8. ... And From The Inside: Elaborate Cooling Systems

Since the LV Athlon XP-M 1700+ and the Pentium M 1.6 GHz have almost identical thermal power, we thought it would be interesting to take a look inside the cases.

After all, most users still believe that notebooks with AMD mobile processors still need more elaborate cooling systems. After "countless" screws are removed and the display screen, keyboard and top cover of the case are dismantled, the only thing keeping us from seeing the chipset and the processor is a thin sheet of aluminum.

What the Lifebook S2010 with the AMD CPU looks like inside...

... and the Lifebook S6120 with the Intel processor.

The sheet is not there just for decoration or as a shield against magnetic forces. It also extends the cooling surface of the system. On the underside of the sheet is a heat pipe that distributes part of the heat from the processor to the entire surface. The heat pipe is in contact with the top of the copper cooler on the CPU. Removing the sheet provides a clear view of the notebook's guts.