Extra – ordinary Heat Problems !!!

Extra – ordinary Heat Problems !!!

Hi Albert,

Heat has always been a laptop’s greatest adversary. Users have done almost everything to keep cool, from oversized heatsinks and fans, to cryo-inspired cooling systems. It is much more difficult for laptops, being compact devices with no space and no idea where to place cooling systems. You and I, like most of the other millions of users have to make do with tools available to us.

Modify your windows power scheme (for XP) or power plan setting (Vista and Win7) to either laptop mode, or balanced if set to desktop mode or high performance. That is if you aren’t really using applications that need so much CPU processing power. The degree of temperature change is directly proportional to the performance settings your computer uses.

If you are on gaming mode however, you have to make sure of the following by making sure the CPU fans are running. They do automatically switch on at a certain temperature level, like when it gets hotter. Make sure there is a gap between the cooling pad and your laptop. Proper ventilation could make a big temperature difference. A perfect cooling pad has to satisfy the following requirements: ventilation vents for proper air flow, and extra cooling fans to blow air underneath your laptop.

• Use a “Cool Ball Laptop Leg” instead of a cooling pad. They actually raise your laptop to a higher degree to allow greater air flow underneath. A simple yet effective laptop must-have.
• Download Core Temp 1.0 RC5 an application that monitors your system and gives you temperature readings, plus CPU and memory utilization by using the core temp gadget. It gives you a general idea of how CPU and memory usage affect overall system temperature, besides finding out which application is causing high CPU utilization.
• Be adventurous enough to unscrew the laptop covers underneath and do a check on the ventilation vents. A 3-4 year old laptop may have accumulated enough dust and grime to clog the airways to the vents, causing huge temperature changes on high load conditions. Use a vacuum cleaner or air blower to thoroughly clean it. Some gamers also remove grilles on their laptop covers, reasoning that the holes are too small for proper air flow. Just make sure nothing gets inside the vents, as removing the grilles may introduce bigger slots for coins, paperclips or other conductors to get through, possibly short circuiting the mainboard.
• As for your question regarding health effects from laptop heat, the only thing a hot laptop does is burn your lap if hot enough. Another concern is when laptops are left lying around on bed covers. There is no ventilation when that occurs, and reports of fire due to laptops left like these are well founded.