Laptops General - Read Only

[ormandj]

I was hoping this wouldn't be an issue with the newer generation models, as it was my understanding this was fixed towards the end of the previous generation. Unfortunately, I have audible coil whine on my new XPS 15 9550 when plugged in to the power adapter. When disconnected from the adapter, the whine is much less noticeable. It is most noticeable for me when scrolling in Chrome, as an example. KB backlight makes no difference. It does get slightly better when the battery is fully charged, but is still quite audible to me.

Is anybody else experiencing this with the Skylake models? I am extremely disappointed at this point, I like everything else about this laptop other than the coil whine and the webcam being at the bottom of the display (which I can live with, unlike the coil whine).

[Anonymous]

Hello Terry and thank you for your response,

when the AC adaptor is not plugged in there is no noise whatsoever.

But when it is plugged in there is a barely, but still audible whiny noise (the laptop has to be switched on) which seems to come from the laptop itself.

Have in mind the whiny noise is not always loud , sometimes i really need to look for it to hear it.

The room i am using it in is fairly quiet but with some background noise and the whine is audible from the normal typing distance.

Tried running the express and extended diagnostics on my pc and all of them resulted in a pass. 

To be honest the sound itself, at least in my case isn't that loud or disruptive, but i cannot remember experiencing a similar thing with any previous laptops before.

If there is a possibility there is an underlying issue then i'd like to ask for a replacement as soon as possible (i am within the 14 days of purchase).

[DELL-Terry B]

Ryanjdesalvo, and  Christosk

I have sent friend requests to both of you, please accept.   With your reports of the noise, I really can't say if this is abnormal or not.  I don't like that at least with Christosk's system how the AC adapter makes a difference.

TB

[lemmiwinks999]

Any updates on this issue? I just received my xps 15 yesterday (FHD, i7, 16Gb ram, 512 SSD) and I notice this coil whine too when plugged in.

Should I return the unit to get a refund?

Thanks

[faucyn9]

I have the same coil whine issue on my i7-6700k 512 GB with 4K display. The whine is super high-pitched and can be heard from the other room. It mainly happens when the computer is plugged in and charging, but it does happen while unplugged, although not as frequently. I have received another AC adapter, for the first one was faulty, and I have seen no difference. 

I would really like to see this issue fixed for I cannot charge my laptop while I am using it or when no other loud noises are present because the sound hurts my ears. I really love this laptop and don't want to see this problem come between us.

[Anonymous]

i opted for a replacement,

there is no chance i'll accept a £1600 machine with such issues.

Have in mind though that  it will take some time (bout a month) to get replacement.

In case the replacement is faulty as well, i'll be going straight for a refund.

[Chris9446]

I have the coil whine noise as well.

[mlev1117]

I am also having this issue. For more information, this is my 3rd Dell XPS 15 (others were exchanged due to other issues) and they did not have this coil whine noise. For me, it is also much louder on AC power but still occurs on battery power at a barely discernable level. It is intermittent, and sounds like a Hard-drive noise (but I only have 512GB SSD, no HD). I am not positive, but it appears this noise was not present when I first received the laptop, as I am just noticing it in the last week. FYI I began noticing it after installing the Dell Thunderbolt 3 firmware update, but I assume this is a coincidence. I have the latest BIOS installed. Thanks

[yordestine]

I have the same problem, is there a solution?

[lemmiwinks999]

I had the same issue. Dell technical support sent me a new AC adapter and it solved the issue.

[jrivers9008]

The whine noise is from the cpu area, the reason is the BIOS or the intel cpu itself.

If you go to BIOS set up , disable cpu “C-states” , the high frequency whine will be gone.

I bought 3 of them new XPS 13 , both skylake i7 & i5 model have the coil whine problem.

I don't know if DELL will solve the problem by BIOS update, so I made a refund = =

XPS 13 has Quite good design, but poor quality control ruins everything.