CM Storm Strike Force SF-19 Laptop Cooler

In recent years when people solicit my opinion about buying a computer they are increasingly asking about laptops as opposed to desktops. They are turning to laptops as an all-purpose computing, working, and entertainment platform. High-end graphics, 19" screens and gigabytes of of bits can generate serious amounts of heat. But the vast majority of cooling options for laptops are meant for smaller machines with smaller heat profiles. For serious cooling CM Storm released the Strike Force SF-19 dual fan 19" laptop cooler. Model SGA-6000-KKYF1 is like the HAF X for laptops. Read on to see how the SF-19 performs under the Benchmark Reviews tests.

In earlier years laptops always seemed to me a representation of busy business people on-the-go. The buzz was always about smaller and lighter. Of course smaller is the treadmill that drives economic and technological progress in the computer world, so it was a natural progression along with desktops. Laptops always lagged in performance because you just couldn't fit the same amount of power into something that could be carried. But those days are long gone. Most people's smart phones are more powerful than the first laptop I ever used.

Certainly the drive for portability won't disappear, but it is definitely not as important for laptops today as it once was. In fact I've noticed a movement in the opposite direction. Friends, family and co-workers are more frequently opting for something larger than what will simply,"meet your needs." Netbooks are very portable and can do a large portion of routine tasks. But I see people retiring their desktops in favor of more powerful laptops. They want one system that can play movies, go on vacation, surf the web, play games and go to work or crunch numbers.

And these newer systems are big. Nineteen inches is now a standard screen size for laptops. But when it comes to cooling, laptops don't get nearly the same consideration as desktops. When was the last time you or anyone you know opened up their laptop to add new heat sinks or fans?! Yet we talk about it all the time for desktops. Despite being an afterthought, laptop cooling is still a need which is usually met by laptop coolers. One symptom of this problem is the lack of coolers for larger laptops. Sure, most laptop coolers say they go up to 19", but all that really means is they can hold one that big with five inches hanging off the end. Luckily there is the SF-19 which is actually designed to support and cool the bigger laptops.

Manufacturer: Cooler Master
Product Name: CM Storm Strike Force SF-19
Model Number: SGA-6000-KKYF1
Price As Tested: $79.99 at Amazon or Newegg

Full Disclosure: The product sample used in this article has been provided by Cooler Master.

Laptop Cooler Features

• Mammoth cooling surface
• Four USB 3.0 ports
• Structurally enhanced mesh
• Swift carrying handle
• Anti-slip cable slot
• Movable dual 140 mm fans
• S shaped fan blades
• Seven changeable LED patterns

Strike Force SF-19 Specifications

Closer Look: SF-19 Laptop Cooler

CM Storm does a good job of providing products geared for gamers. I know that gaming puts serious heat on a laptop, often making a cooler a necessity. Along with movie watchers, gamers prefer a larger screen for better resolution and accuracy. Both applications tend to put an elevated stress on the CPU and GPU for long, uninterrupted sessions. This is the exact situation for generating heat. In addition, larger laptops probably have more components, or often more powerful components. Also, the ratio of surface area to volume is much smaller on a bigger laptop.

Basically what I'm saying is that I would anticipate a greater need for cooling on the larger platforms than on the smaller ones. But this seems to be an exact contradiction to the product offerings I see for the bulk of laptop coolers. Props to CM Storm for offering a bigger cooler for bigger laptops. And when I took it out of the box, that was my first impression...it's big. It's like the HAF X for laptops! Big and powerful.

The Strike Force SF-19 measures 19" across by 14 inches on the side. It's shaped like a big wedge; thicker in the back and thinner towards the front. This gives any laptop placed on top a strong tilt forward. I suppose this is a compromise for the lack of tilt or height adjustment. This large height and width give the SF-19 a very large surface area...which means more cooling area. The top is very sturdy, covered with a strong wire mesh.

The backside has a square grid of larger diameter holes which serve as the air intake. The back and the rest of the structural body is made from ABS plastic. The ABS is an affordable plastic that provides structural strength but sacrifices on weight. All told, the SF-19 weighs in at four and a half pounds. That's more than a netbook and almost as much as lighter laptops. But remember, it's meant for "Luggables" which typically weigh in over 15 pounds. If you're already sporting around that much size and weight you might not notice an extra four pounds.

Also seen on the backside is a natural handle outlined in a reinforced, anti-slip rubber. The handle is natural to use and also very sturdy. The same rubber is used in several places on the laptop to provide protection from bumps, cable management, and gripping surfaces to support the laptop.

Like Cooler Master's previous laptop cooler (the Notepal) the SF-19 is laid out in a slight "X" pattern. Okay, it's actually more like an "H", but the layout is still similar. The top and bottom of the "H" is outlined by large rubber pads which hold the laptop up off the metal mesh surface. In the Notepal these channels proved marginally effective, so it's interesting to see Cooler Master try again. I like the look of the this new model SGA-6000-KKYF1, mostly because I know the workmanship and materials are of high quality. The actual lines of the product don't impress me much, but I wouldn't say the thing's ugly.

The laptop shown here is an MSI Megabook L725 which measures 15.6 x 10.9 x 1.4 inches. You can see how the entire laptop sits entirely on the cooling surface with nothing hanging over the edge. So in truth, a 19" laptop will still have some portion not resting above the primary cooling surface. At least it won't grossly hang over the edges and entirely hide the cooler. It's hard to tell in this picture, but the clearance beneath the laptop is less than a quarter of an inch. Based on past reviews this is not a very large gap. The last thing I'll point out is the parts of the cooling surface which jut out beyond the edges of the laptop. There is a small section towards the front on each side, and a small corner on each side towards the front. These will be important later on.

Strike Force SF-19 Detailed Features

Just as with the HAF X, Cooler Master again sets the precedence by designing in USB 3.0 ports to the SF-19. There's no need to complain about compatibility or power issues. The SF-19 is powered by an AC adapter which MUST plug into the wall in to power the fans. Without the AC adapter the USB ports and LEDs still work, but the fans won't even turn on.

The four USB ports on the right side of the cooler are located next to the power port. To my dismay the USB input port is a micro-B connector. I understand that it's supposed to be a step up in quality, but it bugs me for compatibility. The laptop end is UAB A connector which will fail earlier than the micro-B end, and when it does I can't just grab another cable because I don't have micro-B cables lying around. OK, rant done, it's just fine ... a cheap replacement if the cable ever wears out. I'm more likely to lose a cable than have it wear out.

The left side of the model SGA-6000-KKYF1 laptop cooler has the LED and fan controls. There is a large push-button to toggle LED lights on and off, and a smaller push-button to toggle between LED colors. Next to those switches is a potentiometer which allows a large range of continuous fan speeds as well as turns the fans off.

The SF-19 sports two 140 mm fans. When the speed control is set at it's highest setting the laptop hums. These babies turn FAST. Fans can be easily replaced or swapped by opening the back panel. Both fans are mounted at an angle which matches the slope of the topside.

Looking further into the case you can see the power connectors for the fans. Each side of the laptop has a pair of 3-pin molex connectors. So the stock fans each use only one connector on each side leaving two extra connectors open. I wonder if Cooler Master played with different fan arrangements and sizes before deciding upon dual 140 mm fans. Unfortunately I didn't have any larger fans on hand to perform some additional tests to try and optimize my performance. Here's the point: YOU CAN! That's a big win for me. So much stuff these days uses preformed molds and special connections that you can't really do anything to fix bad products. But here there is a chance to potentially improve upon a good base.

For added style there are 7 different colors for the LED's. Each color is a solid light, nothing fancy here. The images here show white, green, purple and yellow modes. The other three (blue, dark blue and red) can be found elsewhere in the article.

Testing & Results

Testing Methodology

Power Consumption: To measure the power drawn by the laptop cooler it was plugged into the wall using the AC adapter and operated in the various modes. For each mode the current, wattage and apparent power were measured using a Kill-A-Watt Model P4400. This test differs from previous laptop coolers since the power is taken directly from the wall instead of from the laptop. Despite this difference the numbers can still be directly compared.

Cooling Effectiveness: In order to get laptop temperatures the laptop was turned on and allowed to reach a steady temperature without the laptop cooler. Internal temperature readings of the hard drive and both CPU cores were taken using SpeedFan. Surface temperatures were taken using an Exetech 42505 IR thermometer. The laptop cooler was then attached and run for 5 minutes. Internal and external temperatures were again recorded.

Test System

• Motherboard: Toshiba Satellite P105
• System Memory: 1014 MB RAM Samsung 266 MHz DDR2
• Processor: Intel Centrino Duo T2050 @ 1.60 GHz
• Video: NVidiaGeForce Go 7900 GS
• Disk Drive 1: 100GB Hitachi ATA SATA
• Optical Drive: LG Electronics ATAPI DVD
• Operating System: Windows XP SP3

Results

First, I'll tell you what I was expecting so you can understand my frame of reference. Two 140 mm fans at 2600 RPM is basically what I use to cool my desktop. All the previous coolers I've reviewed used laptop power and didn't consume much power. They were also physically smaller. Basically I was expecting the SF-19 to blow the competition out of the water. Well, this was true in a sense for power.

The SF-19 used waaaaaay more power than any of the other coolers. It is also the only one that relied on a separate AC adapter. What I don't know is how much is due to the AC adapter or whether the AC adapter was mandatory due to the power draw. So the AC Adapter and cooler while off leeched 3 watts of power from my wall. So doing nothing it consumed more power than the other coolers. Even at low it sucked 2 more amps. At full speed the thing vampired 12 watts of power. It was loud. Really loud. This kinda made me excited because I knew that power was being used for some uber cooling. Right? Maybe?

Okay, perhaps not uber cooling, but still respectable. with the fan at maximum, lap-vibrating output the internal temps were cooled 7 degrees over a 38 degree gradient; about 18% reduction. Remember, when looking at cooling you can't go solely on operating temperature because external factors like room temperature play a big role. For reference, the Notepal X2 had 11% reduction over the gradient while the Antec 200 and Thermaltake Massive had over 20% reduction. So the SF-19 is in the big leagues, but not a leader.

The thermal maps above are the final comparison for cooling performance. The image on the left shows external temperatures before using the Strike Force SF-19 and the image on the right shows temperatures after five minutes of cooling on high. The hot spots had some decent reduction but were not eliminated. The top middle to right portion still maintained some temperature. The best cooled areas appear to be at the bottom edge.

Laptop Cooler Final Thoughts

The most lasting impression was that the fans weren't pushing as much air as I thought they should. I wish I had larger and smaller fans to test, but I only have more 140 mm fans. I think this could have made a difference. The best coolers I've tested so far relied on one large 200 mm fan.

There are two main modifications I would recommend based on my experience. First, replace the two smaller fans with one big fan. Then I'd look into adding some smaller fans to the empty spaces in the top corners. Second, I would make the top surface level and use adjustable rubber pads for laptop supports. If rubber pads could be rearranged to adjust their location and height then the air flow could be adjusted for maximum benefit. In my case I need to get the back end slightly higher so air can get to the hot spots.

Strike Force SF-19 Conclusion

Scores and ratings will often change with the introduction of new products as well as the added experience of the reviewer. As such the scores can't always be directly compared with previous hardware because old reviews don't get adjusted when new items are introduced. When considering purchase of a product it is always best to compare attributes based on your preferences and needs instead of comparing somewhat arbitrary scores.

In five minutes the SF-19 was able to reduce the idle CPU temperatures by 18% (difference from room temperature). The best tested coolers so far were able to get a little over 20% reduction, so SGA-6000-KKYF1 is definitely a high end cooler. There was, however, a price to pay in noise and power to get this kind of cooling. The fans sucked 12 watts when running at full speed. The 2600 RPMs on the fans also produced quite the hum. Due to the size of this cooler there were no problems supporting any kind of laptop. The size also reduced ease of portability, but this was deemed a small problem since the size and weight are proportional to the laptops for which it was designed.

The all black exterior is a pretty common theme for recent hardware. The shape is unusual since it looks like a giant wedge that tapers in all dimension from front to back. Customizable LEDs give some added flare and actually give it a more full look. The use of different materials enhanced both the style and functionality.

Three main materials were used to build the SF-19. The top mesh is made of a fine metal mesh which provides strength and durability for the top. The main body is made from ABS plastic which is strong and thrifty, but adds additional weight. The rubber pads provide excellent gripping surfaces for your hands and the laptop.

These rubber pads also add functionality by using notches which allow you to wrangle USB and power cables. This will be useful for those who want to take advantage of the four USB 3.0 ports included on the SF-19. It will also be necessary to manage the power cable which is required to power the two hungry fans. One great feature is the fan speed adjustment which allows for a continuous range of fan speeds. The wedge shape puts the laptop at a more natural angle, but no additional mechanisms for adjustment are included.

At a price of $79.99 at Amazon or Newegg, the SF-19 tops the notebook cooler price segment. This is to be expected since it provides great cooling with the other top performers. The price buys respectable performance but not absolute best performance. Instead you get size and customizability. I don't know that Cooler Master intended for the SF-19 to be modded, but they sure made it easy. For me this increases the ownership value. Also, this is the only cooler offering USB 3.0, one of a kind.

In the end, for model SGA-6000-KKYF1 it becomes a consideration of the size and cost versus the attainable performance. For economics I might consider a slightly cheaper, slightly smaller laptop cooler to be economic. But the potential for improvement and the beefy platform may well be worth the few extra dollars.

Pros:

+ USB 3.0
+ Good Cooling Performance
+ Fans can be customized!
+ Fan speed adjustment (continuous scale)
+ Large cooling surface
+ Cable Management Grooves
+ Nice materials

Cons:

- Heavy
- Expensive
- AC adapter required
- Power hungry

Ratings:

• Performance: 9.50
• Appearance: 8.50
• Construction: 8.50
• Functionality: 10.0
• Value: 7.25

Final Score: 8.75 out of 10.

Quality Recognition: Benchmark Reviews Silver Tachometer Award.

Would you buy this laptop cooler? Leave your comment below, or start a discussion in our Forum.

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