You must be wondering if some ask, “are cooling pads bad for gaming laptops” in this era of technology? The cooling pads aren’t bad for gaming laptops; they’re efficient for gameplay, especially while running high-end and labor-intensive applications.
Mostly they come with a discrete thermal cooling technology while making a gaming rig. Still then, sometimes, those cooler are not enough to exhaust the heat generated from the internal hardware components. It can cause slow performance and damage some parts of your device. So, having an extra cooling pad help to chill the temperature.
However, other regular modern laptops have such a facility too but can hardly deal with the overheating and performance issues. Hence, having a cooling pad under your regular and gaming ones is more critical.
Here, we’ll discuss different aspects of them, their types, and many more–
What is a Laptop Cooling Pad?

A laptop cooling pad is an external device that exhausts heat and keeps cool the computer temperature. You can place it underneath your laptop anytime, but useful when you’re gaming, high-use time, or multitasking. They dramatically reduce the amount of heat using active or passive cooling support, including fans and thermal-conductive materials. Sometimes, it opts for more different ways.
We’ll broadly discuss those differences between the cooling pad and the methods they adopt. But before that, we should consider whether they are good or bad for your laptops.
Are Cooling Pads Bad for Gaming Laptops
There are some myths or misperceptions about using cooling pads for gaming laptops. You can only determine if it’s good or bad. Besides, how can it impact your computer’s performance if it’s terrible? Though, we provided a one-word answer in the intro area.
Now, let’s talk about what some people think about them–
A few people think the cooling pads are for your gaming laptop. Since they believe it takes dust and particle while blowing air inside the notebook. However, practically it’s hardly possible because they only exhaust the hot air. It’s your built-in fan that takes vent inside. Well! There is a possibility if you’re operating a laptop in a dirty area.
Anyway, it’s a rare case that a cooling pad can be bad for your laptops. It’s only possible if interrupts the regular airflow of your laptop computers. Here we mean the outgoing vents by the regular airflow.
Benefits of Laptop Cooling Pads
Apart from the misconceptions, a cooling pad provides several benefits to your laptop or notebook computer. Let’s have a look at them–
Lower temperature
The first benefit of using a cooling pad is it can reduce the high temperature of your laptop computer. Therefore, there is less chance to overheat and damage the laptop’s components. Though, the effect is not detrimental but enough to stave off your activity like gaming and running multimedia applications for hours. Thus, it keeps your room environment cool as well.
Physical Comfort
You must be fond of using laptops on your lap, sometimes, especially during free time. But, when it gets hot you can’t keep on there just because you feel uncomfortable. The cooling pads help you absorb temperature from the lower surface. Besides, they also increase the internal heat levels, especially when on a desk that keeps your neck steadier.
Long Lifespan
By keeping cool your laptop or notebook device may long live. Since the internal hardware and laptop CPU remain well and provide a good performance till the end. Thus, they ensure maximum service and longevity of your laptop computer.
Ease of Use
Nothing is easier than using a laptop cooling pad, you can simply install it under a laptop. It takes no time and effort. Most of them are lightweight and portable so moving with them is easy and convenient. On top of that, you need no additional hassle connecting a USB connection with it. Mostly, offers a plug & play setup process.
Which Cooling Pad You Should Buy?
You’ll find hundreds of options available in the market, so which one you’ll require depends on your choice and need. Because, they come in different models, sizes, and shapes. There are lots of verities as well, including fan speed, RGB lighting, and the number of ports.
Another thing to keep in mind is the accurate size that fit your laptop’s landing surface. If the size of the cooling pad doesn’t match the size of your laptop, it can interrupt the air circulation of the built-in thermal cooler. So, here the size matters but you can still use an affordable one with your gaming laptop.
Types Of Cooling Pads?
Besides different brands, models, designs, or shapes cooling pads have several types depending on their functions and mechanism. Here they’re–
Active Laptop Cooling Pads
Active cooling thermal pads use small-medium fans to reduce the heat from the inside of your laptop’s body. The number of fans exists there 2, 4, or 6 to cool down the air temperature and overheating. Interestingly, most of them were USB-powered cable connectivity.
Passive Laptop Cooling Pads
Here is another type of cooling pad. They use no electrical power to reduce the overheating temperature of your laptop. They have organic salt as a thermal compound that absorbs the heat and cools for a limited time about 6 to 8 hours. And you can choose them if your laptop has a side air vent.
Multi-surface Laptop Cooling Pads
You can these cooling pads when you’ve different types of surfaces to cool from different angles. Therefore, the airflow remains in the middle position of the cooler and laptop’s body. No matter how soft or hard the surface you’ve it works nicely.
Multi-purpose Laptop Cooling Pads
They have multiple functionalities and conveniences, including a card reader outlet with a modern cooler mechanism. Some offer a regulator to control the speed of cooling fans. Its adjustable speeds feature is for efficient cooling.
Vacuum Laptop Cooler
They’re attachable to your laptops to accelerate exhaust instead of improving intake airflow. You can simply use one by attaching it to an exhaust vent that quickly pushes hot air as compared to fan vents. However, they have a few drawbacks, including device compatibility.
How To Keep Your Cooling Pad Clean?
Your cooling pads need proper maintenance to work fine with the laptops for long-time service. It’s essential to clean them properly, including dust, particles, and other air substances. In that case, you should take care of filters and fans together. It’s better to use wipe cotton or fiber for the best result.
If your cooling pad makes some noise, you’ll need to troubleshoot the fans’ motors. Hence, bring them out and oil accurately to run well further. Alternatively, you can use compressed air pressure before oiling. The fan blades are important, deal with them strictly if they get bent.
How to Use a Cooling Pad for Laptop?
Using a cooling pad system is a piece of cake for your as it needs simple instruction and no knowledge. First, you’ve to choose one that fits the best for your laptops. Next, define the elevation level you want to operate. Now connect the USB port to your laptops. And it’s done! All you need is to power on the laptop. If you still face any complications watching this video may help you.
Remember, you shouldn’t disconnect the internal thermal cooling system. We saw in many videos gamer cut off their line after getting a cooling pad. But, it’s a big mistake! The built-in cooler provides the best support, especially when you’re a multimedia user or gamer.
The Lifespan of a gaming laptop
The lifespan of a gaming computer depends on many aspects, for example how well you maintain and use them. But, on average they last for 4-5 years approximately. Proper maintenance can extend the life of your laptops more. Look! When you see any problem with the computer it’s not necessary to replace the multiple parts or hardware.
Rather you’ll require to charge that specific component that’s creating the problem. So, you can take them for a long age by maintaining them this way. But, regular take care can reduce the chance of getting a chronic issue. When it’s to the gaming laptop’s computer, it’s better to have an external keyboard for gameplay activity.
Besides, there is no alternative to using a cooling fan or cooling pad to keep things cool and normal in the extreme moment. In addition, you should also keep an eye on the laptop battery performance and recharging process.
FAQs on Are Cooling Pads Bad for Gaming Laptops
Do Laptop Cooling Pads Really Work?
Yes, a laptop cooling pad works fine with the laptop or notebook computer, especially for the gaming one. The purpose is to keep cool and reduce the internal temperature of the computer chassis. So, the laptop components don’t get overheated during the operation. Sometimes, we see flaws in the performance since you’re running high-end games or applications.
Does Cooling Pad Damage Laptops?
No, the cooling pads don’t damage your laptops rather they reduce heat and improve the performance and lifetime of your computer. However, sometimes it might have a detrimental effect when choosing the wrong one. That’s a different thing. Otherwise, you’ll find the positive things around you to using them.
When Will Cooling Pads Be Harmful To Your Laptop?
We all know that cooling pads are helpful for our laptops, especially when controlling the hardware temperature. This is the thing we state many times. But, are they harmful to your laptop? Well! Yes, a cooling pad can be harmful to your laptops if it doesn’t fit your size.
In another word, the chassis of laptops must fit the size of your pad’s landing surface. It also may create an issue when the pad covers the laptop’s built-in outgoing airflow.
Is a Laptop Cooler Necessary For Gaming?
No, it’s not necessary to have a laptop cooler for gaming, since you’ll have an in-built one from the manufacturer. On the top, it works well when you’re operating a labor-intensive application and games. However, if you think that the default one is hard enough to trade off the performance over the temperature– then it’s okay to have an additional cooler.
How Hot is Too Hot For a Gaming Laptop?
We should know this answer, though most people can’t answer it for the first time, especially gamers. The hot or heat means the temperature of the processor here. So, as a general rule of thumb, the temperature of your gaming laptop should remain below 85 to 90 degrees Celcius under operation.
In this situation, the CPU will start throttling and resulting in overheating another big risk. It causes damage to any other onboard components around the chassis. We suggest you keep the temperature between 80-85 degrees Celsius. It’s an ideal range for a gaming laptop rig.
How to Connect Cooling Pad to Laptop?
Connecting your cooling pad to your laptop is an easy task. All you have to do is to set the seating position first that has adjustable heights. Then put the laptops on the pad then connect the USB-A power cable to the laptop USB port. Now, start the laptops then the cooling pad will auto-start working.
Does Cooling Pad Affect FPS?
Using a Cooling Pad won’t affect FPS and render time. Most people think it could improve frame rate and graphics performance. Generally, the primary goal is to reduce the heat that is coming inside your laptops. Though some modern gaming laptops have the latest thermal technology, so rarely need them.
Therefore, it doesn’t make difference to the FPS or RR, especially while gaming or editing multimedia projects. But, reducing heat and throttle can improve performance.
Does Cooling Pad Affect Laptop Performance?
The main purpose of a cooling pad is to keep the lower CPU temperatures of your laptop. So, you can perform more effectively with less throttling of components, including the CPU and GPU(graphics card). If you feel you need additional thermal performance, then it’s a good decision to have a USB-powered cooling pad.
Last Words
So, now tell us are cooling pads bad for gaming laptops? Obviously, you’ll answer NO. Rather they help you a lot in keeping cool the laptop’s temperature while gaming or under extreme work pressure. All you need is to choose the right one as per your model and system requirements. That’s how you can get the best performance, longevity, and productivity.
Read more:
- How to Cool Down Laptop While Gaming?
- How Long Do MSI Laptops Last?
- 15 Inch Vs 17 Inch Laptop – Which Gaming Laptop is Better
- Are Gaming Laptops Good for Video Editing?
- What Are The Benefits Of A Gaming Laptop?

Hi there! My name is Mohiuddin Alamgir and I’m the man behind of “Laptopvine”. I love learning about all sorts of technology, especially laptops. I find it fascinating how laptops have evolved over the years and how they’ve become essential tools for both work and play. I strive to provide information that is both accurate and helpful to those looking for a new laptop.