Typing this on an Omen 17t right now, and I have to say I completely agree. When I got this thing, I was blown away by the price to specs ratio, but it was a stuttery gaming mess. Even with G-Sync on my model I was getting terrible throttling and screen tearing due to the CPU throttling up and down. Honestly I would not consider buying unless you're willing to shell out a bit more in upgrades (anywhere from $8-$75ish depending which suggestions you choose to pick up) and apply a little bit of elbow grease (and literally some thermal grease).

If you're up for it, you can have the best of all worlds (cooling, performance, and price). I regularly idle between 45-50C, and I no longer get thermal throttling while gaming, almost never get past 85-90C while gaming, even lower if I have my fans on (detail below).

If you're curious what I did, here it is in order of (imo) most effective to least effective changes:

• Repasting the CPU and GPU - Prior to replacing the horrifically bad thermal paste on this thing, my idling CPU temperatures never dipped below 70-75C (yikes), games were almost out of question, they were always pinned at 99C with horrific thermal throttling. JUST repasting the CPU brought it down 10C. Highly recommend using Arctic MX-4 if you're considering this option (the 2019 edition comes with a cute little paste spreader if you don't have one already). A word of warning on doing this: HP uses some kind of fucking insane screws on their internal heatsink mountings. They look like a standard phillips, and for all intents and purposes they are, but the fuckers are mounted INSANELY tightly and are frustratingly between a size 0 and 00 screwdriver (one is slightly too small, one is slightly too large). And they strip damn near instantly. I had to gently file down the side of 3 screws to make one side flat, then tap them loose with a small hammer. Just a word of warning, it's well worth the effort, but you have to be careful.
  
  
• Undervolt your CPU - I've had great luck undervolting my CPU on this Omen and getting way better temperatures from it. It's as easy as downloading Intel's Extreme Tuning Utility and clicking on one slider, that's it. This super easy fix dropped my temperatures another 5-10C. And for anyone wondering, this does not have any performance impact on your machine whatsoever, it's not a "downclock" it's simply giving your CPU slightly less voltage to work with (making it run much cooler). I've had zero issues with -0.155 to -0.16 offsets, but it's a highly YMMV sort of thing. You can drop it even lower on the fly if you're not doing any real crazy intensive tasks.
  
  
• Bring in some more fan power - The two steps above can EASILY net you a 15-25C decrease, and I'd recommend doing those before anything else (given thermal paste is free if you have some extra tubes laying around to under $8). But if you want to beat down those temps even further, I think these OPOLAR laptop fans are a godsend. These are different from normal laptop cooling pads (the big plastic ones with big fans in them you set underneath your laptop) in that they aren't shoving air in the PC but outtaking it. This works particularly well on the Omen line, given their back fans are both outtakes. When I want to really grind down temps, they routinely give me another 5-15C (depending on how sensitive you are to fan noise) in gaming. HP, imo, has bar none the worst fan curves in the game, and they don't let you tinker with them in the bios either (I've had no luck in getting speedfan to work either). You can mount these things permanently with a little plastic mount that can fit PERFECTLY spaced on the bottom of the Omen laptops I have (ie, not blocking fan intakes) for super easy mount/removal. In a surprising feat of good design, HP fan outtakes are removable on most models (meaning, you can expose the heatpipe fins while keeping the rest of the laptop all in once piece), so you can chuck those off and mount these suckers darn near directly on the laptop heatpipes and really draw out heat. I have two mounted on my Omen, but you could probably get away with only one and get very similar performance benefits (particularly by attaching on the heatpipe that is mounted on your CPU, that seems to be the hotter heatsink in my experience, but obviously YMMV).
  
  
• Rip off the stupid webbing air filters on the underside of your laptop - Fair warning, this will obviously require you to dust out your laptop a bit more frequently (you should be doing that regardless, really) and leave you open to crumbs/dust particles getting your machine a bit more easily, but I think it's well worth the tradeoff. HP puts on this silvery tightly knit webbing glued on the bottom of their gaming laptops that is really, truly great at stopping dust and debris from getting into your chassis. With that said, it's also great at stopping AIR getting to the intake fans (seriously, if you have an Omen and haven't done this already, try taking your back panel off your laptop and blowing through it, this webbing drastically cuts airflow on a machine already airflow deprived). This won't give as drastic of a boost as the other recommendations, but it's another completely free way to get better performance.
  
  
  
• Elevate - Get a laptop stand that allows you to get your laptop off the table, or hell even prop a book under it, anything to give the fans more clearance. Obviously try a free option first to see if you get any benefit from it, but if you're looking for a recommendation on stands, I've tried a good chunk of them from Amazon, and I like this Nulaxy the best. It's super stable and has a really nice heft to it, works great for me at home/office.
  
  There's some other minor stuff you can do, but those are the big ones. I think it's worth it, but it's all personal preference. If I can clarify something/add pictures or whatever, just ask, or if I missed something big feel free to reply and add it.
  
  TL;DR In order of effectiveness: Repaste your CPU/GPU (Arctic MX-4 is great), undervolt your CPU, get some laptop fans (I prefer ones that outtake), rip off the air filter webbing on the bottom laptop panel, elevate your laptop off your usage area.

So far, my 7590 has been performing quite well. Here are my thoughts and observations:

Battery life is about 6 to 7 hours of typical real-world usage (WiFi browsing of internet, video streaming, concurrent Office apps, photo editing) all at about 70% of the max screen brightness. I have the 4k non-touch OLED model with an i7. I've got mine undervolted by -0.100 mV using intel XTU. I use the dark mode theme, which helps prolong battery life but is also easier on the eyes, in my opinion. My power mode setting is always on "better" performance when I am on battery (that's one step below the max "best performance"). I do not experience any hiccups with these settings, everything is buttery smooth. Interestingly, when I ran a battery report, my full charge battery capacity is 87,438 mWh (the design capacity is 97,003 mWh, which is why the advertised battery is 97 W-hours). I think dell releases these from the factory at a 10% down-charge to promote better battery longevity. Other XPS 15 owners have reported similar findings with their models. There are ways to reset the battery to change the reported capacity, and perhaps that might squeeze out some more battery life. Personally, for me, I'm satisfied with the battery performance.

Audio to me is adequate. I am not an audiophile. The built-in-speakers offer enough sound, although I personally feel they could offer a little more bang. I don't think you'd be disappointed when plugging in some external earphones.

The only thing I upgraded is the WiFi card. The included Killer 1650x sucks. It dropped the wireless connection frequently. It also seemed to have a slow, unreliable connection with poor signal strength in general. I replaced it with an Intel 9260 wireless card and I am very pleased with the result. It's a relatively easy upgrade. Other than that, the other internal components have all been great. It's very easy to replace or repair. You have easy access to an M.2 SSD and two standard laptop RAM slots that you can easily upgrade.

Regarding thermals: I am using a Havit laptop cooling pad, it has 3 small fans that are powered by USB through my laptop and the fans are directed at the undersurface of the chasis. My idle ranges 36 C to 39 C. Typical use case comprising about 10% CPU utilization brings me to a package temp of 42 C to 50 C (for example, while typing this review my temps are sitting at a nice cool 43 C). During two sustained back-to-back benchmark runs (userbenchmark, you can see my results here ) I hit three instances of 100% CPU use corresponding to a max core frequencies around 4.15 GHz at which time the max core temp hit an instance of 90 C, BUT most peaks hovered around 75 C. My 7590 had a single brief instance of thermal throttling (as per monitoring of the intel XTU tool).

I haven't done any gaming, but I didn't buy my xps 7590 for gaming purposes. I bought it mostly for productivity, business/professional use, and the beautiful screen. The OLED is incredible. In terms of gaming, my assumption is that it can run certain games (like Dota 2) at great frame rates, but I am not expecting to run things like Witcher 3 or FF15 on this. I imagine that more demanding applications could push the thermal envelope up to the point of throttling so that problem could persist for you.

As a final thought, the USB-C port has TB3 and supports a full 40 gb/s throughput that plays nice with eGPUs so that would be an option for future-proofing and upgradeability if needed.

Good luck with your decision!

Been thinking about writing a guide on this for a while, so you'll get a lot of info as a rough draft!

The raw specs you listed are good enough for FM but the big thing here is that you're on a laptop. Some laptops have problems with sustained performance due to thermal and power throttling via BIOS settings or even manufacturer specifications at the hardware level. If that is the case, you'll have to learn a lot about how Intel Turbo Boost works to get to the bottom of things. But first, you have some simpler options.

Easy stuff to try: go to Power Options by right-clicking on the AC/battery symbol at the bottom right of the screen, on the taskbar, and make sure that your CPU utilization and all that stuff is set to 100% in the advanced options. Usually the High Performance preset has all that stuff cranked up. Also make sure that you're using your GPU for FM, it probably won't make much of a difference since it's more CPU-intensive but it doesn't hurt to check. Download the Nvidia Control Panel if you don't already have it to manage that stuff. Try disabling your antivirus while you play to see if that makes a difference; it probably won't, but it doesn't hurt to try. Finally, you've probably already done this, but play with the graphics settings in FM, particularly the backends. With Nvidia GPUs I always get the best performance with D3D, but ymmv.

More involved stuff: it sounds like you need to reinstall Windows anyway, so you might do that before trying anything else. It will only save you a headache in the long run. You should also download a program like HWMonitor to monitor your CPU temperatures. If it seems like they're peaking pretty high but cutting off at a specific temperature, like 80C or something, you might just need to cool it down some -- open up your computer and dust the fans with compressed air, or buy an aftermarket cooling pad like this one.

Last thing, but a pretty big one in my experience: preventing throttling. This will take you into the world of overclocking. It's a pretty nuanced topic so I'm only going to give general advice but I encourage you to do your own research, because you do run the risk of damaging your computer if you are too aggressive in changing these settings. Look in your BIOS for an option to disable power management, disable Intel C1E state, etc. There are lots of possibilities here.

If your BIOS doesn't include those options, which is likely on a laptop, or they didn't help, your only option is to modify the BIOS (really tough) or use a program like Throttlestop or Intel Extreme Tuning Utility to prevent throttling. Here's a Throttlestop guide to help you out. Limit Reasons is your friend. If one of those is lighting up while FM is open, you've found at least one potential area of improvement. I've worked with a couple of computers that performed way better once TDP limits were increased, allowing the CPU to sustain a higher wattage and therefore a higher clock speed without being throttled down in the interest of saving power.

Sooo yeah I'll probably turn this into a real post at some point, but I was really bored and figured I'd get started on the whole laptop performance troubleshooting guide thing.

I bought my laptop from Amazon. Was a little worried about it being damaged during shipping but I was confident that Amazon would make things right if that happened. I bought directly from Amazon, rather than from a 3rd party seller (make sure it says "Ships from and sold by Amazon.com" under the Buy button.) Unfortunately for me, when I bought it, it was $1,199 but fortunately for you, it is now $1,088. I'm honestly very surprised they lowered the price like that, considering it was already a steal at $1200 (IMO.) Oh, and for the record, I had no issues with damages during shipping. The laptop was in a box which was in a box which was in another box and there was plenty of protective elements within those boxes.

I have not had too many issues with my thermals, although this is my first gaming laptop so I don't have much to compare it to. I did a lot of reading before buying though so from what I have seen, I think it does a good job of keeping the components cool, even under heavy loads. The highest I have seen it go is around 85°C but once it gets over 80°, I usually either turn the fans up higher and/or get out my cooling pad (I bought this one from Amazon and have been pleased with it.) However, the fans can get really loud, so I use a headset when I have to turn the fans up. In general, the fans are not too loud, though (once again, just my opinion.) I will often play shows on Netflix or Hulu and can hear everything through the laptop speakers with no issues. I do carry around a portable bluetooth speaker for louder environments but when I'm just sitting at home, it is not needed.

I do remember reading that the older models of the Helios 300 (the ones with red accents and backlighting) had a lot of thermal issues and most people who either reviewed both or just owned both said that this model was significantly better in that regard. One thing that I have thought about doing is changing the thermal paste because that would apparently really help the older models but I have not seen any reports of anyone trying it with the 2019 model. I might just give it a shot because it seems like a very cheap and relatively easy way to shave a couple degrees off the temps. I'll have to look into that some more.

I actually have heard of that good xbox gamepass deal but I had no idea that it had PC games. As someone who has pretty much only gamed on PlayStation (at least since the early 2000's), I often forget that Xbox is owned by Microsoft so it makes sense they would have PC games. I will definitely be signing up for that after I finish writing this comment. Thank you so much for clueing me in.

One other thing, you will probably want to quickly buy another m.2 SSD because the one that comes with the laptop is fairly small. Just be careful about the one you buy because they are not all compatible, apparently. I am pretty sure that Acer has a list out there somewhere (though I don't think the list is all inclusive) but I bought this Sabrent 1TB drive based on what another reddit user recommended and have been very happy with it. It was extremely easy to install as well. I haven't gotten around to buying an 2.5" drive yet but I'll probably pick up a very large HDD around Christmas time. Or I might go for the SSD, maybe sacrificing a little bit of storage. I'll have to check prices at the time and think on that some more.

And no problem. I love talking about this laptop and I also enjoying helping people out so no worries. If you think of anything else you want to ask, I'll be here. If not, enjoy your new laptop!

FYI: if you do need to reapply the thermal paste, the last time I checked Intel's site (less than 6 months ago when I did a deep clean and installed a new cooler), they recommended the pea shape size but to not spread it so you may want to check that.

Also the best thing you can do if you open up your pc and touch anything is keep one hand on the metal part of the case or have a wrist static strap like this https://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Anti-Static-Components-RTK-002-Yellow/dp/B004N8ZQKY. Worst case if you're worried you'll let go of the metal and don't want to buy one any metal wire will do just twist a bit around the case edge (there's usually holes somewhere) and around your wrist, as long as it constantly touches the case and your skin you're good.

My first step would definitely be open it up and let it run, and make sure the water is moving and the fans are all running, including the video card fans. Are your video card temps normal or have you checked. MSI Afterburner is good even if you don't have an MSI card, it's got some fun skins too, if you don't have a program to check them already.

I can guarantee it isn't "heat's just built up so much over the duration my PC's been on", it's not how it works. Especially if it's water cooled, it seems like your temp should be half of what they are. I don't water cool but my husband does. I had an ancient case when I built mine (I've since upgraded it and got a better than stock CPU cooler) and gaming I'd hit near 80C right away but it would never go higher even after hours of game play. And that's pretty much it, it gets to whatever temp the cooler and airflow can cool to and stays there. Since this is a new issue I'm pretty sure it's not airflow (at least as in how it's set up assuming all fans are running properly), unless your intakes/out vents are clogged so check those too for an easy thing to rule out.

I hope you get it figured out and it's an easy fix, it's so stressful when there's pc issues and no money :(.

I want to start by saying I’m not affiliated with Amazon, nor are any of the links affiliate links. I’m just a guy that looks for good bargains and wants to share what I found.

Background:

I live in Austria and I’ve been flying micros, the TinyHawk, Mobula7, M80, and a custom 65mm since the beginning of the year in my apartment. Austria has super strict laws regarding UAV’s and you need an expensive license to fly anything larger than 250 grams. Under 250g’s, you’re free to fly as you please as long as you’re not flying around a populated area. I decided to go with micros for the time being to keep myself under the radar and get my flight time in before I eventually move back to the states in a couple years.

I’m generally a price conscious person and I’ll spend a lot of time looking for good deals, usually through Banggood. I’ll stuff something in my wishlist and wait for it to go on sale, the transmitter I got for 85€, goggles for 40€ etc. So, when I started looking for a backpack to become a bit more portable and fly away from my apartment, I got a bit of sticker shock when I saw the prices on “quad bags”. A buddy of mine suggested the bag he has, the Lowepro Quadguard BP X2, but at 110€ it would be the most expensive piece of my FPV equipment, additionally I needed something that would be able to hold my 15.6” laptop that I need for school, which the BP X2 does not have the space for. I looked at the other big budget backpack that is recommended around Reddit, which is the Realacc Backpack, but again, no space for a laptop.

After digging and digging, I decided the best way to go would be to get a camera bag that has a laptop sleeve. Enter the AmazonBasics DSLR and Laptop Backpack. I want to take a moment to say that there are 3 AmazonBasics bags that have the same description, only their dimensions are different, I’ll link the backpacks at the end. Fortunately, I decided on the backpack a few days before Prime Day and was able to pick it up for 27€. At the time of this writing, it is not on sale and is listed at 34€. I got it in and opened it up and immediately spent the next hour trying to arrange the padded walls to fit everything that I wanted to stuff inside. The timing was perfect because I would be going back to the US for a 3-week trip to visit family in 5 different states and I could run a nice torture test on it.

Items I brought in the bag for the 3 week trip:

15.6" Laptop, 3” Spare Props, QX7 Transmitter, EV800, Diatone R349, Mobula7, TinyHawk, Sunglasses w/ Case, Lipo bag with 16 1s batteries and 2 4s batteries, charger for EV800, 65mm Spare Props, Lipo charger, spare parts, mouse, magazine, school book, 7" tablet, charging wires for tablet and laptop plus adapters, pens, and screwdrivers.

Review:

Pros:

• Price! 27€
  
• The size was just about perfect. I say just about perfect with two caveats that are not enough to make them cons. I would have liked the top of the backpack to not taper in. The base of the bag is deeper than the top of the bag by a few centimeters. Similarly, the top of the bag also curves in on the sides a bit. Not enough to take away points, but enough that it is noticeable.
  
• Zipper feel. It’s a funny item to include, but the zippers feel really good, not overly robust, but incredibly smooth.
  
• Large laptop sleeve, good for up to a 17” laptop.
  
• Straps felt secure, additional straps for across the chest and waist are provided to help distribute weight. I found that I didn’t need the waist strap and there is no way to remove it without cutting them out, I was usually able to fold them over themselves to keep them out of the way, but I would have preferred to not have them. I did use the chest strap, however.
  
• Adjustable interior pads. These were really convenient; they gave a lot of options for configurability. I ended up not using the two longest pads though.
  
• Front pocket held a surprising number of items.
  
• The bag stood upright on its own with it fully loaded.
  
• Fit as a carry-on underneath the seat of every plane I was on, including some small regional jets! (some planes were tighter than others)
  
• Did I mention the price??
  
  Cons:
  
  
• Side pockets are fixed with a Velcro cover. This may not be a con to some people, but I would have rather had a mesh pocket with elastic. That would be much more versatile for my usage, that being said, I was able to stuff my laptop charger into the two pouches. (Main cable in one, and the brick in the other. My brick is pretty small, only 80cm or so YMMV).
  
• No straps on the outside of the front of the backpack to strap a larger quad. You could buy one of those adapters from ebay.
  
• It does have a feeling of being a little cheap, in my travels I didn’t have any fraying, but other reviews I read have reported fraying and seams unraveling after only a few months. I was generally quite mindful of the bag and didn’t throw it around too much.
  
  

  Overall:
  

  
  You can’t beat it for the price. If you’re a budget conscious flyer like me, and lets face it if you stuck around to read all of this than you are, it’s a no brainer just go and buy it.
  
  

  Links:
  

  Amazon.com - AmazonBasics DSLR Camera and Laptop Backpack Bag - 13 x 9 x 18 Inches
  
  Amazon.de - AmazonBasics DSLR Camera and Laptop Backpack Bag - 13 x 9 x 18 Inches
  
  Suggested Buckle Mounts for Backpack

Sorry for being repetitive, but I like to point out in reviews/videos on MTG backpacks that the $29.99 AmazonBasics bag that the Professor reviewed before and alluded to at the beginning of this video is probably not even the best AmazonBasics camera bag. They have a $39.99 one which is comparable, perhaps even preferable, to the Pirate Lab $119.99 backpack.

I've tried all three bags (the $29.99 Amazon, $39.99 Amazon, and the $119.99 Pirate Lab) and honestly I probably prefer the $39.99 Amazon bag to the other two, even before taking price into consideration.

The $29.99 Amazon bag is too small for my needs so I immediately dismissed it. The Pirate Lab bag's back compartment does not fit a very large binder and I'm not a huge fan of how the front pockets are organized. It gets bulky if you put stuff in the front pockets, and the items tend not to stay in place. On the other hand, the $39.99 Amazon bag has a larger back compartment which fits thicker binders (such as my 2" zippered portfolio) and I like the organization of the front pockets better. As for the main interior compartment, the Pirate Lab bag holds slightly more than the $39.99 Amazon bag, but I also have issues with the dividers of the Pirate Lab bag. I can't get a divider to stay in place with my Ultimate Guard 160+ Twin Flip n' Tray, as the divider isn't wide enough to adhere to the long divider and side of the bag, also the velcro on the long dividers is really poor with the Pirate Lab bag. The smaller dividers only stick to the sides of the bag but not to the long dividers. With the $39.99 Amazon bag, I can attach two dividers and situate them such that they nest the Flip n' Tray in place, which I have not been able to do with the Pirate Lab bag.

I admittedly do use the Pirate Lab bag over the others, mainly due to sunk cost effect (since I spent $120 on it, I really want to use it or I feel like I wasted that money). And it does have some advantages over the $39.99 Amazon bag. The main compartment is larger, the construction and materials is a little better (the velcro strips on the Amazon bag are not as securely attached to the dividers and can peel off), it has an additional pocket in the main compartment for binders and such, and it has two proper external side pockets for playmats/water bottles, whereas the $39.99 Amazon bag has a side pocket with a flap and straps above it (for a tripod, playmat, or water bottle) and the other side is a flapped pocket with no straps above it. The flapped pocket might be preferably to others, but I usually bring two large water bottles with me to tournaments so I prefer being able to carry both bottles on the outside of my backpack (as opposed to the inside where it could get my Magic stuff wet). I ended up just taking a knife to the flap of the pocket of the $39.99 bag such that I can more securely fit a water bottle in it, and thus two water bottles over all - so not a huge deal.

So, tl;dr - I think the $39.99, and not the $29.99, AmazonBasics DSLR bag is actually the best value for an MTG backpack. It's at least comparable to the $119.99 Pirate Lab bag, and probably better than the Ultra Pro bags and other similar bags. I haven't touched an Ammonite so I cannot comment on this bag, but I can't imagine the Ammonite is so much so better than the AmazonBasics to warrant paying basically 4x as much.

Edit: [Link to the $39.99 Amazon Bag, including free shipping even without prime. It looks like the one with the orange, instead of grey, interior is discounted at $31.43.] (https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-DSLR-Laptop-Backpack-interior/dp/B00CD778LC/ref=asc_df_B00CD778LC/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167140037427&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13190064463909067601&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9010943&hvtargid=pla-297577281486&psc=1)

Well, there are three settings for the cooling fans and I have mine set on high, so I’ve technically added noise (though it’s reasonably quiet, even with all 4 fans at full speed, and I don’t notice it when I’m playing games at a normal volume — also they’re muted a bit as they’re underneath the PS4). I haven’t noticed the PS4 Pro sounding like it’s going into overdrive since I’ve started using it either. You could always set them to a lower speed if you like (you have three speed options and can control the left and right sides individually). I bought it from Amazon, and for this product the manufacturer has a 30 day money back guarantee and a year warrantee, so you could try it if you’re on the fence and ship it back if you don’t care for it.

• The only gripe I have is that the LED light show resets upon powering off, so if I bring the PS4 up from rest mode with a controller, I would have to walk over to press a button on the fan to cause it to stay solid blue rather than cycling colors (which I prefer and looks nice bouncing off the glass shelves of the entertainment center I have my PS4 on). But I’m lazy and don’t really care.
  
  There are other models (this is probably designed to be a laptop cooling pad), but I had seen another redditor link this and the price was cheap enough that I figured I’d give it a try. And I do like that it tilts the PS4 up approximately 10 degrees (with foldable arms on the front of it, giving an inch or two of room for air to circulate underneath and blow outwards from the shelf). In games where my Pro sounds like a jet engine (“RDR2” for example), I’m pretty sure the cooling is making a difference but it could just be confirmation bias. Here’s another model with fans that top out at 1200RPM rather than the 1500RPM that mine does, or this one with 5 fans that push 2500RPM — all three are roughly the same price. Those two don’t have the 30 day guarantee from the manufacturer though, and are subject to Amazon return policies.
  
  *****
  
  Anyhow, hope that helps out. I have my PSVR box sitting on top of my PS4, as well as an 8TB external HD to the left of it, so I’m just happy to be keeping that whole area cool and ventilated.

I wouldn't feel too bad about it. It's not the most personal gift in the world, but you weren't given a ton of information to work with. In the future, maybe send messages to ask about other interests and likes; you can even tell your giftee that you're good at fashion/costume design, and would he be interested in something like an -insert item you're able and willing to make here-?

For this year, the only other thing you might consider is sending a card or a note on redditgifts his way, suggesting some things he might like to buy with the Amazon giftcard, and that you weren't sure which one he'd find most useful in his life.

Here are some things you might suggest:

A waterproof bluetooth speaker

A laptop stand to prevent overheating when pulling long hours producing music

A cool looking USB hub, because he probably needs a lot of USB ports to do all that.

A sound recording pen, so that if he thinks of a good rap on the fly, he can record it and jot it down at the same time.

Or just a nice fountain pen, great for graphic designers.

Then, you've made some suggestions for what you think he'd like, but if he'd rather use it for something else, the ball is in his court.

Recently I saw a related thread in /r/battlestations.

For me is all about comfort, nevertheless to say that invest in your equipment you will use 8 hours a day, 5 days a week pays off.

The basics are:

• A comfortable chair. Herman Miller are the most famous. Tip: go to some place where you can actually try them and see which fit for you. I did, and the aeron is the fit for me, but I've heard the embody is good too.
  
• An adjustable height desktop.
  
• A good sound system. I have a Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth that sounds good and a headset when I need more focus. Somehow having the headset makes me distract less.
  
• A good keyboad. I like the apple wireless keyboard, but the mechanicals one are famous too. /r/MechanicalKeyboards/
  
• A comfortable mouse. I've heard Logitech Performance Mouse MX is a good one. Personally I use the magic trackpad.
  
• An external monitor. If you are an apple guy, you can use the Apple Thunderbolt Display or if you want the most classic approach, buy two good monitors and mount them in an adjustable base. Get your monitors in a good height is a headache without this bases.
  
• Put your lap in a stand.
  
  Go for the wireless stuff. Wireless keyboard, mouse, speakers, headset and printer.
  You should get something like this :)

ALRIGHT! Sorry for just getting back to you I've been trying to reply and mobile and kept accidentally deleting what i typed while trying to format my response. So had to move to the Laptop.

Anyways when I say you should repaste I'm referring to the action of removing the heatsink from the CPU and GPU clearing the provided "thermal paste/grease" (thermal paste or grease depending to who you talk to is a thermally conductive paste that is meant to be between the CPU/GPU and the heatsink to fill the airgap and conduct heat to the sink better.) from both and applying new paste. Here is also a video guide on how to apply thermal paste it doesn't pertain specifically to your laptop but gives you a good idea on how its done.

Now when it comes to your device I took the liberty of looking up the service manual and found a video guide on how to disassemble down the the motherboard here. If you've never done anything like this before it can be a little daunting, but if you have a friend with some experience it shouldn't be more than a few hours project and the outcome should be considerably better than before.

If you are going to go this route there are a few thermal pastes that everyone recommends and everyone has their own opinions but as I stated before any of these will be better than what you originally had so buy whatever fits your budget.

Artic Silver 5

IC-Diamond

Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut

Prolimatech PK-3

There are plenty of others but any of these will do you good, with a major recommendation to the Silver 5 due to bang for the buck.

After all that and you decide that maybe you don't want to do a repaste (and even if you did repaste I'm still recommending this) you are going to want to get a laptop cooling pad. The reason is due to the nature of laptops and how compact they are sometimes depending on the surface they are laid on they do not get enough air to cool properly, dropping your performance into the shitter. I have a similarly spec'd laptop to yours (Lenovo Y50 4700hq and 860m) and I use the Notepal XSlim its not the best but it does the job and for $18 I can't complain. There are others but buy what feels right to you.

Sorry for the long winded post I hope this helps you some, and I hope you can get your laptop performance back as you have a more than capable laptop. Let me know if you need anything else!

Just to add to the trouble of choosing, I'd throw the Cougar QBX (19.9 L) or the Sharkoon QB One (14.9 L) into the mix. Both are great cases that'll fit your parts perfectly.

For parts, this is what I'd get within your budget:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD - Ryzen 5 2600X 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor | £196.00 @ Amazon UK
Motherboard | ASRock - B450 GAMING-ITX/AC Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard | £116.94 @ More Computers
Memory | Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory | £136.79 @ Aria PC
Video Card | Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB WINDFORCE OC 6G Video Card | Purchased For £0.00
Power Supply | Silverstone - 500W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply | £80.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total | £530.72
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-09-19 13:11 BST+0100 |

CPU: Comes with a better cooler than the 2600 and it'll better boost clocks. Same price as the 8400 and a decent cooler, and much better value in my opinion.

RAM: Upped it to 16 GB and slightly faster RAM. It was within your budget and it's nice to have a bit of a buffer before maxing out your RAM. Also Ryzen benefits from dual channel RAM.

Case: I left the case open, as it's very much a personal thing. I'd personally get the Sharkoon QB One for around £50, but the Cougar QBX and Sugo SG13 are also great options.

PSU: Switched to a very decent SFX PSU. It'll allow you to switch to an even smaller case if you feel like it in the future. You might need a SFX to ATX bracket, but those are fairly cheap to come by.

I hope this helps, or at least serves as inspiration :)

/u/X2C- Laptops need to be portable, so they cram everything as close together as possible. They still need to dissipate heat though - but its harder to do that in smaller space.

In larger desktop PCs you have room for good, large fan setups. This allows them to spin slower/quieter, as well as being able to handle higher temps easier. There's also plenty of airflow etc. This isn't the same for laptops.

Even top-tier laptops will be noisy when their fans are on - and the fans will be on as soon as anything remotely demanding starts up.

If the noise doesnt bother you, then you're fine, just keep playing. what i DO recommend though is that you get a few apps like CoreTemp and GPU-Z, which would allow you to keep an eye out on your CPU and GPU temperatures. This way you can see whether your cooling is enough, or if your PC is slowly overheating.

If you do notice that even despite heavy fans your temps are too high (90ish on CPU, for example), then i recommend looking at "Laptop cooling pads". These can be either passive (i.e. a giant metal heatsink you place under your laptop) or active (a "box with fans" that you plug into USB, and it helps cool the bottom side of your laptop), and provide your laptop with that extra bit of cooling it might need.

I have a razer blade that i use for most of my school work and for some gaming when i get some downtime in the engineering building.

My Razer Blade is a couple years old, but it still runs FO4 on min settings, and can run many other games pretty well. (It's got a GTX 870M, 8 GB ram, and an i7-4702HQ) It definitely cannot keep up with my rig, but my rig is also considerably newer than it. The touch screen is a heck of a lot more useful than i'd expect, since it lets me scroll through, and navigate things quickly without a mouse.

If you do go with a laptop i suggest you get a cooling pad, otherwise you might be burning your legs with the Razer Blade. this is the one i got it works great for its price, and can significantly improve performance. The Blade actually uses the metal casing as a heatsink and as such it can get too hot to touch in some cases.

Personally my freshman year of college i gave up on my desktop, got an Alienware 14, and gamed on that for a year. The next year (last year) i ended up rebuilding my desktop with old parts from my dad's since i had an apartment with enough room to setup my computer. If you're planning on staying at college quite a bit more than coming home (i come home probably around 4 weeks out of a year now due to work/summer classes) it may be worth while to buy a cheaper laptop (light weight, thin, large screen, good battery life) and just play low-spec games for the first year (it may also improve your study habits)

Mid 2011? If you don't have a warranty, I'd go ahead and open it up, take some cotton swabs and compressed air to the internal fans/heatsinks. You won't break anything, so long as you do not force anything but don't be afraid to use SOME force though, some of those plastics will need a little bit of leverage. Follow this guide as far as you need to, to remove the covers.

Then once you've uncovered the fans, just get all that dust and stuff out, and you're good! I would recommend you do this on an open table/working area without synthetic fiber clothing on, preferably in a non-carpeted area. If you have an anti-static wristband, yay for you. Do it on a garage workbench if you've got one, or something of that nature. Just don't build up static electricity. If you can see or hear the arc from built up static electricity, it's far beyond enough to fry things. No pressure!

http://blog.parts-people.com/2012/08/01/dell-xps-15z-l511z-heatsink-removal-and-installation/

You'll definitely need a small screwdriver, but these I'd also recommend on principle:
http://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Anti-Static-Components-Other-RTK-ASM/dp/B004N96WQ0/
http://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-RTK-002-Anti-Static-Components-Yellow/dp/B004N8ZQKY/

If you're feeling up to the task and want to reseat your CPU heatsink:
http://www.amazon.com/Arctic-Silver-Thermal-Compound-Grams/dp/B000OGX5AM/

Good luck and have fun! :)

Chiropractor here, you have the right idea with sitting up right as much as you can. However, placing the Surface at lap height and looking down is what is causing the neck pain. The posture you have described is what is being called "Text Neck" (http://imgur.com/OEEX3kE). As you flex your neck forward you increase the pressure on the components of you spine, the more you flex the greater the pressure.

Now I know you may prefer to sit while drawing? (Note: I have no artistic ability, so I'm guessing here) Sitting may be most comfortable but standing will also be beneficial as it helps maintain the strength and endurance of the spinal muscles (with correct posture)(http://imgur.com/KArIFT2). Also note sitting properly can maintain these muscles as well, again, with proper posture. (http://imgur.com/W1LIQQd)

A little anatomy for you: As you look downward you are actively flexing your superficial neck flexors, the most obvious being the sternocleidomastoid, or SCM. (http://imgur.com/yfQKBC2) This also causes the muscles at the base of your skull to shorten, which can lead to headaches. (http://imgur.com/xMHBRGj) Using the "Top Gun" or "Pilot Posture" this will help to lengthen the sub-occipital mucles (muscles at base of skull) and strengthen the deep neck flexors. (http://imgur.com/a0opmvv)

If you made it this far, I hope you have learned something. My suggestion would be, aside from posture would be to look into something that will bring the surface up closer to eye level to prevent stress on your neck. This may help (http://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Ventilated-Adjustable-Laptop-Stand/dp/B00WRDS8H0/ref=sr_1_4?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1453221182&sr=1-4&keywords=laptop+stand). Next would be to do chin tuck exercises to maintain strength in those deep neck flexors, this exercise will help. (http://imgur.com/vE03lkI)

Forgive me as formatting and hyper linking is not in my skill set. I hope this help you!

Edit: Spelling

Hi Faith!

The Lenovo Y510p i7 version has that i7 + SLI GPU configuration you mentioned. It has a quad core 4700MQ, 8GB ram, 1TB HDD, GT 755M SLI GPU, 1920x1080 15.6" screen and Windows 8.1. It's certainly the best value in gaming laptops around your budget, and should be able to play all your games at high/ultra settings, according to this benchmark.

We highly recommend getting a cooler for this system, since it does tend to run hot. The Cooler Master X3 should work well with it. In terms of SSDs, if you need high capacity on a budget, the Samsung 840 EVO provides an excellent value. If you're looking for the best performance and reliability, the Samsung 840 PRO universally acclaimed as a very stable and fast SSD.

I play OW on a laptop much of the time and I use a "cooling pad" (this one). It lowers my GPU temp by about 10 degrees C, maybe more.

I actually bought it for a previous laptop because the cooling was terrible and it would burn my legs, but I keep using it on my new laptop because it's actually really useful. I definitely recommend it. If you get a good flat one, you can use it as a stable surface that can help airflow, even if you decide to not turn on the fans.

Edit:
I just wanted to add that I know that the cooling pad reduces at least 10 degrees but it could be more. Every time the laptop gets to 70 C I notice it feels warm, which reminds me to plug in the fan. This reduces it to abut 60 C. But I don't know how hot it would have risen to had I not put the fan on.

Also, my current laptop has pretty poor ventilation and the pad still works well. I would imagine if your laptop has more than one vent on the bottom it would be even more effective.

The G750JM has a less powerful graphics card but higher build quality and better cooling.

The MSI GT60 runs hotter, but has more powerful graphics.

I'm a huge fan of ASUS ROG laptops, in fact I own one. But when budget is a concern and this has you down to these two, you need to think about what is most important to you. I would often take the MSI laptop with the better graphics card because I want more performance for my money. You can always throw in a good cooling pad, which you should get anyways, and cooling wouldn't be a problem.

Keep in mind, the GT60 I linked you already has the thermal paste upgrade which fixes a lot of the cooling issue that the GT series laptops have. I have known a lot of people who have been happy with theirs.

You will want to know that laptops are not the best solution when it comes to gaming, it should be decent enough to play at 60FPS on the lowest graphical settings but it will depend on the laptop and the game you want to play.

Question #1 : IMO the best gaming solution would be to have a wired mechanical keyboard and a good wired mouse with high DPI connected to the laptop for the best experience possible. However if you are a casual gamer, wireless keyboard and mouse combo can be more interesting.

As long as the laptop in on a hard surface and not on rug you shouldn't have problems with heat but a Laptop cooler may be a good idea for extended gaming sessions.

2 : Simply get rig of any unwanted applications/programs, setting can be customized in game for a better experience.

3 : Don't hope for awesome graphics or high FPS and you should get a decent experience out of it.

I know this is probably the wrong subreddit for this, but /r/laptops looks extremely dead. If there is a better subreddit for this question, please point me there!

I need 1 docking station for 2 laptops (one personal, one work).

Personal: Dell XPS 15 9550 ( https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/dell-laptops-and-notebooks/xps-15-laptop/spd/xps-15-9550-laptop )

Work: Dell Latitude E7470

My personal supports Thunderbolt 3 with charging. My work computer just has USB 3.0 ports, which I believe support video. I have 2 HDMI monitors, a mouse, keyboard, etc. that I want to be able to hook up to either computer. So, ideally, I'm looking for a docking station that can provide power, video, and USB peripheral access to my personal laptop through Thunderbolt 3 I suppose while also allowing me to swap out my personal laptop for my work laptop and be able to flip over to providing video and USB peripheral access via USB 3.0. This sounds like it probably doesn't exist, so I'm looking for the next best thing. Here are my priorities:

1. Sending video from 2 HDMI monitors to either laptop.
   
2. Using my USB peripherals on either laptop.
   
3. Providing power to my thunderbolt 3 laptop (while also being able to do #1 and #2 above without too much cord swapping).
   
   I was looking at this: https://www.amazon.com/Plugable-Charging-Delivery-Specific-Thunderbolt/dp/B01FKTZLBS/ref=sr_1_2?fst=as%3Aoff&qid=1563645495&refinements=p_n_feature_keywords_browse-bin%3A6804268011&rnid=6804256011&s=pc&sr=1-2. But I'm thinking that this one won't be able to do anything for my work laptop because I don't see a "to host" USB 3.0 port.
   
   ​
   
   Please help! I'm sitting here with 2 monitors, only one of which I can use, with 500 wires all over the place. I'm thinking I am just going to have to go with something simple like https://www.amazon.com/Plugable-Universal-Docking-Station-Ethernet/dp/B00ECDM78E/ref=sr_1_1?fst=as%3Aoff&qid=1563645495&refinements=p_n_feature_keywords_browse-bin%3A6804268011&rnid=6804256011&s=pc&sr=1-1 and forget the thunderbolt/power.
   
   ​
   
   This seems like it could work?
   
   https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JHZX4GH/ref=psdc_778660_t2_B07F6X5SJK. Can I just toss a USB-C to USB adapter on the end of the thunderbolt cable whenever I want to use the monitors/peripherals on my work laptop?

The (computer) monitor in the center is definitely better than having it off to one side. If you don’t use the (computer) keyboard much, it shouldn’t be a problem.

As for Maschine, you want it to be as comfortable to use as possible. I recommend putting it on this Amazon Basics laptop stand:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WRDS8H0

It’s cheap, but doesn’t feel cheap. It’s all metal and has decent rubber feet, and it doesn’t wobble or slide around at all when I’m banging on the pads or pushing buttons. The viewing angle is adjustable. One of the settings near the max angle (between about 30–35°) is pretty much perfect. The screens are very easy to read and I can use all the controls without arm fatigue. It makes a big difference not having to hunch over it to see what you’re doing, and if you’re mostly focused on the Maschine displays, you don’t have to look over at your monitor that much.

I think if you add that stand and get some speaker stands for your monitors, this setup should work pretty well.

I would advise against buying a new fan. Chances are some compressed air to the cooling system (to get the dust out of there) will be all it needs in order to cool off effectively. Just hold the fan still when blowing it, you don't want to spin it up really fast.

If you're going in that deep anyhow, you may as well pull the heatsync off the CPU and apply new thermal paste. That would be much more effective than replacing the fan. (You should still clean the dust out of the vents though.)

Everything else seems readily replaceable. Just make sure your hands aren't oily, and don't accidentally break any of the connectors or plastic.

Edit: Also I would personally leave the ram at 8 GB. Even if the motherboard supports it, the cost of RAM right now really nullifies the gains you'd get, especially since you are only browsing netflix / youtube / etc. and already have 8 gigs.

Also, if you want the laptop to feel cooler on your lap, consider a cooling pad of some kind. Even if the pad fans are off, the space cushion alone helps the laptop keep itself cool.

Sorry for the late reply

A 1080m should be able to handle gaming workload of current games if gaming on 1080p resolution, but can't compare to 20xx series if more games adopt DLSS and/or ray tracing in the future. The only thing you need for eGPU is a USB-c with Thunderbolt 3 support, which should be stated clearly on spec sheet. However, don't get laptop with Intel ultra portable CPUs (there's a 'u' @ the CPU model name), cause the T3 has only half the maximum bandwidth compare to other laptop CPUs

I have had couple different laptops through out the year, and they all get toasty while gaming except for large ones that's more like a portable desktop. There are heat extractor you can buy to help keep things cool, they work pretty good from my experience

tldr: 4k at 31.5 (i.e. 32") is useable, which I wouldn't necessarily say for smaller sizes, like 27".

I've actually bounced around many monitors, none of which are even close to perfect imo. I'm always looking for a glossy, high-resolution, gigantic display at a low price. This seiki hits 3/4 but has an matte finish I don't love. Also, the design is average (very limited adjustability and thicker bezel by today's standard). I've owned the dell p2715q previously which also had a matte finish AND was too small to use @ 4k easily. It had a better design, though. Previous to that, I had 2x Dell s2415H which had a beautiful design and glossy finish but were low resolution and fairly expensive for what they were. I've owned other similar monitor setups, but this is my favorite so far. I vastly prefer 1 high resolution monitor rather than multiple lower-resolution monitors. I have also exchanged my (excellent) rain Design mStand for a Twelve South BookArc since I prefer using just 1 monitor.

The short version is I'd like a 5k 32+ inch monitor which is glossy and does not cost all of the money. I figured Apple would make something like that soon and instead they're making a 27" version through LG which costs $999. While priced right for the market, it's just too small to use at higher resolutions and I don't have enough money, nor would I prefer, having multiple monitors at that price.

This Seiki 32" is simply the best compromise for me, at the moment.

I've wanted a Juno 106 ever since I tried one out a few years ago. It was faulty, but still fun, this one is perfect, so even more fun! After purchasing it I realised that I would no longer have space for my Boog and my Minilogue, so I looked everywhere for stands. I tried the Adam Hall laptop stands and the Pyle PLPTS25, but they didn't fit below the Juno. Then, I found the RockJam laptop stands, and they're just perfect. You can assemble them in so many ways to match your needs: with or without table clamps, with or without width extenders (two increments), supports facing inward or outward (changes width), different heights, etc. And they're really cheap as well, so I can safely recommend them. The only downside is that you need to buy some protectors between the stand and the synth if you really want to avoid scratching (not a huge issue for me).

​

Edit: added links to the stands mentioned

I apologize, should've posted this earlier:

Desk: Ikea Gerton (with no stain, 220 & 320 sanding, and 3 coats of clear satin poly)

Monitor: Dell U2715H

Laptop: MacBook Pro 2014

PC: Custom built with NZXT 220 Case (not really the focus of the battlestation so I wont go into the specs)

Laptop Stand: mStand

Lamp: LE Swing Arm Desk Lamp

Keyboard: The cheap but fully capable Anker Ultra Compact Wireless Keyboard

Mouse: Apple Magic Trackpad 2

Wallpaper: By the talented Justin Maller

Poster: Only one of the greatest number 10s, Mesut Ozil, playing for THE greatest football club, Arsenal (Can't find a link to the poster though)

> Is a glasses-cleaning cloth type okay?

That'll work fine. I often use a toothpick or a ear swab thing to wrap the cloth around, it'll help you get any stubborn stuff up.

I usually clean with isopropyl alcohol, just get the cloth damp and then clean so you don't get it everywhere and have to wait for it to dry.

If you're worried about static, you can just pick up an anti static strap to ground yourself to the case:

https://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Anti-Static-Components-RTK-002-Yellow/dp/B004N8ZQKY

Maintaining physical contact with the case will also ground you to it, and it's usually not hard to do so it's just something t o pay attention to.

>my liquid cooler was a huge chore to install/mount so the idea of having to do that again isn't very appealing

Definitely one of the reasons I usually opt for air coolers, the maintenance is easier. That being said, it definitely sounds like you need to re-do the paste. Kaby Lake (7th gen intel) runs hotter than normal but not that hot.

I would probably recommend sticking with the plan to unmount the cooling block and the radiator, that way you can get proper leverage and see what you're doing better.

For thermal paste I usually get Arctic Silver 5 because I'm too lazy to research thermal paste, but there's a few superior options at this point I'm pretty sure.

>I always get super nervous when touching my processor

Well you don't have to unmount the CPU at least, and that's definitely the more scary part. When you're pulling the heatsink off of the CPU, just gradually increase your pulling pressure with a very slow rotation. If it's stuck on there harder than you're comfortable pulling, there are a couple options:

1. Run a stress test like prime 95 for ~10 minutes before you shut down and begin disassembly, that should leave enough heat to keep the paste pliable.
   
   
2. Use floss and gently work it between the CPU and the heatsink to try to cut through any stubborn dry spots.
   
   
3. Carefully use a blow dryer to warm up the heatsink a bit until the cooler comes loose. Be cautious doing this to avoid static: it's best to disconnect yourself from the case entirely, pick up the hair dryer, apply heat while avoiding touching the case, then set the hair dryer down, discharge yourself by touching a ground (metal vents are my go to), and then reconnect your anti-static strap / resume maintaining contact with the case to ground yourself as you work on removing the cooler.
   
   Let me know if you have questions.

Ok.. here's my final update. I found another monitor it's more expensive but it is 4k and better on my eyes for coding. I am not coding at UHD resolution though - I'm coding at the 1920x1080 so I can read the text lol.

However for video or such i can switch it back to UHD and enjoy an amazing picture..

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XPJYVF2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And then the doc for my office I am using ( one monitor on usb-c and one on display port)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CZPV8DF/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The mini doc i use for traveling around which has my usb adapter for my travel mouse and connects to the hdmi monitor at home is :

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074J79WWJ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

All are working great!

Your laptop might not have controllable fans, then... You can check in the BIOS to see if there is an option for fan speed. If not, you might be out of luck, there :/ You can try some other fan programs such as Notebook Fan Control or Asus FanXpert+ (This one probably won't work if you don't have an ASUS, but it doesn't hurt to try).

Cleaning it out will probably be your best bet, and you can also get a cooling pad to help out (More here on Amazon or if NewEgg is your thing check here). I only have a little cushion pad, but I've been looking into a cooling pad for a while, and will be buying one soon. They are a very good value for the price, and can work wonders.

I just got the 15" rMBP for video editing and while it doesn't get too hot for that, I did get a cooling pad and I really like it. The fan is huge and pretty quiet. I've noticed that it does a great job of keeping temps down as I can feel it keep my lap nice and cool while editing. It's a very light and portable cooler and I pretty much use it 100% of the time, either just as something to set it on when I'm watching Netflix in bed without the fan, or to cool my system while editing.

It's pretty damn cheap compared to everything else too.

Cooler Master NotePal X-Slim Ultra-Slim Laptop Cooling Pad with 160mm Fan (R9-NBC-XSLI-GP) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005C31HC0/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_I2qFub0TXY2JT

Built an SG13/2700X/2080 back in March and I absolutely love it. Here are a few suggestions from my experience:

• If you don't mind only using one fan, you can fit the thicker H80iv2 for better cooling.
  
• I purchased a Noctua NF-A9x14 and set it up as a secondary exhaust as seen here (not my picture).
  

• SFX PSU with a vented ATX to SFX bracket made building easier while improving airflow.
  

  
  

  Bonus: Buy the pink version of the case to assert your dominance in a field of monochrome cases.
  

  
  

  Here is my build:
  

  
  

  PCPartPicker Part List
  

  
  

  Type|Item|Price
  

  ----|:----|:----
  CPU | AMD - Ryzen 7 2700X 3.7 GHz 8-Core Processor | Purchased For $280.00
  CPU Cooler | Corsair - H80i v2 70.69 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler | Purchased For $85.00
  Motherboard | Asus - ROG Strix B450-I Gaming Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard | Purchased For $120.00
  Memory | G.Skill - Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory | Purchased For $175.00
  Storage | ADATA - XPG SX8200 960 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive | Purchased For $153.00
  Video Card | EVGA - GeForce RTX 2080 8 GB XC GAMING Video Card | Purchased For $710.00
  Power Supply | Corsair - SF 600 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular SFX Power Supply | Purchased For $150.00
  Case Fan | Noctua - NF-A9x14 29.72 CFM 92 mm Fan | Purchased For $16.00
  Case Fan | Noctua - NF-A12x25 PWM 60.1 CFM 120 mm Fan | Purchased For $30.00
  Custom | Makerfire 2pcs 2.4G 5.8G FPV TX Antenna RP-SMA Male Dipole Whip FPV Antenna for FPV Multicopter Racing Drone Quadcopter | Purchased For $13.00
  Custom | SilverStone Technology SFX to ATX Power Supply Adapter in Black PP08B-USA | Purchased For $10.00
  Custom | SilverStone Technology Ultra Small Form Factor Computer Case Mini-ITX in Pink SG13P | Purchased For $62.00
  | Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
  | Total | $1804.00
  | Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-12 11:28 EDT-0400 |
  
  
  Edit: Had to update my PCPartPicker build.

Hi darmasita! I am sorry but I might have been exaggerating slightly in my comment - 'cool' there means around 60 - 65 C -ish (on Empyrion - never played Witcher).

I have about the same undervolt (don't have the computer available right now) as you but the cooling pad really helps i believe. If I don't use that it gets about 8 - 10 C hotter :/ I've never had a peak in the 90's after downvolting, but the occasional peak into 80's do occur on Rome 2 (usually on big battles).

Also, I usually play on medium settings with only a few settings cranked up (such as textures), which I think helps as well (I've only ever had budget computers in my life, so even medium settings look good for me xD).

EDIT:

In case you're interested, this is the cooling pad I use.

cooling pad

My cooling pad is for 15' screens but since the A15 protrudes at the back, I really wish I had bought a slightly bigger one xD

Does $500 include the monitor, keyboard and mouse?


For mounting your MacBook Pro properly to desk, you have 3 real options depending on if you want to be able to work from it (unlikely) or just have it closed in clamshell mode and use an external keyboard and mouse to mount vertically to save desk space.
Option 1: Rain Design mStand (comes in Silver and Space Grey) $40. I use this personally when I have my MBP set up next to my 5K iMac and 27" Thunderbolt Display.
https://www.amazon.com/Rain-Design-mStand-Laptop-Silver/dp/B000OOYECC
Option 2: Twelve South BookArc (comes in Silver and Space Grey) $50 - for use in clamshell mode only
https://www.amazon.com/Twelve-South-Space-Saving-Vertical-notebooks/dp/B016EWLDTE?th=1
Option 3: General vertical laptop stand (I have it in Silver, unsure how well their space grey matches) - $20. Cheap, minimalist, but does the job. Clamshell mode only.
https://www.amazon.com/Vertical-Adjustable-OMOTON-Aluminum-Chromebook/dp/B074PPGHMC


Next is an external keyboard, I'm going to stick with an Apple aesthetic for this recommendation and not any gamery mechanical ones. Depending on if you want a numeric keypad or not, there's either Apple's Magic Keyboard 2 or a Satechi wireless one with a numeric keypad. I don't think Apple's Magic Keyboard 2 with Numeric Keypad is worth an extra $70 over the Satechi.
Option 1: Satechi Wireless Keyboard with Numeric Keypad (comes in all colours) $80.
https://www.amazon.com/Satechi-Aluminum-Bluetooth-Keyboard-3-Device/dp/B07F2SF4RH
Option 2: Apple Magic Keyboard 2 (without numeric keypad - White only) $99.
https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MLA22LL/A/magic-keyboard-us-english


For mice, I'd avoid Apple's Magic Mouse like the plague because words can not describe how bad it is to use.
I'd recommend mouse that you can also use with just your MBP while on the go, not heavy, big mice that only really belong on the desktop at home. No mouse really stands out to me apart from this one, honestly.
Logitech MX Anywhere 2s (unfortunately they stopped making them in white) $50. Can connect via bluetooth so no dongles.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071VK5KXN


For monitors, at this price range you won't have a neat 1 cable display and power solution like you'd get from a 23.7" 4K LG UltraFine display for example or HDR10, or Retina. 1440p 27" displays are a bit out of this price range, but I'd personally sacrifice pixel density and get a 1080p display anyways so I still have a 27" display.
Option 1: HP 27es 1080p 27" bezel-less IPS display (Silver) $219.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N9H3BI4
Option 2: ASUS VZ239H-W 1080p 23" bezel-less IPS display (Silver) $139.
https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-VZ239H-W-1080p-Monitor-White/dp/B07489Q7TY/


Then you need cables to connect your MBP to the display (the keyboards and mice are bluetooth). If you only have 2 TB3 ports, you may want to buy a multiport adaptor or else you will have 0 free ports with my solution (as you need the other port for power).
USB-C to HDMI cable (Black) $12.6. I have it to connect my MBP to my 4K TV and it works flawlessly.
https://www.amazon.com/CableCreation-Thunderbolt-Compatible-MacBook-Chromebook/dp/B06XDMKQKJ/
If you need a multiport adaptor, I'd recommend this Satechi one (comes in all colours) - $60
https://www.amazon.com/Satechi-Aluminum-Multi-Port-Adapter-Charging/dp/B01J4BO0X8


Total price as configured (BookArc + Satechi Wireless Keyboard with Numeric Keypad + MX Anywhere 2s + HP 27es + USB-C to HDMI cable) = $412. If you need a mulitport adaptor and don't have one already, it'll be $472.

Of course. Glad to do it. If you follow some basic instructions it can be VERY VERY easy. The big stuff you will need:

1. a set of precision tools to unscrew small screws. this one is great--and cheap at $14--and has gently magnetized heads so that when you unscrew a tiny screw, it will stick on and you won't drop it inside your computer.
   
   
2. static bracelet. Get one here for $5. you will connect this to a suitable ground and it will prevent you from accidentally discharging static electricity to the inside of your machine.
   
   
3. YOUR specific components. For a laptop, you will likely need a 2.5" sized SSD (solid state drive). Here's a good sized one (480GB) on amazon for $50.00.
   
   
4. A guide for taking parts out of YOUR specific computer. If you tell me the make and model of your machine, I'd be happy to find a tutorial that shows the correct process.
   
   most of the time HDD replacement is fairly easy. you usually just open a compartment, unplug some wires, unscrew some screws and then do the same steps in reverse order to complete the upgrade.
   
   The parts AND tools listed above come to about $70 plus tax for a brand new SUPERFAST hard drive. If you wanted to do a RAM upgrade at the same time, I would estimate that to be around a $60 cost, putting your TOTAL ALL IN COST at $130, down from $400 lol.
   
   

   You can do it!!
   

   
   and feel free to ask any questions you like.

I have the m15 RTX 2060 version with the 144hz screen and after returning it for over hearing (over 100 Celsius) and getting a fixed m15 I’ve had no problems.

It does come with a bit of apps like games but you can uninstall, and the quality is top notch for me and I’m usually very picky. I like the track pad and the webcam is good enough for twitch streaming (which I just started doing). Now games run around 75-82 Celsius plus streaming and playing music. I’ve raised the laptop a bit and got this to keep it cooler. Works perfectly

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NACVLWM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_oM2TCb2RYKMP7

Overall I love this laptop, but I’ve noticed with its competitors you can get more for your money (Lenovo).

Fat Packs and Holiday Gift boxes do most of my storing. I don't have a big collection though. Staples has boxes such as: http://www.staples.com/Really-Useful-Box-3-Liter-Box-with-Handles-Clear/product_673264

That do nicely for storing as well, can hold 3 rows of cards, as well as stuff on top.

Transporting, I have 6 Satin Towers, I'll only ever bring 4 with me at a time, if that. It all goes into:
http://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-DSLR-Laptop-Backpack-interior/dp/B00CF5OGP8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419646638&sr=8-1&keywords=dslr+backpack+laptop

Which can nicely store a rare binder, my 4 satin towers, 4 Ultra Pro Deck boxes (regular ones), and my playmat.

Protecting my money cards is fairly easy as most of my value cards are in my decks; Ultra Pro Satin Towers, KMC Perfect Fits, and KMC Hyper Mattes for double sleeving.

My laptop draws 85W over USB-C (thunderbolt 3) while also gaining a full gigabit Ethernet connection, driving two 1440p 60Hz monitors, a DAC, keyboard, and mouse. For cables like that you’re limited to very short runs but it’s perfect for a docking station setup. I use this dock.

The fact that I can do that over just one cable is amazing, it’s a genuinely brilliant connector. Gone are the days of complex docking mechanisms, now I just sit down and plug in my one cable and I’m good to go.

I was in a similar situation recently but my laptop only had 1 hdmi port despite having a gtx 1060.

Since you have 2 ports on both laptops, you could buy 2 hdmi and 2 hdmi to type c converters on amazon (make sure it works with your laptop). Anytime you and your gf want to switch however, it will be a hassle to change the respective connections on the laptops and monitors (Not a big deal, but frequent switching could get annoying).

The solution that helped me (and would help you too imo) would be to get a docking station (~$100) . This would be slightly more expensive than buying all the connections, but would be much less of a hassle since it only requires a usb to be swapped between laptops for quick and easy switching.

Docking station:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ECDM78E/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_6LxLDb41BVWHV

Edit: just realized there are better options than the one I linked for type c to hdmi, a little bit of research and you can find them.

Few things to consider:

2.50" x 4.92" or Approx 63.5 mm x 125 mm is the footprint of a SFX PSU
3.39" x 5.91" or Approx 86.1 mm x 150 mm is the footprint of a ATX PSU
This leaves a difference of .89" or 22.6 mm


The AORUS GeForce® GTX 1080 Ti Xtreme Edition 11G is 55 mm thick being 15 mm thicker than a FE card which we already know can fit with a standard ATX PSU


Using this adapter You can place the SFX PSU as close to the bottom of the case as possible
https://www.amazon.com/SilverStone-Technology-Universal-Adapter-Bracket/dp/B01BYB33J8


Here is a 800 watt SFX PSU which is the biggest I know
https://www.amazon.com/SilverStone-Technology-Silent-Modular-SX700-LPT/dp/B01NALZ89C?th=1


Also there is room in this case for: 2 fans on the front, 1 fan on the bottom, 2 on the top, and 1 on the back so I would also recomend a fan hub like this one from Deepcool that would allow for fans all running at a given PWM setting
https://www.amazon.com/DEEPCOOL-FH-10-Integrated-Occupying-Motherboard/dp/B077YHLDSP


I had already been planning this for some of my builds to give room for a standard dual slot card to breathe since the nano has a very limited space between the PSU and GPU. I would actually recommend this to anyone using a non FE card with this case as it will allow your card a better chance to cool properly.


If you are about to do this soon please get some Pics and share so others can see this too.


TLDR: YES

hey everyone, I'm going on a trip to Ireland in a couple weeks and decided it might be time to pick up a few things. for reference ive got a Canon T3i and the 2 kit lenses. (18-55, 75-300)

I thought this would be an excellent opportunity to get a wide angle lens and after looking it seems like canons 10-18 is a good choice, and they have that in a bundle that comes with the 50 f/1.8 as seen here, which seems like a good deal.

Adding two more lenses means my case is WAY too small and after reading through the megathread I found this amazon basics bag which seems more than large enough, non descript and at a very affordable price point.

so is that all good for the price? just looking for confirmation,

thanks.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/anbl95/ryzen_master_for_mobile_ryzen_modify/

This isn't my area of expertise, but basically the faster the processor runs the more heat it will make, and it will throttle itself to prevent a thermal shutdown (usually around 90c). Depending on how good the cooling is on the laptop (fans, heatsinks) that allows for a certain level of speed before the cooling is maxed out and the heat is still within an acceptable range - which is usually lower for a laptop than a desktop, given the smaller fans and problems with resting your hands on a device that is getting very hot!

Basically, you can tell the computer that it's OK to run a little hotter in order to let it go faster. Placing the laptop on top of a cooling pad (random example: https://www.amazon.ca/Cooler-Master-NotePal-Ultra-Slim-R9-NBC-XSLI-GP/dp/B005C31HC0) will help keep it cooler/faster as well. Depending on how the laptop is built (vent placement, fan hole sizes) a cooling pad can make a pretty big difference alone.

If you want to check out your laptop's performance, you can install MSI Afterburner or another temperature/clock speed monitoring suite and look at the logs after a gaming session. Reaching heat capacity typically shows on a graph as the clock speed of the chip maxing out initially, then dropping down as heat increases.

I use a Surface Pro original for programming with Visual Studio 2013 Pro and it's great. It can drive up to 3 external displays with the correct setup. The 128 GB version is fine, I have Office 2013 and VS2013 installed plus a heap of developer utils (git, tortoisegit, beyond compare, etc...).

You can easily get one external monitor with the built-in displaylink and this mini-displaylink to HDMI/DVI/VGA adapter. I also recommend this little USB 3.0 hub + ethernet adapter. Both of those products together with the Surface Pro make for a nice portable workstation (sans external display).

To run 2 external displays, you need to get this Plugable UD-3900 which adds 4 USB 3.0 ports, ethernet, HDMI and DVI. I have one - it works great for office stuff (haven't tried any video games with it except SNES emulators which work great too.)

Book stacking is an okay alternative.

Keep in mind that investing to prevent neck issues early will be more cost-effective (my PCP's words, not mine) than taking care of your issues later on. We're going to be studying for a long time through med-school and onward, so it would probably be worthwhile to purchase a laptop stand and take care of yourself now.

I could recommend the following laptop stands, I have them both and they're pretty reasonably priced:

1. Portable Laptop stand (I like this guy because it's really portable, so it's convenient to take on-the-go to the library/cafes)
   
   
2. AmazonBasics Laptop Stand (this guy is great for home use, can be used for books as well)
   
   At any rate, whatever you end up doing I hope your neck pain resolves!

Well, my Razer Blade 2016 was running quite hot playing Witcher 3, so I got this one from Cooler Master. I kind of looked at quite a few of these, and eventually decided that the best kind of cooling pad is a sturdy mesh that raises the laptop off the surface more than the little rubber feet on the Blade can. Somehow, I think that that accounts for the majority of the cooling. A lot of the other pads are sealed plastic boxes, where you have to hope the fans are efficient.

However, this thing does have three fans you can move freely around on the pad itself, so you can align it nicely with the air vents on the bottom. Also, the fan speed is adjustable, and you can locate the switch anywhere on the pad, since it is a clip on.

I did notice a significant difference in "touch temperature" playing Witcher 3 on the Blade, though I don't have any empirical data to back that up... Just another option to look at...

I’ve been using the Amazon Basics DSLR Camera Backpack for a year now to carry lots of EDH decks in Satin boxes (4, but can easily fit 8-10), dice bag, two playmats, trade binder, and extra sleeves and boxes for limited/draft games. Best $30-$40 I’ve ever spent with respect to Magic. The bag has protected my cards and accessories in rain and snow.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CD778LC?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

Then the best thing you can do is make sure it is cooling as well as it can.

Some suggestions.

• Turn down the resolution to the lowest setting. Even if only temporarily. See if that makes a difference.
  
  
• Make sure the fan is clean and the heatsink fins are clear of hair and other debris. You can do some of this just by running a vacuum hose over the air intake. The better way to do it would be to take the laptop apart so you can clean all the debris and dust off the fan and heatsink fins. (Don't use compressed air to spin the fan. You could damage it.)
  
  
• Use a [laptop cooling pad]
  (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NNMB3KS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_dp_T2_ODOqzb0FC4D43)
  
  
• To take this a step further, you could also reapply the thermal paste between your CPU and heatsink. That requires some new Arctic Silver or other thermal paste and the willingness to take your heatsink off.
  
  
  
  

No complaints in build quality. My one and only probably would be the front detail along the edge of the case, just above where the speakers are. It can be a little sharp and I've scraped my hand on it. Easily avoidable and the furthest thing from a deal breaker.

My last laptop was a 1366x768 and pretty crappy, but the GE62's display is beautiful. I've heard it described as as close to an IPS that a non-IPS screen has been, but please don't take this as fact. Frankly I have very little experience on different screens and quality of.

My absolute favorite part about it is the size/weight/cooling. Its not so huge that it is hard to move or bring along, yet is not so thin that it overheats. Still, I'd recommend a laptop cooler like this one, just for the convenience of having it on your lap and also keeping it cool.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005C31HC0/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?qid=1449451368&sr=8-3&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=coolermaster+laptop+pad&dpPl=1&dpID=41iwTUhYqWL&ref=plSrch

No it's not really difficult.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qczGR4KMnY

I'm not sure Linus mentions this, but make sure power is not plugged in, and hold down power button 5 seconds to drain all power from unit. (*That is really important) I tend to unplug literally everything, as power could be entering a peripheral device via one of their external power sources.

Also, it's a good idea to use a anti-static wrist strap: https://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Anti-Static-Components-RTK-002-Yellow/dp/B004N8ZQKY/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1510329884&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=anti+static+wrist+strap+ifixit

However, the same goal is accomplished by holding one hand to the metal frame of the chassis, which is grounding yourself so that static is not transferred to the components you are handling.

These are what some might consider, "overkill" precautions, but should make you feel confident that you are not going to damage what you are working on.

The X-slim cooling pad helps significantly. I read somewhere that it cools by 10 degrees. After heavy gaming - see the Tomb Raider example above - with the laptop on the cooling pad, the bottom near the fans (near where the exhaust fans are) is basically not hot at all. The X-slim does a fantastic job at cooling. Also the build quality is nice. I think that at $20 it's a pretty good deal, and even if the pad goes bad at that price it's not like you lost much.

The build quality of the laptop is nice. The lid of the laptop (below where the Gigabyte logo is) gives a bit of flex when you push down while the laptop is closed. Otherwise it feels very nice. I think that the surface around the trackpad and keyboard is made out of a nice metal. I can carry the laptop with one hand easily and not worry about it - the size and weight are really nice, so it should fit nicely in my backpack's laptop sleeve and not be a burden while traveling.

This should be a portable laptop, but you should consider a travel charger as well since this laptop doesn't hold a charge very well.

The SG13 is a good all-black small case. With the nice parts from your bro, you can get some baller parts. This has 32 GB of RAM, but you only need 16 GB. This has 3 TB of SSD storage, but your only need 1 TB (most people). If you want to just get the 16/1 system, LMK it is about $600.

LTT reviews this $55 SFF case: SilverStone SG13 Computer Case - Small form factor with extreme versatility

Linus still uses the SG13 in his home gaming setup. He claims that it is where he does most of his gaming.

PCPartPicker Part List

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i9-9900K 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor | Purchased For $0.00
CPU Cooler | Noctua NH-L12S 55.44 CFM CPU Cooler | $49.90 @ Amazon
Motherboard | *ASRock Z390M-ITX/ac Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard | $134.99 @ Amazon
Memory | *G.Skill Trident Z Neo 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 Memory | $164.99 @ Newegg
Storage | *HP EX920 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive | $108.99 @ Newegg
Storage | *Crucial MX500 2 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $223.48 @ Adorama
Video Card | MSI GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER 8 GB AERO Video Card | Purchased For $0.00
Case | Silverstone SG13 Mini ITX Tower Case | $57.99 @ B&H
Power Supply | *Corsair SF 600 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular SFX Power Supply | $139.00 @ Newegg
Case Fan | *Noctua NF-F12 industrialPPC-3000 PWM 109.89 CFM 120 mm Fan | $29.99 @ Newegg
| Total | $909.33
| | *Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria |


You can ignore the "Compatibility: Warning!" that it shows. The standard ATX power supply would only allow 61 mm of CPU cooler clearance. With a SFX power supply in the ATX area, you should have 10+ more mm of clearance.

With the Silverstone brackets you have 83 mm of clearance according to "Tech Buyers Guru". The included Corsair bracket is closer to the center, but should still clear the 70 mm Noctua. The Corsair and EVGA brackets are the same and this build has clearance.

If you need more space under the power supply you can get a more off-center power supply bracket.

SFX adapter plate at Frys: https://www.frys.com/product/8809452

SFX adapter plate at Amazon: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B01BYB33J8

Gotcha, well hope things go well for you! I'm the same way with triple A titles which is why I bought a GTX 1060 personally for my computer to last me 3-5 years, with at 5 years being able to run triple A titles on low at least. Though if that's the case with having a lot of downtime at work, I would highly agree on buying a laptop in that case! The laptop you stated does seem decent and should be plenty well enough for some casual gaming, and should be good enough for mmo's. I'd also recommend buying a cooling pad(example) as well for if you're to be playing mmo's, especially if raiding is your interested as raiding can be quite impact-ful on your cpu!

Before the XPS 13, I used 15" laptops by themselves. This time around, I wanted to try something different: something small, lightweight, and with good battery life while I'm on the go, but with a desktop-like experience when I'm at my desk. That's why I chose to buy an XPS 13 9350 and a WD15 (Dell's USB-C Dock). By plugging in a single cable into my laptop's USB-C port (laptop to dock), I connect my laptop to a 25" 1440p monitor, a mechanical keyboard, a mouse, power (USB-C can provide up to 100 watts of power), headphones, a microphone, a backup SSD, and a micro USB cable (for phone, Xbox One controller for emulation, etc). I also have a highly adjustable office chair with great back support. Then when I want to take the laptop somewhere, I unplug that one single cable, put the laptop in a perfectly sized sleeve/bag hybrid, and go. It's a rather nice setup, especially now that Dell addressed my USB-C stability issues in a recent BIOS update (version 1.4.4 that came out a few days ago).

You make a good point about charging all the time being bad for the battery, but the dock /desktop mode is a core part of my setup and there's not a way to use the dock without it charging the laptop. I suppose I could start unplugging the laptop from the dock each night before I go to bed. That won't entirely fix the problem, but it should help some while still giving me the benefits of the dock.

I've got the Coolermater X-Slim for a 14" Acer and I find it perfect size and a bargain for the price. While it says it's for 15"-17" laptops it actually just has a slight lip around the corners and works great for smaller form factors. I keep it together w/my laptop and slip it into my backpack and it makes a flush package. I also like the angle that the feet provide (when engaged). Runs silent, and creates a cool breeze between your legs which is nicer during the warmer months when you don't need a lap heater. Performance-wise, it keeps my PG-482 5-6°(C) cooler, which is significant.

So I just picked up this product today:

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00CF5OGP8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I did have smaller version of the same backpack, but with the new DAS it didn't fit anymore. It is arriving today so I cannot guarantee it will fit everything properly, but withe measurements I did it shouldn't be a problem. Also this backpack comes with a space to fit my 17" laptop as well.

Also I picked up this pair for the lighthouses:

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B01MT1N8JD/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

So far these are great and light. My only complaint is the fact the carrying case is far too large for them. However it does give some extra space for a power bar and extension cable.

This with an external speaker works great for a mobile VR setup.

Unfortunately there isn't really anything out there that solves this problem. (I wish Jaspers would make a tabletop stand).


The most obvious solution is to replace part of the desk with a jaspers stand, or a double/triple tier keyboard stand.


Like you mentioned in your post, it is possible to use two (or more) of those laptop/dj stands placed next to each other to support a larger keyboard. I have used these and they are pretty stable Laptop stand

You can buy/build a shelf and use something like Ikea "Capita" legs to create a second tier. And use the Ikea "Brada" laptop things to angle stuff better.

You could try to convert more of your equipment into rack mountable format (though this is obviously not always a viable solution)

On my desk at work I have:

• mDesign stand, which I strongly recommend. Without a stand you're leaning down to look at the computer all day. Ergonomic nightmare. It's one thing at a coffee shop, it's another thing 40 hours a week.

• An extra power cable. My boss wouldn't have thought twice if I asked for a full brick, but this seemed like enough to keep setup simple without spending however much the Magsafe chargers cost.

• Wired keyboard with numberpad and Magic Mouse. I prefer the Apple Mouse with the scroll ball on the top, but we had an extra Magic Mouse laying around.

• Time Machine drive. A cheap Seagate or WD or whatever.

• USB hub so keyboard and Time Machine are one connection.

• G-RAID over firewire. It has some older content, but I do tend to connect it once a week.

• G-Dock EV with a pair of terabyte drives. Great design — the drive mods can come out and connect over USB as well.

• Second display chained after the G-Dock.

• Network cable to connect to our video SAN. Also using WiFi to get on the company network.

I am a current Junior in Civil Engineering, and I recently went and upgraded my senior year of HS/Freshman year of college computer to this:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015PYZ0J6/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This was a laptop I chose for a multitude of reasons: high performance, low cost, easy to upgrade (Youtube links on this laptop specifically detailing how to upgrade compliment the manufacturers on how well-thought-out the design was), good battery life (this is on the low/middle gaming laptop spectrum, and because of this has good battery life), and overall nice looking design. For me I needed a laptop that could run the graphic intensive software that Civil Engineering students use in their upper division classes, while also being able to game on it - in college, from my experience, computer gaming is the most popular. All of the links below are upgrades that go with the laptop well. They are not needed but, they are helpful and relatively cheap. If you have any questions feel free to ask by PM.

RAM upgrade:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006YG8X9Y/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

SSD:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00TGIVZTW/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Cooling fan (optional):
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NNMB3KS/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Z270 chipset does support overclocking, while B250 and H270 chipsets don't

I have the AsRock Z270i Fatal1ty and I undervolt my (delidded) 7700k so I don't produce as much heat, as I don't have the mesh front variant of the case. I liked the Z270i Fatal1ty and Z270i Strix for the Z270 motherboars. If you're not getting a K processor I would go with the H270i Strix over the other options due to the features on it compared to other H270i and B250i boards. If your gaming I would get 3200MHz ram, as it does help in memory dependent games.

The SFX psu gives you more room to work in, and the adapter only cost around $10. I would say go for the extra 20 euro for the 600W psu, as PCPartpicker doesn't account for overclocking and I would rather get a slight overkill then a psu that isn't enough. With the adapter, I was able to fit the C1 from Cyrorig (however its a bit tight, and would install all the modules and cables before). You're using an AIO, air cooler doesn't apply.

I use this fan, however I believe there probably is a better one, whichI'll let a fan expert give a proper recommendation. Since you're using an AIO, I would recommend a good Static pressure fan (separate) and using the variant of the case that has the mesh.

You won't find anything quality under $100. You'll buy something cheap, it will be crap, then you'll get what you should have gotten in the first place.

I've used TB16 extensively and I have few of the Plugable USB-C docks that I wanted to try out:

https://www.amazon.com/Plugable-Charging-Delivery-Specific-Thunderbolt/dp/B01FKTZLBS

TB16 is still superior in my mind, but they both work well. The plugable one isn't built as sturdy and easily gets knocked around. It also doesn't supply enough power through the USB-C, so you have to connect power directly to the laptop anyway (maybe not a problem for you, I want my users to just have to connect one cable when moving around).


It sounds like you have a nice setup right now, I wouldn't cheap out on the dock just to save $100

Your laptop should be able to run swtor efficiently because it's not a very demanding game at all. Your laptop might get a little hot but that can be easily solved with a laptop cooling pad like this https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B016PMVM7Q/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1504370232&sr=8-1-spons&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=laptop+cooling+pad&psc=1

Please let me know how it works and if you enjoy the game.🙂

In my opinion your best bet for dual monitor support is just to get a dual display dock that works over USB 3.0 - many people are having issues with the Microsoft one so perhaps get something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Plugable-UD-3900-Universal-Docking-Ethernet/dp/B00ECDM78E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1465082911&sr=8-1&keywords=pluggable+usb+3.0+dock+dual+monitor

That dock already has the correct connections for both of your monitors, which is a bonus.

Most of these docks going through USB 3.0 have more than enough bandwidth for watching videos etc. so latency shouldn't be a concern but it will used ~5-10% CPU during watching videos for the dock itself just FYI.

Good luck!

I'm in high school as well and I'm planning to do something like this but I don't want to buy stuff I don't necessary need. Basically the idea to have the Mac on a stand while next to the monitor (which is on a stand as well) is connected to it. There are also speakers, and I'll be using an old keyboard that I have (usb) as well as a bluetooth mouse.

So far this is what I'm thinking:

Laptop stand: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000OOYECC/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

USB Hub: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JX1ZS5O/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A29Y8OP2GPR7PE

Basic speakers: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GHY5F3K/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

HDMI Cable: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014I8SIJY/ref=ox_sc_act_title_5?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Thunderbolt to HDMI Adapter: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DRK2ZIK/ref=ox_sc_act_title_6?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1AMUYYA3CT6HJ

And finally, the monitor: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01IA9FXAO/ref=ox_sc_act_title_7?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

I haven't decided nor found a good stand for the monitor so if anyone can help that'd be great. Also, anybody else can comment, I was just seeing if this was buying too much or is there an easier way. I have a nrMBP mid 2012 13'' for reference.

First things that come to my mind:

1. This tripod is so absolutely fantastic, and cheap!
   
2. A fast lens or two. Either a zoom at f/2.8, or my suggestion would be a prime (50mm or 85mm -- or both) at f/1.4 or f/1.8. These primes will yield incredible results, and are reasonably priced.
   
3. A flash. Something that can be used off or on camera. Something you can slave/master would be best.
   
4. A polarizer for your best lens(es). Polarizers make a huge difference when taking landscape photos or photos with a lot of reflections.
   
5. One of these two backpacks could make being mobile so much easier! This one or this one. I have owned the first for a couple years now -- taken it all around the world, don't have a single complaint.
   
   Hope some of these ideas help.

That one looks like it would be very effective, but how loud is it? I was looking into coolers today and found a couple:

This one is kindof different but it seems to work and it has a lot of good reviews.
http://www.amazon.com/LC05-Cooling-Auto-Temp-Detection-Compatible/dp/B00XKU47Y2/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1458172921&sr=8-5&keywords=laptop+cooler

Read really good reviews on this one and I like that you can adjust the fan position.
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-NotePal-PLUS-Performance/dp/B00ED3WMTC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1458180143&sr=8-1&keywords=laptop+cooler+u3

+1 to all the comments about reducing processing load where possible. Beyond that, if you don’t already have one I use a cooling pad. It is basically just a raised platform with fans under the laptop to move air across the bottom.

Don’t expect marvels, but I definitely notice a difference of a couple degrees.

This is what I use:
Cooler Master NotePal U3 PLUS - https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00ED3WMTC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_-Tu2AbAX92J9X

Although I don’t recommend this particular one; the angle is too sharp and without modification my laptop was sliding off. Something like it could help though.

Consider fan noise from the pad itself, angle, and if the laptop will have a small air gap between the fans for air flow.

Not a problem man I am happy to help.

The mod is pretty easy. You can't mount the OPOLAR cooler without cutting out the little ridge that is basically just there for aesthetic purposes since the battery has the same ridges. I just kept going a little farther to get the fan some extra air flow. I'm considering cutting it out a little more to see if it improves the Temps at all. However it's not really necessary as the Temps are fine & the plastic does obviously provide protection to the fan.

Here is a link to the pics I promised:
http://imgur.com/a/wmaHXTn

I did a piss poor job cutting it. You should be able to do much better with the proper Dremel tool. I used a metal grinding attachment that wasn't at all great for cutting plastic. But heh, work with what you got right?

I should also mention that I do also use this laptop cooling pad:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00NNMB3KS?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd_title

I agree that the OEM docks are always the best, hands down - but I recently had a surprisingly good experience with an aftermarket USB dock. Plugable makes one that's compatible with just about anything, tablets included (using an OTG cable). This wasn't on an important system else I would have gotten the OEM dock for a little bit more.

I was having trouble getting it to work, and while suggesting a BIOS update first would have been helpful, they were happy to 2-day a tested and working dock to isolate the fault, and provide free return shipping on the test unit.

Of course, you don't get the built in charging ability, which for most users is a dealbreaker because an extra cord is too much to remember and "my laptop keeps dying ever since I started using this new dock you put in."

Well I'd like to share my results. This is on a Dell Latitude E6440 i7-4610m with a AMD Radeon HD 8690M switchable graphics card with Windows 7.

Spectating gets me 30-40 FPS (with real lows of 25 rarely) 1366x768 with an-isotropic filtering, anti-aliasing and high texture quality active, otherwise minimal settings.

The CPU gets sorta hot running at 85 C and GPU at 65 - 70 C. I'm looking into getting a portable external cooling fan like this.

Initially the game refused to load on the proper graphics card, loading on the default intel hd 4600. After updating the graphics card drivers everything worked beautifully, and I'd also like to note that the new AMD catalyst center is AWESOME and even provides the ability to overclock a bit. Pre-upgrade catalyst control center was garbage.

Also the keyboard and mouse do not function simultaneously unless you disable touchguard under dell trackpad settings.

Overall I'm very happy with this machine and would suggest it to anyone looking for a primary laptop workstation with good battery life with the ability to game on occasion plugged in. Especially noteworthy is the (dell unsupported) msata slot, thus with certainty the ability to use at least 3 disk drives (one msata, one standard 2.5, and a second 2.5 in the disc drive bay). BIOS actually lists a fourth sata interface, though I've yet to attempt to determine if that would enable another msata or whatnot - if so it would be a half size, which do exist but are rarer.

Great case choice :D

I don't know what your application is for this build...but if you want to save money or deflect for another time, etc. I'd recommend just a single stick of 8GB ram (for now) - upgrading to the 16GB later. So this should drop it by ~$90.

Then I would recommend a SF450 or SF600 for your PSU - as this will open the door for future SFF builds as well. In addition to it, pick up the ATX to SFX adapter. What this will ALSO do is give you more room for your cooler to breath - if not get a bigger cooler that has better cooling capacity.

https://www.amazon.com/SilverStone-Technology-Universal-Adapter-Bracket/dp/B01BYB33J8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1527010539&sr=8-2&keywords=atx+sfx+adapter

This looks like you could probably get another ~20mm of room.

Which should allow you to get this instead...

https://www.amazon.com/noctua-Premium-Cooler_-Cooling-NH-L9x65/dp/B00VB3Y89E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1527010650&sr=8-1&keywords=noctua+65

Or any cooler that's 65mm tall or less (since with an ATX PSU, your limit is 61mm. If you use an SFX PSU you'll gain ~20mm, so technically your limit is now 81mm - but of course you'll still want a gap so...).

These PSUs are $80-120. So there's that.

Otherwise, I think everything else looks good.

Ignore price and look a quantity and quality of reviews. This pad for example would be great. I have friends that use it and they don't really have any complaints. It's important to keep in mind that cooling pads aren't ever ever perfect, and if you feel like your laptop is getting too hot, close your application and give it a bit of a rest, maybe reduce settings for a while. I don't know what brand or model your laptop is, but some laptops run hotter than others. I hope it works out for you, a nice gaming laptop can be a great thing to have.

My laptop is a little less powerful than yours, but I ran into the same problem. I'm playing ESO, which isn't that demanding, but I have the settings turned up high. I was even running into the situation where my system's temperature would spike and automatically shut down. I've had to employ a few strategies to overcome this.

1. Make sure the temperature in your room isn't too hot. If the ambient temperature is too warm, then there's almost nothing you can do to get the heat out of the machine fast enough. There were some hot days this summer that I just accepted the fact that I wasn't going to game until well after sunset.
   
2. As others have mentioned, don't run both screens at the same time while gaming. I also work from home, and I find that my system can handle my daily work just fine on both screens, but gaming is a no go.
   
3. When you're not using the laptop's built-in screen, don't close it. I assume you're using a regular keyboard when you're using your ultrawide, but leave the screen open so that the keyboard is exposed. This will allow some more of the heat your laptop is producing to escape from the top. If you don't already know it, you can press the winkey + p to quickly switch between monitor modes.
   
4. I bought this cooling pad: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01469DJLM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. The 5 fans are nice, but the biggest plus is that it lifts so high off the table, which lets fresh air circulate down to the fan intakes.
   
5. My laptop and the monitor are also under a hutch, so I also had a problem with the exhaust heat from the devices accumulating in the restricted space. I bought a little 5" clip-on fan that I use to force fresh air into the hutch and blow out the hot air.

For when I'm on-the-go I usually just leave these two things in my bag:

Aukey (30W) charger for my rMB 2016. Great for the 29W requirement of the rMB, but I don't think it will charge the current MBPtb as fast as the included Apple charger. There are certainly similar alternatives available on Amazon that are better suited for the power requirement of the MBPtb though.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LX063QN/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Cable Matters USB-C Cable
Only for charging. Data transfer with this cable is at USB 2.0 speeds (like the Apple cable included in the box). I prefer this to the apple cable because the adapter is at a right angle, and thus sends the cable directly backwards instead of off to the side. This is far less obtrusive/annoying when I'm sitting at my desk at work.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N41JUI4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1for charging

When I'm at home I use the Dell WD-15 as a dock. This charges my rMB at full speed in addition to being a source of USB 3.0 ports, 3.5mm audio out, and my HDMI/VGA/Mini-displayport monitor connection with a single USB-C input. This dock will definitely charge your MBPtb, but it will do so at a slower speed because it only uses around 60W(?) for charging. I believe Dell makes another dock that has a greater power output if slower charging speed is a big issue for you.
https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Dock-WD15-Adapter-Type-C/dp/B01C8PHWQY/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1501694857&sr=1-1&keywords=dell+wd15

Sure, but who cares about custom messages on a laptop stand? It's still not going to look good. Something like this laptop stand looks way better and is even cheaper.

> No usb video adapter is going to be going above that due to the tech needed to run that display.

And yet, they exist. They have to be doing something other than just running an uncompressed video signal over the USB data line, but I don't know the details.

> A standardized extremal facing PCI-e x8 or even x16 port would be much better due to the ease of passive adapters vs active converters.

That's pretty much what Thunderbolt is (though it only delivers 4 lanes)

If that's 96C then yes, that is far too high. You don't ever want it to go above 60C. High temps over time quickly reduce the lifespan of your hardware. Its possible your thermal paste has worn off over time. It's also possible you still have something running in the background that's causing your CPU to heat up. Either way, the fastest fix for now is to start using a cooling pad.

Firstly, elevate your laptop to improve air circulation underneath. And while you have it up, give it a good blow with compressed air. Focus on the vents and fans. If you can open a back panel without too much trouble, open that up, give it a good blow. But be sure not to touch any of the metal parts. Secondly, purchase a cooling pad - something like this.

And thirdly, explore options for long-term cooling. Depending on your manufacturer and warranty, you should contact them first. If you are out of warranty, you could contact wherever you purchased your laptop from, or research a good computer shop in your area. Depending on the model of your laptop investigating the heating issue, which will probably be mostly dust cleaning, and possibly looking at the thermal paste and fans, may run you between $75 and $200 (also varies by where you live).

We've gone all-in on Plugable USB 3.0 docks with our Surface Pro 4's and new Dell Latitude 3390 2-in-1 machines. They've been damn near flawless. This is after a year of suffering with SP4/Surface Docks.

Downside is it seems like a lot of the rendering is done on the CPU, so dragging windows across the external monitors can cause CPU usage to spike, but we haven't had any issues from it. Just something to note. All machines are specced with i5 CPUs at a minimum, wouldn't recommend anything lower with it.

Plugable support has been very friendly and helpful in the two times I've contacted them. They also offer discounts when you buy a "case" of docks (a case is 12). You have to e-mail support for that.

I have the amazonbasics model prior to that one posted, and it has a sleeve that fits binders perfectly fine! I love the bag. Holds up real well.

Edit: this one is what i have. It’s perfect. AmazonBasics DSLR and Laptop Backpack - Orange interior https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CF5OGP8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_KSVYCbFHXX06T

Hi! Your setup looks pretty great, and we were curious if we could use this photo on our Facebook page.

Additionally, if you're interested in more ports as well as 85W charging and the ability to connect to dual extended displays, I'd suggest taking a look at our TS3 Plus (also available on Amazon).

Nice, should be reasonably straight forward. I saw that you were worried about the CPU--that part is intimidating but also not as bad as it seems. There is plenty of space around the edge to hold on without touching the pins. Just look the chip and the motherboard over carefully before you pick them up to see how to align the chip--there's a notch in the corner to make sure it fits right.

Do you have any tools and a static strap? You'll probably need a small screwdriver, and the static strap gave me peace of mind, though you don't necessarily need it.

I got a tool set like this, and it was super useful to have everything I needed in one place. The best item was the little part grabber for when you inevitably drop a screw somewhere in the case or on another board. I think one of the tools is also to help you hold the cpu while you install it. The $22 version has a static strap plus some other tools, or you can buy the static strap separately.

Edit: Realized something later--straight forward doesn't mean error or mistake free! Take it slow, and if something isn't working, back up a few steps and figure out what went wrong. Worst case, pull it all apart and start over! Don't want you thinking you're bad at this after everyone said how "easy" it is when you realize at the very end you put something in upside down or missed some screw. Everyone does that!

I use this, but I did make a ticket to gigabyte (before I fixed my issues using undervolting) and they recommended this pad which might help a little more (but I don't like the gamer look). The main thing the pad does it get the bottom away from a flat surface which helps a lot since the intake fan on the bottom need breathing room. Depending on your thermals it should not be loud, I'm not a content creator, but during demanding games I now get about 70C and the fan stays relatively quiet. I would advise you buy from an authorized reseller and have them repaste the CPU/ GPU with Liquid Metal for you, this will help thermals even more (I wish I had it done).

The bracelets are like these, the wallwart i'd recommend looking up since i don't think i'm going to explain it well. But, it's basically a bunch of caps that go between the wall plug, and the device you're plugging in to give some resistance if you do cause a short. You can buy them, or build them im pretty sure. Again i'd do some research of your own, definitely not explaining it right lol

This is how I keep my PS3 nice and cool. Lots of air moving around, plus it sits on top of a laptop cooling pad.
the cooling pad is pretty awesome, one giant fan, very quiet, moves a lot of air. And, you don't even lose a USB port.

I've got a GS60 with 970m. Heat isn't really an issue. I bought a cheap cooling pad that I set it on. I usually don't even power the cooling pad, just have it between my lap and the laptop because the bottom does get warm during usage. Even without it on I've never run into any throttling or problems due to heat, but I use it when playing more demanding games just to help a little. Overall I'm quite happy with it. The cooling is likely a little different with the GS70 but I'd imagine if anything it would cool better.

You should focus on the Graphics and Chipset drivers mainly, of course updating all te drivers once a year is always a good practice.

 

And as for the desk I can recomend you any of this 3 computer stands:

 

「Stand 1」 I use this one at home, it's a bit bulky, but it lets more air flow into the machine, you can even get a fan to blow some air into the bottom of the machine for better cooling.

 

「Stand 2」 I use this one at work, since it's al aluminium it helps to disperse the heat and I use no extra fan because my office has AC

 

「Stand 3」 I don't own this one, but it has a fan already built in and a USB hub wo you could use it as a docking station for your machine.

This could possibly get a little more life out of my laptop and I would cry tears of joy!

/u/girfex could use a gift! He's been an awesome big brother to me (which makes him your bro too!)

I know that you are my sister bc /u/jonesno11 is our mommy and you're the pretty, beautiful, sloth to my piggy!

Did I miss anything? This sucks on mobile lol

Most mobile graphics cards last a while (though this varies on who built your laptop) due to their general lack of heat output (in comparison to a desktop version), while companies generally put a lot of the extra space in a gaming laptop to use cooling the GPU.

I would say it should run solid around 4-5 years depending on how hard you are pushing your computer. If you are playing multiple hours of games like Witcher 3 five+ days a week maybe a little less. I would recommend an external fan for your laptop, as it will help cool the internals, which should give some more stability in the long run. May not make things as quiet as can be, but will save you money down the road.

Here's a link to one I've used that works relatively well, while allowing you to eat dinner on the same date if you are interested.

http://www.amazon.com/Tree-New-Bee-Cooling-15-6/dp/B016PMVM7Q/ref=sr_1_18?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1450332284&sr=1-18&keywords=laptop+fan

EDIT

I may have read this question wrong...

I don't live in a hot environment but I am always concerned about heating. I found a close out on a MasterCooler Cool Master, basically like this one:https://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-NotePal-Ultra-Slim-R9-NBC-XSLI-GP/dp/B005C31HC0

My PS4 sits on top of this and the fan can hit the side vents to make sure hot air isn't collecting around the unit or underneath of course.

It may be worth a try, you can use any recent USB-AC adapter to power it off an outlet or off the PS4 directly.

I got this for my stealth.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FKTZLBS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'm not sure why it's not available currently but I absolutely love it. It's approved and works with the Stealth, can drive 3 monitors, charges the laptop so I can keep my charger in my bag, has an additional USB-C port, plenty of other ports. I've had it for a month and absolutely love it.

That would be a "Cooler Master NotePal U3 Plus" I bought on Amazon around a year ago. It has 3 fans underneath that you can latch-in below your bottom grille for a little extra airflow, but they don't really push much air. The stand is lightweight aluminium which is easy to carry around, but the handle ended up breaking on me from everyday use, other then that it's been a decent buy, helped lower the temps on my previous Acer laptop by around 5-10 degree's.

Shopping Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ED3WMTC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


EDIT: Just checked the reseller prices on Amazon. I bought mine for 30 dollars with free shipping, it's advertised now for 60+ dollars, I think for 30 bucks it was worth it, but I wouldn't pay over 40 for one, there are better options that would last longer then this pad at that pricerange.

A temporary solution would be to get a Laptop Cooling Pad. This is the highest rated one on Amazon and it's quite cheap for the size of the fan. This will probably extend the life of your laptop/GPU by a few more months.

Unfortunately this is every laptops downfall. There's not much you can do except clean out the dust. I recommend building a custom PC when it comes time for a new one. /r/buildapc would love to help you out with that.

One quick remedy is to elevate the back of your laptop to increase ventilation. This helps it cool better. You may use a laptop cooling pad like this: https://www.amazon.de/Cooler-Master-Notepal-R9-NBC-8PCK-GP-Computers/dp/B003ZMF27G

In my experience, the cooling pad doesn't even need to have its own fans. Just helping air go through your laptop's cooling system helps a lot.

You can't daisy chain HDMI monitors.

Your options are to see if your laptop manufacturer has a first party docking station that has 3 outputs, or you could get a third party dock like this one: https://www.amazon.com/Plugable-Universal-Docking-Station-Ethernet/dp/B00ECDM78E

The last option would be to get a couple of USB Video cards like these: https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-USB-HDMI-Adapter-External/dp/B00H91BQ7Y/


Good luck.

Kootek Laptop Cooling Pad 12"-17" Cooler Pad Chill Mat 5 Quiet Fans LED Lights and 2 USB 2.0 Ports Adjustable Mounts Laptop Stand Height Angle https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01469DJLM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_6jEqDb0NE440F

This is the one I have. I like it a lot because it kind of gives you the best of both worlds. You get a stand that props the laptop up at angle to maximize airflow, as well as fans that can help as well. I find that the angle itself does more than the fans, but the fans certainly don’t hurt. Works great while I’m gaming in bed too it fits nicely on my lap

I got the Caldigit TB3 dock about a month ago and it's been great. I really did my research and I just wanted the best one. I'm running 2 HD monitors and tons of peripherals. I WFH so I wanted the most useful ports + reliability + not a million bucks. Highly recommend.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CZPV8DF/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_5U6XCbN4D2P5A

Your english is perfectly comprehendible, no need to apologize. :) You could either use an ESD wrist strap if you're really worried about it or you could just plug in your PSU (do NOT turn it on) and periodically touch it to get rid of any charge you have. I think most people would agree ESD is really not as big of a deal as you would think and the PSU method is probably fine. Jayztwocents did a good video on this awhile ago. It definitely won't hurt to get an ESD wrist strap though.

Thank you very much for answering jpisini!

Yes I only use my laptop on my desk, using a laptop fan pad (link to the specific one in case it helps any: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00NNMB3KS?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd_title).

Hope to hear from you - thank you again!

Yeah they have lost their edge a bit, but not too blinded by fandom to ignore it. I have no problem going against its constitutes, even if it falls at times. All in all it is your choice, whatever you choice; various heat temps by others reported has a lot of factors the temp of the room, what it is on, the dust built up over time. No matter what you end up choosing to go with, I would say get a extra laptop cooler on your machine, every little bit helps overtime.

Personally I have two coolers on my laptop machine, (Coolmaster massive 200mm fan I believe, and havoc vacuum on the vent [CPU focus] on the side./vacuum is an example they don't make my model anymore they cost 15-30 usually on amazon.) and it helps it run much cooler. I will now always keep the combo, because it's just overall healthier for the machine. I have 10 year old machine so it actually needs it now. Thermal past has worn away.

If you are bit paranoid about cooling (for laptops you should always be) a 3rd party seller that can help out is http://www.xoticpc.com/ they offer stronger cooling that's above any manufacturers default; cost more obviously. ( $35ish.) Can customize them too, an they have more than just Alienware (seems the 17x 980m is sold out for the moment sadly.) there too pretty much every gaming laptop brand.

An AW fanboy so I want to bully towards them(pretty colors!), but you have to get what is right for you. If there is another brand that's cheaper that seems to be the better performer go for it! AW is about gaming and doing whatever you want with the power that machine gives, and it's not the only one that can do it. Just don't get a macbook pro...I will not support that at all, and they actually run as hot gaming laptops without the power! But in all I just want to help a fellow gamer out. Giving you the most tools that can use to make a judgement.

Three or four questions, all regarding my laptop (check flair for model/specs).

Is there a program that will let me see exactly what MHz/GHz my CPU is running at while gaming? I'm curious to know if the Turbo is kicking in or not, because at times it feels like it isn't. Also looking for a possible alternative to Afterburner/RivaTuner, since allegedly Riva has issues with some of the games I play.

If the Turbo isn't kicking in (or if it's sporadic), is there a way to force it to whenever I'm gaming, then turn it off when I'm not?

Also, is something like this "extractor" type cooler (https://www.amazon.com/Temperature-Auto-Temp-Detection-Installation-Compatible/dp/B01NACVLWM/ref=lp_11750451011_1_2?srs=11750451011&ie=UTF8&qid=1484053668&sr=8-2) a good choice to help with temperature issues (I'm seeing peaks of 90C at as low as 48% usage), or would I be better off with a traditional cooling pad?

Also, if the linked cooler/extractor is a bad choice, what would PCMR recommend? I don't have much money, so please, keep recommendations around $60 or less.

Wow you're awesome!
I'm gonna organize this list from most wanted to least wanted :D

1. Bluetooth headphones! this was reviewed by unbox therapy and apparently it's really god so I wanna try it out :D
   
   
2. AmazonBasics Ventilated Adjustable Laptop Stand Who doesn't need a laptop stand eh? i hate burning my lap while I'm using my laptop!
   
   3.PNY Turbo 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive A 3.0 usb is hard to find for such a price! and the storage space makes it so much better :D
   
   
3. Shoes are nice to have right?
   
   5: Baby groot! Because I loveeeeeee groot
   
   thanks for doing this :)
   
   

No offense OP but that cooling pad looks like a cheap POS. I ordered this one instead. A lot thinner and I trust Cooler Master has quiet fans. One large 160mm fan is more than adequate as well. https://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-NotePal-Ultra-Slim-R9-NBC-XSLI-GP/dp/B005C31HC0/ref=pd_sbs_147_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=FN2Q2NEVQ5XGZ5QXRY9W

He's wack. You don't need a TB3 port to connect a docking station. You can use a USB version but its best to only use it if you have a perm work station since you'd have a bunch of wires coming from it. This is the cheapest one with the best reviews: https://www.amazon.com/Plugable-Universal-Docking-Station-Ethernet/dp/B00ECDM78E/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1550788223&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=docking+station&psc=1

​

​

I would go with Acer Aspire 5. It has discrete graphics card MX150, 8th gen i5 processor. (it's under $598 on Amazon).

Pros:

• Attractive design;
  
• Gorgeous display;
  
• Nvidia MX150 graphics;
  
• Comfortable keyboard;
  
• An SSD and HDD
  
  Specifications:
  
  
• 8th Generation Intel Core i5-8250U Processor (Up to 3.4GHz)
  
• 15.6″ Full HD (1920 x 1080) ComfyView widescreen LED-backlit display
  
• NVIDIA GeForce MX150 with 2 GB of dedicated GDDR5 VRAM
  
• 8GB DDR4 Dual Channel Memory & 256GB SSD
  
• 802.11ac WiFi (Dual-Band 2.4GHz and 5GHz)
  
• 1 – USB 3.1 Type C Gen 1 port, 1 – USB 3.0 Port & 2 – USB 2.0 ports
  
• 1 – HDMI port
  
• Backlit Keyboard
  
• 4-cell Li-Ion (3220 mAh) Battery, Up to 7 Hours Battery Life
  
• Windows 10 Home
  
• Weight of 4.41 lbs
  
  More Details
  
  And this is a good docking station on Amazon the price is $89.

Try shadows set to low.

Set framerate to 60 or unlock.

Vsync off

​

Since you play on a laptop, I would suggest purchasing a cooling pad (more like a stand) with fans in it. Even though gaming laptops exist, the heat tends to wear down your computer in the long run - especially by shortening your battery cell's life.

The following is a MUST have: https://www.amazon.com/LC05-Cooling-Auto-Temp-Detection-Compatible/dp/B00XKU47Y2 If you don't want the cooling pad, that's cool. But definitely get that fan attachment, it legit pulls out hot air from your laptop so it can cycle in cool air. Works tremendously well

Get a Pluggable USB-3 dock, a male DVI to female VGA adapter, a USB 3 sharing switcher, and a female USB 3 to male USB-C OTG cable. I promise absolutely nothing

• Install the appropriate DisplayLink drivers on each computer
  
  
• Plug the computers into the host USB ports of the USB sharing switch (use the USB OTG cable to connect the Mac)
  
  
• Plug the Pluggable dock's host USB cable into a peripheral port of the sharing switch
  
  
• Plug the DVI to VGA adapter into the DVI port of the Pluggable dock
  
  
• Cable up the monitors
  
  
• Pray
  
  Plugable USB 3.0 Universal Laptop Docking Station for Windows (Dual Video HDMI & DVI / VGA, Gigabit Ethernet, Audio, 6 USB Ports) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ECDM78E/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_30Q1Ab3BX3P9J
  
  UGREEN USB 3.0 Sharing Switch Selector 4 Port 2 Computers Peripheral Switcher Adapter Hub for PC, Printer, Scanner, Mouse, Keyboard with One Button Swapping and 2 Pack USB Male Cable https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N6GD9JO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_53Q1AbPGC4FS6
  

If you end up wanting to buy something, i purchased link a year ago because the bottom of my laptop would get so hot it would burn my legs and it works perfectly; my laptop is now just slightly warm or room temp. You can position the fans wherever you like and it an adjustable fan speed wheel and it comes with an elastic band to help secure the laptop to the device.

Welcome to the master race brother! I've built a plethora of computers in my day here are some tips I have. Sorry for formatting I'm on mobile.

1. Ground yourself. Get one of these bad boys and connect it to your case when you build.
   
   https://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Grounding-Alligator-RTK-002-Detachable/dp/B004N8ZQKY
   
   
   
2. Build on a table with your shoes on.
   
   
3. Get a bios post speaker. It will beep out an error code if anything goes wrong so you know what to fix.
   
   https://www.amazon.com/PC-Internal-Mini-Onboard-Speaker/dp/B002W4M0DW
   
   
4. For the tools all you need is a Phillips screwdriver and a pair of needlenose plyers.
   
   
5. When you are all built and ready make sure you keep a bootable USB (Linux preferred but windows will do) as a failsafe in case you brick the OS. Make sure it's labeled accordingly.
   
   
6. If you buy your storage brand new (SSD, hard drive, etc) it might not have a partitioning table setup so the OS installer might not detect it. If you need help setting this up just reply and I'll help you.
   
   
7. Have fun!

Look for something that is going to work well with the positions of the vents on the laptop. If your intake vents are on the bottom of the laptop, I'd suggest something like the Cooler Master Notepad U2/U3. Especially because you can move the fans to line up with the intake vents. I have the U2 and it works very nicely. Although, I think the fact that the laptop is raised off a surface is more important than the actually fans. I saw temperatures drop about 6-8° C under load on my XPS 15 9550 just using the cooling stand, while turning the fans on only brought the temps down about 1-3° C.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002SGATH8?fp=1&pc_redir=T1

If your exhaust fans are on the side of the laptop, maybe try on of those vacuum suction type coolers that pulls air out of the machine. Like this one:
https://www.amazon.com/LC05-Cooling-Auto-Temp-Detection-Compatible/dp/B00XKU47Y2

After doing a bunch of research, I came to the conclusion that there isn't a perfect cooler out there, you have to find what gives your specific laptop the best airflow. Hope this helps!

those are some of the best components and you got a great deal, i think youre having heat problems

i recommend you buy a cooling pad, my preferred is this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NNMB3KS

if you tell me wich laptop you use i can better recommend a cooling pad

A post I considered regarding temps:

With turbo disabled (2.6 GHz) and the Cool fan profile, my SC NUC is 50C at idle, 65 watching movies, 83 under full CPU load, and 92 playing 3D games. 80C is the recommended long term temp (Tcontrol)

90+ is concerning and I wonder about the health of other components at that temp. Below is a couple tips for reducing temp and I welcome any others

Undervolt the CPU and GPU. This reduces voltage and heat. To do this, go to BIOS (press F2), Advanced, and slide the voltage down on core and uncore (slice and unslice for GPU). Do one at a time, either CPU or GPU. Then run a benchmark like Cinebench for CPU or Heaven for GPU. If it passes, reduce voltage. If it crashes, increase and run again. There's more tuning you can do, but I'm not an expert

Buy a laptop cooler. I've had luck with Opolar. It stays on without adhesive, albeit must be attached upside down, but is loud and the auto-temp makes it overly noisy at low work loads. At the minimum fan speed it's not too bad. Temps while gaming have been reduced by 9C

How else can users reduce temps and what's the effect of 80+ on lifespan?

The mixcube is great 2nd opinion when working on mixdowns. It's not necessarily the best sounding speaker, but gives a pretty clear picture how things sound in mono (and whether you need to adjust certain track levels based on that). The riser stand is a cheap laptop stand I got off of amazon:
Pyle Pro DJ Laptop stand

Yup. Laptops can only fit itty bitty fans, which need to spin very fast to move a useful amount of air, which makes lots of noise. Bigger fans can spin slower, making less noise, while moving more air.

This is why desktops have moved to larger fans over the years. 15 years ago, 80mm was the norm. Now 120mm is basically universal and 140mm and larger aren't unusual.

As for a solution, look into a fan pad, preferably with a single very big fan. It will keep the internal fans from spinning up too much while keeping the temperatures down. I personally have this one, which works nicely for my 17" clevo.

I suggest a stand to deal with heat management and positioning - if she's going to use the main display the Rain Design stand looks very nice; if she's going to close the display and use only an external one a vertical dock like this is pretty nice.

Whatever you do, make sure cable management takes the tension off of those small connectors - especially mini displayport and power. Also, a powered USB hub may be useful if she's going to plug in anything besides keyboard and mouse.

There are vents underneath, but also at the vertical-top part of the keyboard which blow the hot air up in front of your screen. For my previous laptop I had already purchased this cooler, which I still use. Don't know if it actively cools alot, but the aluminium bottom doesn't heat up as much which is a good thing I guess.

Besides the cooling I really like the position the cooler gives for writing and the adjustable fan speed though.

I wouldn’t recommend that one. What I recommend is the same one I bought from amazon. #1 on the list of coolers, quiet, cools the laptop quite well, and inexpensive. I wish it had red leds since that is the led theme I have on but for the performance, great reviews and cost. I can’t complain. Also fits the 17” too. I am using it on my 13R3 and it has tons of space so should be able to fit just fine.

Check it out

This is what I use and it works great. Keeps my laptop cool even running Witcher 3. I have a 15.6in though, but this does say it's made for up to 17in. I had $10 credit on amazon so I got it really cheap, but it has never failed me, runs quiet, and can be used either in tilt or flat positions. I'd say check reviews from people with 17in laptops but it's definitely a recommendation from me.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B016PMVM7Q/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1#nav-search-keywords

I bought this one a couple of years ago. I love it, works great, super light, very quiet, and the USB plug it is powered by has an extension so it's not taking up a USB port.

Bought one of these: https://www.amazon.com/Plugable-UD-3900-Universal-Docking-Ethernet/dp/B00ECDM78E/

Love it, Love it, Love it. Had problems with it after 4 months and emailed them for help. They sent me a brand new unit at no cost to me. Top notch customer service. Ended up being a Surface driver issue an not the hub. Go figure.

A cooling pad will definitely help, ive heard just raising the laptops back off the table a inch has helped thermals. I would look into a cooler like this though: https://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-NotePal-PLUS-Performance/dp/B00ED3WMTC

The u3 is meant for 17 inch laptops, but you can grab the U2 which is the 15inch version but you will loose a fan. Ive used the cooler for years and its one of the best because you can move the fan exactly where you need it.

What about the HP Spectre x360 Convertible Laptop - 13t touch?

• Intel Core i5-8250U (1.6 GHz, up to 3.4 GHz, 6 MB cache, 4 cores)
  
• 13.3"
  
• 1920 x 1080
  
• 8 GB RAM
  
• 256 GB SSD
  
• Intel UHD Graphics 620
  
• Windows 10 Home 64
  
• 2.78 lbs.
  
  It has good build quality and around 9 hours of battery according to this review. The screen covers 99% of sRGB accordign to that review, so it is probably one of the better displays in this price range. I think the laptop has a premium feel and the keyboard is comfortable to type on.
  
  It also has two Thunderbolt 3 ports.
  
  This latest gen quad core CPU should be great for general use and multitasking.
  
  You can also configure it with more RAM and a larger SSD if you prefer that.
  
  If you need a docking station you can connect one over Thunderbolt. For example, seems this one should work according to the reviews.
  
  For more options you can check this list of laptops for general use. You can click on the 2-in-1 column to compare different Detachable and Convertible options.
  
  

clean out ur fan u probly dont need another pc.

pc too loud -> fan spinning too fast - > fan most probably clogged with dust

if it's a laptop I've had good success with this shit gave my shitty overheating laptop 2 more years:

like this (not this brand but something like it)

and a cooling pad like that

if its a desktop u only need a can of air

pheeew! That CPU is HOT my friend.


You need get the dust out of there or have someone clean it out and re-seat the heat sink. Also to make sure all the fans are working!

There is noooo way it should be that hot. You can get laptop fans that can help cool it. In particular, I saw this and thought it was pretty neat. It isn't terribly expensive either.

It seems like your GPU is not being held back by your CPU, so that is good, it isn't being bottle necked. The CPU running so hot, that it is absolutely causing it to throttle down to lower speeds.

The lower clock speeds mean higher frame times and for you that means lag spikes.

Your CPU should rarely be above 85C for normal every day operation. Somewhere in the 70C - 80C range for pretty heavy stuff. Maybe 90C for something like prime95 using AVX instructions--i.e. not normal everyday use.

If you are seeing 96C, man that is close to causing thermal damage to your CPU. You're seeing lag spikes because the processor is desperately trying to protect itself from damage. Once it hits 100C for any appreciable amount of time, your computer will just hard crash--just shut off. I wouldn't be surprised if you've had some crashes here and there due to this!

Since thunderbolt 3 is relatively new there are very few docks that have been released and the ones that have don't have any reviews stating if they work with certain computers. One option: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FKTZLBS/
Another option is to buy a USB 3.0 docking station. I have Dell's D3100 which work pretty well but there are also a lot of other options but most only support 2 monitors: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ECDM78E/
http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-Universal-Docking-Station-DVI-Ethernet/dp/B008YT4N3E
http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Display-UltraHD-Universal-D3100/dp/B00O0M46KO/
These of course won't charge the laptop like a thunderbolt 3 dock may be able to.
Since the xps 15 does not have displayport you would not be able to daisy chain directly but would instead have to buy thunderbolt 3 to displayport cable that supports daisy chaining but I am not sure if one is out yet.

Yes, a cooling pad definitely helps. I recommended my friend this specific one and it works well.

Sounds like you were hitting the thermal throttle limit of the CPU. That CPU throttles itself back in high temperature situations to prevent damage. The CPU will slow itself down when too hot so that's most likely what you noticed and it's a feature not a problem. You might have shaved some time off the CPU's life but nothing significant (mobile CPU's run hot due to the limited cooling)

First and foremost don't overclock your CPU (that is exceeding the hardware limitations it's designed for), it can really damage the CPU.

Second try and increase the cooling for your laptop. Don't place it on your lap at all (generally ever LOL) and make sure it's a clean hard surface. Also possibly try and get one of those laptop cooling pads as they tend to help a lot. http://www.amazon.com/Tree-New-Bee-Cooling-15-6/dp/B016PMVM7Q/

Good luck and keep on gaming!

http://www.amazon.com/LC05-Cooling-Auto-Temp-Detection-Compatible/dp/B00XKU47Y2

I bought this and both gpu and cpu temp's were lowered by 10C each (without any cleaning or thermal paste)

Changing the battery plan from balanced to high performance may have had some effect, but it is hard to quantify. It does feel like i am getting better performance, but it might be placebo.

I have i7-4720HQ 2.6GHz + GTX950M + 12GB RAM and I run 1680x1050 (75% rendering, low preset except for 4x anisotropic filtering, FXAA, high texture, medium model) at 70FPS basically stable. Sometimes when Mei freezes me it might be going down (perhaps 50?) due to some effect BS

I really thing the opolar fan is much much much better than laptop stand style coolers. You put it on, and temperatures fall by 10C right off the bat.

Out of interest: have you tried the D3100 dock with 3 external monitors (+ thinkpad screen = 4 displays in total)?

So you have the usb-3 version (ie: with the standard usb-a connector). 3 displays, but can't power your laptop as well. Right?

Looking at the amazon page for this, it looks like there are 2 variants.

The usb-3 one, which you have, and a usb-c one. That tops out at 2 external displays, but it ought to (according to one of the Q&A answers on the page) also supply power to the thinkpad.

Would that one do the trick?

Dont build it on carpet, and if youre super worried buy one of these. Super cheap and easy peace of mind.

I thought the same thing. But I ended up getting the Amazon Basics backpack, and I could not be happier: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CF5OGP8/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_vRqGDbZJD4CSP .

I carry 12 decks, 2 playmats, lifepads, pen, tokens, extra sleeves, and a small trade binder without an issue. Granted I don't carry all of that all of the time, but it handles it without an issue.

By far the best MTG related purchase I've made this year. My entire playgroup ended up purchasing them as well. I highly recommend it.

I haven't had time to read down through all the comments in this thread,... but in the environment I work in,.. we specifically and purposely DO NOT recommend any of the smaller pass-through USB-C type adapter/hubs.

If a User wants some kind of multi-port solution.. the only solution we officially recommend is some sort of fully-featured Docking Station ($200 to $300 range).

We had originally started buying OWC TB3 docks.. but the 1st and 2nd gen had similar problems (2nd monitor wouldn't reliably detect). OWC finally came out with a 3rd revision that provides dedicated 85W Laptop Power and (from what I hear) solves the Monitor-detection issues.

However by the time the 3rd revision had come out.. we had already switched everyone over to CalDigit TS3 docks. (https://www.amazon.com/CalDigit-TS3-Plus-Thunderbolt-Dock/dp/B07CZPV8DF/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1549380627&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=caldigit+tb3)

That's pretty much the only thing we use now (mostly for Macs). On all of our DELL's we're using WD15 and WD16.. but they've proven to be a nightmare of glitches and flakyness. DELL BIOS updates and WD-Dock Firmware updates have helped,. but we probably field 10 to 20 DELL Docking station problem-tickets to our Helpdesk every week.

It won't, because the casing of your laptop itself determines its own ambient temp, which will increase as your SoC's will increase as you play Warframe. Getting a laptop cooling pad isn't a huge financial investment, they cost like ~$20 on Amazon.

Edit: Plus, if you're going to college (which it sounds like you are), you can sign up for Amazon's 6 month Prime Student Membership which will give you 6 months of free 2-day shipping on Prime eligible items, which the link I gave you above is.

1. Item. Wine stains your teeth, so you need a toothbrush to help fight that!
   
2. Item. Without regular brushing, shedding pets leave hair on the floor that has to be swept up!
   
3. Item. Kenny Powers is a baseball player, he has to wear a hat for his uniform!
   
4. Item. I use my Kindle to read books, and my Kindle deserves protection!
   
5. Item. Cars have very useful trunks, but in order for them to be useful you have to be able to see where you're driving and when it's raining that calls for windshield wipers!
   
6. Item. In order for capes to look effectively dashing, you need wind, which fans make!

Currently $156 on Amazon

I just received mine Saturday and it is really really nice. Awesome build quality, huge rubber grip on the bottom, and it keeps your XPS 15 charging too (make sure you get the 180W version). I haven't had a chance to try yet, but I'm hoping the Mini Displayport out will be able to use my 2010 27" iMac as a display. USB C is just such a cool connector too.

Cooling pads can definitely help, as long as they're good quality fans. I use them on all my laptops and you can feel the temperature difference just by touching them, especially if they run hot. Cooler Master makes some good ones. I use the CM NotePal X2 and NotePal X3 on my 2 gaming laptops and have a few more of the cheaper ones for my regular/home use laptops. Check Amazon though as they're usually cheaper versus buying straight from CM.

I use laptop cooling stands for all of my consoles and they work great. I have mine horizontal, though. But they do a good job of keeping the consoles a little bit cooler, plus they turn on and off when the console does. Some of them even have extra USB ports. You might want to consider something like that.

This Cooler Master pad is the one I'm using currently.

Edit: This one

and

this one

look even better than the one I have. In fact, one of the reviews on that second one talks specifically about using it for a PS4.

Your best bet would be to go with a powered docking station which would connect to your stealth via one usb c cable. Certain docking stations like the one linked below provide up to 60w power which would work for the stealth which can charge via usb c and only requires 45w of power. From the docking station you can connect a monitor, keyboard, mouse or whatever other accessories you may want.


I currently have this docking station for my Razer blade and love it.

As for the temps issue try a cooling pad like this one https://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-NotePal-PLUS-Performance/dp/B00ED3WMTC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1501045732&sr=8-3&keywords=cooler+master+cooling+pad. In terms of windows not starting up, try going into bios on startup and manually selecting the drive you want to boot from. If that doesnt work Reinstalling Windows at this point would be best for starters. Your going to need to create windows installation media, by following this guide https://mspoweruser.com/how-to-create-a-bootable-usb-drive-for-windows-10/ Bear in mind all your files will be wiped off the drive.If you need to recover the product key your going to need a separate usb drive to turn into Hirens bootable drive using this guide. https://www.hiren.info/pages/bootcd-on-usb-disk Once you boot into Hirens your looking for Produkey/windows key viewer. Finally to save any files while your booted into Hirens, use a separate third blank usb key and move all the files you want onto it.

OK, what about this

It's cheaper, but isn't USB-C. I'm assuming that means things like the video quality will be low/laggy? I am going to want to play FFXIV so I'm assuming I should go with the link you provided? Thank you.

I'm in your league as a big guy but have more gear to store/lug. Most of my shooting is sports/action or nature/macro stuff with the occasional family portrait at holidays. I'm definitely an amateur. For most of my shooting, I rely on four basic styles of totes:

• I use a wrist strap. I don't own this particular one but something very similar. I don't much like neck straps - they're too loose when I'm moving to keep the camera secure and in the way when I'm not moving. When I first bought one of these, I was surprised at how often I used the plate/stand that attaches to the bottom of the camera.
  
• For a single camera with an everyday lens: DSLR holster I don't own this particular one but something very similar.
  
• For a little more gear but still small: DSLR gadget bag I own and use this bag.
  
• For a day spent shooting: DSLR backpack I own and use this bag.
  
  I've got a couple of cross body sling packs that I've never liked - they always seem to be in the way or bouncing around - so they've ended up stuffed in a corner somewhere or holding the small bits of loose camera crap that seems to accumulate like dust bunnies.
  
  When/if you get to the point that you're hauling lights &c around, I've found that most of the time a simple (and long/huge) duffel bag is the easiest solution.

The Coolermaster Notepal U3 is a good alternative as well. Try posting to /r/suggestalaptop if you want some more opinions.

Also just out of interest, when was the last time you cleaned the fans on your laptop? Surely it wouldn't just overheat under normal loads (gaming)? Are you by any chance blocking the fan inlet?

So a full backpack I would recommend the Amazon Basics DSLR Bag. This is what I currently use and am very impressed with it. It's about the size of a full (stuffed) backpack and fits well on my back - can hold the tripod on the side as a double-buckle. And can easily store all of the rest of the stuff inside + a laptop (up to 17") in a secondary compartment. Also has waist straps if that's your thing.

I should also mention that without the tripod attached, this looks like a normal backpack - it doesn't scream "HEY LOOK I HAVE A CAMERA".

At $40, it's not a bad deal at all - I would however take the padding inside and flip it so the camera is up top and not at the bottom (in case you place the bag down roughly at any point).

Try razercortex and close all programs in your background. I play this game on both laptop and desktop and get better fps on laptop :'D.

(1)
don't play on a carpet like surface you laptop might need fresh/cool air. Clean the laptop parts so that it might pull enough air.
buying a laptoop cooler stand (I have one and I also always check/monitor temperatures with MSI afterburner on my laptop which warks fine) might help:

https://www.amazon.com/HAVIT-HV-F2056-Laptop-Cooler-Cooling/dp/B00NNMB3KS/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1519582198&sr=1-3&keywords=laptop+cooler&dpID=51cBGis%252BOdL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

(2)
buy and add more ram to your system or use ccleaner (free version is enough to clean your RAM) for more free ram.

(3)
Play with your settings but at least turn down shadows.

(4)
Buy better hardware which I don't recommend because its costly right now due to high GPU prices and ram prices (save money by using unactivated windows 10 and everything thats > or = i5 or ryzen 3 paired with gtx 1050/gtx 750ti/ rx 460/560 + 8 gb ram will work just fine)

It looks like it isn't getting enough airflow sitting level. I'd recommend keeping it propped up. If you're up to it, you can repaste the thermal compound and I'm sure you'll see a significant boost in thermals.

Edit: Or maybe consider purchasing something like this

I own a 2016 Acer predator so i can't answer the 1st question but since 2 and 3 are general i will help you avoid some of the mistakes I made.
2. Check and monitor your temps. After about a year of usage suddenly my FPS for gaming tanked. I used Speccy and realised the motherboard was overheating. I opened up the laptop chassis and found that one of the fan connectors for the mobo was loose. Then the same thing happened but for the CPU and GPU. I changed the horrible gunk Acer calls thermal paste and voila-temperatures in high 60's to low 70's with a gaming load. My only regret is I over-tightened the screws and stripped some of them. Also clean the exhaust fans from time to time to avoid build up of dust which will increase your temperatures.
Get a good waterproof backpack to carry it with extra padding. If you use it for work and home(gaming) invest in an extra power adapter(don't need it to be the original one). That way all you have to do is plug it in and won't risk damaging the power adapter like I did. Plus its a real hassle to cable manage and carry the extra brick and cord.
3.I do recommend getting a good laptop cooler. I ordered this one but it hasn't been delivered yet.https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01469DJLM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Again a mistake not to use one from the start as it actually will boost performance since the CPU and GPU boost frequencies will be maintained if thermal throttling doesn't occur.

Let me know if you have any other doubts and congrats on your new laptop.

I'm pretty happy with my setup. For the sake of balancing out the desk I'd really like the third monitor. Also down the line would be a triple monitor mount so that everything comes out of one stand rather than three.

The biggest thing that I like about this setup is that I was able to get my USB dock, the dell monitor, mouse and keyboard for about the same price as the surface dock ($250 CAD).

Here's the link to the dock I ended up buying

I think something along the lines of a "tech HD" screen protector.

Carrying cases are eh from what i have seen. However I know USB hubs are great. You can also get a cheap 2.0 usb hub for like 10 bucks.

However, if you want to get super fancy:
http://www.amazon.com/Plugable-UD-3900-Universal-2048x1152-Ethernet/dp/B00ECDM78E/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1381347622&sr=8-8&keywords=universal+docking+station

or

http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-Universal-Docking-Ethernet-USB3SDOCKHD/dp/B008YT59Q4/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1381347622&sr=8-11&keywords=universal+docking+station

This is the best seller on Amazon and it seems to have pretty good reviews.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005C31HC0/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=2BRWNBL4GUCVY&coliid=I32AKPJ1ZYPH67&psc=1&tag=donations09-20

the rain design mstand which is a gorgeous stand on its own. It has the cutout for cable management and the stand doesn't move, and just feels sturdy. I love how it has a deep cutout in the front so you can easily lift the lid of the macbook

Like /u/brimnac says, clean your desk; there's a lot of what looks basically like junk on there. Get that off, and you'd have more room.

Once you do that, put the xbox on it's side, and the laptop should go on top of that just fine; if hot air from the console is a concern, put something like this to hold the laptop away from the xbox a bit.

a better way to get better temps is to change the thermal pastes on your cpu and gpu(and at the same time, clean out the fans, and thermal fins). In terms of cooling pads, you're better off buying usb exhaust fans that you place behind the vents to suck out air. its loud though

also, im not sure if replacing thermal pads would help, it probably would, but very little gains, its up to you since thermal pads are pretty cheap too

edit: this is what i got for my laptop a while ago: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NACVLWM/ref=s9_acsd_hps_bw_c_x_2_w

edit 2: Something to consider would be just increasing your cooling solutions. Instead of trying to overclock, try to control your temps so that your cpu/gpu won't throttle.

Another really expensive option would be is to email your laptop manufacturer if they would be willing to sell you a gpu upgrade. This is a really expensive option.
A cheaper alternative is to use external GPUs. I'm not really sure if you buy the housing and gpu separately or if its 1 whole package. If you can buy the housing separately, you'll have an option to choose a gpu that's not too powerful that your CPU will bottleneck

Late reply.

Its still on its way here. Chose free shipping which I will likely never do again. Anyway its this cooler but not this brand ( this coolers just a rebranded chinese item with various names). I assume the top 2 smaller fans will be right under the mesh vents.

https://www.amazon.com/Kootek-Laptop-Cooling-Cooler-Adjustable/dp/B01469DJLM/ref=lp_2243862011_1_11?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1500176565&sr=1-11

I mainly bought it for the height adjustment for better posture but if the fans help out that's a plus. May also do a repaste(grizzly kryo on hand) and add a heat sink to the PCH down the road.

I Don't have the 16 inch, but I have the 15 inch 2017 model. I have 3 27 inch 2k monitors and use them and the built in screen everyday.

I use this dock to connect all the monitors and peripherals and have one cable going to my MacBook.

https://www.amazon.com/Plugable-Charging-Support-Power-Delivery-Thunderbolt/dp/B01FKTZLBS/ref=asc_df_B01FKTZLBS/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309707619534&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7739158159097921200&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9033594&hvtargid=pla-461427470761&psc=1

For a while I had issues with this dock under Mavericks, but Plugable updated their driver and have had no problems since. Been using one of these at home and one at the office, and I love it. Everyone in a while the dock will get confused and only show on one screen when I plug in my computer, but restarting the dock fixes this.

I also have used these docks for triple monitors on a MacBook Pro 13, MacBook 12, a Dell 13, and my daughters boyfriend comes over and plugs in his Windows laptop and it works great. Hell even my iPad Pro likes it, but the iPad only supports 1 external screen, so only one of the monitors will work then.

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Edit; I should mention that I've been using these docks for 2 years without issue, and have bought 4 more for various users around the office, so my experience with them have been great.

What might help is being mindful of the surface you keep it on while playing. A flat table/desk with good ventilation on the sides where the vents are will be helpful. I’ve also seen various platform things that have fans that blow from underneath that I’ve used on older MBPs in the past that had a habit of overheating before throttling was a thing.

Edit: something like this

Issue with the mats is you might have to be bare foot on it/depends on foot wear. I wouldnt count on it, often just your chair would be in contact with it depending on how you sit and use your chair. You could also consider wearing an anti static wrist strap, pain in the ass I guess but would save your gear.

The wrist strap like the mat would be grounded to a plug (or other mat). The straps unplug or unsnap so you can take it off and on fairly easy. Something like this

https://www.amazon.ca/Rosewill-Anti-Static-Components-RTK-002-Yellow/dp/B004N8ZQKY

I have one laptop that runs pretty hot up to 205°F , has anyone tried a laptop vacuum. The reviews on this one are pretty good.


https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00XKU47Y2/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1467933539&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=laptop+vacuum&dpPl=1&dpID=4110DLzrigL&ref=plSrch

Just curious if anyone has tried something like this, connects right on the side of the heat vent and sucks all the hot air out of the laptop.

Update: it works, I now am at 160°f with everything running. With just browsing I'm at about 130-140°f

I own a Lenovo Y510P with dual graphics cards that overheats like no other. I sprung for a laptop cooling board that also had a fan on it. It solved the overheating issues. This is the one I ordered:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005C31HC0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The great part is that it's light weight and fits in my laptop bag snug with the laptop. Also the USB port is a pass through, meaning you don't lose your USB port to the cooling fan.

Looks like this one can be retrofitted with 120mm fans.

What you want is directed airflow to the main CPU fan. I'm not sure how you would do that, but a small piece of square cardboard between the laptop's underside and a fan would probably work well. If that doesn't work, you can try to take off the underside of the laptop completely and expose all of the components.

However, if you laptop is that new and overheating, it might be because of other issues. Might be worth a call to tech support and see if they can do anything about it.

How about these?

• Plugable USB-C Triple Display Docking Station w/Power Delivery: US$179 direct from the brand, Gigabit Ethernet + 4x USB3 + 1x USB-C + 2x HDMI + 1x DVI
  
• StarTech USB-C Dock w/Power Delivery: US$182 direct from the brand, Gigabit Ethernet + 3x USB3 + 1x USB-C + 1x HDMI + 1x DisplayPort
  
  Between the two, you get one more USB port and one extra display on the Plugable product, but aesthetics-wise I think the StarTech's one will look sleeker and thus better. Both requires their own barrel-type power plug though, so unfortunately you cannot reuse the existing USB-C chargers to power them to in turn power the laptop.
  
  Disclaimer: Not affiliated with either brands, have not tested both myself. Please do more research on the respective user reviews to see if there are any caveats especially for the multi-display output...