Bit of a backstory here, skip to the bottom if you just want the question:
So I recently purchased new HP laptop. Although I'm not any sort of a hardcore gamer, I like to play games that I occasionally come by. After two weeks of usage, with Assasin's Creed 4 being played for 1-2 hour stretches on most days, I started getting the 'Graphics card has stopped working and recovered error'. (The laptop used to heat up like crazy while gaming, but an ASUS laptop I used prior to this one heated up to similar levels and worked flawlessly. The laptop never turned off due to heating, though) I assumed it was a software issue, and it went away after I turned off 'Link state power management' under 'PCI express'. But a few days later, it was back again. Annoyed, I ran FurMark GPU tester. The laptop crashed within a minute or so, and refused to turn on.
I got it back a week later with a new motherboard, replaced for free under warranty. I haven't run any games since (It's been just a few days), for fear of causing all this again. I'm assuming heating killed my laptop, so I'm considering buying a cooler. (Please advice me if this is actually necessary)
Specs that may or may not help: 2.2Ghz AMD A8-7410 with AMD Radeon R5 M330 with 2GB VRAM and 4GB of regular RAM.
Now, onto the actual question: All laptop coolers I have come across blow air up from the BOTTOM, while the only vent my laptop has is an exhaust went on it's left SIDE. I haven't spotted any intake vents anywhere at all. So how can a fan that blows air from the bottom cool my laptop when 99% of the heat is concentrated in the area near the exhaust vent? It seems like most of the cooling of the fans would go to waste, even if it reaches the exhaust vent. So are there cooling fans made for laptops with exhaust vents on the side (Which is every laptop I've come across), or am I dumb and blowing air from the bottom is enough for cooling?
