Alienware 17 makes obnoxious high pitched sound?

I've got an M17x-R4 and love it. I just got in an Alienware 17, and mostly love it so far too...

Except it makes an intermittent very high pitched, completely obnoxious sound. It seems to be coming from the left side of the unit. I *think* it's actually from the fan. Like I don't mind the normal fan noise, it's basically just like my M17x-R4, and I don't even mind it much at full blast. It's not THAT loud, and not very annoying.

But this high pitched sound, while quieter, is just completely obnoxious to me, and my R4 doesn't do anything like it. It SEEMS like it starts and goes up and down when the fan kicks in at it's lowest level, and isn't there when the fan is totally quiet (don't know if it's actually stopped, but when the notebook is otherwise dead silent the squeal is gone too).

It can't be a hard drive, as I've got 2 SSDs in there. I GUESS it's not that "cpu whine" I've heard about, as unplugging it seems to have zero effect on the noise, and like scrolling around on web pages has no effect. I can't hear it, or at least it's covered over when the fans are clocked up a lot more, but I can hardly run something at full blast just to keep it from squealing lol

Is this normal? Is there anything I can do?

I *HATE* to return this thing both because that's a huge pain, and because I have zero clue what I'd replace it with. I've had bad luck with Asus, MSI I guess has worse cooling, Clevo's I've heard can't use normal Nvidia drivers, and are kind of funky anyway. Almost tempted to replace it with a Macbook Pro or Surface Pro 2 (even though obviously those are terrible for games, my R4 for now is going to get used for games mostly).

 

It sounds like it's coming from the fans indeed. Have you tried talking to support to replace it/them?

 

Well I just got it, so I really don't want to risk it not being able to be fixed. I hate it too because the Alienware 17 (and my R4) are otherwise soooo perfect for me, non-gimicky, well built, etc.

 

Try updating the system's BIOS, it could help out. I would give support a try before replacing it. It's just a lot easier and faster.

 

Yeah, I updated the BIOS and got the various drivers installed, crossing my fingers each time that that would fix it, but nope, exactly the same.

 

The fan takes like 5 minutes to replace. Just have them send you a new one, if that's the issue.

 

The fans really are quite easy to get at and replace, I would give support the opportunity to try that route before you return it. Chances are there is maybe a bearing in there that is gone and it is making the whine as I don't know what else short of an electrical issue could be causing it. The fans only require you to remove 5 screws if I remember correctly, 2 to remove the bottom panel and then the 3 holding the fan in place and then out it comes, just be careful when unplugging and plugging the power cables back into the board but really there isn't much to it.

I do get where your coming from though...when you buy a new toy you want it to work and rightfully so. If it makes you feel any better my brand new 17 had a GPU heat sink screw stripped to uselessness right out of the box. I called up support and they had a new GPU heatsink to me in under 24 hours and I changed it out myself and it has been golden ever since. Unfortunately some stuff gets by quality control and we have to deal with it after the fact but if you give support a chance they will take care of you I am sure. If you don't decide to go that route you may be able to return it and have another one built but that is going to take time....

 

I know from a certain perspective that makes a lot of sense (and I love how modular Dell's made these!) but on the other hand it's over $2500 I don't even really have right now, and I'm worried I'll run down the warranty and then never get it fixed, or it's something innate to the system. I've found at least one other person who's suspicious I've got the same thing he does (he's having some other issues too though).

I hate to end up in a situation where I've spent $2500 and then stick it in the closet and make due with my Macbook Air just because it's not whining at me lol

(Man, I even like the KEYBOARD on the 17! Maybe the nicest notebook keyboard I've ever used...)

 

Darn, I actually got audio recorded of it on my iPhone-it's far from perfect but you can easily hear it, but this forum doesn't let me upload the format apparently.

 

Well if it makes you feel any better I am extremely picky when it comes to my stuff ( My car in particular ) and with my cooling pad off the laptop is completely silent unless it is spinning up due to gaming or something like that, so I don't think it is a common issue. Even when the fans do ramp up I don't recall anything that might match the sound your describing.