I just bought an HP Victus laptop with an i5-12450H and a GTX 1650. At my desk, I have no room to place the laptop as I have two monitors that I work from. One monitor is my work laptop, and the other monitor switches between a few other devices, including this laptop. Ideally, it would be best if this sat next to my desk on its side closed so that it isn’t laying on the carpet.
I mention the specs because I noticed that a few of the Amazon pages for gaming laptops tout the cooling capabilities of various laptops through the keyboard. I’m aware that laptops cool off partially through the keyboard, but I’m wondering if considering the hardware inside that I should not use the laptop while it is closed? (not that this is some insane high end machine, but it has more than the integrated graphics on my work computer) I don’t plan on gaming while it is closed, just some light web browsing on Firefox. Should I be okay with it closed in that use case, or is it best to keep it opened for any use case?
Laptops are generally designed to lay flat, if you put them on their side, the cooling cannot work properly and it will run hotter than designed and will throttle much earlier, the same will probably also be true, if the laptop is closed, if it is using the keyboard and surround to also aid in expelling excess heat.
Running it closed, when it isn’t being pushed shouldn’t be a problem, but running it vertically very well could be - the heat dissipation is designed to suck cool air in from the bottom, spread it in a certain way over the components and expel it out the sides and using the top of the body as a radiator, in some circumstances. Tilting it on its side will mean that the heat isn’t evenly spread around the components that are causing the heat, but that the components at the top will get hotter than intended, because heat rises, this may work, but it won’t do the components at the “top” of the case any good, as they will be running hotter than intended.
Also, if it is on its side, are you blocking and exhaust ports by putting them directly on the floor? It is the same reason you shouldn’t use them on carpets or in bed on the bed covers, on the sofa on a cushion etc.
No the sides of this have no vents. They’re on the bottom and back, that’s why I hoped I’d be okay with it on its side so I wasn’t causing any stress to the screen components.
I think David is correct though. The design of the laptop heat management assumes heat rises and the laptop is used the right way up.
Best case it will throttle more. Worst case some components might get hotter than expected, which may cause reliability issues.
In the last office I worked in everybody had vertical stands for their ThinkPads. The fans ran continuously.
Annoyingly my current laptop has air intakes in the bottom, and exhausts out the back, so it gets v. hot using it on my lap 'cos you’ve blocked the intakes.
You’ll be fine. The thermals are designed for full throttle gaming. You’ll just be doing basic desktop work. No worries at all. I do the same. I have a Asus TUF Gaming laptop all closed up running a 4k monitor. The fans come on even once in a while with Chrome getting stuck on some intense website and when I do a short video encode, but otherwise its great. Don’t listen to anyone. There are computers and laptops running for decades in harsh conditions and others crap out when you take them out of the box. Its normal variances in manufacturing and while yes you could cause something to go wrong, you’re more likely to spill coffee into the computer. At least on its side this is less likely, LOL. You’re fine and home you enjoy your setup!