The testing procedure for a notebook cooler is rather simple. We simply want to see how well it cools under normal use conditions. The laptop used in our test is an Asus A6JA with a 5400rpm HDD, which generates more heat than 4200rpm hard disks commonly found in laptops. We ran 3D Mark '06 3 times and with Everest Ultimate Edition, we measured temperatures for motherboard, processor and HDD. At the same time, the HDD was put through Everest's Ultimate Edition Burn-In Test, in order to maximize any heat produced. Below is a graph showing the average and maximum temperatures for the standalone portable, with the Thermaltake IXoft pad, and finally with the Thermaltake T2000.

The test results are very interesting. The most noticable effect is in the reduction of the HDD temperature, since the HDD in our laptop is just above the right fan. On the other hand, the CPU and motherboard temperatures are not affected and in the case of the CPU, the temperature increased. Thermaltek's Ixoft Pad seems better at cooling the CPU and motherboard temperatures.

Concluding this review, we found the Thermaltake T2000 not to perform as well as we would have liked or expected. We have a feeling that this product may be more suitable for laptops having a smoother bottom, since our Asus didn't make a perfect "fit" with the surface of the T2000 cooler, due to its bumpy under-side. It's possible that other laptops can benefit more from the T2000 notebook cooler. On the bright side, the two fans are very silent and you barely notice them. At a retail price of US$29, we would be more inclined to recommend the Ixoft Pad, which better suits our everyday notebook cooling needs.