Thinkpads Forum

Hi guys,

I got a new 14'' T61P with a T9300 and I had it for almost 2 wks. I started to use my laptop last Saturday to study and what not in a quiet area and that's when I started to notice that high pitch frequency that people describe as a CPU whine.

I used a Dell 700m that had this problem when it was in battery mode, but if I plugged something in the USB, it would resolve the issue.

Now, no matter what I do, I can't get that whine to go away. One of my roommates has a Dell M1330 that whines, but he claims the issue is resolved when in Vista, he switches to Power Saver mode. This does not solve the issue for me however. RMClock does not support the Penryn so I can't use that to change my settings.

I called Lenovo and they wanted me to send in my laptop and turn around is anywhere between 5-7 business days and I can't afford to send my laptop for that long as I study.

Does anyone have this issue? It doesn't seem like Thinkpads have this issue as much as Dell, macs, and HPs. I hope I'm not just an unlucky fellow.

Any ideas? HELPPP plz

This is not a CPU whine, it is an inherent design flaw in the centrino platform. I.E. you will find this problem in EVERY motherboard designed around the Centrino specs, from EVERY manufacturer.

This "bug" has existed since the first incarnation of Centrino.

It is intermittent, and some things like turning on bluetooth or plugging in a USB device help, but are not bonafied solutions.

It is possibly you MAY get a replacement from Lenovo, but it may also have this problem.

madflava54 wrote:Now, no matter what I do, I can't get that whine to go away.

turn off CPU power management in the BIOS and it will go away.   just don't expect great battery life as a result.

brentpresley wrote:This is not a CPU whine, it is an inherent design flaw in the centrino platform. I.E. you will find this problem in EVERY motherboard designed around the Centrino specs, from EVERY manufacturer.

This "bug" has existed since the first incarnation of Centrino.

It is intermittent, and some things like turning on bluetooth or plugging in a USB device help, but are not bonafied solutions.

It is possibly you MAY get a replacement from Lenovo, but it may also have this problem.

They want me to send it in. I might send it in when someone who I lent my 700m gets their new Macbook Pro that came out today. I guess if it doesn't fix it, then I would send it in and if that doesn't fix it, they might give me a replacement. I really liked my laptop too.

erik wrote:

madflava54 wrote:Now, no matter what I do, I can't get that whine to go away.

turn off CPU power management in the BIOS and it will go away.   just don't expect great battery life as a result.

How much less? Are you talking about disabling Speedstep?

I had this problem too, and originally I used RMClock as you mentioned which did work. However, I found that by going to Config --> Power in the bios of my X61T and changing the CPU Intel SpeedStep technology setting for "Mode for Battery" to "Maximum Battery" instead of "Battery Optimized" eliminated the noise under battery power. Under AC I changed my Power Manager performance settings and found by eliminating some of the power saving features, which I didn't need when plugged in, also eliminated the whine. And as an added benefit I found that under the "Maximum Battery" mode I gained an extra 45 min - 1 hr of battery time on my 8-cell. Don't know if your T61P has that setting in the bios, but it is worth a look.

Should have considered ponying up for NBD on-site when you selected your waranty options

(I'm kidding). Though NBD does help in cases like this. Plus you can hover over the technician like a hawk, then bust his 'chops when the repair isn't to your satisfaction.

hart22 wrote:I had this problem too, and originally I used RMClock as you mentioned which did work. However, I found that by going to Config --> Power in the bios of my X61T and changing the CPU Intel SpeedStep technology setting for "Mode for Battery" to "Maximum Battery" instead of "Battery Optimized" eliminated the noise under battery power. Under AC I changed my Power Manager performance settings and found by eliminating some of the power saving features, which I didn't need when plugged in, also eliminated the whine. And as an added benefit I found that under the "Maximum Battery" mode I gained an extra 45 min - 1 hr of battery time on my 8-cell. Don't know if your T61P has that setting in the bios, but it is worth a look.

So you mean under AC, you changed the setting to Maximum Performance?

No, under AC in the bios I left the settings unchanged. I altered the power settings for AC through the ThinkVantage Power Manager software in Windows until the whine was eliminated. I'm running a fairly heavily modified version of the balanced power plan, so I don't remember exactly which setting eliminated the whine. Play around with the CPU settings in your ThinkVantage Power Manager settings, and maybe you can get rid of the noise. Or if you uninstalled Power Manager play around with the native Windows power management settings. Hope that helps.

Edit: Actually I do remember that if I enable "CPU deeper sleep" under AC in the Power Manager it will always make the noise, so I'd turn that off first.

Deep Sleeper mode has been disabled. I put my CPU at adaptive but that didnt do anything. It was on performance. I guess I can keep messing around with it. Could you tell me your settings?

In my setting properties page, in the AC column:

1) System settings:

Maximum CPU speed: Highest
CPU Deeper Sleep: Disabled
Optimize fan control to: Maximize performance
Display brightness: Level 15 of 15

2) Advanced settings 1:

Allow hybrid sleep: Off
Wireless power saving mode: Maximum Power Saving
PCI express: Moderate power savings
Multimedia when sharing: Prevent idling to sleep
Adaptive display: On
Search & indexing: High Performance
USB selective suspend: Enabled

Under advanced in Global Power Settings I have power management for both CPU & PCI bus as Automatic.

The other settings I omitted because I don't think they will affect the noise.

One more thing, and forgive me if this sounds strange:
Can you physically check to see if your AC adapter is making any noise? And if so, what revision is it (info located on the bottom)? I had a faulty adapter that also made a noise, which actually caused my ThinkPad itself to make a noise when plugged into that particular adapter as well. This problem should only occur with the revision E, 65 W adapters for ultraportables, but you should check to make sure, who knows?

I have revision A and there is no sound from the adapter. Yeah, those settings didn't fix it.

Are there not that many T61P Penryn users out there with this problem? If not, then I'll gladly send this sucker and get it fixed.

madflava54 wrote:Are you talking about disabling Speedstep?

yes.   try disabling any and all CPU power management items in the BIOS and see (or hear) what happens.

erik wrote:

madflava54 wrote:Are you talking about disabling Speedstep?

yes. try disabling any and all CPU power management items in the BIOS and see (or hear) what happens.

Same thing.

it seems that when the CPU is at work, it makes the sound. Sometimes when it is in power save mode, the sound is minimal. In high performance, it's guaranteed you will hear it. So if I disable speedstep, it's running full speed and fans are blaring and so the whine is there still. Not sure why this is.

Again, no one else is having this problem?

So I guess no one has a solution for my woes?

A poster on another thread suggested looking at
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthr ... 380&page=2

exTPfan wrote:A poster on another thread suggested looking at
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthr ... 380&page=2

Sadly, I started that thread too.

Both my T22 and T60 had this problem. I disabled two power management options. I can't for the life of me remember what they were called, but they were at the bottom of the config screen in the BIOS. I think one of them said something about PCI.

That eliminated the whine.

madflava54 wrote:

exTPfan wrote:A poster on another thread suggested looking at
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthr ... 380&page=2

Sadly, I started that thread too.

And you didn't listen to computerpro3's sound advice?

"CPU's do not whine. What is probably causing the sound is the coils on the toroidal inductors on the motherboard vibrating at ultra-high speed. They are supposed to come with a layer of lacquer on them so they don't move, but in some cases the lacquer is too thin or fails. I have had the same problem on several of my desktop systems and inside several power supplies, and this is easily fixed by putting a dab of hot glue on the inductor."

Everyone having the same problem should check http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthr ... 380&page=2

Sound advice?

I think he asked me to open my computer and put an eraser tip of a pencil to some insulator.

CPU whine is just how people have been describing it. Sure, it is not coming from the CPU whine, but the CPU indirectly causes that whine to occur.

I only call it that cause that's what a thousand other people describe it as.

Feb 29: New version of RMClock released.

Hope that solves it.

aaa wrote:Feb 29: New version of RMClock released.

Hope that solves it.

Sadly, it did not.

My "CPU whine" is a little different because my computer tends to produce that whine sound when at higher frequencies. When I am idle on the comp, it is barely audible. However, if I start doing some CPU intensive stuff, then I hear it. Seems like most people have the problem when their computer is trying to save power. My notebook cooler is coming in today and I hope it will just override the whine sound with its fans. When the laptop's fans run, I don't hear the whine too well so...

Thanks for the update on RMClock though.