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HOW-TO: Build Your Own Notebook Cooler (the ghetto way!)

post #1 of 21
8/10/06 at 5:40pm
Thread Starter 
After getting my 5950, I tried to locate a 19" laptop cooler but, they simply don't make them. What's a man with a $3k+ laptop to do...make his own, of course.

But, since I spent most of my waking hours at work, and they won't let me bring in any power tools I decided to make one out of items that I could get around the office.

First, I needed to find a suitable item to place under my laptop. At first, I thought about just using 4 small post-it note paks, but they didn't really get the laptop high enough for my tastes. Plus, I wanted to actively cool the bottom of the laptop with a fan.

So, searching through the office, I finally located a suitable platform...



A large Fed-Ex Box! It is almost the same dimensions as the laptop...in fact, you can almost fit the laptop in it

Next, I needed a way to somehow actively cool it. I have one of these Thermaltake USB fans...



Tried it out, but didn't like it. Not enough airflow. So, I went to the local drug store here and found the perfect fan...



A Lasko Space Saving Task Fan...basically a blower. Huge amounts of air fro m this little monster. I took the stand off of it and measured it against the Fed-Ex box...



Perfect! And I have enough clearance to open and close my DVD drive

Next, I needed to get the air into the bottom of my lappy...a quick cut later and...





Nice!

Now, just put the notebook on top and check it out!



and check the clearance of the DVD drive...



beautiful!

Now for the tests:

I can't measure the GPU temps...no program that has worked for me to measure the temps on both cards

Used AMD PowerNow! Dashboard to measure CPU temps and SysTool CPU Benchmark to test CPU at full load.

CPU is ML-37 2.0ghz @ 2.4ghz (240x10)

Temps:

Fan Off: 59c
Fan Low: 52c
Fan High: 49c

10c decrease at full load!
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post #2 of 21
8/10/06 at 6:04pm
I LOVE Ghetto Mods!!!

More More More!

I used to have pitcures of my ghetto mods where I made a fan bracket to go over my RAM on my desktop with a leftover PCI/AGP slot cover. It was FUGLY, but very functional.
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post #3 of 21
8/10/06 at 6:08pm
Might want to consider installing a small air filter in front of the blower that you could remove on a periodic basis (maybe monthly) and thus prevent "crap" from being forced into the laptop's cooling system.

Otherwise, nice idea and construction. Now if it slopped from front to back (lower in front and higher in the back), it would make typing a bit easier for you.....
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post #4 of 21
8/10/06 at 6:18pm
Thread Starter 
Way ahead of you on that. 2 options I'm thinking about:

1) I have some fan guards which double as dust filters. I was thinking about attaching them to the sides of the blower.

2) Get some filter material from Home Depot and install it either at the top of the case or right in front of the blower hole
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post #5 of 21
8/10/06 at 7:42pm
Dual filters - "Sweet"!
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post #6 of 21
8/10/06 at 8:43pm
"Turbo-charge your laptop!" Nice!

I was thinking about this though are your temps stable and maintain the decrease in temp over longer periods of time? I'm not an engineer or anything but thinking somewhat technical here: if the blower is forcing more air into the box cavity than the laptop can intake you will build positive pressure. After a time (this is just a theory) the air in the box as it builds pressure will become stale and could actually increase temps as the air "sits" against other parts of the laptop untill eventually its all warm and cozy inside. Maybe you could rig up some tests where the stand (fedex box) has its own air outlet. Then in effect what your laptop would be pulling in would truly be "fresh" moving air rather than stagnent warm air that's been trapped in the box.

...I am just super board atm (side job client scheduled for tonight has not called) and this post has kept my fingers and mind busy for another minute.
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post #7 of 21
8/10/06 at 9:03pm
Thread Starter 
The air is actually being forced through the bottom of the case and out the exhaust ports for the North Bridge, CPU, and GPUs faster than the system fans. No worry about any stagnant air here
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post #8 of 21
8/10/06 at 11:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crazy Larry
The air is actually being forced through the bottom of the case and out the exhaust ports for the North Bridge, CPU, and GPUs faster than the system fans.

Neat gizmo there Larry. What about the forced air overspeeding the fans?
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post #9 of 21
8/11/06 at 12:30am
Thread Starter 
Honestly, since I've added this notebook cooler, I haven't even heard the fans come on
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post #10 of 21
8/11/06 at 8:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crazy Larry
Honestly, since I've added this notebook cooler, I haven't even heard the fans come on

Cool ( I mean that literally)
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post #11 of 21
8/11/06 at 8:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by G-Omaha
Now if it slopped from front to back (lower in front and higher in the back), it would make typing a bit easier for you.....

Or just use an external mouse and keyboard. Save the wear and tear on the laptop keyboard too.
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post #12 of 21
8/11/06 at 8:54am
All you need now is to paint the box with some graffiti-style artwork, and then it will truly be ghetto.
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post #13 of 21
8/11/06 at 2:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crazy Larry
The air is actually being forced through the bottom of the case and out the exhaust ports for the North Bridge, CPU, and GPUs faster than the system fans. No worry about any stagnant air here


Not starting an argument but I beg to differ (just for discussions sake...again not being a jerk).

Unless you are directing the air right into the intake ports the positive pressure or forced air as you call it will be less than you think. The air is filling up the volume of the box...and THEN will seek the path of least resistance, so there will be stagnant air in a technical sense.

Also as long as the fans are running and even if at full speed it is only physically possible to push a certain ammount of air through the system. Now if you had the fan removed any other restrictions in the air path you would be able to accomplish more of a "forced air" system. To me it would be more beneficial to have the best of both worlds. Have a cavity of possitive pressure under the laptop so that when its needed it can be sucked in much more easily but also having a place in the fedex box for air to escape. Theoretically you will then have achieved both a slight bit of increased air (based on the fan status and other restrictions) as well as providing turbulant COOLER air because of exhaust on the box. Of course to maintain some positive pressure you will have be carefull what size of exhaust (hole) you cut in the box. I really think lower temp air would be more beneficial than simply creating a "box of air" for your laptop to sit on.

I know I'm going to deep so just tell me to back off if you think I'm out of my mind hehe. I really get into theories of air cooling and such when it comes to computers.
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post #14 of 21
8/11/06 at 3:45pm
Thread Starter 
Constructive critisizm is always good. The box is not completely air tight to the laptop, so there is air escaping from it (predominately toward the front of the laptop where the hard drive door is). Just to make sure, I'm running a 2-hour session of CPU Burn In to see if the temps rise over a period of time.
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post #15 of 21
8/11/06 at 4:40pm
That sounds pretty good actually...air escaping past the HD area. Your right my ramblings would be more geared towards if it where air tight. Look forward to your results!

I'll probably be fabing up a stand of sorts for my sager pretty soon out of a wooden monitor stand with holes cut for air and possibly a fan or two for air circulation.
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post #16 of 21
8/11/06 at 5:53pm
Thread Starter 
Two hour test complete - the temps fluctuated from 49c to 51c. This is probably due to the air conditioning system here in the office (it doesn't stay on constantly, so the temperature in here fluctuates a couple of degrees)

There are actually vent holes over the HDs, mini pci cards, system memory, northbridge, cpu and both gpus, so lots of air flowing through the notebook
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post #17 of 21
9/8/06 at 6:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crazy Larry

Used AMD PowerNow! Dashboard to measure CPU temps and SysTool CPU Benchmark to test CPU at full load.

CPU is ML-37 2.0ghz @ 2.4ghz (240x10)

Temps:

Fan Off: 59c
Fan Low: 52c
Fan High: 49c

10c decrease at full load!

Your only seeing cpu temp try using speed fan and see what your cpu core temps are running at.
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post #18 of 21
9/8/06 at 6:47pm
Thread Starter 
Core temp is showing 40c max at 100% load using CPU Burn-in
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post #19 of 21
12/2/09 at 10:58pm
any looked into getting one of these. I may get one for my 7811 fx

Zalman ZM-NC2000 Notebook Cooler ZM-NC2000Black
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post #20 of 21
12/3/09 at 6:26am
Nice looking device that can be used for sprucing up the working area of a notebook. Zalman is a good name in the coolers department.

But what I read is that this model falls short in bringing down the temp to a noticeable experience to justify the over the $50 range. My opinion.

cheers ...
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