Gaming laptops are truly remarkable. Despite their lightweight and their smaller build, gamers are now able to run even the latest games using these gaming laptops. However, one of the downsides of using laptops for gaming is that it generates heat quickly, especially if it uses a powerful GPU.
And no matter how they are nicely built, there is only much that manufacturers can do to keep a cramped space cool. This is why it is up to users to find a way on how to keep our gaming laptops cool while playing video games.
Here are several tips on how to keep your gaming laptop cool:
- Place your gaming laptop on a suitable surface.
- Check the fan units of your gaming laptop.
- Use a cooling pad.
- Make sure to keep your gaming laptop clean.
- Renew the thermal paste of your gaming laptop.
- Run a laptop temperature monitor app.
- Don’t run too many programs all at the same time.
1 – Place your gaming laptop on a suitable surface.
Don’t use your laptop on a bad surface such as a bed, pillows, or your legs. Such surfaces can block the ventilation of your unit and can impair its cooling significantly. Instead, place your gaming laptop on a solid surface, especially if you are using high-performance programs or applications.
It is also recommended to use a laptop stand to elevate your unit and help with its ventilation for it to draw enough air. You can also run temperature tests on different surfaces to know the difference and find the best place for your unit.
2 – Check the fan units of your gaming laptop.
If ever your unit is showing overheating issues, the first thing you need to do is to check the laptop fans. In modern gaming laptops, there are several fans installed that provide more effective cooling and airflow throughout your system’s unit.
However, if one of these fans fails, the cooling performance of the entire system will be affected. So you need to make sure that all the fans are working. You can use a tool to show the current fan speeds of your gaming laptop.
There are also other signs that can tell you if your fans are not doing well. Two things you should look out for are when you hear a rattling sound or total silence when running your system.
3 – Use a cooling pad.
Another way to keep your gaming laptop cool is by using cooling pads. This is one of the most effective and inexpensive ways of helping the ventilation of your unit. These pads feature external fans to keep your unit cool while you’re playing games. You can simply connect it to your unit via USB and place your laptop on top of it.
But before you buy a cooling pad, make sure that your unit is built to suck cold air from below and blow warm air out of the sides. If your unit does the opposite, it is not recommended to use a cooling pad at all.
4 – Make sure to keep your gaming laptop clean.
A thick layer of dust can form inside your gaming laptop over time. And this can affect the ventilation, airflow, and cooling performance of your system. And when your laptop’s cooling fans and ventilation are covered with dust and dirt, the temperature of your laptop will suffer considerably.
Make sure you keep your gaming laptop clean. Regularly open your unit to dust off any dirt inside. You can use cotton swabs or a little can of compressed air to do this.
5 – Renew the thermal paste of your gaming laptop.
If the thermal paste of your laptop starts to become greasy, you might want to change it. With older gaming laptops, the thermal paste may dry up over time. You can place a new thermal paste to help cool your components.
By applying a new thermal paste, it will help reduce the temperature by a few degrees. If you don’t know how to apply a new thermal paste, you can talk to your unit’s retail store or a local PC service provider for them to do this for you.
6 – Run a laptop temperature monitor app.
To monitor your laptop’s temperature and prevent it from overheating, you can install and run a temperature monitoring app. Depending on the app you are using, the app can monitor the temperature for all of your systems, including the GPU, CPU, HDD, and SDD. There are also apps that estimate the overall health of each drive.
If it is possible, you can also find a program where you can set the RPM of your unit’s fans. This will help you to control the airflow of your unit’s system depending on its use. For example, if you are playing a high-end video game, you can set your fans to run at high speeds to help with the ventilation.
7 – Don’t run too many programs all at the same time.
The temperature of your gaming laptop is directly linked to its load. This is why it is advisable that you don’t run several programs all at the same time. Turn off any programs or apps that you aren’t using that might be running in the program.
You might also want to close down browsers while playing video games. Some browsers can hog resources. So if possible, just run the video game you are playing on your gaming laptop.