W510 hiss noise

[Aleq]

I have i7 820 W510 since yesterday and I'm very unhappy about the noise it makes. The fan is OK, but there's that electric hiss sound - high pitch noise which seem to be related to utilisation of the computer. Is it a bug or a feature? Is it solvable? At some points it's as loud as fan at lowest rpm.

Thanks for any tips!

[SparcV]

Mine does this too and its very annoying as its always changing, it makes it hard to work in a quiet room. It seems to me the sound is coming from a component near the hard drive.

[Aleq]

I've figured out that if you disable "Deep Sleep" option in your power profile (via Lenovo Power Manager), it reduces it by 90 %. It's not that power efficient any more (with deep sleep, the temperature in IDLE was reported about 40deg, without deep sleep it's aroug 50 celsius deg.) but unless you need maximum battery life, there's an easy option

[mybellyisempty]

This occurs on my W510 w/ 820 as well.


I've put in a service request, they say they'll swap out the motherboard...whenever a motherboard comes in stock.

[jasonjason]

Hi All,

I just got my T510 after a frustratingly long wait because Lenovo screwed up the order (and hence had to cancel and re-order), and the waiting wasn't made better that I needed a replacement urgently due to the theft of my T60.

I know this is the W thread, but I find my T510 makes this hissing noise from the left speaker, or left side of the computer. It is audible in a quiet room. Similar to the other posts in this thread.

I tried deactivating deep sleep, but no avail.
Anyone know if this noise is user fixable, and what causes it?

I have already written to Lenovo to complain and ask for a new set.

*Sigh* Frustrated. Any advice would be much appreciated.

[QFoam]

Most users in this thread are likely experiencing what's referred to as "CPU Whine," which has been discussed thousands of times on the web for various computers. I haven't heard of it happening with the W700/701, but it's fairly common with the W510/T510. Swapping the motherboard may very well just get you another motherboard that makes exactly the same noise, but with added reliability problems (i.e., poorly-mounted heatsinks) due to the fact that a technician swapped out the motherboard.

For more info, see:

http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/X-Series-Th ... 773#M14878

The easiest fix is to change the power usage of the machine -- one approach being to simply run an extra program in the background that resides in the system tray, and another approach is to change power settings -- although these can cause you to use up your battery power more quickly. The real fix is for manufacturers to use better-designed components and/or manufacturing techniques. That would probably cost them an extra nickel or two per laptop.

Anyway, if you don't like it, you know who made your computer.

Good luck!

[furball4]

I had this and found posts suggesting that I disable CPU power saving in the BIOS. I forget the exact line item, but it's toward the bottom of its page and the only two options are "Disabled" and "Automatic". I'll post it exactly next time I reboot. I'm sure people do get similar noises from multiple places, but for me this was unequivocally the issue. Had the whine anytime the CPU's weren't being utilized until I changed this setting, and have never heard it since. I don't know what it does to my power consumption, exactly, but I still get over 3hrs with a fresh 9-cell on moderate usage. For this machine that isn't bad (W510, two i7's, 880M).

[furball4]

Okay, the exact setting is: BIOS > Config > Power > CPU Power Management > Disabled

Let us know if it works for you.

[frankiepankie]

I'm having the same problem with my T61 when on battery.

[silvio silva]

Thank you Aleq, it worked for me!

I've figured out that if you disable "Deep Sleep" option in your power profile (via Lenovo Power Manager), it reduces it by 90 %. It's not that power efficient any more (with deep sleep, the temperature in IDLE was reported about 40deg, without deep sleep it's aroug 50 celsius deg.) but unless you need maximum battery life, there's an easy option

[caonen]

I'm bummed. After several years of flawless operation from my T43, I set my sites on a W510/I7-720QM as the ideal replacement for my new needs. But this hissing noise issue has made me very wary to break out the checkbook.

With the price of Thinkpad batteries, Power Management seems important; after 5 years of daily 4-8 hour use (mostly plugged into A/C power) my original T43 battery still gives me 2 hours+ of service. I thank luck and Power Management for that.

Some questions come to mind:

Do all W510s hiss, regardless of processor? I wish I could know the percentage of happy W510 users.

Does the hissing occur whether plugged into A/C power or not?

Just how loud is it really? Kind of a subjective thing without hearing it myself, but since I tend to have rabbit ears about computer noises, a loud enough hiss would irritate me.

Intel is releasing 2nd generation I7 processors by the end of March. Anyone have advanced knowledge (rumors) if these have the same hissing noise? I could hold off purchase for a while.

Lastly, can anyone suggest a laptop comparable to W510 capabilities without the hissing noise?

Thanks.

[farhaddad]

Do all W510s hiss, regardless of processor? I wish I could know the percentage of happy W510 users.

Not so happy about many things in W510 but I'm using it like 12 hours a day and overall it's good.

Does the hissing occur whether plugged into A/C power or not?

Only when it's on Battery or running on low power profile.

Just how loud is it really? Kind of a subjective thing without hearing it myself, but since I tend to have rabbit ears about computer noises, a loud enough hiss would irritate me.

The fan itself is louder than any other TP I've used before and it's always on high even if you choose to lower it down. The hiss sound is not that loud compared to the fan but it can annoy you specially if are working in a quite room.

[caonen]

farhaddad,

Thanks for the info. Very helpful.

But you have 'many' complaints about the W510?

Q1: Would you please share your top 4 or 5?

Q2: What would you prefer in place of the W510? Reasons?

[farhaddad]

1. Gobi 2000: both 3G and GPS on this laptop are problematic and Lenovo don't care.

2. Flexy keyboard.

3. FHD Display: I am a graphic designer and I understand that this is a wide gamut screen, but don't expect good results when surfing the internet. If you insist on getting FHD for the resolution then, at least, get the built in huey calibrator. In addition, the screen is very bright if you are working under a dim light. I also got 2 dead pixels on my screen and I couldn't replace it.

4. Heat: This laptop gets hot, especially when using the graphic card intensely.

5. Build quality: The external materials are not the same anymore at least not in this laptop. If you are coming from T43 then something that you may notice is that the screen doesn't have the "edge" that used to cover the sides when the led is closed anymore. It's just like most laptops now.

I'm not sure about what I would prefer instead of W510, but when you pay $2500, you would expect to get something better.

[ssd_thinkpad]

I have this noise on some thinkpads I owned, too.

I removed this noice by rmclock > Advanced CPU settings > Chipset > (disable) Enable Popup mode & (disable) Enable popdown mode

The noise most likely occurs when the cpu goes from sleeping state 3 to sleeping state 4. I do not know anything about this, but this resolved the noise while still having cpu sleeping modes. I wrote more about this in my other posts regarding this topic.

[caonen]

farhaddad,

Thanks again for taking the time to help out. GREAT feedback!

And thanks to other contributors as well that worked out and shared 'hissing' solutions.

[Aleq]

ssd_thinkpad> I tried last RMClock but can't find those options. What version do you use or can you describe it in more detail, please? Thanks!

[ssd_thinkpad]

Of course I'll help you out.

RMClock > Advanced CPU Settings > Chipset (it's a Tab) > Enable Popup mode <- deactivate this
RMClock > Advanced CPU Settings > Chipset (it's a Tab) > Enable Popdown mode <- deactivate this

[termo123]

I just received my w510 w/820 three weeks ago, and have used in all power settings. It is...absolutely silent.

Knock on wood, and I'm not posting to gloat. I would just encourage everyone with a problem to insist that Lenovo replace the motherboard or whatever cheapo part is under/over-powered or doesn't fit right.

[Aleq]

Of course I'll help you out.

RMClock > Advanced CPU Settings > Chipset (it's a Tab) > Enable Popup mode <- deactivate this
RMClock > Advanced CPU Settings > Chipset (it's a Tab) > Enable Popdown mode <- deactivate this

Am I having different application?

I don't see Advanced CPU Setting anywhere...

[louj]

I also cannot find RMClock.

I had quite annoying hiss, and solved it by disabling CPU power management in BIOS, as suggested on this forum and elsewere. But this must put a drain on the battery. Has anyone tried the simple glue or resin trick suggested by some people? A drop of thick goop on the induction coils might silence them without affecting battery life. That would be great!

[ssd_thinkpad]

Rmclock is a program you have to download.

The advanced cpu tab is on the top.

[Aleq]

The advanced cpu tab is on the top.

Do you see it on the screenshot I posted 3 posts above? I don't and I'm desperate about that.

[ssd_thinkpad]

I use Rmclock 2.35.0 (I did not buy it). Before "Updates, Professional Features" I have a "Advanced CPU settings" part. Is it because of my cpu (T2400, 1,8GHZ)?

[Aleq]

I have the same version and I have only ...., Monitoring, Management, Profiles, Battery Info, Updates, Professional features. No Advanced CPU settings.
It must be the CPU then. RMclock 2.35 is quite old already, Core i7 820QM seems not to be fully supported. I might try CPUgenie, I've read recommendations saying it is new, with better hw support.