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    Lenovo T510 CPU Whine

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by claudehl, Jan 28, 2011.

  1. claudehl

    claudehl Notebook Geek

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    Hi Guys:

    Like many of you who use the T510, my unit has the infamous CPU whine. On the Lenovo forum, a contributing member (natbuk) introduced a hardware fix that resolved the issue. He soldered a capacitor to the motherboard. Have any of you guys implemented his fix with success?

    Radix2

    Thank you,
    C.
     
    claudehl, Jan 28, 2011
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  2. Mech0z

    Mech0z Notebook Evangelist

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    Mine has it too, pretty annyoing
     
    Mech0z, Jan 28, 2011
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  3. oct

    oct Notebook Evangelist

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    My gf's T510 has this issue too.. our "fix" was to use ThrottleStop app. Apparently it disables by default CPU C-states...(checkbox is unchecked) which makes the noise to go away(most of it at least)... I don't know if that would work on your machine, but give it a try..

    Also, I remember playing with BIOS and disabling power management for CPU.... so not sure if that has it's contribution as well or not...

    Anyway, right now ThrottleStop is in Windows' start-up and we pretty much forgot what's the whine...

    PS: she has T510 with a i5 540-m...

    PPS: ThrottleStop doesn't have to be enabled.. I mean we're using it just to fix CPU whine.. nothing else..
     
    oct, Jan 28, 2011
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  4. Renee

    Renee Notebook Virtuoso

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    "The fix" will work. It's a standard technique for reducing noise.

    Renee
     
    Renee, Jan 28, 2011
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  5. claudehl

    claudehl Notebook Geek

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    Disabling the power management of the CPU and the Bus system eliminates the noise but I lose three hours of battery power. That annoys the hell out of me as I frequently don't bother taking the power cord (that's why I got the 9 cell battery). I'll try the throttle stop application and re-enable the power managemetn features in bios and see if that reduces the noise without such a battery life penalty.

    C.
     
    claudehl, Jan 28, 2011
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  6. claudehl

    claudehl Notebook Geek

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    Removed the keyboard and checked the dimensions. The capacitor is too big to install. It interferes with the installation of the keyboard. Oh well. Guess we're left to use utilities or wait for Lenovo (if the company ever does anything about it).
     
    claudehl, Jan 29, 2011
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  7. ez.river

    ez.river Newbie

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    Oct-
    Can you explain which settings you've selected in Throttlestop? I have a T510 i7. In TrottleStop 2.89 The only items I have selected are Performance = 1. EIST = [Checked]. RightMark CPU Clock Utility works for me now.... but battery drain is substantial.
     
    ez.river, Jan 31, 2011
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  8. Renee

    Renee Notebook Virtuoso

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    "Removed the keyboard and checked the dimensions. The capacitor is too big to install. It interferes with the installation of the keyboard. Oh well. Guess we're left to use utilities or wait for Lenovo (if the company ever does anything about it)."

    Tell us more about the physical dimensions of the problem. Capacitors come in all shapes and working voltages.

    Renee
     
    Renee, Jan 31, 2011
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  9. oct

    oct Notebook Evangelist

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    Yes, same here...

    Well, for us is much more important not to have the whine then a good battery life..

    So, was there any difference in the noise?
     
    oct, Jan 31, 2011
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  10. claudehl

    claudehl Notebook Geek

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    Hi Renee:

    The space between the motherboard and the keyboard is less than 1 cm. The diameter of the capacitor is exactly 1 cm. I don't know if a smaller capacitor would be up to do the job.

    Lenovo hasn't given this problem any regard. As with many of you, I'm left to disable to the power management of the notebook in BIOS. I basically trade in battery life for a quiet working environment.
     
    claudehl, Feb 1, 2011
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  11. Renee

    Renee Notebook Virtuoso

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    What is the value and working voltage of the capacitor that was recommended? What's the maximal capacitance that will fitting. What's the fitting capacitors value be in capacitance and working voltage?


    Renee
     
    Renee, Feb 1, 2011
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  12. claudehl

    claudehl Notebook Geek

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    Hi Renee:

    Natbuk from the Lenovo forums said he used a 1000uF 25Volt capacitor. It's cylindrical in shape with a 1.0cm diameter and two leads. I don't know if it's safe to go down in ratings. Forgive my ignorance in this subject as I do not have working knowledge of capacitors.
     
    claudehl, Feb 2, 2011
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  13. Renee

    Renee Notebook Virtuoso

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    "It's safe to go down on capacitance although the amount of filtering will go down proprtionally.

    Working voltahe is riskier but do not go below 15.0 Volts.

    With that you should be able to start. Also consider distributing the capitance although this is subject to experientation.

    Renee
     
    Renee, Feb 2, 2011
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  14. ThinkLover

    ThinkLover Notebook Consultant

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    Curious thing I've found today - my R61 is whining when running on battery, but... not always. At morning it was whining, but now I does not.
    :confused:
     
    ThinkLover, Feb 7, 2011
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  15. Renee

    Renee Notebook Virtuoso

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    Your battery maybe dying. It's offering a higher impedance to the whine than the power supply is.

    Renee
     
    Renee, Feb 7, 2011
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  16. ThinkLover

    ThinkLover Notebook Consultant

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    I doubt it's battery fault (2 months old, 9 cell orginal Lenovo's one).

    Btw. sometimes I can hear things, that most of ppls can't. Eg. I hear starting CRT TV's, some chargers and even electric-powered mosquito killer (this one is my favourite - caused 3 sleepless nights before I tracked it down) so this is probably reason why I hear those whining.
     
    ThinkLover, Feb 7, 2011
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