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
    2021-03-24T22:46:31+00:00

    Super! Thanks for your advice with C6. I have also tested with ThrottleStop, but not with your settings.

    Currently looks very good, CPU does not get hot and the fans stay silent. I will test this the next few days.

    Its a pleasure to use a silent Surface Laptop 3.

    I am very curious if someone from Microsoft will comment this thread.

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-03-24T10:37:51+00:00

    Also, anyone from @microsoft, are you guys monitoring this thread? If so (hope so), please jump in if there's any update or comment from your side!

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  3. Anonymous
    2021-03-24T10:35:09+00:00

    Nice, can you please keep us updated? I'm curious how it goes in the longer run.

    Thanks,

    G

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  4. Anonymous
    2021-03-23T23:02:19+00:00

    Hello all,

    I have tried something and it looks like I found a solution, at least one that works for me.

    As already known the speed stepping of the processor causes the buzzing sound. 

    So far it was recommended to disable the C2 and C3 states in the registry or to install a program that prevents the processor from going into the corresponding C states.

    I took a closer look at the C-States with the free tool "Throttle stop". 

    Overall, the processor goes from C0 to C8 depending on the load, where C8 is the highest energy saving mode for the processor.

    Using "Throttle Stop", you can now gradually switch off the highest states. You'll notice that the buzzing noise disappears when you turn off the states C7 and C8. This means that the processor can still use the states up to C6 to save energy. The differences in energy consumption between C6 and C8 are marginal.

    Throttle Stop even shows a higher energy consumption in C8 than in C6.

    I did a test run, once with the default setting and once with the locked states C7 and C8. As a result, there was no difference in power consumption (1h idle test with screen on, both runs consumed ~7% battery).

    I'll see if I can post a picture of the configuration of Throttle Stop here.

    Personally, I'm very happy with the result as at first glance it has no negative impact on battery and performance and the buzzing has disappeared as mentioned.

    The only thing I noticed is that the processor in the State C6 does not clock down as much compared to the C8, but I did not notice any increased processor temperatures during idle on my model.

    Image

    Use throttle stop on your own risk!

    1. Click on C10 (is the default value)
    2. Click on the expand button
    3. select C6 from the drop down menu
    4. click apply (choose C10 to revert to default setting)

    The buzzing sound should be gone now.

    You can configure Throttle Stop under options to start automatically with Windows on every reboot.

    Btw: Use the other options of throttle stop only if you know what you are doing!

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  5. Anonymous
    2021-03-21T13:45:35+00:00

    The best antivirus is yourself, sometimes, not even the best antivirus can protect you, personally, i even disabled Windows Defender entirely to save more battery. (this and disabling sysmain which is useless and sometimes uses cpu for no reason) and i was getting around 8 hours on this thing doing web browsing with some things running in the background.

    With a program (and defender + sysmain) that prevents the CPU from going into low power states to prevent the noise, i was getting 4 hours.

    But WHO CARES about this if the LAPTOP IS MAKING AN UNBEARABLE NOISE !!!!!!! You know why i was saying that i was getting bald last time ? Because it makes me PULL MY HAIR, i actually had bald spot because of how much hair i pulled before putting it back in its box, i think if i haven't done it, it would be me that would have ended up in a box.

    Please, if you're sensitive, don't buy this laptop, it may end up killing you or messing up with your brain very badly.

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