It gets stuck when it heats up. Why is the performance of this machine with the same configuration so much worse?
This year's laptop market is extremely competitive. Coincidentally, the RTX50 series graphics cards have been released, and there are national subsidies in various regions. Coupled with the promotions on major e - commerce platforms during the 618 shopping festival, the prices are indeed more attractive than in previous years! Lao Hu and several of his friends all bought new laptops during the 618 event.
At first, everyone was quite happy. But after a few days, one of the friends suspected that there was something wrong with his laptop. Because the configuration of his laptop was similar to Lao Hu's, but the frame rate when running games was significantly lower than Lao Hu's! Although it wasn't laggy, the friend was still annoyed by this.
With similar hardware configurations, why is my frame rate lower than yours?
Lao Hu wants to say that there is actually nothing wrong with the laptop. The main reason for this difference is actually due to the different heat dissipation designs of different laptops. When it comes to the heat dissipation differences of laptops, there's a lot to it. Lao Hu also takes this opportunity to have a good chat with everyone about the heat dissipation issues of laptops.
Heat dissipation design determines performance release
First of all, both the CPU and the graphics card generate heat during operation, especially under high - load conditions. Generally speaking, the higher the performance, the greater the heat generation. Since the internal space of a laptop is limited, its heat dissipation design cannot be as flexible as that of a desktop computer. In order to control the temperature within a reasonable range, almost all laptops set an upper limit for the overall power consumption, commonly known as the power consumption wall. That is to say, no matter how much you try to squeeze its performance, the overall power consumption of the laptop will not exceed the limit of the power consumption wall.
As for how high the upper limit of this power consumption wall is, it largely depends on the heat dissipation performance of the laptop. The better the heat dissipation ability, the higher the power consumption wall can be set, thus achieving better performance release. By now, you probably understand why, with similar hardware configurations, Lao Hu's laptop has a higher frame rate when running games than his friend's. There's no other reason. Lao Hu's laptop has better heat dissipation and more aggressive performance release.
Of course, Lao Hu can't simply say that his laptop is better than his friend's. Because the heat dissipation of a laptop is a very complex and constantly compromising process, and each heat dissipation method has its own advantages and disadvantages. Generally, it can be divided into active heat dissipation and passive heat dissipation. Active heat dissipation includes water - cooling and air - cooling. There are more types of passive heat dissipation. The mainstream ones include heat pipe heat dissipation, fin heat dissipation, and VC vapor chamber heat dissipation. Of course, it also includes auxiliary heat dissipation methods such as silicone grease heat conduction and liquid metal heat conduction.
Diverse heat dissipation methods
Generally speaking, active heat dissipation methods have high heat dissipation efficiency, can quickly take away the heat inside the laptop, and have a simple structure and relatively controllable cost. For example, the most common air - cooling method actually involves installing a small turbo fan inside the laptop. Increasing the fan speed, increasing the fan diameter, and increasing the number of fan blades can significantly improve the heat dissipation effect. However, this also leads to increased noise, which affects the user experience.
A few gaming laptops with higher requirements for performance and heat dissipation use an external water - cooling heat dissipation method. Since water has a larger specific heat capacity, the heat dissipation effect is better than that of air - cooling. However, the disadvantages are obvious. Firstly, the cost is higher. Secondly, the water - cooling system of laptops generally uses an external solution, which also comes at the cost of increased volume and weight.
Heat pipe heat dissipation is also one of the most common passive heat dissipation methods. Its main principle is that there is a special liquid (such as alcohol or pure water) inside the end of the heat pipe close to the chip. When heated, it will instantly evaporate into a gas. After becoming a gas, it will quickly run to the other end along the internal cavity of the heat pipe. The other end of the heat pipe is connected to the heat dissipation fins, which are the metal sheets at the laptop's air outlet, where the temperature is lower. After the gas reaches here, it will condense back into a liquid. At the same time, the fins will quickly take away the heat. There are fine capillary structures inside the heat pipe, and the condensed liquid will automatically flow back to the heat source end along these structures, just like using a paper towel to absorb water, preparing for the next cycle, and so on.
Heat pipe heat dissipation generally needs to be used in conjunction with fins. The cost is relatively low, but it takes up a large amount of internal space in the laptop and also has certain requirements for space layout. Because too many bends in the heat pipe will also affect the heat dissipation efficiency. To improve the efficiency of heat pipe heat dissipation, you can only increase the number of heat pipes or increase the contact area between a single heat pipe and the heat source, which will undoubtedly increase the weight of the laptop.
So, is there a heat dissipation method that can ensure both heat dissipation efficiency and take into account volume and weight?
After all, nowadays, who doesn't want it all! Well, there actually is! It's the VC vapor chamber. In fact, the heat dissipation principle of the VC vapor chamber is similar to that of heat pipe heat dissipation. However, the thinner the VC plate, the faster the internal liquid circulation and the higher the heat dissipation efficiency. Lao Hu gives an example. A copper pipe is like scooping up heat bit by bit with a spoon, while a VC vapor chamber is more like pouring a basin of water directly to cool down. It's obvious which one has higher heat dissipation efficiency. As for the disadvantages, besides being expensive, there doesn't seem to be any other drawbacks.
How to choose?
Do you think that's all? It's not that simple. There are many tricks in laptop heat dissipation!
What we've discussed above are just single heat dissipation methods. When it comes to specific product levels, manufacturers generally adopt one or more heat dissipation methods according to different product positioning and different consumer needs. Everyone should also choose according to their own usage scenarios and different needs. As the saying goes, analyze specific problems specifically.
For example, corporate elites and business people generally don't care much about performance and don't have high requirements for heat dissipation. On the contrary, silence and elegance are the most important. After all, it would be really embarrassing if the laptop's radiator suddenly starts making a lot of noise in a Starbucks or on a high - speed train. Those who have had similar experiences will know what Lao Hu is talking about.
So, for these business people and corporate elites, Lao Hu most recommends laptops like the Macbook Air and the Microsoft Surface Go, which use pure passive heat dissipation with a vapor chamber. The power consumption wall of such laptops is generally below 20W. Although the performance is average, they have low power consumption and generate little heat. The most important thing is that there is absolutely no heat dissipation noise, and there's no need to worry about regular dust cleaning. From start to finish, it's all about elegance!
For those with slightly higher performance requirements, they can consider ordinary thin and light laptops with air - cooling and heat pipes. The power consumption wall is generally between 25 - 45W. For example, the Lenovo YOGA Air 14 that Lao Hu uses for work is very comfortable to use. It is still thin and light, but compared with laptops with pure passive heat dissipation, it has better adaptability and can handle slightly heavier - load work. It's also okay to play a little game occasionally for light entertainment.
For most ordinary users, Lao Hu thinks that an all - around laptop is a good choice. This kind of all - around laptop generally uses air - cooling and heat pipes for heat dissipation. Of course, some high - end models are also equipped with a VC vapor chamber. It has good heat dissipation ability, and the power consumption wall is generally set between 45W - 95W. At the same time, its weight and volume are not too exaggerated. It can handle general - intensity work and light games. It's all about being versatile and well - balanced.
The representative ones are Apple's Macbook Pro series and Lenovo's Xiaoxin Pro series. Since these laptops have good heat dissipation ability, manufacturers generally build in multiple different heat dissipation modes for switching. Use the quiet or standard mode in daily use, and switch to the full - speed mode when high - performance is needed.
If you just want to buy a laptop that can cover most usage scenarios, then choosing an all - around laptop is generally a good choice.
Finally, for gamers and users with high - performance requirements for laptops, Lao Hu suggests directly considering gaming laptops or professional workstations with strong heat dissipation capabilities.
The heat dissipation components of these laptops are extremely exaggerated. Generally, they are equipped with at least 3 thick heat pipes and at least two large - sized fans, combined with large - area fins. The heat dissipation ability is quite strong. The power consumption wall is generally set above 130W. Some high - end models even use liquid metal and are equipped with external water - cooling to further enhance the heat dissipation ability, and the power consumption wall can easily exceed 200W.
At this level, weight, volume, and noise can all be sacrificed. Powerful performance and good heat dissipation are the key!
After all, having fun is the most important thing!
Clarify your needs and choose according to them
Actually, in the final analysis, the hardware configuration of a laptop is just one aspect. It only guarantees the lower limit of a laptop's performance. The actual performance is more determined by its heat dissipation design.
As mentioned at the beginning, the heat dissipation design of a laptop is a very complex project. Due to various limitations such as volume and weight, laptops cannot have as much heat dissipation space as desktop computers.
Therefore, laptops with different product positioning will inevitably make trade - offs when designing heat dissipation. When purchasing a laptop, you should still clarify your core needs and choose a suitable product based on your usage scenarios.
Reference materials:
ASUS official website
Lenovo JD.com official flagship store
IFIXIT
Editor: Fei Ge
This article is from the WeChat public account “Tech Fox” (ID: kejihutv), author: Lao Hu, published by 36Kr with authorization.