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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.
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
Sorry, I have to disagree from my point of view. Stopping CPU idling is the last option for me.
It's better to use a software with low CPU usage, like the Nexus Dock does. Sure, the battery is used more, but I have no problems with the fans and overheating. So I still hope for a solution via firmware.
Maybe someone knows another tool that can help as a workaround and drains the battery even less than the Nexus Dock.
In any case, I am bitterly disappointed in Microsoft and my "premium" laptop.
A refund depends on where you purchased it and the country you purchased it in, but over 3 months I don’t know likely that is. You won’t get one from Microsoft though unless you purchased from their store.
This is a hardware design flaw related to the intel iris chipset and the way the internal components are arranged on the Surface Laptop 3. It happens when the CPU starts to idle and the power draw changes. It’s not going to be fixed via a software update, so no one should keep waiting on it.
Running extra software isn’t the best work around, all it is doing is keeping your CPU busy. It’s likely keeping it more busy than needed and using up more battery life than needed.
The best work around is to disable CPU idling in the windows registry. There are several posts early on in this thread on how to do it and plenty of online articles about changing a registry entry. It will increase battery usage, but less than some extra software being ran.
Edit: Instructions are on this page of the thread. Second post, by C#L
Can you get a refund if you have the laptop since months already ? I originally kept it because i found that having Parsec in the background worked while i was "waiting" for Microsoft to fix the problem, little did i know i was making a terrible mistake, Microsoft doesn't care and since an update Parsec doesn't suppress the noise anymore, i absolutely CAN'T stand the noise it's making, i SHOULDN'T EVER have to deal with this with a 1,500€ """premium""" laptop.
Winstep nexus dock also works but with this workaround you are sacrificing like 50% of the battery life doing light tasks (I DID THE TESTS), this is absolutely not a solution, no one will accept such a tradeoff, just wait till the people using the winstep nexus dock realize the "magic fix" drains their battery because it prevents the processor from going into a low power consumption mode, back to square 1 for them, now what do we do with this thing ?
We are left with those laptops that drives us crazy, it does drive me crazy, i hate noise, i live in a very, very noisy place, and i would have to deal with this very triggering and unbearable noise as well ? I tried to ignore it but it makes me lose my health sanity even more, i lost a bit of hair, i don't want to go bald so i put the laptop back to its box and i'm never going to use it again, i still have a life to live and i don't want to lose my mind to a laptop.
I recently purchased the new Microsoft Surface Book 3 right from the Microsoft store. As I'm sitting in my office getting work done, I noticed this very high-pitched frequency sound. Almost like the older televisions when you turned them on or similar to a dog whistle. Thought I was losing my mind at first, but I put my ear up to my new device and noticed the sound was coming from there. So I Google about the issue and find numerous threads of people experiencing the same exact issue with all Microsoft devices. The Surface Book, Surface Laptop, Surface Pro, Tablet, etc.!! This is a very serious issue that Microsoft is obviously ignoring! A few of them even returned their devices, got new ones in exchange and the problem still persisted! Which obviously falls on the manufacturer (Microsoft) and not it being just a faulty device. I believe the issue to be the SSD drive as older hard drives used to make lots of noises. But even my external 2TB hard drive doesn't make that annoying sound. I switched over from a Surface Pro 3 and wanted to stick with Microsoft because it lasted me years and is still kicking but it was time for an upgrade. However, this is truly unacceptable. For the price I paid, I might as well had bought a MacBook! The only way I can get it to quiet down is if I tilt the laptop backward. This is not ideal as I would not be able to see the screen. At this point, it's difficult for me to tell if it's ringing or not because my ears just sound like they're constantly ringing now. It's really annoying and driving me insane!
I recently purchased the new Microsoft Surface Book 3 right from the Microsoft store. As I'm sitting in my office getting work done, I noticed this very high-pitched frequency sound. Almost like the older televisions when you turned them on or similar to a dog whistle. Thought I was losing my mind at first, but I put my ear up to my new device and noticed the sound was coming from there. So I Google about the issue and find numerous threads of people experiencing the same exact issue with all Microsoft devices. The Surface Book, Surface Laptop, Surface Pro, Tablet, etc.!! This is a very serious issue that Microsoft is obviously ignoring! A few of them even returned their devices, got new ones in exchange and the problem still persisted! Which obviously falls on the manufacturer (Microsoft) and not it being just a faulty device. I believe the issue to be the SSD drive as older hard drives used to make lots of noises. But even my external 2TB hard drive doesn't make that annoying sound. I switched over from a Surface Pro 3 and wanted to stick with Microsoft because it lasted me years and is still kicking but it was time for an upgrade. However, this is truly unacceptable. For the price I paid, I might as well had bought a MacBook! The only way I can get it to quiet down is if I tilt the laptop backward. This is not ideal as I would not be able to see the screen. At this point, it's difficult for me to tell if it's ringing or not because my ears just sound like they're constantly ringing now. It's really annoying and driving me insane!
