Surface Laptop 3 Faint Buzzing Sound

Anonymous
2019-10-23T21:50:20+00:00

Hello,

I’ve got the i5 8GB Surface Laptop 3 (13.5-inch), and today, while browsing the internet, I noticed a fairly faint  buzzing sound coming from under the keyboard. It was faint enough you couldn’t hear it from a couple metres away, and sometimes buzzed continuously, other times buzzed in short repetitive bursts.

It didn’t sound like the fan to me, so I opened up the task manager to see if browsing was straining the computer in some way.

I have updated the computer completely, but the buzzing persisted.

Is this a normal electronics problem? Is it actually just the fan? Or is it possibly a defective unit?

Edit/Update:

I took the device into the MS Store today to see if there was something wrong. The staff took it into the back and tested it. They found increasing the computer's workload caused the sound to increase and described it as a popping static-y sound. They replaced the device and I have a new one now. Unfortunately, I've found through usage that this one is also making the sound. I am waiting to see if a firmware update reduces the noise since it seems pervasive across the devices.

Surface | Surface Laptop | Install and update

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-10-08T05:20:33+00:00

    Same problem, it's ridiculous. How are you going to pay $1,200 or whatever for an oversized mosquito? The replacement I got was even louder and has a black screen come on. Just don't buy Microsoft next time, legitimately the most irritating thing I've ever encountered with a laptop.

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-09-26T01:32:40+00:00

    I have the same issue.  The buzzing sound is persistent and regardless of what setting the batter setting is set to.

    hope there is a solution.

    Quang

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-09-19T10:27:52+00:00

    i've had mine since late december now, and i went on and off for a long time about returning the laptop because of the buzzing noise. i decided to hang in there in case my brain somehow got adjusted to it, and even though it still annoys me when i hear it, it's no longer all i think about. during normal daytime use it's not noticeable unless i lean in close to the keyboard, so it's only a problem late at night in quieter conditions. that's when i start the winstep nexus dock which makes the computer completely quiet (i just hide the dock in the upper left corner of the screen)

    i didn't want my ocd to get the best of me and return an otherwise perfect laptop because of a minor annoyance. i'd be more worried using a new dell xps 13 which reportedly suffers extreme issues with overheating. at least the buzzing noise won't damage the laptop.

    the other week one of the rubber feet fell off. easy to fix, but it still brought some perspective on the whole thing. the laptop has been so flawless in every other way that that the buzzing problem seemed bigger than it really is.

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-08-30T12:35:43+00:00

    Hi guys,

    Have the same issue with 15 inches, i7.

    Indeed - this buzzing/static sound appairs only when the processor is in the idle state.

    I read some topics - it 'buzzing' with other brands (I found the same with DELL laptop).

    I found here some answers that you can run some application (docker panel) to hit the processor :-) and not allow to go to the idle state. well, indeed - it works.

    From the other sources I found that you can disable this mode from the register:

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Processor]

    "Capabilities"=dword:0007e066

    But in this case, I hope, everyone understands that your battery will go faster. Even during sleep mode. So, I don't recommend this approach.

    I contacted MS support about this issue. They replaced me with the laptop but the new one has the same issue. The official answer was:

    "We are currently investigating this issue. As a workaround, when your Surface is plugged into the power supply, click on the battery icon in the Windows taskbar and set the Power Mode slider to either 'Recommended' or 'Better performance'."

    I can say only - Shame on you, Microsoft!

    BTW - this didn't help me. The processor went to the Idle state event on the 'Better performance'.

    The laptop itself nice: fast enough, quiet, and cold (no fans on the middle jobs, the temperature is around 40 degrees).

    I couldn't say that this noise makes me crazy, but this situation when I spent 1.5 weeks for a replacement, 1 week for the investigation - makes me angry. I was expecting to find that this is a known issue (or even expected behavior, I don't mind) from Microsoft but I just see that a lot of people are spending time doing MS work...

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  5. Anonymous
    2020-08-03T07:36:27+00:00

    Hey guys!

    I'm with you as I faced this issue several times. 

    After 3 replacements, Microsoft told me that they received in the last week of July a batch of Surface Laptop 3 (Total Black in alluminium) not affected by the static buzzing noise. 

    I've done my third replacement then, and so far it seems is working decently, with bluetooth not disappearing every now and then. 

    Hopefully things are fixed by now!

    PB

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