Using aluminum foil for heat dissipation.

I don't own a notebook cooler and i don't know if i wanted to buy one. But basically some cpu + gpu intensive games will take my temps up all the way to the high 60's. After cleaning out my fans i got 1-3c drop in temps but i still found it a bit too high. Even while idling, where my temps are around 42-43c on average, they dropped to 39-40c after the foil. So instead of buying a notebook cooler, i tried putting a sheet of aluminum foil underneath my laptop and then resting that on a book about the same length across.

What i got was about a 2c drop in temps too so now im in the lower 60's range on average. I wanted to know if anyone else has done this and knows of ways to make it more effective. For example notebook coolers have a metallic base which should allow for better heat dissipation. I guess the only thing I'm missing is fans.

 

A alloy tray with perforated holes might work better

 

I used to have a POS laptop that I borrowed from my parents when my place got robbed and I would use it to play EvE. My temps would be through the roof so I used foil to make some channels for air to route through and set everything on top of bags of ice and just restocked the ice every hour or so as it melted. Helped a ton.

 

60c under load is generally a great temp if you've got a discrete gpu. You might be working for negligible results.

That said, notebook coolers don't really work by thermal conduction. They improve airflow to remove heat, whether active or passive. Otherwise, I've got a massive amount of heat running through the rubber feet of my laptop.

 

once you're done with the maintenance of the HSF unit, cheapest solution is to raise the laptop so there's better airflow. use some blocks such as tic tac case or lego blocks to raise the back end a bit... get a padding for the wrist if it feels un-natural... certain angles can (and does for my case) affect the comfort on the right wrist (that has been showing early signs of carpal tunnel)

you can also elevate the entire system like what flipwire said...

aluminum is used as a Heatsink material but it is not an efficient thermal conductor... and furthermore, it does not come in direct contact with the heat source and so use of it will not do anything...