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
    2020-01-28T17:40:15+00:00

    guess im just going to end up returning this laptop and change to a dell xps 2020.. literally has everything more than this laptop can offer now

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-01-22T15:42:31+00:00

    Hey man,

    Thanks for letting me know there is a new driver firmware. I've updated and kept monitoring the issue now. 

    However, besides this issue, there is another issue I found here and it is the way Microsoft Support or whatever authorized support vendor handle the issue. Honestly, this sort of support is even worst than the issue itself. We - customers spend 2000$ not only buying a laptop itself but also putting trust on the company. With 2000$, we have lots of options out there and we can buy any laptop from any brand but we chose Microsoft. What we received is just this annoying issue and a non-sense, lack of responsible support. They just leave us here trying to find an interim workaround which we don't even know whether the workaround could work. So disappointed.

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  3. 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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  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
    2020-01-14T04:45:53+00:00

    Super Hot - dont worry 'Man Huynh' you are not the only one 

    Check my other post - we are also having a debate there specific to heating problem and fan noise for no damn reason when ever we charge and sometime randomly gets hot. Microsoft says its common if it gets 'slightly warm' 

    "I SAID HOT --- not slightly warm" - there is a difference Microsoft - but we need more people complaining i guess for them to pay attention - JOIN the fight brothers !!!!!

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