- Tests/Conclusion

Before testing the product, I was rather skeptical as to how exactly this product could help cool my Asus A6JA. It's only 15.4" laptop, but it gets very hot, especially after I replaced the original Fujitsu 4200rpm HDD with a Seagate 5400rpm HDD in order to get better performance. The testing process was simple and included getting the laptop to rise to maximum temperatures (using 3D Mark06) and measure the laptop temperatures (with Everest Ultimate Edition). The results are shown below:

Without any kind of external cooling, the Asus A6JA gets really hot, and the CPU reaches around 82° C when running 3D Mark06. The laptop is borderline with temperatures, since 3D Mark06 loads to the maximum the VGA and CPU components.

Let's now see how effective the Thermaltake iXoft pad is. The testing procedure is the same, we placed the iXoft pad under the laptop and fired up 3D Mark 06.

Looking at the test results we see some differences, on the positive side. First of all, we see a 3° C temperature drop in the average motherboard temperature. Average CPU temperatures are not affected by as much, only 1° C. What is affected is the HDD temperature. A drop from 53° C average down to 46° C! That's a major improvement.

Concluding this review, I found the Thermaltake iXoft Pad to be a pleasant surprise in helping cool my laptop. It should help cool down all laptop parts to some degree. Of course, air cooling could be more effective, but we believe passive cooling has its own merits. Overall a good product. Perhaps the only drawback, the price could be a little lower.