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    Eliminating the CPU "hiss" (whine?) from the T61?

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by LMN8R, Sep 26, 2007.

  1. LMN8R

    LMN8R Notebook Enthusiast

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    I recently got my T61, and I really do love it. Works great, is fast. It has the T7500 and Quadro in it.

    However, when on battery power, there's a constant "hiss" type of noise coming from the computer. It's not a high-pitched whine as I expected when hearing about this problem, but rather it sounds like rapid hard drive access, even though the hard drive isn't doing anything at the time.

    I've heard of a couple fixes, such as disabling this or that power saving feature, but I'd really like to avoid that. I thought I remembered reading about an updated driver I could download to fix this problem, but I can't find it anywhere.

    Can anyone help me out? Thanks.
     
  2. braddd

    braddd Notebook Deity

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    Try the 163.44 nVidia drivers, I had a hiss/whine/weird sound that stopped after installing those drivers. You can get them here: http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/
     
  3. LMN8R

    LMN8R Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks for the quick reply. Unfortunately, I already have those drivers installed from that web site. I was wondering if there was something more along the lines of a CPU driver update?
     
  4. noxxle99

    noxxle99 Notebook Deity

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    Disable USB power management
     
  5. LMN8R

    LMN8R Notebook Enthusiast

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    Didn't help. I checked the box for "enable always-on USB" and disabled whatever usb power saving I could find. The noise is still there.
     
  6. phil823

    phil823 Notebook Consultant

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    i read somewhere on this forum that it can be solved by turning off a sleep mode..
     
  7. Mark

    Mark Desktop Debugger

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    Hmm...as far as I know, it is related to the CPU itself and some deeper sleep states it has.

    I think people have talked about some software to fix it. For some reason, the program RMClock Utility sticks in mind.

    If I were you, just google something like "CPU whine + Core 2 Duo". I am sure there will be plenty of info as this is common to all Core 2 notebooks I believe.

    Hope this helps.
     
  8. jeffsiler

    jeffsiler Notebook Guru

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    Disable CPU power management in the BIOS. I guarantee this will stop the whine.

    Jeff
     
  9. LMN8R

    LMN8R Notebook Enthusiast

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    Ah, in the BIOS you say. I'll give that a shot.

    Just wondering though, won't that seriously cut down on battery life? I have the "max CPU speed" on battery power set to "lowest" and I get a good 3-4 hours out of it on a full charge. I'd hate for that to drastically decrease simply so I can get rid of a hiss.


    Or is that CPU speed limitation a different form of battery saving than the stuff that would be disabled in the BIOS?
     
  10. elfroggo

    elfroggo Notebook Evangelist

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    If you are running the processor at full power you won't be likely to encounter the issue. If you disable the power management in bios then it will always run at full speed so yes it will cut down battery life
     
  11. michelkenny

    michelkenny Notebook Geek

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    You can keep your BIOS CPU Management setting enabled.

    Download "RMClock". In "Advanced CPU Settings" -> "Platform #1" you have two choices:

    1) Enable the "Disable C4" option or
    2) Disable either the "Enable popdown" or "Enable popup" (can't remember which it is).

    Doing either of these 100% eliminates the whine. The program needs to be running to set the option, so you need to have it run on startup. Try them out and see if they cause problems. Before when I had XP on my PC, doing the C4 one would crash my laptop after a while. They have since released a new version, and I moved to Vista. Hasn't crashed since.
     
  12. Pansophic

    Pansophic Notebook Enthusiast

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    Here is another method, depending on what you do, it can help or make things slower. try going to power management and switch from Performance to Power Saver, the hiss should go away.
     
  13. LMN8R

    LMN8R Notebook Enthusiast

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    Disabling C4 worked perfectly! Thank you very much.
     
  14. redmaxx

    redmaxx Notebook Guru

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    I don't think this one is CPU related. I am very sensitive to this noise, I hear it on HP, Dell and Apple computers, but on my T61, nothing, unless I put my ear to my keyboard. I have one with Intel graphics.

    Oops...didn't read page 2 before posting this. I don't know why mine is so much quieter by default.
     
  15. michelkenny

    michelkenny Notebook Geek

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    The whine is related to the Core 2 Duo CPUs and their lowest power saving state. Some laptops it is really loud, others just a bit loud, and others really quiet. It plagues ALL laptop manufacturers right now.
     
  16. LMN8R

    LMN8R Notebook Enthusiast

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    I just wanted to follow up here:

    -Checking the "Disable C4 mode" fixed the problem, but caused hard freezes in my computer multiple times over only a day or two.

    -Un-checking "Enable Popup mode" also fixed the problem, and I'm running on a week or so, so far, without a single crash.


    Also, un-checking "enable popup mode" doesn't seem to hurt battery life nearly as badly as disabling C4 mode.
     
  17. Hellbore

    Hellbore Notebook Evangelist

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    I kinda like the noise, it sounds cool. It keeps me company while I'm studying in the library or workin from home. It's like white noise, I don't even need an Ipod I can just listen to the laptop sounds. It even impresses the ladies, they ask "what is that noise?" and I tell them it's a very hip new form of techno music. I can tell from their impressed silence and walking away that they think it's hot.
     
  18. Grimhound

    Grimhound Notebook Consultant

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    Why the heck do they even sell laptops with the Core 2 Duo architecture if Intel can't fix their own chips to work right?
     
  19. michelkenny

    michelkenny Notebook Geek

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    That's exactly what I've been thinking. I could understand the problem creeping up on only certain laptops from a single manufacturer. But this problem affects the whole Core 2 Duo line... why the heck did Intel release it like this?? If they did it properly they would have saved the industry millions of dollars in RMA returns.
     
  20. stallen

    stallen Thinkpad Woody

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    Yeah, I've gotten laid so many times from my CPU whine it's not even funny.
     
  21. Hellbore

    Hellbore Notebook Evangelist

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    :confused: Huh? They do work right, they just sometimes make a noise. It's not that loud even. Besides, the noise doesn't even come from the CPU it comes from the motherboard.
     
  22. mscholtz

    mscholtz Notebook Enthusiast

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    I think I may have this problem, but not sure it's the same thing.

    My symptoms are:
    * a hiss/hum that seems to be coming from the right side of the machine (sounds like white noise, or a much quieter version of a modem after the handshake)
    * pretty constant, although sometimes I'll hear changes in pitch or sudden shifts in the sound, or very quiet "beats". not only during HD reads/writes
    * happens whether or not on battery - can't detect any different battery vs. AC power
    * tried the recommending settings in RMClock, and no noticeable difference (should just have to click Apply after changing the settings to hear the difference, yes?)
    * tried disabling "USB Selective Susupend" in power mgmt, no dice

    It's not that bad a noise, but it's definitely the loudest thing about the machine, louder than the fan (at low spin) or what I think is the HD (although I can hear HD reads/writes behind this other noise).

    I suppose it's possible I got a loud HD and I'm just hearing the HD spin? I guess I could test that by removing it and booting up.

    Any further suggestions are appreciated.
     
  23. michelkenny

    michelkenny Notebook Geek

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    On the T61's the whine that we're talking about comes from the CPU, which is on the top left side of the laptop. Your noise could very well be the HD spinning since that is underneath the fingerprint reader (lower right side). Our noise is also only on battery power.
     
  24. Bashar

    Bashar Notebook Evangelist

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    does any of the solutions here works for T42P ? mine started to give the same sound from the fan on the side too!
     
  25. paulmt123

    paulmt123 Notebook Guru

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    My inspiron 1520 is definitely affected. I think part of the problem is the rest of the laptop runs so quietly this whistling high frequency noise is audible.

    My previous inspiron 1520 was not affected so it may only be some. I took that back due to hard drive racket (it made a grinding noise that didn't sound healthy and PC world agreed and replaced it). Interestingly enough this one has a different make of hard drive which runs very quietly but it suffers from this CPU whine.

    Its a very strange sound this. Reminds me of a ZX spectrum loading from a tape!

    Its not particularly loud but like others say its a bit like an annoying clock, once you hear it you get fixated on it! Intitially I thought it was interference playing through the speakers. But when I searched for inspiron whistling sound I found exactly what it was.
    Infact it can even be heard over moderately loud music!

    The fix is to disable C4 mode in a program called RMclock.
    This virtually eliminates the sound. I say virtually because it can still be heard when you scroll up and down with a mouse and put your ear to the base of the PC and its still there, only quieter. This is perfectly acceptable though, not really annoying. The noise with C4 enabled most certainly isn't. So disable it. Does run warmer, fan cuts in every now and then but that noise isn't of a frequency to be irritating even though its far louder.

    If you can still hear it, and I can imagine some can then download l8kfangui and set fan speed to minimum. The quietly running fan at minimum speed will drown it out and the laptop will run cooler too! This fix does increase temperatures but only into safe ranges. Far lower than in a game for example
     
  26. amstel78

    amstel78 Notebook Enthusiast

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    I have the same hiss - not really bothering though. Usually the noise goes away after the laptop finishes booting into Vista. Makes no difference if I'm on AC or battery.
     
  27. vkeks

    vkeks Notebook Enthusiast

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    Checking "Disable C4 mode" caused the noise to go away, though a crash soon followed in less than a minute.

    Un-checking either "Enable popdown mode" or "Enable popup mode" doesn't seem to do a thing.

    R61
    XP Pro
    T8100 - 2.1Ghz
     
  28. DennisW

    DennisW Notebook Enthusiast

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    I had the same problem but it went away when i installed the power manager software.

    Running a clean install of vista business x64 SP1.
     
  29. rbilling

    rbilling Newbie

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    I have the same problem. From what I've heard it is due to a component on the motherboard (probably an inductor) near the CPU resonating when the CPU changes power states.

    If you plug in a USB device to any USB port it stops apparently; it does for me at least. Using this RMClock utility like others have said also solves the problem. A permanent fix is to disable CPU power management in the BIOS, although this will negatively affect battery life.

    I don't see why we should have to run third party software or cut battery life to have a system that isn't making annoying buzzing sounds, but it happens with every manufacturer and no one has bothered to make the vendors aware that it's a problem, so that's just the way it's going to stay I suppose.
     
  30. Archer36

    Archer36 Newbie

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    I sent mine in, they upgraded the bios and shipped it back... something I could have easily done. I don't event think they read my note that it only happens on battery. On the phone with them once again :(

    Edit, its going back once again, but to a higher level department.
     
  31. dealsdeamon

    dealsdeamon Notebook Guru

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    sorry to have to dig up such an old topic but what was the result of sending your machine in again?

    DD
     
  32. louisssss

    louisssss Notebook Consultant

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    have the same problem on my x200, under RM CLock, Advanced CPU Settings, what settings do i need to change from defualt to make the whining go away?