Envy 15 high pitched sounds

I get an almost constant high-pitched noise coming from what sounds like the left side of the Envy15. The sound is probably in the 16khz range, probably goes undetected by a lot people but I always pick up on it. I've noticed the sound is interupted when I scroll a webpage so I thought it was crappy power regulation for the display or something. However, when same effect is there when using an external monitor and the laptop lid closed.

I've heard this is a "common" problem for other users. Does anyone know what the source of the sound is?

 

Also, the (gpu?) fan on the right side of the laptop seems to run constantly at an audible level. Not loud but more noticeable than the previous i5 420m envy15 I returned (the 420m was almost silent). Is this normal? The current 530m seems twice as warm as the 420m when feeling the case.

 

I get the high pitched sound too...its annoying as heck...

 

I get that noise on the right side coming from the front opening which is the hard disk. Note that I have an SSD. Im not sure that the noise was there before I replaced the hard rive with the SSD. Again, the problem could be unrelated to the SSD but its annoying very much.

 

weird, i had a high frequency squeal from the hard drive but its gone now that i went to SSD.

 

im really trying my best to avoid sending back for repair given the horror stories of how they come back.

 

I have this too so I opened the computer up to see where it was coming from but I could not locate it. I took the hdd out to make sure that wasn't the source.

 

There is a BIOS CPU power saving feature that causes a high pitched noise to be emitted from the CPU itself. Happens even in desktops. Google for specifics but I fixed mine on a desktop by turning off the feature.

But I'm only 75% sure that your issue is even related to this.

 

Just played around in BIOS saw no option for cpu power saving or anything even remotely related

 

nevermind, i still have annoying high frequency sound, now that i turned off the fans i can hear it again.

 

See these two links for potential solutions:

Problem with high pitch noises - ThinkWiki

Help! High pitch noise coming from Conroe. - RightMark Forums

Hope it helps.

 

Not necessarily the hard drive but could be some sort of a capacitor in the vicinity. That sucks.

 

Guys this is coming from the CPU. It only happens when the processor enters certain power states. Does the sound go away or is greatly reduced with the cpu under full load of Prime 95?

 

It is indeed related to the CPU power states. The sound goes away whenever the CPU is actually being used.

 

it's definitely related to the CPU power state. the high pitch squeal is fairly constant (though wobbly in frequency) unless the CPU is at full bore like during prime95 torture test or when loading a big program like OpenOffice, when it goes quiet. the squeel itself isn't loud but it is annoying.. once you hear it, kind of hard not to.

i don't have any options in the BIOS (F1A) to alter the CPU functions. do the newer BIOS releases have some extra functionality?

well anyway being that i'm in my mid 30s my hearing should be crapping out before long. or i could speed it up with a couple more front-seat concerts, let the tinnitus overpower anything the Envy can dish out.

 

I'm using the latest BIOS and it doesn't fix it at all, unfortunately.

I'm still a teenager so the Envy will probably be long obsolete by the time my hearing starts deteriorating

 

i think it may be more apparent on this notebook than any i've had in the past because the chassis is basically wide open on all sides. the number of vents is insane. i didn't consider this much before i ordered the Envy but it does pose some problems. liquid intrusion is a real threat. a drink spilled on the same table could mean death, just from leaking in the sides. i can't even consider a coke in the vicinity of the Envy with my dog's wild tail whipping all around. and speaking of dogs, i imagine the hair they shed will sneak its way through those slots before long. it certainly gets into everything else. of course with all this venting the Envy does stay cool, cooler than the MBP with its fancy-pants unibody chassis. i just hope it doesn't drown in wine like my last laptop, murdered by my clumsy girlfriend.

 

I cant believe you let you girlfriend murder your laptop!!! I thought there is a code among us nerds/techies that our toys are sacred and untouchable

 

Look at the 2 links I posted. One of them describes a program that you run in order to get rid of the sound. See if that works. I hate laptop BIOSs....

 

i think that program just disables the speed stepping so it runs full blast all the time. then its hot and power hungry but not squeeky.

 

if the noise, which is probably NOT fixable by you, us, or any piece of software, BOTHERS you that much, send the laptop back to HP.

Audible noise from dc/dc power supplies such as those inside of laptops is not all that uncommon.

 

while it's slightly annoying, this is not a return-worthy issue for me. i have a laptop which is otherwise 100% functional and i don't want to mess with a good thing, considering all the horror stories you read around here (not limited to HP).

 

Lol. I guess if it only happens when the CPU is idle, then have some background tasks running to keep it busy

While you're plugged in ofcourse, otherwise your battery life would be < 30 min.

 

I realize this is a completely different laptop... but has anyone taken a look at this video (or similar ones) and tried these solutions?

YouTube - SONY Vaio F Series high-pitched noise

The video suggests (On the Sony F Series at least) that the problem is something to do with the audio/mic settings, and the feedback is actually the mic, picking up some sort of high pitch frequency, and you are hearing it "through" the computer.

Take a look and let us know. I'd like to find a fix incase my Envy has this problem when it arrives too.

 

nope, that's not it. Tried messing with all the mic settings. It's def. coming from the cpu or gpu.

 

I emailed HP they responded with this,

Thank you for contacting HP Total Care.

To resolve the issue please update the chipset drivers with the help of the web link given below:



Intel Chipset Installation Utility

Intel Chipset Installation Utility HP Envy 15t-1100 CTO Notebook PC - HP Customer Care (United States - English)



If the issue still persists, please reinstall the power management with the help of the steps given below:



Reinstall Power Management:

1. Open Device manager (Click Pearl or Start button, Select Run, type DEVMGMT.MSC and press enter).

2. Click Continue.

3. Click + sign next to System Devices.

4. Right click on ACPI fixed features.

5. Select Uninstall.

6. Similarly Uninstall the entries listed under Batteries in device manager.



Also please make sure if the sound is coming from the Fan or the Hard Disc Drive.

If the sound is coming from Hard Disc Drive, please perform the Hard drive self test with the help of the steps given below:

Perform a hard drive self test

Many computer problems are related to soft failures on the hard drive. The comprehensive portion of the HP Hard Drive Self Test repairs soft errors on the hard drive, but do not report the errors. After the test completes, be sure to restart the computer to determine if the test repaired any problems you are experiencing with your computer.



To use the HP Hard Drive Self Test, follow the steps below.



NOTE: If the notebook computer is configured with two hard drives, then it may be necessary to test each drive separately.



1. If the notebook computer is running solely on battery power, plug the AC adapter into the notebook.
2. Shut down the computer if it is running.
3. Press the power button to turn on the computer.
4. Press f10 when the HP/Compaq logo displays.
5. After the BIOS Setup Utility displays, use the Right Arrow key to select the Diagnostics menu.
6. Select HDD Self-Test options.
7. Press enter to display a list of HDD/Self-Test options.
8. Select Notebook Hard Drive and then press f10 to display an Estimated test time.
9. Press f10 to continue. The Hard Drive Self Test executes a Quick test, a Comprehensive test, and a SMART test.

If any test fails, contact HP for instructions on how to order a replacement hard drive.

If all of the tests pass, the hard drive is not damaged. As a rule, HP does not replace a hard drive that is under warranty if it does not fail the HP Hard Drive Self Test.



I'm at work all night and due to some relatively heavy background noise here I can't hear the sound. So when I get home late i'll test out what they said, but i'm not optimistic that the problem will be fixed.

 

So I finally heard this high pitched noise.

It comes from the front left of my laptop, but I can only hear it on battery power AND the BIOS "fan always on" setting disabled.

So basically, since I reenabled the fan always on for other reasons, this isn't an issue at all.

 

I'm very sensitive to this high pitched noise. Have experienced it on different laptops. Thankfully most of the newer laptops I've owned don't have this noise, not that I can hear unless I put the bottom of the thing against my ears anyway. The first Envy 15 I received is very quiet.

I have a XPS630 gutted out with a Gigabyte X58A-UD5 mobo with Core i7 920. This thing was SCREECHING so loud it was almost like running a knife on a blackboard, it was absolutely driving me insane. I turned off the overclock (to 3.8ghz) and it did not help one bit. What did it was disabling C1E (EIST left active) and it became dead silent, it was such a relief. It is still able to clock itself down when idling.

Of course there is zero option in the Envy 15 to adjust any of that... Hopefully my second Envy 15 that's coming on Monday will be silent as well.

BTW this is with the i5 430m.

 

I can hear this all the time and it's driving me crazy..

 

RE: Lowporkwa
it has nothing to do with the HDD, i replaced it with an SSD and the issue persists. using prime95 it was isolated to the CPU. specifically, the sound occurs whenever the CPU is throttled. i believe the sound is more apparent with Envy because the chassis is open (vented) on 3/4 sides

 

I 100% agree with this, I was just relaying the message I got when I emailed HP.

 

I've already concluded that any information from HP that's not from an escalated agent is pretty much a useless automated response. At least their return process is simple.

 

They told me it is a hardware malfunction and must be fixed on site and are shipping me a box to send it back to them in.

Is it worth sending to them? Do you guys think its actually fixable? I'm just thinking there is no use in sending it back if there is no way to fix it...

 

if it is truly impossible to fix by replacing certain elements they will be obligated replace the entire unit....nothing wrong with that, right?

 

Right. But first HP has to go through a set of procedures which they pretend to attempt to fix it for couple of times. Then they will replace it

 

Yeah...so i'm wondering if this is worth all of the hassle to go through. I'm honestly questioning if replacing the computer will even fix the problem. I am assuming that it would just come with the same sound! I'd be spending weeks without my laptop which would FORCE me to be in the lab doing work yuck

What would you guys do? get it replaced or 'fixed'?? I'm so confused as to what to do...

 

I had a black screen/hardware issue with my first Envy, returned it, got a refund and ordered another one with the same specs. So far it works great!

I checked on a lot of forums when I first encountered the black screen issue and I have never heard of anyone else with this strange noise coming out of their HP Envy. I would definitely get it fixed while it is still within the warranty because if you ever want to sell it in the future that will reduce the value. If you absolutely must have a good laptop while yours is in the shop, buy a quickship model from HP direct and return it for refund within 21 days. Or buy any open box laptop from best buy that you can return without restocking fee.

 

at least in my case the sound is only audible when there is dead silence in the room. which isn't very often.

 

You know...after noticing at work that I can't hear it...I brought it home set it up and I didn't hear the noise again. Then I was confused, plugged in my USB mouse and there is! THe sound is back! Immediately disappears when USB unplugged...ahhhhh

Edit: Tested several different devices, different plugs, the sound is only audible, or annoyingly audible when something is plugged into the USB drive!!!

 

Just fyi. When I had the same sound on my desktop PC, it was only audible when I moved my USB mouse around. But disabling C1E in BIOS fixed that.

 

I'm wondering if anyone found a definite fix for this yet.

Just got my Envy 15 today and I can hear the audible high pitched noise. However, as the above person stated, it is only present when either the USB has something plugged into it... or when I am not doing anything and the CPU is idle.

Thoughts?

 

i hear is less now that i have an ssd and hhd combo. still has very faint hissing noise, but you have to stick your ear to the notebook to really hear it. The always on fans drown out any odd sounds.

 

Hmm..

I just noticed as well that it only happens once you load up the entire OS. If you stay and browse the web, or do anything in the QuickStart little thing that loads before windows 7 actually does, there is no high pitched buzz.

Also, To get into BIOS from startup what key is it?

 

Anyone got any more insight on this?

It can only be heard in fairly quiet places, while the processor is idle. It is definitely a Processor sound.

even when typing it goes away, or scrolling down a webpage fast. but when idle its like a constant ringing that pulsates slowly almost.

Ideas?

 

Ahh, this must be why I never hear it - I live and work in downtown LA and there is always a bit of traffic noise from the street. As there is no HDD noise, compared to my desktop or any other laptop I've ever worked with, it seems almost completely silent except while working in graphics intensive application and I can hear the fan working

 

This sound is really driving me crazy. I think it gets worse with fan on...

 

Here is the complete and easy solution for this problem

http://forum.notebookreview.com/6347979-post1478.html