Bytecc Aluminum Notebook Cooler Review

The Bytecc aluminum notebook cooler is a solid and fairly inexpensive way to cool down your laptop if it can benefit from its design.

Choosing a Cooler

There are so many different coolersand all of themclaim to dramatically lower temperatures. Some do, some don't. Some people swear by a certain cooler, while others claim it actually raised temperatures. Here are some general tips and questions to ask when looking at a laptop cooler. When choosing a cooler, with disregard for aesthetics and loudness, there are two main criteria that you need to take into consideration.

1. The design of the cooler
2. The design of the cooler compared to the design of your laptop

Do the fans on the cooler blow cool air up onto the back of the laptop or do they attempt to pull hot air away? Which way do the fans on your laptop expel air? Where are the fans relative to the main "hotspots on your laptop?" This is very important to consider, matching the fans to where your hard drive, fan vents, or GPU are is going to maximize the cooling effect of the pad. Another thing to consider is whether the cooling pad lifts up the laptop to allow air underneath. Also, does the cooler itself have some means by which it tilts or lifts to allow airflow underneath? Some coolers have built in USB ports and double as hubs, others take up a USB port. If your laptop is limited in ports this could be a consideration.

The Bytecc Cooler

Bytecc cooler as pictured on NewEgg.com

Specifications (from NewEgg.com)

• Supports up to 17" Notebook
• Reduces the temperature of your notebook computer for maximum performance.
• Ergonomic designed angle for easy typing
• Self-Changeable ball bearing fans with built-in fan guards.
• Lightweight aluminum housing for thermal heat dissipation
• Easy Go. No adapter necessary
• Powered by USB port
• On/Off switch.
• Aluminum housing: 13.3" x 10.3" x 0.1" (they don't list height, it's 1 1/8")
• Fan speed: 3200~3500

I purchased the Bytecc cooler for several reasons, all of which have to do with its excellent features.

1) Elevated back

<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style='MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px'>

The elevated back on the cooler has a double function. First of all, it lifts the cooler's back to allow airflow underneath. Even when it's off, there is plenty of airflow with just the standard fans that allows for cool air to be drawn in. The elevated back also tilts the laptop at a nice angle for typing and viewing.

</BLOCKQUOTE>

2) Aluminum construction

<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style='MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px'>

The aluminum metal that it is composed of is itself a good way to dissipate the heat, it is far better than plastic for drawing the heat away.

</BLOCKQUOTE>

3) Simple fan set up

<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style='MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px'>

The fans are standard desktop style fans that can easily be replaced if they go out. Also, they are reversible, allowing you to make the cooler either pull air away or blow air up into the laptop.

</BLOCKQUOTE>

3) USB through cable

<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style='MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px'>

Although this cooler does not have a USB port built in, it does have a through cable so that you don't lose a USB port to the cooler. This is not a concern for me, but it's helpful to know that I have the option (I used the USB through cable to download the pics off my camera).

(view large image)

(view large image)

</BLOCKQUOTE>

4) The positioning of the fans

<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style='MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px'>

In my case, the fans are perfectly aligned with the hard drive and my memory, which have seen the most dramatic temperature drops.

</BLOCKQUOTE>

Temperature Resultsusing Cooler and Testing Conditions

Before buying this notebook cooler I had a homemade solution to helping cool the e1705 which involved Altoid tins! Here is aa picture illustration of my previous set up.

(view large image)

(view large image)

(view large image)

I decided to compare my old setup home grown solution to using this new Bytecc aluminum notebook cooler.

I tested all of these temperatures with my Dell Inspiron 6000 with the following specifications

• Intel Pentium M 760 (2.0Ghz) undervolted ~ -0.2v
• 80Gb 5400RPM hard drive
• 1GB 533MHz DDR2 RAM
• ATI X300 128MB dedicated memory

In terms of system status during the tests, my wireless card was on, and the following programs/processes worth noting were running

• AVG free AV
• Zone Alarm firewall
• Notebook Hardware Control (with undervolting)
• ATI Tool
• Spybot S&amp;D registry monitor
• I8kfangui
• Winamp 2.95
• Media Monkey

All temperatures in the below tablewere taken using the program with i8kfangui v.3.0 beta 4

Results: (bolded areas indicate best result)

	Altoids tin elevated back, laptop fans onhigh	With cooler fans on, laptop fans onhigh	Laptop fans off, cooler fans on	Laptop fans on high, cooler fans off (after 10 minutes)
CPU	Normal use 33-35*C Forced to 2.0Ghz 43- 52*C	Normal use 29*C Forced to 2.0Ghz post- gaming 40*C	42*C	30*C
GPU	Normal use 43-48*C Overclocked (+38%,+41%) 52-66*C	Normal use(Oced) 40*C Oced post gaming 50*C Normal (10 minutes after downclocking) 40*C	52*C	43*C
Memory	39-49*C	Normal use 32*C Post gaming 40*C	41*C	38*C
Chipset	43-49*C	Normal use32*C Post gaming 45*C	44*C	41*C
Hard Drive	At start up 35-39*C After all day/gaming 43-49*C	Normal use 25*C Post gaming 30*C	33*C	35*C

Temperature Conclusion

The greatest cooling is obviously achieved when the laptop fans are on full blast, the laptop is on the cooler, and the cooler's fans are on. Under these conditions the underside of the case staysjust warm to the touch. The fans blow air on the critical heat producing components, and even the entire surface of the cooler is cool to the touch, contributing to the overall dissipation of heat from the bottom of the case.

Here's a breakdown/conclusion of the how, why and when the cooler was most effective.

1. The CPU temperature changes are mostly due to the laptop fans being able topull more cool air in.
   
2. The GPU peak temperatures dropped about 15*C, but the idle temperatures stayed about the same, though slightly cooler. This is most likely due to the laptop fans being able topull in more air given that the GPU is cooled by a heat pipe connected to a finned piece on the fan exhaust.
   
3. The memory temps, which sits directly in between the fans, dropped considerably with the cooler on. This is because ofsome increased ventilation, but mostly because of the fans which blow almost directly through the vents on the cover.
   
4. The chipset overall experiences a similar cooling effect as the memory, mostly benefiting from the fans cooling the entire bottom of the case.
   
5. The hard drive cooled down the most overall, never reaching past 30*C, which is cooler than it was even right after startup from being off all night. Obviously, as with the other components, this is due to the aluminum being cool and the ventilation, but the hard drive benefited most from the fans. The fans constantly blowing on the hard drive area of the bottom and cooling the aluminum surface greatly reduced these temperatures.

Here's a picture of the cooler with measurements so that you can see how you could best optimize the cooling on your laptop with this cooler by comparing your laptop's measurements, component positions, vent positions, etc to that of the cooler.

(view large image)

(view large image)

Here is an image of the underside of my laptop to see just why the cooler was so effective

(view large image)

Design/Features overview

The cooler has a simple design, it's a sheet of aluminum that's bent and then fans are screwed onto it, end of story. There are various holes cut out, supposedly to vent the cooler, who knows if they actually help. There are however, very nice 1cm high rubber nubs that stick up to suspend your laptop so that it has airflow between the cooler surface and the laptop bottom. This obviously allows for the fan blown air to circulate underneath and further cool the laptop.

(view large image)

The electrical wiring is a bit chintzy, specifically I'm talking about the thin wires, but it's not a huge problem in my opinion. Also, as mentioned above, you can easily replace the fans with desktop parts or reverse the fans. There's a hole in the back side that's supposed to be for the USB cable, but I think it could double as a hole for your laptop lock to go through so that even your cooler is locked down. It should fit with a bit of drilling...

(view large image)

The front edge has the rubber bumper nubs to keep the cooler's aluminum from scratching your desk, but the back is unprotected. I just covered the edge with some duct tape, and it's fine on my dark stained hardwood desk.

(view large image)

The front stop bumper for the laptop is kind of thin, and I would suggest that those with nicer finishes cover it with some tape.

(view large image)

Noise wise, the fans are a bit of an annoyance I suppose, but as with most fans, the background noise or your music will generally make it inaudible.

Conclusion

This is pretty much all you can say, the cooler does its job plain and simple. I'm sure there are several vendors that sell it, but I'd just go withNewEgg.com. They're reliable and have it for $24.98 shipped with 3 day UPS as always.

Pros

• Depending on the layout of your laptop, very effective
• Fairly quiet though noticeable in a quiet room (subjective) fans
• User replaceable/reversible fans
• Aluminum-dissipates heat with the fans off and still produces very good cooling
• Tilted and raised back is easier for viewing and typing
• Rubber nubs on cooling pad top allow for extra ventilation and airflow between pad and laptop
• $25.00 shipped

Cons

• No built in anti scratch rubber on the back
• Front bumper for laptop is a bit smallish, may require tape as well
• Lack of portability (as seen in the flatter coolers)

 

Great review. Thanks.

 

Excellent detailed review .

But the 6000 doesn't seem to run that hot to require a cooler , and by the look of things the notebook fans do their job better then the cooler . Is the cooler silent in comparison ?

 

A very thorough review!

 

nice job again. could buy some cheap small od tubing to make bumpers, rather than tape

 

wonder if you could wire in notebook fans? they would be much more quiet...how much do those run?

 

True, the 6000 doesn't run that hot, but it can never hurt to run cooler, and I like the elevation i get. Also, the hard drive was getting pretty hot when I was doing system intensive stuff over long periods of time, so it benefits greatly to be under 90*F most of the time. The cooler's fans are quieter than the laptop's fans on high, which they are at all the time, so I never hear the cooler.

 

This seems like kind of a silly design to me. Look at all that space underneath ... why are the fans so tiny? Bigger fans move more air, obviously, so why not put some 120mm fans under that huge chunk of metal? Look at desktop cases -- the big manufacturers are all putting 120s in their cases these days, it seems. The sound profile is so much better.

It is cheap at twenty-five bucks, but it looks like a piece of garbage. If you have to add duct-tape to it out of the box, I just can't see paying for it.

 

There is in fact space underneath but unfortunately not enough clearance for such large fans, unless you move them up higher. As it is, the space underneath serves to allow ventillation, and put the laptop at a tilt, which as i mentioned is nice for the typing and viewing angle.

 

The lack, or inadequacy, of rubber stoppers is this thing's greatest design flaw. In addition to that, I agree with Slappy that the cooler looks terribly cheap, especially with all the wiring left exposed underneath the cooler like that.

But I might still get one. Why? It is one of the few aluminum coolers that has fans positioned near the center (i.e. the Coolermaster one has the fans near the top which is not useful for my laptop's layout). It runs fairly quietly. It has ball bearing fans. And it blows air instead of sucks it (or at any rate, you could customize it the way you want). The price is not much to ask.

 

Who really cares what it looks like? it's sitting under your laptop whenever you look at it. it's purpose is to cool, end of story. so the only real problem is the lack of rear rubber bumpers. but like soimeone said, you could get some plastic piping and make a bumper, like aquarium tubing perhaps. foe me, the duct tape doesn't bother me because once again, it's never visible to me.

 

I agree, being able to reverse the airflow direction is a huge plus. I'm not sure why that isn't a standard feature on these things.

 

I was thinking of getting the Bytecc for my e1505, but I have a question on fan direction first.

After looking at your pictures, am I right in saying that your fan for your CPU takes in air from the bottom and out through the back? So how do you arrange your fans? Do you have the fan closest to your CPU draw air up from the bottom of the cooler onto the bottom of your laptop? And then do you have the other fan take air from the bottom of your laptop and out the bottom of your cooler to draw heat from the memory and hard drive?

With this kind of setup, do you have to worry about one fan blowing hot air beneath the cooler and then the other fan taking that air and blowing it back up to the laptop?