DrBeltway wrote:
Not much in the way of info on the linked cooling pad but the G74SX air intake is over/above the keyboard (the panel with holes) so I get the impression that a cooler that blows air up from under the laptop probably won't work so well.

This. In fact, it won't work at all because these laptops aren't designed to be cooler compatible.

TorturedBIscuit wrote:
This. In fact, it won't work at all because these laptops aren't designed to be cooler compatible.

Not completely true. Yes, the air-intake vents are under the screen, instead of the bottom of the laptop, so you'd think that putting your laptop on a cooling pad would do nothing.

However, need I remind you that at the bottom of the laptop is where the majority of the meat is - your CPU, GPU, RAM, HDDs, SDDs, etc. If you touch it while it's in use, it does feel fairly hot. Also, from experience I use a triple-fan gaming cooling pad, and it cools my G74SX down by a bit. Not as much as I'd hope, but not too little, either. It does the job well enough for me to be able to play GTA4 without over-heating, and I've played that game for eight hours at once.

The only issue is that you need to use canned air on the in-take vent underneath the screen and on the giant vent at the back TWICE A WEEK, AT LEAST. This ensure that dust won't build up - otherwise, your laptop will overheat to the point where even playing it out in the snow won't help.

Hopefully OP will read this.

AdelaisAer wrote:
Not completely true. Yes, the air-intake vents are under the screen, instead of the bottom of the laptop, so you'd think that putting your laptop on a cooling pad would do nothing.

However, need I remind you that at the bottom of the laptop is where the majority of the meat is - your CPU, GPU, RAM, HDDs, SDDs, etc. If you touch it while it's in use, it does feel fairly hot. Also, from experience I use a triple-fan gaming cooling pad, and it cools my G74SX down by a bit. Not as much as I'd hope, but not too little, either. It does the job well enough for me to be able to play GTA4 without over-heating, and I've played that game for eight hours at once.

The only issue is that you need to use canned air on the in-take vent underneath the screen and on the giant vent at the back TWICE A WEEK, AT LEAST. This ensure that dust won't build up - otherwise, your laptop will overheat to the point where even playing it out in the snow won't help.

Hopefully OP will read this.

I was wondering how to clean the vents on the g74. I mean blowing air from the outside into the laptop just doesn't seem right. I blow from the top vents how effective is that? With the G2S I was able to access the fan assembly to remove it then blow air from the inside and out through the exhaust. Not sure how to access the the fans on the g74 though...aside from taking the whole bottom panel off :S

pnyknights wrote:
I was wondering how to clean the vents on the g74. I mean blowing air from the outside into the laptop just doesn't seem right. I blow from the top vents how effective is that? With the G2S I was able to access the fan assembly to remove it then blow air from the inside and out through the exhaust. Not sure how to access the the fans on the g74 though...aside from taking the whole bottom panel off :S

Use a qtip, you can dap the tip in a drop of water. Just enough so dust will stick a bit. It might take a few qtips as it will tear up the tips while you are rubbing the dust off of the vents. Yes do not use an air duster, it will just force the dust further inside the laptop where it can create a blanket of heat and all sorts of other problems.

dstrakele wrote:
Set yourself up with one of these: http://www.amerikooler.com/ and you'll have lowest gaming temperatures of all your friends...

OMG LOOOOOL DUDE !

ROFL you made my day

dstrakele wrote:
Set yourself up with one of these: http://www.amerikooler.com/ and you'll have lowest gaming temperatures of all your friends...

Not sure where the OP is located, but all the zellers in Canada are closing down and selling off everything...INCLUDING the walk in freezers from the attached restuarants 🙂 Only problem is those models don't have windows 😛