Is a Laptop Cooling Stand Really Necessary for Your Device?

So, after saving a fortune, you got your first high-performance laptop. It can be a gaming laptop or a laptop for professionals and creators. Irrespective of the purpose, high-performance laptops need cooling. In certain situations, using a laptop cooling stand becomes necessary. Computational devices like laptops run on electricity, and while running at their maximum capacity, they need cooling to remove the heat generated by moving electrons.

Laptops contain graphical processing units (GPU), central processing units (CPU), random access memory (RAM), voltage regulating modules (VRMs), and solid-state storage drives (SSDs) that need cooling. If the heat is not adequately removed from the components by the laptop's inbuilt cooling system, the heat will cause degradation in performance. We will explain this later. However, you will only require a laptop cooling stand in some situations. Learn here! When a laptop cooling stand is necessary for your device and personal health.

Benefits of Laptop cooling Stands

laptop cooling stands to benefit your device and your well-being. They protect your body from the high heat of laptops. They also provide cool air to the computer, improving airflow to its internal components. Let's see how laptop cooling stands can be beneficial:

Laptop-Oriented Benefits of Laptop Cooling Stands

The generation of heat in laptops is mainly due to the resistance in conductive material. The wires and silicon chipsets can heat up when the processing goes up. The fast switching of transistors in the laptop components can cause them to be in a resistive state, contributing to heating. Removing the heat is necessary to ensure:

Performance Boosts: Overclocking and Stability

Overclocking components is always an option for premium and high-end laptops. Overclocking your CPU, RAM, and GPU can involve increasing the frequency of their operations, which means they can get more work done within a shorter time frame. This results in faster performance, but since more electricity moves through the components, they generate more heat.

If the PC cannot remove the heat, it can crash or become unstable. A laptop cooling stand can ensure you can squeeze out the maximum possible performance from your laptop without stability issues.

Thermal Throttling: Laptops Protective Measure Against Heat

Gaming or workstation laptops have dedicated graphics cards, high-end CPUs, RAM, and SSDs in small enclosures. Vapor chambers, heat-conductive material, and fans route heat out of these components. However, placing your laptop on the bed or your lap might block the intake air path or outgoing path, increasing the laptop's heat.

Modern laptops detect an increase in heat and try to control it by reducing performance. Contrary to overclocking, this causes the components to underclock (decrease frequency), which means lower work in a second. It results in performance drops and even stuttering in games and applications. For games, it will cause the framerates to drop, while for applications, it may cause them to stutter or crash.

Degrading Lifespan: Heat Cycles and Thermal Fatigue

The laptop's internal fan removes heads from the conductors made from highly conducive materials like copper or SS. The silicon chipsets have heat sinks that are thermally linked using a thermal pad or paste. If you operate at high temperatures, these conductive pastes and pads can start to degrade.

Playing a game or editing a video and turning the laptop off immediately causes thermal shock due to the significant temperature change. A typical GPU while gaming can reach up to 80°C with internal cooling. When the laptop turns off, the temperatures come down to atmospheric, which can be 25°C. This massive change can cause thermal fatigue in components and decrease their lifespan. While using laptop cooling stands, the peak temperature during high processing intensive work will decrease significantly. For example, the 80°C peak will come down to 75°C with a laptop cooling stand, decreasing the change to 25°C when shut down.

Health Benefits of Laptop Cooling Stands

As the name connotes, the laptops have a design that necessitates placement on laps. However, with time, there were tons of problems that originated from using laptops on the lap. Here are some issues that

Skin Burns

Laptops placed on the lap can cause skin burns. Burning can occur with 4 hours of daily use within 3 days. It is a highly probable medical condition that can cause reddish-brown pigmentation. The condition can get worse with heavier laptops. The medical term is erythema, and laptop cooling stands can eliminate the probability of skin burns.

Laptop cooling stands come with fans or a passive barrier that forms a material layer that does not conduct heat to the body. They allow computer users to place laptops on their laps.

Reproductive Organ Damage

Exposure to heat from the laptop to human reproductive organs, particularly in males, can cause damage. Studies have shown a link between atmospheric temperature and sperm production. Medical doctors do not recommend using laptops directly on the lap. Laptop cooling stands provide a barrier and increase air circulation around the computer to decrease the temperature instead of improving it.

Un-ergonomic: Back, Shoulder, Neck Pain and More

Using a laptop on a lap is highly uneconomic. It can lead to shoulder, back, neck, headaches, and arched back pain. These are just some medical conditions that can occur after prolonged use of laptops on laps.

Laptop cooling stands with ergonomics can force users to place the computer on a table and use it more ergonomically. Besides improving performance, laptop cooling also improves overall human well-being.

Types of Laptop Cooling Stands

Manufacturers have now become creative when designing laptop cooling stands. They are available in various shapes, materials, air flow methods, foldability, and multi-port connections. Here are their details:

Based on Material

Metal

Metal laptop cooling stands are the best for sturdy, durable, and long-lasting performance. Their inherent heat-conductive properties allow for the best heat removal. Metal laptop cooling stands can be passive or active. They can have embedded fans that blow air into the laptop or a passive design that naturally keeps the bottom of the laptop clear of obstacles to the passage of air. Metal laptop cooling stands to resist breakage from falls and generally have a compact design for portability.

Plastic

Plastic is a more affordable alternative to metal-based laptop cooling stands. It is lightweight but generally has a more extensive design to support the frame. Plastic laptop cooling stands can incorporate fans within the frame with a mesh-like structure to allow air to pass through.

Based on the Airflow Method

Vacuum or Blowers

Airflow can flow towards or away from the laptop body. Vacuum-type laptop cooling stands to ensure a distance between the laptop and the cooling stand, allowing air to pass through. Some laptops have air suction on the sides, and vacuum-type cooling stands are best. They provide suction using fans and blow air outwards from the sides of the cooling stand.

In the case of blowers, the laptop's internal cooling mechanism can get a boost. The fans' air suction will blow air towards the laptop's bottom, thus making it warmer from the sides. It enhances the laptop's internal cooling mechanism, as some laptops have suction from underneath the computer.

Single or Multi-Fan

laptop cooling stands can have a single-fan or multiple-fan setup. With multiple fans, all fans can operate at low speeds, thus reducing noise while ensuring proper cooling. In contrast, a single-fan laptop cooling stand will require the fan to operate at high rpm to allow enough air to induce a cooling effect.

Portability

Foldable

A foldable laptop cooling stand can ensure you have ergonomic, safe, and healthy laptop use sessions everywhere you go. Foldable laptop cooling stands are preferably metal, allowing a sturdy frame to handle drops during carriage. Users can fold these cooling stands into thinner material than the laptop.

Static Frame

There are cooling stands that come with a static frame. Most plastic-based laptop cooling stands are static. They are great if you move around your laptop sparingly, as they are usually thicker in dimension. However, the portability of static frames can be challenging.

Multi-Port Connectivity

Some laptop cooling stands can provide USB passthrough options and charging capabilities. Laptop cooling stands with fans require external power, usually from the laptop's USB port. Advanced laptop cooling stands can come with USB-A and USB-C ports for enhanced multi-port connectivity or charging options.

How to Find the Laptop Cooling Stand for Your Laptop

Finding the perfect laptop cooling stand requires examining your computer carefully. Buyers interested in laptop cooling stands can follow our guidelines to select the ideal device.

Observe:Observe your laptop from the top, bottom, and sides. Look for vents and mesh that allow air to pass through. Check your computer's dimensions to ensure it fits within the laptop cooling stand.

Suction laptop cooling stand:If your laptop has two sides with vents, it could have an air inlet and outlet on both sides. In that case, use a laptop cooling stand with a suction mechanism for enhanced cooling.

Fan laptop cooling stand:If you find mesh under the laptop for air to pass through and vent on one side, you need a cooling stand that blows air onto the laptop's bottom.

Check Temperatures:Use software like the HWiNFO to check the temperatures of the laptop's internal components.

Temperature Limits:Check if your CPU, GPU, RAM, or SSD temperature is exceeding the limits below:

Component	Typical maximum temperature range (°C)
AMD CPUs	90 - 105
Intel CPUs	90 - 100
AMD GPUs	95 - 110
Nvidia GPUs	80 - 90
System RAM	85 - 95
Graphics card RAM	90 - 100
Hard disk drives (HDD)	50 - 70
Solid state drives (SSD)	85 - 95

Higher RPM Fan:If your temperature exceeds the maximum range, you need a higher RPM cooling stand.

Passive Stands:Frequent travelers should choose compact laptop stands that easily fit inside a backpack or laptop case. A metal-based passive stand is great for those purposes.

Ergonomic laptop cooling stand:Users with back pain, neck pain, or any other health condition associated with extended laptop usage should choose ergonomic laptop cooling stands. These stands ensure that the body remains in its natural position during work or play.

Gaming and Content Creation:Gamers and creators should always prefer multi-fan laptop cooling stands that enhance cooling to avoid thermal throttling or hardware underperformance.

Multi-Port Connectivity:Lastly, laptop cooling stands with USB pass-through ports are ideal if you need multiple ports to connect external accessories.

5 Related Questions

How do cooling stands work to cool down a laptop?

Laptop cooling stands blow air onto the computer or remove it to provide an enhanced cooling effect. They allow better air circulation around the laptop's internal cooling mechanism's intake and exhaust vents. These cooling stands can also be passive, with metal bodies and foldable frames.

What factors should I consider when choosing a cooling stand?

Consider multiple fans for gaming and content creation laptops. Also consider portability, dimensions, cooling mechanism, multi-port connectivity, material, ergonomics, w, eight, and fan RPM.

Can using a cooling stand improve laptop performance?

If your laptop is thermally throttling or produces unbearable heat, cooling stands can help reduce its temperature. The reduction in temperature leads to lower thermal throttling of SSDs and higher operating frequencies of CPU, GPU, and RAM.

Are there any downsides to using a cooling stand?

Laptop cooling stands with multiple fans at high RPM can increase noise levels and reduce battery backup. Some cooling stand designs could be more bulky and pose portability challenges. High-quality cooling stands with two or more fans. These have metal frames ideal for low noise, portable, and sturdy design.

How often should I use a cooling stand with my laptop?

Cooling stands can enhance laptops' longevity and operational life. They can also help avoid health issues such as low sperm quality, skin burns, skin cancer, arched back, and body pains. Using a cooling stand with a laptop will improve your personal and equipment well-being.