Cooling Pad For Retina MacBook

[infiniteentropy]

Was wondering if anyone has a cooling pad they have and use for the MacBook 12" that isn't quite as big as they usually are. Typically they're made for "up to 17 inch" laptops but that leaves a lot of empty space with the MacBook on it. Anyone have good suggestions for such a fitting and effective cooling pad please?

 

[ahostmadsen]

Why do you need a cooling pad? I used one for my first MBA since it had issues with overheating, but I have not experienced that with rMB.

 

[Dwayne82]

I have a no name cooling pad from a $1 store.
It helps in hot environment (summer 28°C+) to hold the performance for 3d-gaming longer than 30 minutes.

 

[Queen6]

I have an old Promate Prostration.3 that I bought years ago. I generally use it to lift the rear of the rMB when on the road for ergonomics. The cooler has a very small footprint, with adjustable width (7" - 15.4") that allows you to place the fan directly under the CPU`s heat sync. My own 1.2 will run at > 2Ghz indefinitely with this set up;

The Prostaton.3 is approximately a third/quarter the size of the rMB. FWIW rMB is the only portable Mac that I have observed that a powered cooler can make a significant difference to performance, should you require it.

rMB 1.2 holds 1.9GHz - 2GHz with all Core`s lit up holding at around 8W plus power consumption (CPU only), it will then drop off to 1.3GHz, surging back to 2GHz, as thermal throttling is in effect. Placing the Notebook on the Prostatation.3 with the fan on, you can literally see (Intel Power Gadget) the MacBook recover from the throttling event. The 1.2 MacBook will now hold 2GHz, as long as the cooler is running...

Fully charged on mains supply;

• Ambient 26C (78.8F)
• CPU total load 99.9%
• CPU Temp 92.2C (197.96F) @ 2.00GHz

Q-6

 

[infiniteentropy]

Why do you need a cooling pad? I used one for my first MBA since it had issues with overheating, but I have not experienced that with rMB.

I play some video games and figured I'd do some preventive maintenance and not let it get too hot in the first place. Also can use one with the USB hub to light up my gaming peripherals in one connection.

I have a no name cooling pad from a $1 store.
It helps in hot environment (summer 28°C+) to hold the performance for 3d-gaming longer than 30 minutes.

Very nice!

I have an old Promate Prostration.3 that I bought years ago. I generally use it to lift the rear of the rMB when on the road for ergonomics. The cooler has a very small footprint, with adjustable width (7" - 15.4") that allows you to place the fan directly under the CPU`s heat sync. My own 1.2 will run at > 2Ghz indefinitely with this set up;

View attachment 603553
The Prostaton.3 is approximately a third/quarter the size of the rMB. FWIW rMB is the only portable Mac that I have observed that a powered cooler can make a significant difference to performance, should you require it.

rMB 1.2 holds 1.9GHz - 2GHz with all Core`s lit up holding at around 8W plus power consumption (CPU only), it will then drop off to 1.3GHz, surging back to 2GHz, as thermal throttling is in effect. Placing the Notebook on the Prostatation.3 with the fan on, you can literally see (Intel Power Gadget) the MacBook recover from the throttling event. The 1.2 MacBook will now hold 2GHz, as long as the cooler is running...

Fully charged on mains supply;

• Ambient 26C (78.8F)
• CPU total load 99.9%
• CPU Temp 92.2C (197.96F) @ 2.00GHz

Q-6

This is great information. Also, I love the small footprint, I'm going to look for this on Amazon and other such places.

---

Thanks everyone for the replies!

 

[xmichaelp]

There's no need to prevent it from getting what you feel is too hot. Apple has that in check. If it truly gets too hot it will shut itself down... It will throttle long before it gets to that point.

No need to use a bulky cooling pad and turn your sexy ultraportable MacBook into an unwieldy beast.

 

[Dwayne82]

There's no need to prevent it from getting what you feel is too hot. Apple has that in check. If it truly gets too hot it will shut itself down... It will throttle long before it gets to that point.

No need to use a bulky cooling pad and turn your sexy ultraportable MacBook into an unwieldy beast.

For regular use, yes. But if you want to push it to the limit for gaming or transcoding, you want that it throttles as little as possible

 

[fanta88]

I just improvise and occasionally place mine on a chillow pillow in my lap, which works quite well surprisingly enough.

 

[mackie8]

at first i wanted a cooling fan... but i observe as im gaming 8hrs a day ... im leaving my game on.. it is stable at 50-55 celsius like the macbook air 11...
so i think no need for cooling pad....

 

[blitzkreeg83]

Its not necessary to flush many of the fluids in your vehicle either, but you do it anyway to extend the life of it and cut down on service costs. Same applies to a cooling pad. Do you need it, no. Is it a good idea to have so you don't have to drop $1300+ on a new macbook for as long as possible, yes. This is especially true if you are going to be using it for long periods of time like work or gaming. It's preventative maintenance, even if your macbook is running within parameters for the temp its a good idea to use just to reduce heat and wear and tear on your hardware. Its about preventing a problem before it occurs not waiting for it to happen.

Also I currently use the one posted below and it works great.

http://www.amazon.com/AVANTEK-CP152-Laptop-Notebook-Cooling/dp/B00LBPDK0U/?tag=sharing1725-20