T510 + i5 540M = terrible whine noise!

[oct]

I know that there are at least couple of threads related to this problem, however I couldn't find one with T510.

So, in short, I've been owning my T510 for about 3 weeks now and since it arrived it has this issue, a terrible high pitch noise coming from left/upper side of the laptop, CPU or something close to it.

A temporary solution for me was to lower CPU speed in Power manager (selected Low as Maximum CPU speed), which apparently lowers voltage as well. If it's higher than 0.9375V the noise is back.

THE noise is constant if I select Highest in Power manager's CPU speed (voltage is 1.075), and it's intermintent when I select Adaptive (voltage is jumping from 0.9735V to 1.075V)

 - No, it's not fan(I'm really frustrated when someone asks if )

 - It's not the power adapter (I've tried one from my T61)

 - It's not CPU idle-ing or sleep state

Looks like I'm not the only one with the same problem, on the notebookcheck.com there are at least couple of users with the same problem.

Any thoughts, advices? I just cannot imagine how can THIS pass quality control at all?

Thank you.

[warder]

Perhaps something like RF pickup on audio side, or bad internal power supply capacitor.

Can an old person > 40 hear it?

I'm going to ask and annoy you, but how do you completely know it's not fan related?  That is after all where it is.

I'd probably return it for repair/return if what you describe was happening to me.  Correction, I did return a Sony because that was happening to me.

[Mutnat]

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warder wrote:

I'm going to ask and annoy you, but how do you completely know it's not fan related?  That is after all where it is.

I'd probably return it for repair/return if what you describe was happening to me.  Correction, I did return a Sony because that was happening to me.

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It's not a fan noise, it's a known issue that affects a ton of us (myself included).  As the OP mentioned, it seems to be related to voltage levels.  It affects models from otehr manufacturers also, not just Lenovo.  I don't think sending it back for repair or replacement will solve it, to be honest.

[warder]

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Mutnat wrote:

It's not a fan noise, it's a known issue that affects a ton of us (myself included).  As the OP mentioned, it seems to be related to voltage levels.  It affects models from otehr manufacturers also, not just Lenovo.  I don't think sending it back for repair or replacement will solve it, to be honest.

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So I have a T410, that doesn't have a whine... it's not a platform issue as the T510 and T410 are the same chipset/processors..

[oct]

I took keyboard and palmrest out and turned the machine on, THE noise is coming from CPU or something really close to it on the left side. I cannot figure out what exactly makes the noise.

Yeah, I was hoping that some kind of replacement will fix the issue...  I'll try to take it to a Lenovo service center partner and what'll say.

[sys3175]

Intel processors have been doing this for some time, some exhibit it, some don't.  I've also seen the sound varies in volume between different samples of the processor.  I'm guessing this is an intel production issue and not an lenovo one.

That being said, I've seen models where there was no sound at all from the processor at any voltage or clock rate. 

[lkpcampion]

Just to chime in here: I do have a T510 and it shows this same noise - not too loud but enough to be intimidating when you are in a quiet room. I have two AC adapter and with both of them the noise persists. I had a tech on-site to change my fan, which didn't fix it. I had Lenovo sent me a new battery to test if that's the cause, and of course the noise remains. They are ordering a motherboard replacement to do it on-site but it's currently on back-order, so I'm waiting for that one.

The only thing I can think of that is not tested would be CPU, GFX, and RAM. I'm also involved in a thread in NPR that discuss this issue - apparrently a lot of people experience this.

[sys3175]

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lkpcampion wrote:

Just to chime in here: I do have a T510 and it shows this same noise - not too loud but enough to be intimidating when you are in a quiet room. I have two AC adapter and with both of them the noise persists. I had a tech on-site to change my fan, which didn't fix it. I had Lenovo sent me a new battery to test if that's the cause, and of course the noise remains. They are ordering a motherboard replacement to do it on-site but it's currently on back-order, so I'm waiting for that one.

The only thing I can think of that is not tested would be CPU, GFX, and RAM. I'm also involved in a thread in NPR that discuss this issue - apparrently a lot of people experience this.

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The thing is, I've seen this issue on bother laptops and desktops of multiple manufacturers..   I hope they eventually get you some combination of parts which eliminates the noise, I am not sure of the percentage of them which exhibit this noise but I was in a frys the other day messing around with their laptops and about half of the made the sounds, more often when on battery power.

[lkpcampion]

Yup. I agree with you it's not a Lenovo issue exclusively. And it does become more apparente when on battery. I am gradually getting used to it, however

[binaryspiral]

The thing on any laptop I've owned that made noise was the power inverter for the backlight. Typically they mount them in the bezel right below the screen near the ribbon cable. If you press (slightly hard) in that area, does it silence?

If you turn off your screen (aka use an external monitor) does it go away? (dimming typically doesn't do anything for the noise).

It's a common issue enough that if you complain to support - they will replace it under warranty. 

As you've already disassembled your laptop - I'm going to assume I'm wrong.