T410 "CPU whine"

[birthdaymonkey]

I just bought a T410 when they were on sale for 35% off a couple weeks ago. It's my first Thinkpad, and I must say that I'm impressed with the system's ergonomics, construction and performance. In those categories, it's miles beyond the ASUS UL80 it's replacing. The LCD is kinda crappy (washed out colour, poor contrast), but since this is primarily a browsing/office computer, I have gotten used to it and it doesn't bother me. In fact I find it less fatiguing on the eyes than my old laptop, which had better contrast and colour.

However, there is one problem--one terrible, unignorable problem. Apparently it's called CPU whine, a very high pitched squeal coming from the CPU region of the chassis, related to the Core arch's power saving features. It goes completely away if I run a program that taxes the CPU (say Prime95). At other times, it's faintly audible. I've managed to reduce the severity of the whine by frigging with the power settings--turning off "CPU deeper sleep" and setting the Intel graphics chip to "maximum performance." These two settings cut the intensity of the noise in half, but it's still there, and my battery life is reduced.

Now that I've noticed it, I can't un-notice it. It drives me insane. Apparently this can happen with any make and model of computer. I could send it back, which would mean making do without my primary work computer for however long it takes, but I'm concerned that if I do that they won't fix the problem and I'll just get this same machine back, or another machine with the same issue.

Should I send it in? How good is Lenovo's support? Is this a problem that a lot of people have and don't notice? Am I likely to just get the computer back without the issue fixed?

It's a shame to spend the extra money to get a premium laptop only to have one fatal flaw basically ruin my enjoyment of my new system. Frustrating.

 

[flensr]

If you're within the usual 30 day no questions asked return window, then you may be in luck. If not, I think you're sort of stuck with it. My t41p has a loud ethernet port, believe it or not. Whenever there is a lot of network traffic, I hear a squealing sound from the vicinity of the lan chipset that sounds sort of like a very fast and high pitched version of the olden-days modem squeal. It also sounds almost exactly like one of those ultrasound cleaning tools...

You need to find out if you're within the return window asap. If not, then you can ask about an RMA for the noise. Maybe you'll get lucky, but remember you might also end up with a refurb laptop after any exchange.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

This is a T410 correct? I thought they had In-home/business repair for their warranty.
We have a bunch of T410's here and none of them have this issue. I've had some T61's develop it and Lenovo replaced the CPU fans no questions asked.

 

[aceO07]

If you don't find a solution here, you should search/post on the thinkpads.com forums.

 

[Mech0z]

I have a whine on my X201T as well, I think its fairly normal for those CPUs just an issue for us with quality laptops that don't have a load fan that kills the whine

 

[birthdaymonkey]

I posted on the Thinkpad forums and apparently this is an issue with their whole lineup of Intel Core i Gen 1 CPUs--both Lenovo's machines and other manufacturers', although apparently some laptops don't have the whine. Nobody knows yet whether the SB motherboards will potentially be afflicted or not.

I guess I have sensitive ears when it comes to high frequencies, but I can't abide the sound. I can minimize the problem by disabling the lowest C-states and setting the integrated GPU to maximum performance, but this cuts my batter life by about 25-30%. I can get rid of it completely by disabling CPU power management, but this reduces the battery life even more and makes the laptop heat up a lot.

Solution: It's going back. I ordered a new monitor for my desktop instead, and I think I'll try one of the Fusion ultraportables for my mobile needs. I don't think AMD CPUs have this issue.