Inspiron 1520 High Pitch Noise Followup

Okay so as I read in an earlier post...A few people have been hearing noises coming from their Inspiron 1520.

Well, I made a video showcasing the noise from my laptop. Check it out:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=s5xwSJJPoVY

I was just wondering if this is normal. (LOL, I don't think it is.) If it's not, Is dell's return policy really that good?

I really love the inspiron 1520 but because of the build quality, the grainy screen, the headphone jack noises, i dunno if i should keep it. Maybe I will be moving to Mac. "OH **** U DID NOT JUST SAY THAT"

 

It's a problem with motherboard, I think; and Dell can repair it (or send you a new Inspiron). Don't worry!

 

Call dell and complain and ask them to come out to you and install a new mobo if you purchased onsite warranty (I did and will call Dell to come fix it if i Have any issues with it).

Now if my damn 1520 would ever come out of production...

 

Ragnor thank you for your quick reply, but the thing is, Does yours have this noise? (Do you even have one?, well post ur answer in the poll!) but anyway. I got this laptop 2 days ago, if its a problem with a motherboard i think that's b.s. lol. I'd rather stride elsewhere.

 

Yep thats the noise alright! Mine is not THAT loud though. It's audible, but not the point that its too irritating to stand.

 

On the old E1705s I, and many other people used to have that problem. It's often an issue with the core 2 duo processor trying to idle or something like that. If this is the same issue, and after watching that video I'd say it sounds exactly the same as the problem I had, download RMClock and check the box that says "run HLT command when idle."

 

HP has a support page that says you should go in the BIOS and disable C4 Sleep mode (which will lower your battery life...)

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=142239

 

That's great lambchops, but he is asking about a dell.

There is another way using RMClock without killing battery life - there is an option "enable popdown mode" is to be checked, and "enable popup mode" is to be unchecked. That keeps the CPU in the more lower power states. It works for me.

 

Yeah it's not a Dell-specific problem. My 1520 has a little whine to it occasionally, but it is NOTHING compared to how my HP DV6109 sounded. Jesus, that thing would give you a splitting headache. The culprit is something with how Intel's speedstep on its processors reacts with some of the capacitors on the mobo while stepping the power down, causing them to whine, from what I've read.

 

mine makes a slight noise - very quiet and can only be heard in complete silence. i think it might actually be my old wireless mouse though.

 

Like I said guys, it is related to the CPU power states and can be easily resolved using RMClock as per the instructions above.

 

Yes, it's definitely the CPU power states. My M1210 and my M1710 both made the exact same noise. I will also add that the noise drove me mad on both systems.

 

That noise would drive me absolutely insane.

 

Has anyone actually gotten this fixed by Dell? Dell offered to send a rep over and replace my motherboard and I'd like to know if that has worked for anyone yet.

 

I had the same noise and the wierd thing was that it would come from earphones too when they are plugged in., So i just called dell today, they said they will repair it so purolator came and picked it up. I just opened the laptop today, god knows what next will be broken.

 

Just download the rmclock like was said earlier in this thread, I was drove out of my mind listning to the sound coming from laptop until I downloaded, it fixed it like a charm.

Thanks for letting me know how to fix this problem, it was so easy to do

Bottom line_ just do whatever the previous post said and it will be fixed within a minute or two!

 

ok, now i downloaded rmclock and it works. i couldnt use popup setting or whatever, so i just checked 'HLT commend' one. noise almost gone, but CPU running 100% all the time. i dont care about CPU fully loaded but is temperature range 47~60 C normal? can i turn this thing on 24/7?

also, what's the max temp that core2duo (mine is 7300) can bear? 47~60 range is when i'm running lighter apps, i.e. web browsing, MS office, IM, etc.

thanks for RMclock information.

 

Your processor will shut down if the temperature goes higher than accepted levels.. The real danger is frying your mobo and other internals.Make sure to run the fan at all times. 47-60 is okay, I'd say anything in the 60s is okay, for a CPU running at 100%.

 

R u sure its the motherboard in the first place?

 

Try what they posted first. I am giving a WARNING. it will take weeks for the replacement laptop (im going on 10 days when it was only supposed to be 8)

 

Well, as far as I can tell from the RM Clock documentation (and the maker of RM Clock confirms this on his website), the command that RM Clock gives isn't actually running your cpu at 100%. Basically, he compares it to the "system idle process," which if you look at it, is often using 90+% of your cpu in task manager. But it's not actually loading your cpu or making it compute anything.

 

the enable popdown mode and others are greyed out so I can't change them on rmclock.

 

just saying that maybe if c4 in any bios is turned off then speedstep won't do stupid things.

 

Hi all,

I have the same problem on my Dell Inspiron 1720.
I've contacted Dell and they will send me a tech on Friday, to change the motherboard.

I hope this will resolve this issue

 

^ did you even try the RMClock download method?

 

lucky here on the 1720....no pitching noise...

 

I had that problem with my inspiron 1520. I returned it.

 

Hi,

I have tried the RMClock solution, and the noise has disapeared, but I want a "Hardware" solution.

Zagnut, did Dell changed your motherboard ???

 

No. They offered to repair it, but wouldn't guarentee that it would help. So I just choose to return it, and wasn't charged anything for restocking because it was faulty laptop.

 

There is a new soundcard driver that is out for the 1520,1420 and 1720 laptops. Its not listed on dells support site yet.

http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=14056

that is the link. I think it might have fixed the noise but I only tried connecting speakers into the headphone port and did not hear the hissing noise. I dont have my headphones with me to see if it affected them (it did before i updated to these drivers).

 

wow, the poll drastically changed, now its 12-Yes 15-No... I guess more people are starting to have problems.

 

Nobody is going to try these new drivers with headphones? I did with the speakers I had available and didnt hear the noise. I have a 1520.

 

Tried it...no joy here....same old noise.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=2193829

end of the page---my settings

it happens to me too guys but these settings did the trick. Board manufactures should look into this problems(damn bastards!)

 

As I decide whether to buy the 1520 this noise thing is really discouraging - and confusing. Some people are implying that the sound is a mechanical/acoustic noise and some other people say that they hear it through their headphones (not through the opening in the headphone socket). Either way it is something that would disturb me and I don't intend to buy a service plan with any computer that I buy, nor do I have the time to wait for someone to come out to my house to replace the motherboard.

I started my quest to replace an old mac powerbook by looking at Asus, then Acer and now I am thinking the Dell 1520 looks like a nice way to get the options that I want, but this sound thing has to get cleared up, and the fact that it has been present on earlier models and is still not fixed is really screwed up.

Maybe by the time I've learned everything I need to know about the 1520, Asus will have a T7500 / 8600m GT notebook available and I can just cycle back to them.

 

Hi,

Does the noise disappeared after your motherboard has been changed ? Do they have changed the CPU too ?

Thanks

 

Thy did'nt repair it. I gave it back, i don't have it any longer.

 

OK, so you don't have your laptop now ? When will they send back it to you ?

 

They won't send it back. I returned it for good. I'm getting a Dell Lattitude D630 instead.

 

OK, you returned it because of the noise only ?

 

Yes. The noise gave me a headache, so i basically could'nt use the laptop. There was also the fact that i thaught the build quality was really bad. The screen wasn't held properly by the latch, and there was a slight bulge in the keyboard.

 

OK, i don't have so much problems !
I just whish that the sound will disappear when the motherboard will be changed ...

 

Have you guys tried disabling the sound cards power managent under the sigmatel control panel applet? That helped me with my noise problem.

 

Yes, same result...

 

disabling the sound cards power managment does nothing. i tried it, doesnt work. I tried enabling it too. Didnt work either. It was normaly on enabled.

 

same problem with mine - just received my laptop - and it does make noise when I use headphones.

I believe (something is telling me) it's the wi-fi card - had similar problem before.

So please let me know if you (who have this problem) are using wireless connection.

 

I dont think it has anything to do with the wireless. Correct me if im wrong. I have this really old old old sony vaio laptop that makes this same noise, except its 10x louder. I would expect an old computer like that to make the noise, but a brandspanking new laptop like this? I don't think so. like wtf? Oh yeah and the vaio uses wifi through a pc card so i would think it does not make that noise through the wireless card.

 

The sound don't come from the wireless, but from the motherboard (which manage cpu voltages). I will see if, by changing the motherboard, the problem disappear...

 

as posted in other threads, the problem does come from interference by the CPU.

It can easily be fixed by CPU scaling with the RMclock program, if it REALLY bothers you.

here is a link to a thread that discusses the problem and the fix: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=140467

 

Wow by coming to this website i finally realize that all dell inspiron come with this same noise problem. I got my computer two days ago and started coticing this annoying pitch noise and called dell they tried to help but gave a lot of crap when i told them i wanted my money after they told me they couldnt solve the problem. Now i really want my money back!!!.....am really pissed at dell.