Thermaltake Massive 23 LX Notebook cooler

Appeared on: Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Thermaltake Massive 23 LX Notebook cooler

1. Features

Thermaltake Technologies solutions for overheating systems has branched into the notebook market. The company has recently released the "Massive 23 LX" laptop cooler. The device supports laptops ranging from netbook dimensions all the way up to 17 inches, and features a 230mm fan (much like the ones that have cropped up in a number of case designs), with a rated voltage range of 4-5V and a speed of 600RPM (plus or minus 10%, so 540-660RPM).

The fan can be turned on or off via the provided switch, while another switch controls the fan's blue LEDs. Thermaltake also aims to provide an ergonomic typing angle with the design and includes rubber feet, both top and bottom, to prevent your laptop or the cooler slipping. You also get carrying handles and two USB 2.0 ports thrown in (the fan itself is also USB powered). Weighing in at 900g and with dimensions of 376 x 300 x 51.5mm, the Massive23 LX comes with an MSRP of $19.99.

- Features

Ergonomic angle design
2 USB Ports & USB powered
230mm blue LED fan
Fan On/Off control switch
Black metal mesh stylish design
USB cable storage drawer
Anti-slip rubber
Supports laptop size from 10" ~ 17"

- Specifications

Compatibility	For 10" ~ 17" Notebook
Heatsink Dimension	376 (L) x 300 (W) x 51.5 (H) mm 14.8 (L) x 11.81 (W) x 2.03 (H) in
Heatsink Material	Aluminum & Plastic
Heatpipe	----
Fan Dimension	200 x 200 x 20 mm
Fan Speed	600 ± 10% RPM
Bearing Type	----
Noise Level	17 dBA
Max. Air Flow	54.6 CFM
Max. Air Pressure	0.32 mmH2O
LED Fan	Blue-Color LED Fan
Power Connector	USB
Rated Voltage	5 V
Started Voltage	3.5 V
Rated Current	0.21 A
Weight	900 g / 1.98 lb

2. A closer look

The Thermaltake Massive 23 LX is packaged into a large carbon box:

The package includes two installation guides in several languages and a warranty card:

Lat's have a look to the device. As you can see in the picture below, we have to do here with a laptop cooler big enough to cover the cooling needs of 10~17" laptops. The cooler measures 376 (L) x 300 (W) x 51.5 (H) mm and its weight is ~900gr, which is not much for its dimensions. An impressive 20cm fan is placed below an aluminum mesh. It is spinning at s 600 ± 10% RPM and we can assure you that it remains totally silent, as we measured just 17dBA of noise at 600rpm!

The cooler also includes rubber feet, both top and bottom, to prevent your laptop or the cooler slipping as well as two carrying handles:

At the rear side there is a USB storage box, which has the USB cable indide:

The included USB cable powers up the cooler. We would like to see a longer cable here since not not all laptops have their USB ports placed at their left side:

The left side includes the basic controls of the cooler. Here you can identify two USB 2.0 ports, a fan on/off switch and a led on/off switch as well. A small led green LED also indicates the operation state of the cooler:

3. Tests

Let's now play with the cooler a little bit. We need to find out how efficient a cooling product can be with our laptop operating under normal conditions. Out laptop is a Sony Vaio SR-19VA with a 7200rpm HDD as well as an Intel P8400 processor on board.. For our tests we used the Everest Ultime Edition software combined with the Kombuster GPU stretch utility. We logged the laptop's internal temperatures while it is operating and placed on the Thermaltake Massive 23 LX cooler:

We should mention here that our 13.3" laptop could not be placed in the right position on the cooler. The Vaio's feet did not match with the coolers rubber strips. As a result, the air circulation below the notebook's bottom surface was not the appropriate and the cooler's fan possibly lost some efficiency. However, the Thermaltake Massive 23 LX cooler is supposed to support 13.3" laptops so let's move on with the results.

Below you see the internal temperatures of the various components of the laptop with the cooler installed and also not installed. Depending on the component we look at, the Thermaltake Massive 23 LX will keep your laptop cooler by just 2.3~2.5 degrees Celsius. The cooler could be more efficient if the fan was spinning at higher RPM:

The Thermaltake Massive 23 LX did not perform as well as we would love to see. The cooler's poor efficiency could be attributed to the size (13.3") of the laptop that we used for this test. As we previously mentioned, out laptop could not be properly positioned ont the available pads, possibly affecting the cooling efficiency of the fan. We assume that 15.6" of larger laptops would benefit more by this product. Besides cooling efficiency issues, the Massive 23 LX operates silently.

We would also like to see a longer USB cable that could allow you to plug it into your notebook's USB ports easier, especially if your notebook does not have its USB ports at the left side panel.

The Thermaltake Massive 23 LX is properly priced at just $20. It offers a comfortable typing angle, a stylish design, silent operation. and also some cooling efficiency, which is highly dependant on your notebook's size.