As laptops are getting bigger and more complex in their specifications, they are also becoming a powerhouse of thermal problems. And fixing these problems isn’t as simple as it used to be because there are plenty of factors that come into play resulting in overheating of your laptop.
Although you might be wondering to invest in an external cooling pad let me tell you that isn’t the solution because more or less you are not fixing the problem, you are treating a symptom by externally cooling your hardware components which isn’t a valid strategy for numerous reasons which I will explain in this article.
And now you might be wondering, are cooling pads bad for laptops? Well, the answer isn’t that simple, there are still some pros and cons for investing in a cooling pad but it is much better if you address the problem directly rather than going for indirect approaches.
Cooling Pads: What do they do?
As mentioned above, a cooling pad is an indirect approach to ventilation, in other words, it is external ventilation hardware with built-in fans into it, it is powered by a USB interface which is usually connected to your laptop. They generally have RGB lighting depending on the price and model, however, that is for cosmetic purposes and doesn’t serve any real in the prevention of heat.
These fans usually have a one-directional ventilation system and provide colder air to dissipate heat generated from the laptop’s hardware.
Are Cooling Pads Bad for Laptops?
As mentioned above, there is more harm caused by using a cooling pad, for a wide array of reasons which are given below.
1. One directional ventilation:
Since the builtin fans tend to provide colder air to the hardware components, the hotter air is stuck in the laptop body which further heats up the processor and other crucial parts resulting in critical damage to your damage, moreover, this also triggers the internal thermal system which works overtime to counter the issue.
2. Useless for newer laptops:
Cooling pads usually provide horrendous ventilation to your laptop because most laptops like Surface book tend to have their major component at the top of the laptop which is much far away from the cooling pad and fails to provide any actual ventilation to the system.
As newer generation laptops tend to have complex system and components, most of these cooling pads are pretty much useless and doesn’t serve a purpose.
3. Hogging battery life:
Cooling pads are usually connected to the laptop through USB ports and are powered by the laptop battery indirectly, this process sucks up all the juice from the lithium battery cells, leaving you with very little runtime than you would usually expect.
Adding RGB illumination to a cooling pad that drains the battery, even more, makes for an even worse battery runtime.
4. Takes plenty of Space:
Cooling pads are very large because they are universally made to fit all laptops which is why they have bigger measurement specifications. Which makes them not only large and more space-consuming but also a tad bit heavier. This aspect negatively impacts the portability of your laptop and carrying it everywhere becomes a headache.
Moreover, it also makes things look awkward and heavily cuts down on the aesthetic points, because the cooling pad is usually ugly in design.
5. Extremely noise:
As the number of fans increases, so does their noise due to the higher RPM ratio of the fan turning speeds. Moreover, cooling pads also trigger the censor of the internal thermal system of your laptop which further results in the laptop fans working overtime which produces even more noise.
This creates a massive haphazardness with plenty of noise, which is beyond tolerable levels, and if you are working in an office or school, you might consider fixing that problem as soon as possible before things start to get awkward.
6. Clogs up dust:
The final reason for the question “are cooling pads bad for laptops” is something related to clogs and dust. The environment is filled with microscopic particles of dust and debris which arent visible to the human eye but as the fans suck the air out of the ambiance, they are clogged and stuck in the hardware of the cooling pad, which is then transported to the parts of your laptop that not only dries your thermal paste all over your processor but further generates heat in your system.
This increases the necessity of cleaning your hardware as often as possible to prevent cause overheating due to dust clogging up.
How to Address Overheating in Your Laptop?
As mentioned above, cooling pads are usually the indirect approach to fixing the problem as you are generally only treating the symptom. Here are the steps you can do to avoid facing such problems.
Keeping it in cooler ambient temperature:
Things tend to get a little hot when the ambient temperature isn’t in favorable condition. Placing your beloved laptop at room temperature or anything below room temperature can drastically tone down the notch of your heating issue and help a ton.
Cleaning of your laptop internals:
You might be scared to get down to the dirty business of opening and dissection your precious laptop parts, but trust me, it is highly worth it. Because years of usage have not only resulted in piles of dust sitting on your beloved laptop internals which are screaming to get cleaned with isopropyl alcohol but the thermal paste also requires changing.
Just take a screwdriver and carefully unscrew all the visible screws you can see and open up your laptop and use isopropyl alcohol pads to clean all the nasty parts of your laptop and change the thermal paste with a decent aftermarket thermal paste.
Note: Please ensure you have an ample amount of knowledge while opening your laptop, as this might result in the voiding of the warranty of your laptop. Please consult your laptop manual before proceeding.
Can cooling pad damage laptop fan?
Particularly, they have no physical effect on laptop fans, but they can interfere with the airflow for better or worse. Furthermore, they can disrupt and put a strain on batteries as well.
Is it recommended to use a cooling pad for laptop?
Yes, if you feel like your laptop is getting flaming hot, then it might be time to invest in a decent quality cooling pad that might flush away the hot air.
Is laptop cooler necessary for gaming?
Thermal throttling is the main issue that could drastically impact your gameplay experience, which is why a laptop cooler could be a necessary tool.
Final Verdict
Keeping your laptop chilled isn’t rocket science, however, if the right steps aren’t taken in due time, you might be facing critical hardware damage. This is why carefully reading my article on how to address the issue is important and I hope that you have acknowledged why are cooling pads bad for laptops.
Feel free to comment below and kindly do let me know if you have any queries.
