Both internal and external temperatures were effectively lowered, with internal heat levels dropping by as much as 30 degrees Fahrenheit when added up across multiple tests and averaged across our three laptops. We live in the age of unstoppable technology, and this laptop cooling pad is proof… Klim Ultimate: RGB cooling for gamers. We also tested for noise levels. They're not completely without merit, but for the most part the improvements you get will be marginal (I've tested several pads and stands over the years with multiple laptops, and the drop is usually in the low single digit Cs). The overall average was a 13 degree drop, but some laptop coolers were closer to a 1 or 2 degree change. A laptop cooler can definitely help on that front. If you're looking for a more traditional desk-like stand, you should … Used to be playing anything at 4K would overheat the thing within an hour and it would shut off. The problem is that the performance gains are extremely small. For this test we used a MasTech MS6700 Digital Sound Level Meter, and measured the decibel level of the cooling fan while it ran during our testing. The processor is the sweltering heart of the laptop, simultaneously the biggest heat producer and the component most impaired by overheating. We measured external and internal temperatures while running at room temperature on all three of our test laptops, and then we ran the same batch of tests while on an active cooling pad. If noise level is a concern, models with adjustable speeds may be able to run quietly with slower fan speeds. All the tests we ran produce a good amount of data, but determining whether or not those test results tell us anything -- and what -- was another issue. Since cooling is the laptop cooler’s raison d'etre – cooler is right there in the name – we focused first and foremost on temperature control. It’s exactly the sort of system that you might want to game on, if only you could coax a slightly better frame rate out of it. You may be able to clean it out with a can of compressed air, or you may need to open up the chassis to shoo out the dust bunnies. Now you might think that these numbers would provide a clear picture of what benefits are offered by cooling pads, and which product offers the best mix of benefits, but that’s not quite the case. Of course, that's only possible during hot months ;). The CM Storm SF-17 gaming laptop cooling stand is made by Cooler Master's gaming brand and has the sort of chunky gamer aesthetic you might … KLIM™ Wind - Laptop Cooling Pad - The Most Powerful Rapid Action Cooling Fan - Laptop Stand with 4 Cooling Fans at 1200 RPM - USB Fan - Compatible New 2020 Version - Blue Any laptop up to the 16-inch MacBook Pro will fit; you can even go larger though it will hang slightly over the edges. So while I wouldn't pay big bucks for a stand, getting some airflow may be better than none especially in edge cases. Another Great Gaming Laptop Cooler. Now, in some games the fans barely get loud, the GPU stays under 70C and the CPU stays around 63C. Each step of the way, we monitored the internal temperatures of the laptops, specifically noting the processor-package temperature. The Klim Ultimate is our … I’ve had laptops (XPS 15 for example) where the keyboard and palm wrest felt noticeably cooler when using the fan on my cooling stand. Still interested in buying a cooling pad for your laptop? Passive laptop cooling pads don’t have fans at all. Press J to jump to the feed. All of this is not to say that nobody should ever buy a laptop cooler. Two things are clear. Cooler Master NotePal X3 - https://amzn.to/2Qwlepi 4. Comfort at your desk is another consideration. The likely culprit is dust, which can clog the fan vents and choke the internal cooling hardware. It was primarily based on touch and how it was getting after an extended period of playing. It's easy to research this. Its design is quite stylish and the adjustable height guarantees comfort in use. The Liangstar laptop cooling pad makes it … Spend enough time perusing computer and gaming websites or stores and you’ll see some goofy things. In Dirt 3, which can be run using integrated graphics, we saw improvements most of the time, but the inexpensive HP Pavilion x360 actually saw frame rates drop ever so slightly (a reduction of less than 1 frame per second) on every cooling pad we tested. Also, if you actually use your laptop on your lap, or in bed, or set on pillows or blankets, then a cooling pad can help keep you a little more comfortable. It doesn’t have the greatest performance, and it can get warm, so it’s tempting to think that a cooling pad might help it do a little more than it normally could. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. But are they useful? If you have a laptop that belches hot air at you like a steady stream of steam from a subway grate, you may want to blow that hot air elsewhere. If you need something you can use away from a desk, look at something like the Targus Lap Chill Mat AWE55US, which has neoprene padding for comfort and no riser feet that will jab you in the legs. Havit Laptop Cooler Cooling Pad. A stand or cooling pad totally ruins the experience for me. As long as you regular use a vacuum to remove the dust from the vents then a cooling pad helps a cooling system do it’s job, the result is a laptop which is now not as noisy. A regular desktop PC will usually produce around 40 decibels, while 50 decibels is closer to the noise produced by a refrigerator. That said, our testing data makes it pretty clear that cooling is all it will do; there’s simply no way for an external fan blowing air to magically make your laptop render more frames, but it will keep things just a little cooler. These days, the best laptop cooling pad is practically a necessity. Are they worth the money? Undervolting dipped a good 10 to 15 degrees though. The Thermaltake Massive laptop cooling pad is composed of a durable plastic and has three different height adjustment angles for better ergonomics, but it’s the rest of the cooling pad that really stands out. Powered by dual 120mm fans putting out 1000 RPM, the fans can be manually or automatically adjusted for maximizing the cooling effect. With that in mind, we’ve carefully selected five of the best, most affordable cooling pads for your consideration. The principle behind them is simple. For our budget system, we used the 11-inch HP Pavilion x360, a compact convertible 2-in-1 that boasts an Intel Pentium processor, integrated Intel HD Graphics and no built-in cooling fans. Second, look at how you’ll be using it. GPU-intensive performance in games like Rise of the Tomb Raider, on the other hand, saw improvements on most of the cooling pads, but those improvements never amounted to a full additional frame per second, let alone the sort of substantial changes one might hope to see with gaming performance. Equipped with two 130 millimeter fans, each spinning at 1300 rotations per minute, this cooling pad can extend the life of your laptop by keeping it from overheating. When a laptop is used heavily for all of the days and you are doing multi-tasking on it then it is necessary and a must to get a laptop cooling pad before your laptop gets really heated up. A blowing fan may have some benefits, but noise can be a real drawback. Laptop Cooling Pad 12"-17.3", Ultra Quiet Laptop Cooler Stand with 5 Fans at 2200RPM, Gaming Laptop Cooling Pad with Red LED Lights, 2 USB Ports, 7 Adjustable Height, Light Weight Cooling Stand 4.3 out of 5 … For a more mainstream, general-use laptop, we used the HP Envy 17, a 17-inch system that boasts a dual-core Intel Core i7-7500U processor and an Nvidia GeForce 940MX graphics card – a GPU well-suited to tasks like light photo editing, but not gaming. CosyFame Laptop Table. If you’ve ever had a PC shut down on you due to overheating, you know exactly how important it is to manage the temperature of your CPU. We also saw fairly similar noise levels across all 12 of the cooling pads, with noise levels ranging from 48 to 55 decibels. Key … We reviewed and ranked the twelve best selling models available through major retailers. Sorry, gamers. Second, you are likely to see a very slight performance improvement as a result of this cooling. Just because your Pentium-powered laptop can run the latest version of the Sims doesn’t mean it’s well-suited to it, and in those instances, you may find that a cooling pad helps keep the laptop from overheating. Just looking for more options to get it even cooler. For a more ambitious gaming test we used Rise of the Tomb Raider, a current-ish AAA title, and grabbed its average frame rate. Liangstar Laptop Cooling Pad. We also tested performance, looking at both general processing and gaming. Laptop cooling pads such as the popular Carantee Laptop Cooling Pad are kind of mini platforms for your laptop but with fans integrated into them. Targus Lightweight Chill Mat. I didn't notice much of a difference gaming with a cooling pad either. TECKNET 12"-17" Quiet Laptop Cooler Cooling Pad Stand With 3 USB Powered Fans, 1200 RPM, Light Weight & Ultra-Slim Design 4.5 out of 5 stars 3,172. Processing performance, for example, improved by less than 2 percent. Some have adjustable fan speeds, whisper-quiet operation and even built-in USB hubs. The super-slim accessory with the anti-skid design is ideal for those who want a lightweight cooling pad … It doesn’t make the cooling any better or worse, but at least you’ll get some more usable ports out of the deal. The ThreeLeaf laptop cooling pad is a great idea for office goers because of its angled stand that prevents the shoulders and wrists from tiring after using the laptop keyboard for long hours. Geekbench 4 is a processor-intensive benchmark test that produces a simple score where higher is better. In both cases, it’s enough that you can hear it, but it’s unlikely it will be loud enough to be noticeable in most circumstances. While some pads have adjustable fan speeds, we defaulted to the maximum everytime. Can they improve your laptop’s performance? Gaming performance also saw improvements, but let’s be clear – there is no magical cooling pad that will make your laptop capable of playing games that it can’t play now. You may also need a cooler when you’ve pushed an underpowered system to its limits. There is no secret sauce that will make this basic design significantly more effective, simply because it’s not very effective in the best of circumstances. £23.99. Maybe it was a placebo effect but that laptop needed all the cooling help it could get while gaming. In the end, we boiled it down to five numbers: the change in external temperatures, the change in internal temperatures, the change in processor performance, and two sets of numbers for gaming performance. Links to the laptop coolers we listed in this video: 5. In these cases, the majority of the benefit comes from a cooling pad providing space for regular ventilation, which prevents pillows or blankets from covering the fan vents built into the underside of the laptop. CHECK PRICE ON AMAZON. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. Each of the tests we ran can vary based on what sort of hardware it's running on, and while cooling has an impact, we weren’t entirely sure how well that would come across in test results. Our #5 Pick is the Klim Pro Laptop Cooling Pad. DG Sports Multi-Functional Stand. Curious if anyone can talk to whether a cooling pad, versus just a laptop stand that enables ventilation, really does reduce thermals (vs just having better ventilation). Laptop Mag is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. The Antec NoteBook Cooler 's twin fans were slightly better than the single fan in the Belkin Laptop Cooling Stand and the LapWorks Ergo Fan Riser. It just makes an ultrabook like a cheap laptop from 4 years ago. Laptop manufacturers are constantly pushing the boundaries in terms of making machines thinner, and yet more powerful. Best Laptop Cooling Stand. … Can't say I noticed much of a difference in thermals when gaming. Googled to see if anyone has done a comparison but didn't really see anything. If you want something you can take with you on the go, look for a cooler that's small and light enough to fit in your laptop bag. All of the pads we reviewed resulted in better performance on average in all of our benchmark tests. 1,513 Reviews. A stand or cooling pad totally ruins the experience for me. For this we used three tests. Klim Pro Laptop Cooling Pad. See on amazon. A cooling pad is a good solution without having to take the laptop apart. Visit our corporate site. Cooling a gaming laptop will help keep temperatures in check, and will technically improve performance, but the reality is that you can’t improve your gaming experience by putting a couple of fans under your laptop. The pad takes in cool air from under the pad and blows it right into your laptop. KLIM™ Wind - Laptop Cooling Pad - The Most Powerful Rapid Action Cooling Fan - Laptop Stand with 4 Cooling Fans at 1200 RPM - USB Fan - Compatible New 2020 Version - Blue 4.5 out of 5 stars 19,489 MVPower Laptop Cooling Pad with 5 Fans Adjustable Stands Ultra-Portable Light Weight with 2 USB ports, blue LED, Suitable for 12-17 inches Laptop Yep, repasted the CPU and GPU, undervolted the CPU and GPU. Perfect fit for … If you want to get the most value for your money, consider a cooling pad with a USB hub built in. Most laptop coolers are designed for use on a desk or table, but some, like the Targus Lap Chill Mat AWE55US, are built for on-lap usage. In our lab, which has an ambient noise level of 40 to 43 decibels, that was loud enough to be heard when near the operating cooling pads, but never so loud that it was a distraction. New York, I used the first one until one of the fans went out then switched to the second one. This is a versatile laptop cooling pad to start our list today. These elevated platforms have built-in fans and promise to improve your laptop performance through superior cooling. Match the design to your use and you’ll have a better experience overall. 2 USB ports provide easy to connect with the laptop. If your laptop runs so hot that you could make a grilled cheese sandwich on it, then your laptop is in need of either repair or cleaning, if not both.