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Lenovo X1 Extreme

I have mine on -130

And I've done no tests at all. Since most people suggest 140/150, I went little below that value. Why? Because there is no need (for me at least) to try to squeeze every little drop of juice from the CPU. Just like in @maflynn case, I have everything set up like I want it, and I have work to do, not just tweak my PC all the time :)

Since mine had replaced fans and bottom plate, I have no noise issues at all. Works like a charm. I'm just gonna be happy about that, and try not to ruin it :)
 
I received my X1E. I hear loud hissing sound from underneath the keyboard. Is this coil whine? Is there a way to get rid of this annoying sound? My first machine did not have that.
 
How loud is the hissing - how close do you need to put your head to the keyboard before you can hear it?

A very small amount of either cracking/hissing/squealing noises is considered normal providing you have to put your head close to the keyboard to hear it. If it bothers you for normal working distances then that isn't acceptable in my view. Are you doing any particular tasks (eg scrolling, watching 4k videos) when you can hear it?

My X1E had some coil whine (a high pitched tone) which nobody but me could hear and to be honest it wasn't that bad - but I am very sensitive to it and I suspect you are as well. But like I said, if you can hear it from a normal sitting position that is not you being sensitive.
 
I can hear the sound at normal typing position. At first I thought it were the sound from a defective dying hard drive being scratched while spinning. Then, I realized that I am using a SSD rather than a HD!

Does coil whine happen all the time if laptops have coil whine issue? Could it be mechanical issues with the fans? It was especially loud during downloading and installation of Adobe software. Right now there is no sound. When the laptop was idling under BIOS, loud fan noise also kicked in.
 
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hajime said:
I can hear the sound at normal typing position. At first I thought it were the sound from a defective dying hard drive being scratched while spinning. Then, I realized that I am using a SSD rather than a HD!

Does coil whine happen all the time if laptops have coil whine issue? Could it be mechanical issues with the fans? It was especially loud during downloading and installation of Adobe software. Right now there is no sound. When the laptop was idling under BIOS, loud fan noise also kicked in.
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Does it actually distract you, or do you think you'll get used to it? Do you only hear it when in a totally silent environment?

There is no coil whine standard behaviour - every machine is different. Some have it, some don't. Some emit a high frequency squeal which is maddening for some people, others hiss or crackle (which is much less bothersome). Some only do it in certain programmes or when under load. Incidentally, did you order exactly the same specification X1E as you had before?

Regarding fans - that has been addressed multiple times already in this thread, so you can work through those solutions.

I suggest you use and test the machine within the next couple of weeks to avoid sending it back until you are absolutely sure you don't want it.

I'm typing this on a silent Microsoft Surface Pro i5 (fanless), but if you need a more powerful GPU then it won't suit you. My Lenovo L390Y is a good performer and very quiet (in my opinion) but it lacks the 4k screen you prefer and it doesn't come with powerful graphics. There is the Dell XPS 15, but that has a very high rate of complaint and is known for coil whine - as are all the powerful laptops it seems. To an extent it's the luck of the draw. Incidentally I haven't yet ordered my X1E bur intend to do so fairly soon.
 
LindsayD said:
Does it actually distract you
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You forgot who you were posting too, he's very noise sensitive and If he made the effort of posting, and how to stop it...

@hajime, I wouldn't take too much time, with trying to fix the issue, its a brand new laptop and if its not performing exactly how you want it, then return it. My only suggestion is first try out the laptop to determine that the X1E's fans are not running for your typical usage pattern. You can kill two birds with one stone then, determine if the X1E is the right laptop and secondly return it due to the coil whine.

btw, my laptop is dead silent absolute zero coil whine.
 
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maflynn said:
You forgot who you were posting too, he's very noise sensitive and If he made the effort of posting, and how to stop it.

@hajime, I wouldn't take too much time, with trying to fix the issue, its a brand new laptop and if its not performing exactly how you want it, then return it. My only suggestion is first try out the laptop to determine that the X1E's fans are not running for your typical usage pattern. You can kill two birds with one stone then, determine if the X1E is the right laptop and secondly return it due to the coil whine.

btw, my laptop is dead silent absolute zero coil whine.
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Agreed. Little sense in swapping it out if is not otherwise a keeper. Take advantage of the return period and evaluate beyond the coil whine before swapping it for another that you might otherwise find shortcomings with.
[doublepost=1556982677][/doublepost]
Never mind said:
Get rid of the X1 and get yourself an iPad Pro. You won’t hear anything.
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Or another model of a fanless design such as some of the Surface Pro models. Or buy the loudest and fastest and invest in a good pair of headphones with ANC and you are well on your way to "noise? What noise?" :)
 
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Apparently, newer gaming laptops suffer heavily from coil whine. I watched a few youtube videos about coil whine on Razer 15. It's absolutely horrible. And it's not just Razer, it's almost every laptop with RTX cards.

I plan on avoiding newer cards until that issue is fixed. I'm not really noise sensitive, but that kind of noise would make me go crazy.

As far as my X1E goes, I was like @maflynn very lucky to receive a unit that has no coil whine at all. Not even when I press my ears right above the keyboard. So I will probably be a happy camper with my X1E for foreseeable future :)
 
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c0ppo said:
I plan on avoiding newer cards until that issue is fixed. I'm not really noise sensitive, but that kind of noise would make me go crazy.
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That's horrible - bummers on those owners.

I had an old powerbook that had this issue, it didn't have a name back then and many people were complaining about it and apple didn't do much for us back then
 
maflynn said:
You forgot who you were posting too, he's very noise sensitive and If he made the effort of posting, and how to stop it...

@hajime, I wouldn't take too much time, with trying to fix the issue, its a brand new laptop and if its not performing exactly how you want it, then return it. My only suggestion is first try out the laptop to determine that the X1E's fans are not running for your typical usage pattern. You can kill two birds with one stone then, determine if the X1E is the right laptop and secondly return it due to the coil whine.

btw, my laptop is dead silent absolute zero coil whine.
Click to expand...

Thanks. That is an excellent idea! I will also try to undervolt it today. I did not do it last Fall because when I attempted to do it, the CPU was not in the list of compatible CPUs. Since many people have done it already without issue, I will try it.
 
jrichards1408 said:
Can coil whine be fixed via replacing the fans?
Click to expand...

Only if the whine was caused by the fans - mostly it's from the GPU, or else the CPU. It was both on my X1E, but the fans are always worth checking. A crackling electrical kind of noise can also be caused by an SSD, counter to what many people assume about 'silent drives'. hajime hasn't said exactly where the noise is coming from - listening through a rolled up piece of paper can be helpful.
 
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LindsayD said:
Only if the whine was caused by the fans - mostly it's from the GPU, or else the CPU. It was both on my X1E, but the fans are always worth checking. A crackling electrical kind of noise can also be caused by an SSD, counter to what many people assume about 'silent drives'. hajime hasn't said exactly where the noise is coming from - listening through a rolled up piece of paper can be helpful.
Click to expand...
So technically even an ipad could have coil whine
 
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jrichards1408 said:
What causes it?
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https://www.xoticpc.com/coil-whine
WHAT IS COIL WHINE?
Coil whine, also known as electromagnetically excited acoustic noise and vibration or audible magnetic noise, is one of the most frustrating phenomena in modern technology. As its name suggests, this high-pitched noise is caused by electromagnetic coils that act as inductors or transformers. Though it can come from many components, coil whine is usually found in video cards. High-end graphics cards are used to run intensive software or demanding games, which can cause them to work very hard and vibrate. Every PC component has a resonant frequency when coupled with the rest of the electrical circuit. Noise can also occur when the coil is poorly secured to the circuit board. Unfortunately, there is little you can do to reverse or remove coil whine once you have it. However, there are precautions you can take.
Click to expand...
 
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My HP printer has the most hideous coil whine. I literally have to either leave the room or cover my ears when it's switched on, then when the printing finishes I rush over to it and hit the off key. I sometimes get frustrated when nobody else notices. I am talking about the high pitched whine kind of noise.

In the living room my Panasonic hard drive recorder multi player thingy developed it after a couple of years and I can't be in the room with that - within moments I feel dizzy, agitated and nauseous. This one emits both a whine and a buzz.

I also can't cope with LED lightbulbs because of the buzzing they all emit. Or dimmer light switches. I can't have any of the ceiling lights on in the living room because of it, so I need to get them changed.
 
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I did not hear coil whine issues on computers bought over 6 years ago. Certainly not on Apple II and other old computers bought in pre-www era. Is it a new thing?
 
hajime said:
I did not hear coil whine issues on computers bought over 6 years ago. Certainly not on Apple II and other old computers bought in pre-www era. Is it a new thing?
Click to expand...

The noise from the mechanical hard drives probably drowned out the coil whine.
 
LindsayD said:
The noise from the mechanical hard drives probably drowned out the coil whine.
Click to expand...

At that time, hard drives did not exist yet. At least for personal computers. We were using cassette tapes to load/save programs. Then, floppy disks and 5.35 discs. It was quite interesting to hear the sound when playing back those tapes.
 
LindsayD said:
My HP printer has the most hideous coil whine. I literally have to either leave the room or cover my ears when it's switched on, then when the printing finishes I rush over to it and hit the off key. I sometimes get frustrated when nobody else notices. I am talking about the high pitched whine kind of noise.

In the living room my Panasonic hard drive recorder multi player thingy developed it after a couple of years and I can't be in the room with that - within moments I feel dizzy, agitated and nauseous. This one emits both a whine and a buzz.

I also can't cope with LED lightbulbs because of the buzzing they all emit. Or dimmer light switches. I can't have any of the ceiling lights on in the living room because of it, so I need to get them changed.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the multiplayer DVR thing is what I was having issues with. I forget the brand, but it was through the cable company, so I just had them exchange it. At first I thought it was my laptop, because I sometimes use it in the living room, but found the living room was the only place I heard the sound and targeted it to the DVR. My old flat panel TV developed it too, but it was only occasional and now it’s replaced as well. But just due to age and features, not the coil whine.
 
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