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
    2020-01-16T03:19:13+00:00

    Try this.... this is a post from my post about FAN noise and overheating

    Man Huynh user tried and myself - may be a solution, not sure until i fully wait for few days and test

    https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/forum/surflaptop3-surfperf/surface-laptop-3-overheating-when-charging-and/1b79f64a-b8e5-441f-bf9c-96be2be69d1e?messageId=a2faf523-52bf-4bde-be6a-2b661c5502de

    Latest comments:

    Ok worked like a charm after updating Intel Graphics Driver (7584) from Intel 

    The laptop was constantly full fan speed after i connected to my additional screen - battery was low and obviously became a hot pan after i plugged the charger and fan noise did not stop (by now its 3 hours - fans did not stop) 

    I installed the drivers - rebooted - fan noise was there initially for 1 min or 30 sec - and now went quiet (work load, applications, nothing changed - everything is the same) 

    If i stick my ear close to the vents > i can hear the fan noise still but very very faint. I can live with that - good news atleast for now - the heating issue is a lot under control. 

    I am going to wait for few days to test this.

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-01-16T03:20:37+00:00

    Try this.... this is a post from my post about FAN noise and overheating

    Man Huynh user tried and myself - may be a solution, not sure until i fully wait for few days and test

    https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/forum/surflaptop3-surfperf/surface-laptop-3-overheating-when-charging-and/1b79f64a-b8e5-441f-bf9c-96be2be69d1e?messageId=a2faf523-52bf-4bde-be6a-2b661c5502de

    Hi eagelfox.

    I installed newest Intel Graphics Driver (7584). And now when charging the fan just turn on for 1 minute and completely silence.

    I using this method to install driver.

    https://www.howtogeek.com/343287/how-to-fix-the-driver-being-installed-is-not-validated-for-this-computer-on-intel-computers/

    If this works for you - do say thank you to Man Huynh

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-01-16T03:31:26+00:00

    Thanks for posting any solution or workaround here. let me try it tonight and monitor it for a few days. Will get back to you guys with results. Really hope that it can be the fix we all need.

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-01-16T04:18:54+00:00

    Also do not forget to go to Intel support page and try auto scanning and update what ever is old. I have 4 updates in total. Only display Intel drivers - we have to follow this "how to geek process" 

    https://www.howtogeek.com/343287/how-to-fix-the-driver-being-installed-is-not-validated-for-this-computer-on-intel-computers/

    Small tip: you will need to select "\igfx_win10_100.7584\Graphics\igdlh.inf" 

    As the article said selct "“igdlh64.inf”" or “igdlh32.inf”

    • i did not see 64, 32 - just have the two files with same name igdlh.inf - but one with 600K size - so use that

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  5. Anonymous
    2020-01-18T02:30:43+00:00

    here is my update!

    I installed the intel driver 7584 successfully follow by the manual steps in howtogeek. Unfortunately, the buzzing fan noise issue is still there. After restarting the device, the fan started buzzing on and off about less than 30s. However, the moment I'm typing this (with 10 chrome tabs open) the fan is really quiet. So I guess the new driver somehow manage the issue better than previously. 

    I will spend more time monitoring and testing it. will keep u guys updated! mine is SL3 i7, 16GB, 256GB.

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