Rickesh John asks:
Hey guys,
As my laptop has pretty much become a stone-age artifact, I was thinking of buying myself a new one. I will be going for a gaming laptop and as we all know they have a tendency to heat-up very quickly. I am not familiar with the technologies that are implemented to counter overheating.
So, first of all, I would like to know whether they actually do anything to counter overheating (aside for turning off the laptop abruptly 
). Is there any particular hardware element that I should be looking for?
Please advice.
7 Answers -
illegal3alien
June 20, 2012All of the new Intel chips are low power and should heat up a lot less. You can also look for switchable graphics. Anything with a small battery and long battery life should stay cool. More power means more heat.
Laga Mahesa
June 20, 2012There’s only so much you can do to counter heat when your laptop is doing something intensive… and it doesn’t get much more intensive than gaming.
First and foremost, do your research. Pick a bunch of laptops that suit your desired specs, form factor, screen size, etc. Now go look for extensive reviews and, most importantly, forum posts by existing owners. Are they happy? Do they experience issues? If so, are they solvable?
It is quite rare to find a review that explores a PC laptop’s innards – Mac is different, they always trigger a frothing scramble fest when a new one is released. If you do find one, though, or even just a dismantle guide for the laptop, look for lots of copper piping. This indicates that at least some care and attention has been paid in this area. My old Asus G60Vx had a copper heat distribution system that nearly covered the entire lower panel, and all that was required to keep it happy was a periodic burst of air into the vents to keep it clear of dust.
If you’re going to use it in a warm environment, get a decent usb-powered laptop cooler – a ‘stand’ or platform which has one or more fans that helps to keep air moving beneath the laptop, which is usually the hottest area.
Hey Laga,
thanks for the detailed response. Appreciated.
Actually, I had already begun my research but they were all in vain as I didn’t knew what I was actually looking for. Like, cooper piping.
Also, I will be using my laptop in warm environment, so I will have to take all the necessary measures to keep my laptop cool.
June 21, 2012Vipul Jain
June 20, 20121> Cooling Pad
2> Asus Laptops with IceCool Technology.
It doesnt produce less heat though, it instead distributes it along the sides to allow the user to have a proper and cool usage.
Thanks for the response,
I will definitely lookout for IceCool technology…
June 21, 2012Oron
June 20, 2012Some excellent answers here! Broadly speaking, you need to have a decent processor (doesn’t need to be ultra fast, but at least dual core), and very good graphics. The choice of graphics will determine both performance and heating.
Intel graphics (that is, the graphics built into the i3, i5 and i7) is decent, but not really up to gaming standards. Some AMD processors (A6, A8) have fairly decent graphics, but if you need higher performance than that then you should get a laptop with a discrete graphics card which is designed for gaming.
As others have said, read the reviews, and take a good look at the pictures. You want a laptop with lots of ventilation ports (and ideally a grill under the laptop as well as on the sides). If you then use a laptop cooler (which is basically a raised hard board, possibly with fans), you should be alright. Enjoy!
Thanks,
I will be going for i5 or i7 and a discrete graphics card.
June 21, 2012ryandigweed0
June 21, 2012Yeah, well for starters look out for a reccomended laptop whhich is known for its gaming capabilities.
Look for a laptop with the latest HD7000 based graphics or GTX600 series graphics, those are built on smaller chips, which are more powerfull, less heaty and less power hungry.
Same is the case with processor. Go for a Newer processor, since they keep making the “nm” lower to reduce heat and power. and boost performance.
Also the laptop should have a SSD, which is fast, yet cool, because there is no motor to spin any disk since it’s all flash based.
Make sure there are proper vents on the laptop etc.
And also if you’re getting a new laptop, please get a laptop cooler, even a cheap one will do. As long as the laptop is raised up from the surface like your lap, or the bed, or table, it will get better air circulation to cool down.
As for the cooling over time will obviously depreciate, because the dust will get sucked into the vents and then clog up your heatsinks and fans. You’ll have to do system maintenance either yourself, or by some repair shop. And after a couple of years its also advised to re-apply better thermal paste onto the heatsinks.
Look into the Ultrabooks. They seem quite good performance wise, but I am not sure about the cooling since i haven’t used one myself. Also check the Temp charts and reviews of the product that you are going to purchase
Awesome reply. It will definitely help a lot. Thanks.
June 22, 2012You’re most welcome. At least my time to type that out didn’t go to waste.
Remember to check the reviews for the product before you purchase it. By the way my friends have had problems with Alienware laptops, and they wanted to get it replaced or repaired by the Alienware dealers, but they didn’t pay their request any attention.
ASUS ROG, HP and Dell XPS build some good laptops.
June 22, 2012I checkout ASUS G75VW. It looked fine to me. I will, however, do some more research before taking a final decision.
June 25, 2012That looks like a very powerful laptop. I’m guessing it’s the 12GB ram model?
June 25, 2012Yes, it the 12GB RAM model. With some research it seems that the model is over priced. Also, the graphic card will become obsolete after 2 years or so. I’m not sure whether I should buy it or not.
June 26, 2012Had it not been the portability issue, I would have gone for XBOX 360.
Most cards are obsolete within in that time frame, but people still hold on to their stuff who can’t ugrade that often. but the GTX660m is of the current generation, and a good mid range successor to the GTX560
Maybe you could build your own portable XBOX360
but it would be a bit bulky 
with a 15″ -19″ LCD mounted at the back of it or something 
But it could heat up the XBOX360 
June 26, 2012cypherinfo
June 23, 2012Hello, from my experience (I owned an HP elitebook 8540w for one year) I may tell you it is not about technical specifications or brand.
The first notebook I used even if buikd with millitary standard (dust, shock, anything proof) suffered for overhating (random shutdowns, blue screen etc.)
My new one, HP elitebook 8560w has made me forget the first HP notebook; it is simply great!
There is a good application to monitor your CPU and GPU temperatures: HWinfo; my temp range now are 50°C-60°C!! Before it was: 70°C-100°C!!
May be the best forum to look for pre-buying information is: http://www.notebookreview.com; there you’ll find coupon (on request) and great bargains too!
Common sense about keeping not so hot the temperature while gaming is: GPU with at least 2GB, RAM with at least 8GB; Hard disk with at least 7200 RPM (round per minutes); and may be the best advice few and essentials applications installed; I mean do not overload of installed applications your PC and its performances/temperatures will keep great!
Thank you.
Even my present laptop tends to heat up a lot and it doesn’t have heavy specs. Whatever I do, I think I will have to buy cooking pads because while playing any spec would tend to heat up. Also, I live in India, with current temperature around 40 degrees and no proper air conditioning in my room, any laptop would become toast.
BTW, that review site was good. Thanks.
June 25, 2012The new generation Intel chipset – the one on the elitebook 8560w – is enough to overcome the old issues. The old one is the guilty!
Thank you.
June 25, 2012*cooling…
June 26, 2012lambusado
June 23, 2012My counter-attack is going to be…taking it to the store so they can change the fans, cause there is a problem in mine and my uncle told me it is common that laptops have problems with fans or the thermic stuff they have inside them.
And I have this solution because a friend of mine made the same thing and is computer is super cool and doesn’t make any noise
True, fans are instrumental in reducing the overall temperature of the machines. But even the newly bought laptops, whose fans are completely new and unused fail to provide proper cooling of the system, while gaming, of-course. So I guess extra measures would be necessary.
June 25, 2012