Gaming Why am I so bloody paranoid about laptop heat?

the_randomizer

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So I got my Lenovo IdeaPad Y570 a couple of days ago and I gotta say that I'm quite impressed :D. The machine feels solid, the touchpad is very responsive and programs like PCSX2 run pretty darn well on it. Despite these, I have some reservations that are more than likely to be trivial or downright nonsensical, and that is paying too much attention on the subtle changes. By changes, I mean, GPU giving off more heat when it's running a more intensive program than Chrome/Firefox, the CPU/GPU heatsink fan spinning up/down when needed, HDD spinning up/down when needed...all of these are things I pay way too much attention on. What can I do to assuage myself of these trivial nitpicking fears? Maybe it's partly due to seeing my brother's laptop starting to act up (heatsink fan is failing, causing random lockups), I don't know, or the fact that I don't want my $800 to go to waste.

I know that laptops can take a great deal of heat before being forced shutting down (typically 80-90 degrees Celsius) by thermal sensors, I should enjoy using it (I am), but I want to enjoy using it even more and not worry for a second that it will suddenly stop working. What do you guys suggest I do? Should I get a laptop cooler or have a book placed underneath?

This is the machine I got - http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/builder.workflow:Enter?mtm-item=%3A000000F3%3A00004F62%3A

The discrete GPU can be forced on at all times.
 

the_randomizer

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Are USB coolers better or are AC coolers? In the meantime, should I just keep it at an angle for airflow? There's so many out there I don't know where to look or how much I want to spend.
 

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AC coolers likely have the capability to power more fans and run them faster, but then youre tethered to a wall. I know a few people with USB coolers and they tend to work fine. And in the mean time I would try to keep something flat and solid under it just so it has a rigid surface not blocking the vents.
 

astrangeone

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I have an Lenevo 300 c100. It runs pretty well, and I made sure I had a laptop cooler underneath it from the word go. (Eight years running it, and it still is my workhorse.)

I love it, but it's my baby.
 

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http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007639%20600028834&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&Order=PRICE&PageSize=100

Check the reviews if you want to be sure you're getting one appropriate for the level of mobility that you require.

edit:
You're going to get the best products in the $25 - $45 range, IMO. I like Cooler Master, Thermaltake, and Antec the most (as all three of those companies have been at least 10 years in the PC cooling/case industry) and I like Belkin as well because they make solid products in general, with maybe some minor exception to their networking products...
 

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Is it normal for the fan speed to fluctuate from low, to high, back to low then high again? I know it's trying to keep cool, but why is it so bloody inconsistent?

This is quite typical for a laptop. When you do something more processor intensive, it increases the heat the processor is putting out, which in turn causes the system to speed up the fan to improve cooling. When the processor isn't doing much, the fan isn't as needed so it slows down to conserve a bit of power.
 

the_randomizer

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And that won't make the fan(s) wear out any faster? What about the different thermal management modes? Right now it's on the default, and then there's Super Silent Mode, Efficient Thermal Dissipation, and Dedusting. Should I keep it on default?
 

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Is it normal for the fan speed to fluctuate from low, to high, back to low then high again? I know it's trying to keep cool, but why is it so bloody inconsistent?
that's how thermal management works on a laptop, it tries to be as quiet as possible but heats build up so it increases fan speed above whats required to keep it ok and it'll get cooler than needed so it can get the fan speed below audible level again - repeat -.

I also find that annoying and plain stupid.

And that won't make the fan(s) wear out any faster? What about the different thermal management modes? Right now it's on the default, and then there's Super Silent Mode, Efficient Thermal Dissipation, and Dedusting. Should I keep it on default?

you should try efficient and see if what it does, else you can try different fan management software but I have no idea if they work on laptops.
 

the_randomizer

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And therein lies the problem, I can't use a CPU/GPU intensive program without getting excessively worried about shorter-than-normal wear and tear on the fans (shorter lifespans and so on). But I must say, the fact I can run most, if not all PS2 games full speed (like THPS3 and Grandia 3, both of which never ran past 50fps in most cases on my older PC without using speed hacks) is something that I found to be quite amazing. I know about the other modes, but whether these modes can be safely used all the time regardless of the programs I use, is another story. And I know that laptops will definitely give off more heat than their desktop counterparts. Why do I have such a hard time accepting the fact what I'm hearing is normal and that there's nothing I need to worry about? They're designed to control heat as efficiently as possible without sacrificing performance/stability and I know that. Ugh. I digress, I've always been worried over many trivial matter like this. And I thought keeping settings on the default settings (in this case, the thermal management mode) was a surefire way of letting the machine last longer. I don't want to feel that I spent this amount of money in vain.
 

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Having a fan run loud isn't a problem. I've had multiple fans running on max speed after having components get hot (my old 8800 GT would run fans max speed for some reason on WoW half of the time), yet I've never had a fan just drop dead on me. If the computer was 15years old, I might be worried about putting it through that kind of stress, but chances are you wouldn't even be able to regardless.

Heat though is what would worry me. Heat on components is never good. Laptops inherently generate a lot of heat, but that doesn't mean it's good for them in the long term. Some of them though handle it just fine, while others shit out prematurely. But a cooling pad should fix that no problem.

Like I said though, even if the fans spin up fast, I would pay it no thought. And if you're good with Google and remembering what screws go where, it isn't terribly hard to service the internals of a laptop. I've gone at the bottom of one and the screen of another before with no instructions on how to do so and everything came out alright.
 

the_randomizer

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Okay, that makes me feel a lot better, knowing that regardless of how often the fan(s) fluctuate, it should last quite a while, especially once I get a decent laptop cooler.
So far, I've seen some good ones here http://tinyurl.com/7c2janp here - http://tinyurl.com/7zdmvpe and here - http://tinyurl.com/43m4x2b But in the
mean time I'll simply elevate the machine on a book for increased airflow.
 

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The second one you linked, the NotePal LapAir Cooler, gives the best airflow out of the three. However, the NotePal U3 has a wider coverage range than the LapAir (3 smaller fans as opposed to one larger one).

The LapAir is probably gonna be the way to go though, that gives a lot more airflow.
 

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I have the Antec Notebook Cooler 200 with a 200mm that puts out 115.7CFM.
The bottom line is that you need a high CFM cooler with a low audible pitch.
So, You are a lot better off with a single large diameter fan.
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16834997410
I know it is a little more money however you will be a lot happier with it in the long run.

The last thing you should want is a cooler with 3 small fans that has a high pitch & won't put out enough CFM to cool your notebook.


For right now I would keep the notebook on a hard flat surface & make a temporary stand stand out of 8-12 bottle caps, run an external fan & possibly undervolt & underclock it,


I hope that helps.



Spencer


:yaynds:
 
D

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Having the fans spin up isn't a problem, it's prolonged use at near max RPM capacity that wears down fans. I honestly don't know how I'd live with myself if I was as paranoid as you're being right now, because I have a laptop that runs hotter than most when I'm doing something intensive because of a high-end GPU.
 

the_randomizer

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Because I'm being an idiot right now and I don't need to be, and I don't like having to replace things that last less than a year. I believe the super silent thermal management mode slightly underclocks (and lowers the voltage) the machine to keep it more quiet. Not to mention my wariness is partly due to seeing my brother's laptop heatsink fan crap out on him (which in turn, causes his laptop to lockup at random times), and I don't want me to face the same fate. This is the very basis of my unjustified, worried state.

I'm pretty sure the super silent mode won't allow PCSX2/Dolphin (or any other intensive program) to run as fast or as well due to slight underclocking. Whether I can keep this mode on all the time or not (until I get a cooler) is another story.
 

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