Looking for Specific Cooling Pad Recommendations

[Fragosaurus]

I recently purchased a MSI GS43VR Phantom Pro-069 (https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834154481&cm_re=msi_gs43vr_phantom_pro-069-_-34-154-481-_-Product) because I needed a small, portable laptop for university, but I also wanted it to double as a workhorse gaming laptop for when I'm at home, something which would be viable for a few years. I was aware that 14" laptops aren't known for their cooling efficiency, especially with a GTX 1060, but this thing gets HOT. While the specs themselves can handle nearly anything I can currently throw at it in 1080p, the CPU currently gets dangerously hot without even completely reaching peak performance. White streaming Dota 2 at 1080p with maxed settings on a dual-monitor setup, my CPU temperature peaked at 91 degrees Celsius. While this is obviously me stress testing (if you can call it that, I retained a stable 60fps the whole time), and I generally won't be performing things as crazy as that with such a laptop, I would still like to have peace of mind in knowing that my CPU won't get so hot when I'm not glancing at the temperature every few seconds.

And thus, I must turn to aftermarket cooling solutions if I don't wish to burn up the lifespan of my laptop. I however, have never owned a cooling pad, and have no idea what to really look for. I need tips to narrow my searches, or better yet some actual specific recommendations of pads suitable for my laptop.

The laptop has five ventilation ports, two on the rear of the laptop and one on the right for exhaust, and two intake ports on the bottom, which are on the corners towards the rear of the laptop. I do commend whoever designed the laptop; I'm fairly certain the CPU and GPU are placed along the rear of the body, as the hotspot is above the keyboard, with the ventilation placed around it: any cooling pad with properly placed fans in the upper corners should have a considerable impact on cooling.

Also, I need a cooling pad which has extra USB (preferably 3.0) ports; my laptop has only two currently, both of which are used for a mouse and mechanical keyboard when I game at home. Since most of my strenuous activity will be performed at home with my laptop off to the side (replaced by a 21.5" screen and mechanical keyboard) I don't necessarily need something easily transportable or ergonomic; I'd also rather the most noticeable performance possible, as I won't be able to hear the fans with my headset on. Anything that meets these criteria within the $20-$40 price range should be good for me.

Thanks for your time in helping me find the right cooling solution for my laptop!

 

[kookie3010]

cooling pad wont help much if the laptop itself is not capable of cooling its component properly.i personally use cooler maste x3.but the temps difference was only 2-5c at best.if u want to lower your temps undervolt your cpu/repaste it or disable the cpu turbo boost.this issue usually happens in small laptop that shared heatsink/heatspreader for both cpu and gpu.

 

[jaguarskx]

The Deepcool U PAL cooling pad has a pass through USB 3.0 port for $32.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA6J351V5755&cm_re=laptop_cooler_usb_3.0-_-34-953-023-_-Product


You should be aware that the effectiveness depends on how the internals of the specific laptop has been designed which affects airflow. For example, I have the following Deepcool Multi Core X6 which has 4 fans. It does absolutely does not cool my Dell Latitude 3540 (Core i5-4200u, Radeon HD 8850m); regardless if the I am using the cooler, the temps is 75c when playing games. On the other hand, it lowers the temps on my Dell Inspiron 15 7559 (Core i5-6300HQ, GTX 960m) from 77c to 70c when playing games.


https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834953031