Reddit reviews Cooler Master NotePal X2 Laptop Cooling Pad with 140mm Blue LED Fan (R9-NBC-4WAK-GP)

I used to have MAJOR overheating problems with the crappiest of games on my Dell Inspiron, this thing is freaking amazing and cools my laptop very very well.

Edit: I've used several other cooling pads, and I highly recommend this one. I have no had any problems since the buy, and the bottom of my laptop has always stayed cool. Although the top left side has stayed hot during times of high useage, but that isn't really something you can stop. (as far as I know)

Things like this can work very well. I used to use a cooling pad when I gamed on my laptop and it made a world of difference.

I have the Y580, and I can't be happier.One of my parents has a DV6 and it suffers from constant overheating issues, especially when rendering or even surfing the web. The 660M graphics are actually benchmarked much higher than one would expect, and I can run Skyrim on High/Ultra with ENB mods and it runs around 55 FPS.

Build Quality: Good- The case feels sturdy, and the matte brushed metal finish is a nice addition, and wards off too many fingerprints. The keyboard has almost no flex, and the keys are a decent size that they really don't take much getting used to.

Trackpad- OK- The buttons are integrated, so it's easy to accidentally hit one when you first buy the laptop. You get used to this, however.

Speed- Good to Great- I have the 7200 RPM HDD, rather than the standard 5200 RPM. This makes a major difference. While the 5200 is still pretty fast, the 7200 blows it out of the water. The CPU is very fast for the price class, I'm getting it at 3.1 GHZ and up to 3.3 with some Turbo boosting.

Graphics- Exceptional- In this price range, the graphics capabilities really stand out. Most games can be run on high, and some even on Ultra, such as CS:GO and Skyrim. Sleeping Dogs runs on High, but not Ultra. Just the examples there. So you're question may be why choose this over the Dv6? Well the answer is very simple. It costs less, IMO it has better build quality, better graphics capabilities, it's slightly faster, and it regulates heat much better. If you look on the side you will see just how big and powerful the heat sink is.

To sum it up, yes, I recommend the Lenovo Y580 for the above reasons. Should you choose to go with the Dv6, however, I recommend you purchase a cooling pad like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-NotePal-Cooling-R9-NBC-4WAK-GP/dp/B002MU1ZRS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346777799&sr=8-1&keywords=cooling+pad

Good luck with whatever you choose!

Realistically once the motherboard is replaced you should see a drop in temperatures, the most common reason for overheating is dust buildup. Second most common is degradation of the thermal paste (manufacturers routinely cut corners on quality thermal paste). If you had the skills required, you could always take the laptop apart and re-apply thermal paste.

Highest reviewed USB cooler pad on Amazon, can be an option to try as well:

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-NotePal-Cooling-R9-NBC-4WAK-GP/dp/B002MU1ZRS/ref=sr_1_11?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1404351584&sr=1-11&keywords=laptop+cooling+pad

I have been using a Cooler Master X2 cooling pad, link below. It has a 140mm fan with controllable speed and blue LED that isn't too overpowered. I have had it for almost a year now and has been doing just fine. Also my laptop is a 17" dell from 2010 with the fan opening in the same spot (back left and right). I think I paid around $20 at the time, sale price then.

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-NotePal-Cooling-R9-NBC-4WAK-GP/dp/B002MU1ZRS/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1369522308&sr=8-5&keywords=cooler+master+cooling+pad

I use this and it works great. a bit pricey but worth it. I got mine for $20 around the holidays but it is around $30 now.

Upgrading the RAM will increase performance overall, but it won't help you with gaming. Intels HD graphics aren't very good for gaming. And you may want to buy a cooling pad. Maybe this one. http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-NotePal-Cooling-R9-NBC-4WAK-GP/dp/B002MU1ZRS/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1368203772&sr=1-2. But yeah, I would get the entire laptop cleaned out if the pad doesn't work.

Cooling pads can definitely help, as long as they're good quality fans. I use them on all my laptops and you can feel the temperature difference just by touching them, especially if they run hot. Cooler Master makes some good ones. I use the CM NotePal X2 and NotePal X3 on my 2 gaming laptops and have a few more of the cheaper ones for my regular/home use laptops. Check Amazon though as they're usually cheaper versus buying straight from CM.

My laptop overheats BAD whenever I game on it. I picked this one on Amazon for $30.

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-NotePal-Cooling-R9-NBC-4WAK-GP/dp/B002MU1ZRS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1370367012&sr=8-2&keywords=laptop+cooler

Kept me from needing to upgrade my PC for a couple years, well worth the $$

Get this. Also, maybe blow out the fan with compressed air.

6gb

I can run TF2 at 200 fps max and 120 min in a 32 player server at high quality, minecraft runs at >150 fps in very large servers at extreme distance. It used to run at around 60c, but now its 70-80c. Do you think a cooling pad will help? Specifically this one

after dropping mine and having fan blades fall out, this does a pretty good job of keeping things cool. the fan is in the center, which isn't optimal for mine, but it still works fine.

I use this, I have had it for almost a year and my laptop is always resting ontop and I have never had any temperture problems, even when running large programs like solidworks or playing video games.

You really should have gotten a cooling pad for your computer. Excessive overheating can lead to ruined parts.

If your processor however does return to normal (High allocation may be due to misses from L1 cache repeatedly because of heat dissipation), I would recommend this cooling pad:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002MU1ZRS

Some have had some heat issues during long and intense gaming, but most have not. A good cooling pad for gaming sessions would solve that.

Those fans are the little $10 cheap fans from walmart that barely push any air at all (it's probably not doing much at all). Why not invest in one of these if you don't have a desktop? Trust me you won't be able to use your laptop without it once you have one.

For a cooling pad:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cooler-Master-Notepal-X2-Notebook/dp/B002MU1ZRS/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1369859024&sr=8-3-fkmr0&keywords=Cooler+Master+NotePal+X2+Laptop+Cooling+Pad+with+140mm+Blue+LED+Fan+%28R9-NBC-4WAK-GP%29.

I live in the US and this pad has about 1,200 reviews and it's overall rating is at 4.75 stars.

As for your cleaning question, compressed air is the best way to go. Blow the air both ways into the intake and exhaust in order to assure you got as much dust as you can out. If you know the ins and outs of your laptop, an even better way is to take it apart and clean the fans that way (using compressed air again).

Hope this helps.

On most laptops, both a hard drive and a memory upgrade are very simple. There is usually a cover on the bottom of the laptop for the hard drive, and often the memory as well. Some machines have the memory under the keyboard, although I have not seen that as much in recent years.

RAM is the easier of the two upgrades, because you just plug it in, and go back to work. The HDD upgrade will require you to copy everything to the new hard drive, and that does take more work.

For your model of laptop, I went to Sony's site, and guickly found this guide to replacing a hard drive which shows everything in good detail. It would be easy todo the mechanical part.

This general user guide shows how to upgrade the RAM. Most reputable memory manufacturers will be happy to help you pick the correct RAM.

Changing the fan will be a bit more complex, and I usually farm that out as vendor warranty work, because I just don't want to deal with it. However, if you are overheating, getting a powered cooling pad, such as this, can help quite a bit in some situations. Overheating will cause the CPU to run slower, and one of those could help.

I use this and love it Cooler Master (I chose this one bc its 17")

I used this one for my old laptop for quite a bit and it worked pretty well

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-NotePal-Cooling-R9-NBC-4WAK-GP/dp/B002MU1ZRS/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1398322486&sr=8-3&keywords=cooler+master+cooling+pad

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-NotePal-U2-Cooling/dp/B002NU5V4A/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1398322486&sr=8-5&keywords=cooler+master+cooling+pad