I realize it depends on a bunch of factors but generally speaking how much can you expect them to cool your laptop?
I disagree with Ben. Good cooling pads work and help a lot. but you don't need them for every laptop. My alienware definitely needs one. Macbook — not at all.
CM Storm SF-17 My temps never go too high, 70-80 tops without the pad. With pad, it rarely goes above 60. I'm using Cooler MAster SF-17, I think it was around $50 when I bough it.
Do your research and invest in a good one. A cheap one might make a lot of noise and barely help with cooling at all, but a quality one will make a different, especially if your laptop is older and runs hot.
I have used 3 cooling pads so far and they do help. Generally speaking, they all do prove to reduce internal temperatures but obviously that depends on how much you're willing to pay for it. If you're a gamer and looking for a fairly cheap price, I can suggest LotFancy 12R-2697-S. From my experience, this has helped to cool my laptop down from anywhere between 20-30% during gaming sessions.
It's usually cold enough around these parts that the laptop runs nice and cool anyway! The warmth of the computer sometimes helps on those chilly nights, but we can't have our systems overheating either. Older laptops can especially have that problem so it's a good investment.
Yes they helped me a lot. I had a laptop with cooling problems, without cooling pads I would lose it.
I never ever used cool pads and I have no idea about it. And, my lappy works fine without cool pad and there is no heating problem with my lappy.
They definitely work well, especially if you run heavy applications. I noticed a max of 10 degrees Celsius drop with them. Another reason to seriously consider them is when your laptop gets a bit old and collects dust combined with overheating, that may result in burning your graphics card. It happened to me twice.
For gaming I prefer a desktop PC as cooling isn't quite such a problem, it's often possible to install extra fans. If you can get the case apart without breaking it (and provided it's possible to put back together) it might be worth popping in your local computer shop to get a can of compressed air to clean the inside of the laptop out with
They definately can, depending on the quantity of your laptops heat output. The ones that are more solid state (think Macbook) run cooler and would be less affected by a cooling fan setup than more of a gaming pc that generates a substantial amount of heat. They definately vary in quality of pad too. Best bet is to read some good internet review sites and see whats up!
Depends on your computer. If you have powerful hardware inside then you'd better have a cooling pad. It may not decrease temperatures, but it will help to not overheat. Especially it is about the last trend with thin gaming laptops which have throttling right from the box. If you have something like ultrabook or MacBook then it is like an option and isn't necessary.
This is why I want one. My GPU is throttled and when playing intensive games in hot weather the FPS drops and makes it unplayable.
Maybe, you should undervolt your GPU a little. It won't make the FPS worse, but your graphics card will not drop down its frequencies and will not overheat. I am talking about 100 or 130 mV down.