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    Question for U904 owners - experience a low volume high pitch noise?

    Discussion in 'Fujitsu' started by docl, Apr 21, 2014.

  1. docl

    docl Newbie

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    Question for other U904 owners..

    I have a really annoying intermittenly occuring high pitch sound coming from where the fan is located. When it occurs it is oscillating with a frequency around 60.
    It is not fan noise per se (it is very different from when the fan is running) - it sounds more like "electronic noise" - and could be the fan when it is not running but is electronically slowed down or halted (if you are still with me :) ?) Could also be another electronic component near the fan..
    The closest comparison would be the low volume humming sound from some lcd screens when they are on standby, however oscillating instead of constant..

    It is quite noticable when sitting in a very quiet room, however still low volume.

    Don't know if I should return the unit for repair since it might just be by design - has anyone else experience this?
     
    docl, Apr 21, 2014
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  2. Danilo

    Danilo Notebook Consultant

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    A fan, when it does kick in, is a relatively annoying, low-volume high pitched noise for me. But I am pretty sure it's the fan on my model (I have the i7-4600u cpu).
     
    Danilo, Apr 21, 2014
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  3. digitaldriver

    digitaldriver Notebook Enthusiast

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    I encountered the same on the S904, as did "Loeschzwerg" in the comments on the Notebookcheck review.
    I read somewhere that this was a general issue on Core-iX-4xxxu, when they clock to their lowest frequency (and the Fan is off, as you probably wouldn't even hear it otherwise), but unfortunately I cannot find the source right now.

    Either way, it doesn't really bother me. I was irritated at first and concerned it could have been a (dying) SSD or something, but since I swapped the Ram and SSD and simply put my ear on the computer, I can say for sure that it comes from where the CPU is located.

    Edit: The phenomenon is called CPU Whining.
    I first heard about this on the German Wikipedia Article about Intel Speedstep where it is written
    Translated:
    If you google "CPU Whine Idle" or "CPU Whining Idle" you'll find a ton of results, apparently not restricted to Haswell Core-i Processors, but also affecting generations before, with Apple and Asus users being particularly vocal about it. It appears that some people got their computer replaced because of it, others found that disabling CPU Idle would take care of it.
     
    digitaldriver, Apr 24, 2014
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  4. docl

    docl Newbie

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    Great answer, thanks. It definitely could be what I experience, since it most definetely is not the fan running. Like you, I was concerned if it was faulty Electronics.
    However it really annoys me when sitting in a quiet room.
    Will look into the CPU idle solution - but that would probably cost me battery life, which I already find disappointing with the U904.
     
    docl, Apr 27, 2014
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