more on the HDD affects it too. i had this problem a while ago, contacted tech support for this place i got it from and they said it was the cpu had broken because i had filled the hard drive completely and i shouldn't do that (i know, shit company, thank god they went out of business). so anyway they changed the cpu but the same thing happened again but now they're out of business anyway so i'm stuck with this laptop. it works fine to a point, but overheats, i have about 14gig on a 20gig HDD free but it still does it. i think using the net alot overheats anyway, i had my suspicions they were putting cheap crappy fans onto laptops or something, couldn't reduce heat enough (all the heat comes from the side the fan is on, and the left hand side, which is fan free, generally remains fairly cool) and therefore the cpu crashed when the hard drive gave it too much to do. so i went on ebay to look stuff up and saw cooler pads, which i'd never heard of before. and they look like they could be the answer, if i keep the laptop cool it shouldn't overheat and i won't have problems...is that right? or do you think basically its completely fucked and even if it keeps cool it'll crash (though i'm 100% sure the cooler it is the longer it stays on, sometimes i have to point a fan at it to stop it from crashing while i'm doing stuff) any ideas greatly appreciated! SiS 630/730 AMD 1.4GHZ 256MB Ram shared with Graphics 64MB 20Gig HDD thanks!

Mar 14, 2005, 12:56 AM	#2
Tipstaff HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Real capital of Canada: Torauna Posts: 6,773 Rep Power: 190 System Specs	The best cooling pads to get are the ones from Antec, Cooler Master, or Vantec. They do help as not only do they lift the laptop off of the surface of a desk or what not, but they cool the underside of the laptop in critical places (ie. spots where most of the heat is generated like where the CPU, ram, PSU/Battery are located). However, my first suggestion would be to check to make sure that the CPU fan is ejecting the air from the laptop casing. If it's not functioning then you would still need to get that fixed as the cooling pads can only do so much from the outside of the case. - Tip __________________ Portal: The Flash Version _________________________________ Brain: So, you sacked the cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker? Mr. Sackett: The second cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker I've sacked since the sixth sitting sheet slitter got sick.

Mar 14, 2005, 12:33 PM	Thread Starter #3
eatingrich HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 159 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	cheers for the reply, it does indeed eject air, sometimes i think it could push the air out abit better, but i think its just a crappy case/fan. but yeah it does work, so i'm pretty pleased a cooler pad should help. you know i do remember putting things underneath the corners of my laptop to take it off the desk but i didn't think it made much difference! cool, so i better look round for some decent cooler pads, though i don't have much money either.

Mar 14, 2005, 01:21 PM	#4
Vikingod Int'l Fish Liaison Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: By the light of lamp I sit and type... Posts: 16,197 Rep Power: 112 System Specs	http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...999-412&depa=0 here is a good one. Have you tried a fan control program, one that monitors your temps and can adjust the fan speeds to combensate? One of those might help you out.

Mar 14, 2005, 11:51 PM	Thread Starter #5
eatingrich HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 159 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	ah that sounds interesting, i'd never heard of them. know where i can fine one? download.com etc?

Mar 14, 2005, 11:53 PM	Thread Starter #6
eatingrich HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 159 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	that one looks really good but i'm based in the UK, i'll have to check for UK versions.

Mar 15, 2005, 12:13 AM	Thread Starter #7
eatingrich HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 159 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	does this one have a good reputation? http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...5#rated-review i looked round the net and the general consensus seemed to be that it did its job, but might be abit loud if you're not used to it. that it can't be used unless its a flat surface too. but to be honest i would have thought if you wanted a pad in the first place it meant you were using it as a desktop styled pc? i'm quite tempted by this as it looks well within my budget and i'm using the laptop as a replacement desktop anyway. shame i probably wont be able to fully use it say, in bed, but i could always just get a board to put it on then it'd be flat. but for £20 it'll be alot easier than fixing the pc then i'd still need one anyway to stop it happening again.

Mar 15, 2005, 12:17 AM	Thread Starter #8
eatingrich HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 159 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	sorry for all the posts, i'm trying out speedfan 4.1 from download.com, anyone here used it before?

Mar 15, 2005, 08:16 PM	#9
GNetX DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Nottingham, UK Posts: 44 Rep Power: 0	Your link to Amazon didn't work, so I'll just guess that it's for the Antec Notebook Cooler (this one: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...677708-4424412). I bought one of these a few weeks ago and have never had a heat-related crash since . It's a good product and isn't all that noisy - it's mostly drowned out by the noisy laptop fan anyway! I've been a long-time sufferer of heat-related laptop crashes. They were mostly brought on by a high-load usage scenario (CPU / GFX), such as playing games or encoding video. It seems really unlikely that your problems would be caused by the HDD usage, since most laptops are designed to use minimal CPU power when accessing data and it is only the CPU and chipsets that are cooled by the fan in most (if not all) designs, and I'm surprised that your problem manifests when you're just surfing the net. From my experience, you'll be lucky if your laptop is recognised by the speedfan software for more than the CPU temperature, especially if your laptop was manufactured by a little-known company as seems to be the case... worth a try though, but I'm not sure how useful this information might be to you. Speaking from experience, the best way to cool a laptop for free is to raise it up with a couple of pencils underneath - it certainly helps. Also, never use your laptop on your lap 'cos you'll block the vents and will seriously reduce its already-impaired cooling ability! If you can afford the £20 then the Antec Notebook cooler is a very worthy solution. Good luck with it!

Mar 16, 2005, 12:24 PM	Thread Starter #10
eatingrich HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 159 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	ah thanks so much for the reply, yeah it is the antec, sorry the link didn't work i got speedfan but it didn't do anything, i think cos i need the fan to be 100% all the time. yeah the HDD thing is weird, basically i phoned up tech support and they said had i been downloading alot and basically told me i shouldn't be filling up my HDD as that will overload the CPU. i felt they were talking rubbish but perhaps because the components were poor quality it couldn't handle it or something it happens quicker when i use the net, as its constant, whereas if i use office then it takes longer, but playing games etc speeds up the heating too i think i'm gonna go with the antec fan though, looks good! cheers!