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    Ticking Sound

    Discussion in 'Alienware M11x' started by thefish7, Dec 16, 2010.

  1. thefish7

    thefish7 Newbie

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    I am hearing a ticking sound coming from my new M11x. It seems to be coming from just left of the keypad. There's no real correlation between this sound and anything else, except that it happens when I do stuff like watch videos and stuff like that. I play EVE online and it made this ticking sound constantly and sped up until it reach a kind of slow idle while the game was running. At first I thought it was a mouse click sound or something (that's kind of what it sounds like), but it obviously isn't at this point. It's loud and annoying... Any ideas?
     
    thefish7, Dec 16, 2010
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  2. thefish7

    thefish7 Newbie

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    Playing around it seems to be coming from video or sound card, since I can hear it start messing up a youtube video after it plays for a little while. I recorded a short video of it and uploaded at youtube. Link:

    YouTube - Alienware m11x ticking noise
     
    thefish7, Dec 16, 2010
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  3. cappielloa

    cappielloa Notebook Consultant

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    To clarify, is this a physical noise that a part of the computer is making, or is it garbage coming from the speakers? Hopefully that makes sense.
     
    cappielloa, Dec 16, 2010
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  4. thefish7

    thefish7 Newbie

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    It does make sense. I THINK it's coming through speakers because it also messes up the sound on videos... But it almost sounds physical. So not 100% sure its not the sound of something shorting out a little or a fan that's unable to start or something.
     
    thefish7, Dec 17, 2010
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  5. cappielloa

    cappielloa Notebook Consultant

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    What happens if you mute the speakers?

    If it turns out to be that, I would update or reinstall all audio/video drivers to begin with.

    If it turns out to be hardware making noise, of course, call Dell/Alienware.
     
    cappielloa, Dec 17, 2010
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  6. kovboi

    kovboi Notebook Consultant

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    If it's a mechanical noise, it could be the fan needs to be replaced. Should be covered by warranty.
     
    kovboi, Dec 17, 2010
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  7. thefish7

    thefish7 Newbie

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    I did try muting with no effect. I probably should update as a matter of course anyway... Seems like this one may require a call to dell.
     
    thefish7, Dec 17, 2010
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  8. fyro11

    fyro11 Notebook Consultant

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    Sure you're not near Chernobyl?
     
    fyro11, Dec 17, 2010
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  9. slickie88

    slickie88 Master of Puppets

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    I know there have been reports of speakers making odd noises, although I can't recall anyone describing what you have. In a couple of those cases support determined that the audio controller or motherboard had to be replaced. There are threads here you might want to track down. In any case, call support.
     
    slickie88, Dec 17, 2010
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