CPU Whine on M1330

Got my 1330 and cpu whine in so loud, reminds me of sitting in dentist chair and they're getting ready to drill os something..... other wise I like this laptop.

 

Yeah.. same here.. M1330 is my first laptop too... Well, for Apple, their systems are rather expensive. You're paying a premium price for specs that dont' match up to that price range. However, if you're really into Mac OSX and that glammor design then apple's good. I find that Asus is more practical with a bit of style though it might not have the battery life that M1330 or Apple can provide. I was thinking of switching to MBP since it was one of my top choices... but I really like 13.3" (compact for me to carry around) and I've already ordered my LappyMat 13.3" so I'd be wasting money not ordering something 13.3" again. I think regular MacBooks don't provide me with enough horse power for light gaming so Asus so far is the way to go. I'm also interested in Sony except they're the same as as Macs with respect to specs and pricing and I can't find one that has Geforce 8000 series with decent specs within 1.5 - 1.9k range (before tax)

 

First post from m1330 here, the whine is unbearable today. Much louder than yesterday

 

Don't delay! Request for your exchange system today! You've only got 30 days to do so and 15 of them will be used in production 5 days will be used in shipping so you won't have enough time to request another if it fails again.

Another option is just request refund (like codemonkeyx) if you don't want to put up with dell's manufacturing management.

 

Don't forget to vote for the Idea on IdeaStorm to fix this problem. The link is in my sig. Basically, if we get enough votes it will move up the ranks and Dell will be forces to recognize the problem.

And yes start working on fixing it now. I tried waiting a week to see if I got used to it or if it got better. But it did not. Some days I can not hear it at all, other days like yesterday I could clearly hear it over quite loud music.

I do not think this is acceptable for a $2000 laptop and they need to try and fix it for you or give you a refund.

If you get the same tech support guy as me though he will not offer a replacement, and will recommend a full refund. Which at this point I was happy to take.

 

So my M1330 has a whine, but no louder than any other computer I have owned. Is it really that bad for some?

 

If it is an Intel power saving state issue, how come some people have it and some don't?

It definitely doesn't whine in the Pre-boot self assessment (Fn-Power Button from an off state).

 

I called XPS support about the whine, and at first they wanted me to send the laptop to the depot to isolate the issue and I would be without it for ~ 7 days. I didn't agree to that, and he offered a replacement so I went with that. Hopefully the replacement system is better.

 

Well no one really knows what it is. All I know is that it happens when the processor is idle. And if I disable C4 sleep it get quieter.

 

So far the CPU whine in Idea storm has received 330 votes, but i don't think we're able to make it anywhere near the top yet as other ideas have 3000 and some even have 48000 votes! Keep voting guys!

Click on link on CodeMonkeyX's signature to vote!

 

So i've added two new features to the system tracker.

The first is 'bug tracker'. The idea behind this is that if and when people notice an issue with their system such as bad build quality, CPU whine, res changing after lid opens (etc.), they enter the bug into the system along with a definitive solution.

There are numerous long threads popping up over the place which makes it hard to track down the actual solution (if there is one) to a problem. Keeping them all in one place will mean it is simple and easy to find the solution.

The two new links related to this on the menu are:
My Bug(s) - Bugs you have personally submitted.
Bug Tracker - All bugs submitted by everyone.

The second new option I have added is a Review Tracker. Since people have started to receive their XPS M1330's, people have started to write some very good custom reviews which are not getting the lime-light they deserve. The idea behind the review tracker is to keep links to or copies of reviews on one place filed clearly by system and author. You can either add a link to a review via the URL option, or you can repliacte your review by submitting it into the description. I have even allowed pictures to be uploaded - so free image hosting for reviews as well. Please make sure that if you are going to submit a review in its entirity and you did not write it, that you have the permision of the original author.

I'm going to start populating the Bug Tracker and Review Tracker but I would also like the help of all you guys to keep it up to date - as everyone has done so well with the System Tracker.

Cheers,
J

 

More people are giong to have to get their laptops to do that...

 

Do you need your laptop to think cpu whine is a bad thing? I think you can vote anyway.

 

You need one to judge if you have it. And to what degree it is bad.

 

Having it is surely irrelevant, no? But true you might want to judge for yourself whether it really is a problem or if people are just being picky. For me, however, the level of complaint on this forum is evidence enough that it's a problem worth fixing.

 

I'm not sure voting for this is going to result in anything. It's not really Dell's problem is it, unless they assemble the computers, get a young kid to listen for the whine, and then pull the CPU if it exhibits the problem - which I'm sure I don't have to say, is financially impossible and ridiculous from a manufacturing point of view. Perhaps you'd be better off petitioning Intel.

 

Agreed......

 

As long as Dell - and other Intel costumers - keep buying Intel, Intel won't have to bother caring. But if Dell gets unhappy with Intel because its customers are complaining about their laptops, then Intel might start caring. In short: Intel won't give a damn as long as Dell doesn't give a damn. (anyway, it seems to be how the processor interacts with other parts of the laptop that causes the problem - so it may not be an exclusively processor problem)

As to it not making much of a difference - yes, it very likely won't. On the other hand, it's not exactly difficult to vote.

 

Well the problem is that Intel has no way to petition them. You would have to set everything up yourself, and you would just look more wacky. Also, Intel generally does not sell to consumers, they sell to huge companies like Dell. So they are not going to pay any attention to us if Dell and other companies are not saying anything to them about the issue.

Dell has a lot of clout, they are the Number 1 seller in the USA. They also seem to take Idea Storm seriously. So if this idea gets enough votes to get Dell interested in fixing it, then they can put a lot more pressure on Intel than thousands of us ever could.

Also, I am not a young kid anymore. I am 28 and the noise coming out of my system is piercing at time. Sometimes it is quieter than others too. So I think that indicates that the problem could be worse on different systems. Not all systems have the same noise and to the same degree. However I think enough systems, and enough people hear it that this need to be looked into and fixed.

I have a replacement system coming, so I guess I will see if I can hear it on the new system as well, or if it was isolated to my first laptop.

 

the way the conversation on this thread is going is stupid

 

Thanks for the helpful comment....

For all the people getting replacement systems, do you get an order number you can track?

I have a dispatch number, but I am not sure how to use that number to track anything.

 

I got an order number. I asked the CSR for it and she said that i didn't have one yet because the order had not yet been placed, but that if i was willing to wait she could give it to me in a few minutes. I waited lik 8 minutes, and she said there was a problem with the dispatch (or something) and that she'd call me with my order number after her shift. She called me 3 minutes later with the order number. I'm currently in build.
It also appears on my dell account online.

 

Surely you could see the cyclical argument they were having. Was barely on toipc

 

BTW The CPU Whine has made it to page 5 of popular ideas on IdeaStorm. So it's not hopeless!

 

howcome sony vaios dont have this problem? Or do they? If my m1330 arrives with a whine I will return it and get a Sony SZ

 

From what I can tell all Intel laptops, and desktops that use the power saving options, have the problem to some extent. Maybe because Dell and HP are so popular we just hear about it more.

Because we do not really know what causes the noise it is hard to say why one line of computers seem more likely to have the problem than others.

Flamenko got his M1330 and it is silent. And he knows what this sound sounds like, so it would seem that not all M1330 suffer from the whine, atleast that's a comfort.

 

Had to laugh when you said you would get a Sony Viao if this problem was in the replacement system.

Since Sony has been hit with this too, what happens if your new Sony has it as well....


As for replcement system order numbers...

If you go to MyAccount then look at "My Orders" the system will be there as soon as its entered.

I see in mine is the new Lacie hard drive i picked up because of the $200 refund I got two nights ago and....

oh ya my free 19" Widescreen I was given yesterday. (teeeheee)

This song is ringing in my ears "Im so excited" since yesterday.

Oh and by the way...someone offered my a ony CS as a straight trade for my selling system today...YUK!!!! Im not a Sony lover...had two.

 

well I have a sony vaio (about 3 years old now) and it is dead silent. thats why i thought sonys might have a better track record in this area. also, since vaios are sold retail, i have been to several laptop retailers and put my ear up on the demos them and heard nothing

 

This sound, called piezoelectricity, has made its debut in many systems. I have listened to several that are dead silent, and I have heard the other side of it as well.

It is an interesting point you raise where I now wonder why we have never heard this from any system on display in a store. The only logical explanation I can offer is that the noise level is much to great in any large retail or even office environment.

It contains itself to the tip of your nerve endings in the solace of a quiet room...

 

Even in the loudest rooms, I can still hear the morse code like sound if I put my ear to the bottom of my laptop, and it sounds exactly like in the YouTube video posted in this thread. I've never tried this in a store though.

Oddly, the CPU noise got louder after they replaced the CPU at the dell depot. I hope it'll quiet down eventually like I've been hearing some do. I definitely noticed that my original M1210 was louder when I first got it than it was before it went to the depot.

 

I noticed you stated as you put your ear to the bottom....and this is why I think we don't notice it in a store. Hw many of us will get caught in Costco/Best Buy/Circuit City etc. now lifting the laptops and listenning.

Its kind of a funny thought for a very unfunny occurrence.

 

I was struck by this detail too. How often do you type with the computer on your head? I have waited so long for this laptop, that the whine will have to be worse than a 3 year old at a toy store for me to return it. I will just use the free head phones to tune it out.

 

So people exchanging their M1210 are getting M1330's?

 

If you can get an exchange now then they will probably give you a M1330. But unless you only just got you M1210 a week or so ago they will not believe you have had the sound for a long time, and all of a sudden want to have an exchange.

 

Has anyone tried the Notebook Hardware Control software to see if this changes the way the system handles power saving modes? Or is this related on such a low level hardware control nothing software is going to matter?

 

It worked to a degree for me. It was quieter, but do not think I should have to give up the power saving features of my CPU to make it a little quieter. It if was silent I would probably do it.

 

I know of myself and two US citizens who have been granted a M1210 to m1330 exchange.

I advised both others in my Dell.com thread and would be very interested to know of others who, as well, were allowed the exchange (M1210 to M1330)

 

Link to Dell on the subject.

First they list the Bluetooth fix which did not work for me, then they go on to describe what is causing our problem with the CPU. They list no solution and seem to indicate that it is normal.

So they know about the problem, even though the CSR pretend to know nothing about it, and act like I am crazy when I tell them about it. And I am worried by the fact that they are describing it like normal noise.

I am interested in the fact that they say it is C3 and not C4 that causes the noise. I have heard it was C4 causing it in the past.

 

God I hate Vista. I am trying to make a quick video of the sound with my cell phone to see if I can hear it on there at all. But I have to wait for the hard drive to stop spinning. Windows has been at the login screen for over 5 mins and the hard drive activity is still going like crazy!!!

Before anyone says anything, the noise is much louder than hard drive activity, it's just when accessing the hard drive CPU usage changes and the sound changes too.

 

I dont really experience that much anymore with the new drive; sorry couldnt resist CodeX.

 

I just received my m1330 and I'm not sure what the cpu whine sounds like. I may be hearing the fan or something.

 

Check out the link to Dell's ideastorm in my sig. In the comments they have a link to a youtube video of the sound.

 

Hard drive indexing perhaps? Mine boots, logs in, hard drive thrashes for about 10 seconds while loading startup apps and stops.

This is a problem, but not Dells. Of course they're not going to provide a solution because there isn't one, at least Intel hasn't said there is.

 

That's why I said I hate vista, not Dell. Everything seems to take forever

 

i have the my CPU whine on my vostro too. It is not at all as loud as on the youtube link, but i can hear it. It doesnt bother me at all though, because i really need to have my ear at the fan exhaust to hear it..

 

yah, mine has the same cpu whine too. i'm not tech savvy, what should i do now? get a new laptop?

 

From what I have read it is a mechanical defect in the Intel CPU or the motherboard. It seems to be very common so a replacement might have the same noise. Personally I have a replacement on order to see if it will help, if not then I will return them both.

Some people have gotten systems with no noise so there is hope. But right now yeah, you either get a replacement, install something like RMClock (which has many down sides), or return it.

 

I'm leaving home for school in 2 weeks. I will need a computer with me. What's the chance of getting a replacement that is problem free? How many of you return your laptop because of the cpu whine? And how many of you successfully got a new laptop back without the whine? Can I still return it even if I'm away from the city that I bought this laptop from?

 

ok I just received the laptop today..now I'm sitting in my room using this with a headache...now I know what you guys are talking about...I am heaing that faint cpu whine .... I haven't try using the laptop unplugged...but I do want to use the laptop plugged and NOT hear this annoying sound... today I went to Bestbuy to 'hear' the hp laptops...and they are so quiet!.. arg...I don't know what should I do, I kinda want to just return this and get a full refund. You think Dell can give me that?

oh to add to the whine, I hear sound like "crik, crik/buzz" when the laptop is in used...is that supposed to be normal?

 

you can return it within 14 days for a full refund i think - maybe longer.