NZXT CRYO LX Aluminum Notebook Cooler 15-Inch to 19-Inch with 120MM Adjustable Fans - Black (CRYO LX BLACK)
by NZXT Technologies
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List Price: Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of NZXT CRYO LX Aluminum Notebook Cooler 15-Inch to 19-Inch with 120MM Adjustable Fans - Black (CRYO LX BLACK)
Customer Review: Works great with HP Envy 15 Compared to Antec 200
Summary: 4 Stars
Update: I recall one or more reviews knocked this cooler for having slots and the mesh above the fans that restrict airflow. While that's true (air doesn't like going around things), I've had good results as-is out of the box. However, I thought to myself today, "I wonder what it would take to remove the mesh?" A small screwdriver to remove 4 screws is the answer. It's very easy: remove the four screws holding the fan housing in, slide fan housing a little, lift it out and just lift the mesh off. Replace everything. I did this a few hours ago and notice a big difference in temp with light load and the fans on slightly higher than the lowest setting. I am now in the 112-122 F range (40s C). I could feel the difference as well - several times I added the screen back and removed it and the flow definitely increases w/out it especially at high speeds (stating the obvious). To make this test official and scientific, I had my wife and daughter try it to and just asked, "what do you notice?" And, while it's sitting under a large laptop, it doesn't look bad at all - I like it better.
One other tip, to push air, the fans need air: it occurred to me that the cooler is sitting a little too low to have unrestricted air from behind the fans. I did some simple testing and lifted it slightly while listening and feeling the air - once an inch off the desk, it seemed to be fully unrestricted. The closer to the desk, the more you can hear (and feel) the restriction. If I figure out what will look right by propping it up a little (1/4"-1/2"), I'll probably try it, but by removing the mesh, it really seems unnecessary so doubt I will play with it anymore, but for those gamers who drive their machines hard nonstop, it's worth a try. (This goes for any cooler with large fans so no need to knock NZXT - there obviously has to be some tradeoffs made between looks and knowing when "enough is enough".
In summary, it outperforms the Antec Cooler 200 on a few levels and performs very good overall. This would be 5-stars, but it is 4 (probably a 3.6) for the following reasons:
* Price: At $70, I am still deciding on it. It does work well and if you amortize it over years of use, plus consider it extending life of a high-power laptop and, more importantly, keeping my Envy's three noisy fans (particularly the GPU's) quiet, it's probably worth it, but is pricey. Though, the construction, features and material probably justify it. (battling myself there)
* Sharp edges: round them off guys. If I decide to keep this, I'll take my dremel to it.
* More flow: while this is the best cooler I've used with the Envy 15 (my third try now), it could be better if airflow increased ... or perhaps not - I'm not an aerodynamic engineer so who knows.
I'm comparing to the Antec 200 cooler since I have been using it all the time recently and know how it works.
Positives:
- Runs a heavily used HP Envy 15 w/i7 Quad Core 10-30F less than Antec 200 on a medium, barely audible fan speed. Higher speeds are a bit more effective, but there are diminishing returns and I am not willing to live with more than a whisper.
- Much better looking. Very subjective of course, but I almost bought the silver because it looks better in the pics, but everything I have is black so decided to go with black. It is MUCH better looking than in any pictures I see on Amazon or other sites. It is an anodized, brushed-look aluminum - very nice.
- Fan speed variability: the NZXT has a wheel that allows you to adjust from a barely moving crawl (basically off) to high-speed and any increment in between - just rotate the wheel. Antec 200 has two settings: high and low. Low isn't that effective and high is too loud for me. Note that Antec's noisier (not noisy, just noiser than low) high-speed setting is not as effective on an Envy 15 as NZXT's lower, barely audible speed settings.
- The Envy 15's fans rarely spin up more than a low hum. It's GPU fan can get very noisy and I rarely hear it with the NZXT. The NZXT runs much quieter, even at full speed, than 50% speed of Envy's fans so running the NZXT at 20%-30% full time (sometimes turning up for heavier processing/graphics) is much better for me.
- NZXT has a USB Hub, which I really missed on the Antec. For those who say you gain 2 ports net - I'll qualify that with: IF you decide to power via USB rather than the included adapter. It has 5-ports: 4 hub ports for the user to plug-in USB devices and 1 port to connect to your laptop (or another hub, which is what I do).
The NZXT comes with a power supply AND a cable to supply power to the fans by plugging into your laptop's USB port (this does NOT use an USB port on the NZXT - it plugs into the power connector on the unit still leaving you the 4 ports so depending on how you power it, you gain 3 or 2 USB ports. That's standard for any hub (loss of 1) and better than no hub.
Nits:
- It has some sharp edges. Not sure I'd be as dramatic about it as some, but I'll confess that after reading many reviews mentioning this, I started removing from the box carefully and thought, "well, those aren't THAT sharp" just as I cut my finger on an edge. I agree with others - I have NO clue what they are thinking shipping it with edges not rounded off - even a little would be plenty. In my case - not a big deal. I don't plan to carry it with me (IMO, it's not really that portable even though it folds) so it'll just be on my desk.
- I'm not sure if this is because mine is defective or by design since I haven't noticed in other reviews, but powering the fans via USB barely moves the fans as if it is on lowest setting. I'll check with NZXT on it, but if by design, would seem odd.
- Even though you can't really see it, I like Antec's (and some others that have it) blue light under the fan. I tend to work w/out a light on at night so it does appear around edges. Simply put, it is a coolness factor I like even if it adds no value.
- Power-in is not microUSB; these days, I like everything microUSB so you can carry one cable to power everything.
My numbers (pulled from Speedfan logs and keeping an eye on CPU-Z just to get a 'feel' for what the system is doing):
Day-to-day average use. NZXT low fan speed, Antec high speed (never saw anything out of low speed so always ran high):
NZXT: 117-128F
Antec 200: 129-138F
Parallels Virtualization: Windows XP and Ubuntu Linux running simultaneously NZXT med fan speed, Antec high:
NZXT: 131-136F
Antec: 142-151F
Powering external 1920x1080 monitor via HDMI port (does drive the GPU higher) with 'standard' load:
NZXT: 122-129F
Antec: 133-140F
I run MSI's Afterburner to monitor various GPU parameters. With the NZXT, the GPU fan rarely jumped above 30% and GPU temp never went above 106F, with Antec it was usually at 70-80% (jumping to 100% often) fan and 124F temp.
I almost never hear the Envy's internal fans with the NZXT. The Antec didn't seem to have an effect on Envy fan speed/turn-up.
Now that I have it and have been using it, I am perplexed at those who rate very negatively. Within 1-hour of removing the Antec and putting the NZXT in place, I could have written a review, but wanted time to use it and gather my data. It made an immediate, noticeable difference. My guess is either placement, not doing anything beyond going by 'feel' or how hot the case is (we aren't talking case heat here and that being hot can actually be good because internals are dissipating heat more efficiently - especially metal cases) and/or may vary depending on the laptop - perhaps it's not ideal for every design (though that does seem odd - should really excel for Envy's/MBP's - even though the neither have metal-to-metal contact (or shouldn't), there is still dissipation that will happen due to the close distance and aluminum is great for dissipating heat).
Customer Review: Best cooler money can buy!
Summary: 5 Stars
I recently bought a Dell Studio 1555 as my very first laptop. After a couple of days using, I noticed it got very hot, especially in the touchpad area, which made it very uncomfortable to use. I don't have air conditioning in my house, which makes the laptop get even hotter, even with little use, so I decided I needed a cooler to protect my investment.
Now, I am the kind of person who reviews and researches as much as possible before buying something, so I began looking around at various cooling options. Naturally, top of the list were the $29 coolers, as I figured they all worked pretty much the same.
I got my hands on one of those cheap coolers and gave it a try. I have to be honest, it made absolutely no difference at all. After some examination, I realized that the 3 fans in the cooler sucked the air down, which in my opinion is not as efficient because the laptop fans usually suck air from below the laptop. I returned the cooler and, after much deliberation, I decided to give the NZXT Cryo LX a try.
Even though I chose Amazon's Free Super Saver Shipping, I was really surprised to have gotten my cooler so quickly! First thing you notice about this cooler is how heavy (6 pounds) and sturdy it is, which in my opinion is really good because it feels strong, very durable. Of course, a downside of this is that it makes it a little bit less portable.
While on the subject of portability, the Cryo LX folds on what could be the wrist rest, so to speak. This accounts for roughly 1/3 its size in depth and makes it easier to store for carrying. The box has a handle and two foam pads, all of which I use to carry it from home to the office and back. The box itself is very weak and cheap, so after a couple of weeks using, it's already patched with tape all over, but that's really not a con to the cooler itself.
The Cryo LX has 3 huge fans that blow air upwards into the laptop, which works GREAT. The speed is adjustable too. My laptop is no longer hot even after prolonged and heavy use at the office. It really keeps it very cool at the bottom, even at home where I have no air conditioning, as mentioned before. The touchpad still gets warm, but not nearly as much as it gets without the cooler. The fans can get a little bit loud when running at maximum speed, but to be honest you only notice them in an extremely quiet environment. I always run them at max speed and never really notice them at all.
Everything is powered through your laptop's USB ports, 2 of them. One is for both power and data, and the other for power only. This means that even though you sacrifice 2 of your laptops USB ports, you still have 4 in the back of the cooler, so in the end you gain 2 extra ports. If even with two extra ports, you would happen to need yet another one, you can use the supplied power adapter and only use one of your laptop's USB ports.
I did have some issues with getting the USB hub working. At first I thought it was broken. Another issue I had was that sometimes my laptop would freeze right when turning it on. Turning it off then back on again made it work, but then sometimes I would get a BIOS error that read something like "USB port overpower". After some trial and error, I realized that I had to first turn on my laptop and wait for the BIOS screen to finish, then plug both data and power cables while Windows begins to boot.
One last thing to note is that it has sharp edges all over. The first few days I was nervous about handling it because I felt like it would cut me, but I got used to it. The truth is, even though the edges feel really sharp, they really aren't sharp enough to cut. At least now I can run my fingers, hands, arms or whatever along the edges with total confidence, and not get cut.
Pros:
- Truly keeps laptop cool
- Great durability
- Folds for carrying
- Good enough portability
- Sleek and attractive design
- Angled design makes using the laptop a bit more comfortable
- 4 Port USB Hub
- Works without a power adapter, but one is included in case you need the extra port
Cons:
- A bit heavy
- USB ports may refuse to work properly depending on how/when you connect the data cable
- Lots of sharp edges make it hard to get used to handling/carrying
- A tad pricey, though worth the investment
Bottom line, I strongly recommend you buy the NZXT Cryo LX. I truly think this is the best laptop cooler you can buy.
Customer Review: Best Cooler for Large Screen Laptops! Fits Qosmio x505-Q850!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have a new 18.4 inch Qosmio laptop and this cooler fits it perfectly. It's the only one I found that's truly made for a large laptop with no overhang.
Perfect Fit
I searched high and low for a laptop cooler wide enough for my new Qosmio. Most claim to fit a 14-17 inch laptop, but in reality, that's total bs. If a laptop cooler is bragging about accommodating that diverse range of laptops, it means someone is getting stuck with a cooler pad that's either way too big or way too narrow. Usually, it's those of us with nice big laptops that are stuck with our expensive computers hanging over the sides of a tiny cooling pad. I don't know about you, but I don't want my nice new laptop precariously perched on a cheap cooling pad made for a much smaller, cheaper laptop. You spent a pretty penny on that wide-screen laptop, so buy the right cooling pad and don't scrimp or settle for garbage.
All Aluminum & Quiet Fans
This NZXT laptop cooler is simply the best, hands down. It's all aluminum, which means it dissipates heat efficiently. It also has 3 large fans that QUIETLY blow air up onto the underside of your laptop. The fans have a wheel adjustment knob on the side that lets you adjust the speed of the fans. Personally, I just run it on high all the time and forget about it. The fans are so quiet I don't even know they're on. My old HP laptop's fans are constantly running and are way louder than these 3 huge fans. Now with my new Qosmio and this NZXT cooler, I barely hear any fan noise at all, which is a really nice switch from what I was accustomed to!
4 Port USB Hub
The backside of this NZXT cooler has a 4 port hub built in. One drawback is that this cooler requires TWO of your laptop's USB ports to work - 1 for power, and another to connect the hub. So the net gain of USB ports is only 2. But the cooler also comes with a power adapter, so if you want to gain a 3rd USB port, you can plug the cooler directly into the wall and then only use 1 of your laptop's USB ports to power the hub. This config would give you a net gain of 3 USB ports, but it also means you'll have to manually turn the fans on and off when you shutdown the computer. Whereas if you use a 2nd USB port to power the cooler itself, the fans will turn on and off automatically with your computer. Personally, I have enough to remember so I opted for the automatic on and off.
Non-Slip Grip
Another quip I have with laptop coolers is that laptops easily slip off them. This is NOT the case with this NZXT! The surface of the pad has rubberized portions to it that securely keep my Qosmio in place. I can actually place my hands on my laptop and jiggle it and it doesn't budge -- not even a fraction! It rests securely in place atop this NZXT and I feel confident it isn't going anywhere.
Comfortable Angle
This cooler creates a nice typing angle for my keyboard. I don't know the exact angle, but it's a comfortable fit for both typing and using the touch pad. It's far more natural feeling than just leaving the laptop on a flat surface.
No Annoying LEDs!!!
In this technological age, everything has an LED or blinking light on it. Every little gadget needs to express its own self-worth, I guess. But it's getting to the point where I'm looking for products that _don't have something glowing and blinking on it! So I'm happy to say this NZXT cooler has NO blinking lights and no LEDs. If you're like me and you have a lot of electronics around, this is a huge deal in itself. I block most of those annoying little lights with electrical tape, but it was nice to not have to do that this time around.
It Folds
This is made for large laptops, so big surprise, it's large too. But it does fold, so that helps if you ever need to travel with it.
Bottom Line
If you have a large screen laptop then this NZXT laptop cooler is the only game in town. It fits -- it's solid -- it's quiet -- it has a hub -- no LEDs -- your laptop won't slip -- and best of all, it just works! This thing is darn near perfect in every way. HIGHLY recommend!!
Customer Review: Truly Outstanding A/V Component Cooler
Summary: 5 Stars
STUNNING. I bought this to cool the transmitter for my oddball Samsung wireless 50" plasma TV. I chose this particular unit because it is all metal, looks good, and IS NOT exclusively USB-powered. I wanted something that blows harder than 5V can run; it HAD to have a wall adapter. The other products available for home theater were almost all too expensive, with the exception of one that was the same price as this unit, but with only 2 120mm fans, instead of this unit's 3 120mm fans. I also wanted something as wide as a standard A/V component. I didn't want to perch my equipment on something too narrow to serve as a reliable base. Loudness was less of an issue, my 7.1 Polk speaker system takes care of that. However, it is very quiet, I cannot hear it over the ambient room noise when the TV/Speakers are not in use. *Bonus undocumented feature: The fan housing on the underside of the aluminum plate appears to be attached in such a way that if you had to, you could unscrew it and flip it over to change the airflow direction. As it comes, it sucks on the bottom and blows air out the top.
The transmitter unit that needs cooling is about the size of a DVD player, and had to be serviced in the first year because it blew a few capacitors. I'm sure this was a thermal issue. It has vents on the bottom and rear of the unit. So I bought this to place under the transmitter and it exceeded my hopes. It looks really good, the front folds down so that it works with the skinny shelf I have the transmitter on. I took heat readings with the kids' Braun Thermoscan ear thermometer (couldn't find the thermocouple leads for my Fluke meter) during normal use, then placed the cooling unit underneath for a couple hours and got the following results: (all in Fahrenheit degrees) NoFan/Fan
Bottom plate
Center: 95.2/LO
Lower Right vent: HI/97.8
Lower Left vent: LO/LO
Upper Left vent: HI/LO
Upper Right vent: 103.3/LO
S-Video jack on front of unit: 94.9/LO
Back Center vent: 100.1/LO
Back Left vent: LO/LO
Since I was using an ear thermometer, the HI and LO measurements were what the readout indicated when outside its narrow range, but I still think the results obtained are useful. The numbers were significantly reduced and the top of the unit is no longer warm to the touch.
Now I am considering buying another for my receiver and am conducting tests to determine the best placement. The receiver has vents on the top AND on the bottom and always kicks out a lot of heat. I placed the cooling unit under the receiver, and 2 polipods under the front feet to make it level. Then I'll retest with the cooling unit placed on top of the receiver. I'll let you guys know how that turns out. I am also considering buying the smaller, 15" version to put under our new PS3 (The first one finally succumbed to thermal damage). I'll test that as well and let you all know. Cheers!
-Sara (Spooky) Ewing Engelstad
Customer Review: Best cooler for chilliing a big 17" DELL XPS beast
Summary: 5 Stars
I am in the UK and have been suffering from the dual graphics chips (n/idia 9800M GTX in SLi) in my Dell XPS M1730 9000 Extreme laptop (running @ 2.8ghz) overheating even though i was already running this laptop on a Akasa cooler (which was not up tp the job, 2 small fans in middle of cooler).
So plenty research led me to the CRYO LX and the reviews on Amazon.com, amazingly this was not available in the UK from any supplier & did not feature on Amazon.co.uk.
So on these reviews I ordered one from the States, it arrived 3 days ago and what can i say - AWESOME, AMAZING, BRILLIANT and DAM COLD !!!
On first impressions when its openned it would appear small, but looks are deceptive in this case and my widescreen 17" fitted perfectly with no overhang or 'feet only just on' etc.
The CRYO LX now comes with an external 5v 2000mA two pin power supply, so no drain on your laptop, it has a fan speed controller on right and side which DOES work, butk unless im blind, no obvious on/off switch - so this means you need to remove power cord from rear, which is easy, to turn it off. Straight away i was impressed - 3 large side by side fans fill the whole cooler from left to right (i dont think this is clear on the press photos), having doubted it would work having suffered the Akasa cooler.
With the fan speed at minimal, i could not hear the CRYO's fans over the laptops fans - so far so good.
With the fans running at about half way, the sound was only just audible over that of my 3 fans inside my Dell laptop.
With the fans running at full whack, i could clearly hear them over the laptop fans but they WERN'T intrusive or annoying.
I have Everest installecd (monitors all temperatures, fan speeds, CPU & GPU loads etc) and it was very apparent that by having the CRYO on at about half speed, this was sufficient to keep the CPU at about 47-54 degrees F and the both GPU's between 43-46 degrees F when the computer was idliing. With the computer under full load converting video files and CPU showing 98% load, the CRYO could run still at half speed and this was sufficient to stop the laptop fans kicking in - amazing.
To increase airflow even more, i carried out the modifications mentioned by another review which were: 1) to remove the metal mesh grill from ontop of the fans (and between the cooler base), 2) to tape (i used duck/gaffer tape) the left and right handsides of the fan tray which prevents any air escaping and forces it up, 3) with a craft knife made some of the rubber slates on the CRYO base larger to increase airflow.
None of these alter the appearance or rigidity of the cooler.
overall impression is one of a Notebook/Laptop cooler that actually does what it says and more - if your overheating buy one !!!