How to cool a closed Surface Boook 2?

[XBU Philippe]

Greetings everyone.

I recently bought a Surface Book 2 (16GB Ram, i7). I wanted to replace my tower with the new Surface. I have everything connected externally (keyboard, mouse, monitor, etc.), works great.

BUT, and here comes the big but, I am working with the Book 2 in the closed state, because I want to "tuck it" under my monitor stand. There is still a bit of room, but I noticed it really overheats after some time. Especially when I load it, too, but that is fairly obvious. The problem is, that it gets really warm and I notice some performance drop (obviously from the heat), but I am unsure on how to cool it properly in the closed state.

Since normal laptops coolers usally cool the underside of laptops which have airslits and the surface generates most of its heat from its screen (since that's where all the power is), I am unsure on how to properly cool it. Because I don't want to keep it open - takes too much space (but I notice that it cools down really quickly when I open it).

Does anybody have any ideas?

 

[Plantje]

Can you tuck it away on top of something like this? Laptop Cooling Pads & External Fans | Amazon.com

 

[XBU Philippe]

Can you tuck it away on top of something like this? Laptop Cooling Pads & External Fans | Amazon.com

Yeah, maybe. I ordered one, I am going to test this. But I am not very enthusiastic about it - I mentioned the problems this may involve. For example; should I put the surface face up (keyboard on the fan) or face down (screen/monitor on the fan), seeing as the processor etc is in the monitor part?

 

[Plantje]

The latter...

 

[sharpuser]

Here is what I do with both of my Surface Book 2 15” units:

I place my closed and charging SB2 on very small felt furniture protectors placed (but not adhered) to the desktop. Rubber spacers would work, too. This leaves an air gap for circulation.

 

[XBU Philippe]

Got a laptop fan going right now. I think it helps, since I didn't notice any performance breakdowns anymore, but I still can feel a lot of heat. I placed the Surface face down, but even the keyboard unit is heating up, without being charged! Maybe I have to place the surface somewhere else so it gets the breathe more. I think I shouldn't tuck it under my monitor stand...