Question Cooling pad with 1 big Fan or 3?

[psi]

I have a cooling pad with 1 fan - 140mm diameter but I'm looking for another one that is much more effective, for a gaming notebook.
Idk mainly, how many fans do I need? I live in a hot country - about 28 C usually.

So far what I got:
1 Fan - Less noise, but doesn't cool sides of laptop as well as center (probably video card - on side). Top of the keyboard can still get hot.
3 Fans - Could be quiet too, but can cool wider area, the more areas is cooled - the more hot spots are cooled too. Possibility of loud noise.
5 Fans - Can be effective, but may introduce noise. Also 1 small fan may brake or lose stability, but you never know.

1 big fan, 190 mm can probably be effective so top of a laptop doesn't get hot and enough overall, or 3 fans can cool more than 1 fan. 5 fans is probably no go, don't want to regret it because of noise.

 

[punkncat]

I have had very mixed results with (supposed) cooling pads.

In most instances the highest result in it's use wasn't it's fan layout, but the fact that it was getting the bottom of the laptop up off of the blanket, or carpet (etc) that it was being used on, and thus cooling it.

When selecting one it's going to be of utmost importance that you select one that has it's fan in proximity to your devices own exhaust port. Otherwise they tend to be pretty ineffective from a fan pov. Another thing to consider is that when you are powering a large group of fans on the pad, the extra work is being put on the devices power supply and generating more heat, possibly even cancelling out the advantage.
There are some good reviews around about these pads and pros/cons of several of the popular ones. In my own experience I would say lay it on a table/book/tray and go with that as a cheaper and elegant solution.

 

[psi]

Thanks for your input! So you are saying that fan should be in proximity to air "entrance", and to 'exhaust' - "exit" as well. I'm lucky that "Entrance" is right on the middle of the laptop. And it's odd that it's quite small and the 2nd one is more to the right and smaller.
Well, not sure I need multiple fans.