Having a powerful gaming laptop that can handle the latest games, provide powerful performance, and come with remarkable features that will add an unforgettable experience during gaming sessions is a major concern for every gamer. However, this power comes with a lot of heat. Overheating may impact the gaming experience, leading to interruptions such as lag, system crashes, and permanent hardware damage. That’s why having an effective cooling solution for your gaming laptop is crucial. With proper cooling for a gaming laptop, especially those powered by high-performance processors like Intel laptops or AMD Ryzen 7 laptops, one can experience smooth gameplay, which helps to increase the longevity of the gaming laptop. This article will explore some of the best ways to keep your laptop cool by explaining the role of built-in cooling systems and external cooling pads and some tips to address “how to keep your laptop cool” to get optimal cooling management.
Built-In Cooling Systems
Gaming laptops are designed with advanced cooling systems that handle the intense heat that one experiences during gameplay. The following is the breakdown of some of the cooling mechanisms that come with the modern gaming laptops:
- Heat Pipes: These copper tubes contain a small amount of liquid, usually water. When the liquid is heated, it turns into vapor and travels to the cooler end of the pipe, where it condenses and releases heat through the laptop’s heatsink and fan system. The heat pipes represent the pinnacle of cooling, owing to their ability to direct heat away from the GPU.
- Vapor Chambers: Like heat pipes, vapor chambers are larger systems covering much of the surface of gaming laptops. They operate more efficiently when heat is applied. Because of this, vapor chambers can manage the dissipation of heat from different elements, such as VRMs (Voltage Regulator Modules), which have equally higher heat dissipation potential.
- High-Performance Fans: Gaming laptops usually include innovative fans to improve airflow while minimizing noise and turbulence. For instance, ASUS ROG uses fan designs like Arc Flow fans with curved blades inspired by the shape of a bird’s wingtip to reduce or even eliminate turbulence effects, thus improving airflow.
- Advanced Heatsinks: Heatsinks transfer the heat from the system to the fans. A gaming laptop usually features bigger, high-density copper heatsinks. These heatsinks not only cover the entire back of the laptop but also boost their heat transfer capacity by enhancing the surface exposed, providing greater areas for releasing the energy.
- Liquid Metal Thermal Compound: Traditional thermal pastes may sometimes provide a hurdle in the cooling process. However, some manufacturers, like ASUS ROG, have started using liquid metals, such as Thermal Grizzly’s Conductonaut, with noticeably higher thermal conductivity than traditional thermal pastes. This results in more efficient heat transfer from the CPU and GPU to the heatsinks.
- Intelligent Cooling Software: Some gaming laptops have exclusive software that allows users to modify the cooling performance as desired. For example, ASUS ROG’s Armoury Crate software enables users to select different operating modes, such as Silent, Performance, and Turbo. It also lets users create custom fan curves for specific games or applications.
External Cooling Pads
Even though laptops come with built-in cooling systems that are supposed to maintain them in perfect operating conditions, there are instances when they require an additional cooling touch because of prolonged usage or if the laptops are placed in hot rooms.
Essentially, the cooling pads are platforms that feature built-in fans on the lower surface of your laptop. These fans help deliver further airflow, keeping the laptop cool. By providing enough support and moving fresh air in its direction, the pads help cool down the device more efficiently by working harmoniously with the built-in laptop cooling system.
When buying a cooling pad for your gaming laptop, decide to purchase either according to the number of fans and the fan size, noise levels, compatibility with your laptop, to the added features such as USB ports or cable management. You may even ignore some of the devices after receiving contradictory data.
The following are the benefits listed of using an external cooling pad:
1. Better Airflow: Cooling pads bring in air, helping to decrease your laptop’s overall temperature.
2. Boosted Performance: Cooling your laptop allows for faster clock speeds and improved overall performance, as components won’t be thermally throttled.
3. Increase Lifespan: Some parts inside a laptop can become damaged when exposed to high temperatures for too long. A cooling pad may help drop the temperature and minimize this damage, extending the laptop’s life span.
4. Comfort: During long gaming sessions, some pads can be raised to provide an ergonomic experience in height or angle adjustments, ensuring you are always comfortable playing for hours on end.
5. Convenience: Many slim, lightweight versions are designed specifically for portability, so they can be easily transported wherever needed.
Conclusion
Proper cooling is paramount for any gaming laptop’s performance and longevity. Even though modern gaming laptops are built with sophisticated internal cooling systems, using an external cooling pad can be very helpful, especially during long hours of play or in hot climates. Therefore, if you want your gaming laptop to last long while giving you the best service, you must invest in a sound cooling system to prevent overheating, keep the hardware safe, and ensure smooth gameplay.
Intelligent Cooling ensures that you can experience the full performance of GPUs while minimizing noise levels. ASUS ROG laptops like the Strix SCAR 17, Zephyrus M16, and Zephyrus S17 feature strong cooling solutions built from the ground up to meet the challenges of cooling today’s high-performance components. For instance, the ROG Zephyrus S17 features liquid metal and a 140W GeForce RTX 3080 GPU with Dynamic Boost, this system delivers exceptional performance with AAS Plus cooling.
It has an airflow-enhanced angled keyboard that channels cool air directly to the hardware. With these advanced cooling systems, you can experience uninterrupted gaming anywhere, making the best cooling pad for gaming laptops a worthwhile investment.