New Kaby Lake XPS 13: coil whine

@Community,

I can now confirm for you that Dell is working towards are hardware solution for the coil noise. I will be in touch with more detail in the near future.

I have the Skylake version of the XPS 13 (9350) and have had issues with coil whine as well. In my case the degree of noise is very dependent on the frequency state the processor is in, with maximum noise levels when in low frequencies (<1.2 GHz) and when in 'turbo mode' (3.1 GHz). The the extent of the noise also depends on what operations were run on the processor. Scrolling in the browser while on battery would drive me (and the cat) nuts.

After a lot of trial-and-error I figured out that using the intel pstate 'powersave' scaling governor (the default on most recent kernel/ubuntu versions) and setting the "min_perf_pct" to a level between 50-80 percent minimizes coil-whine during normal usage.

To give it a shot, first check that you're using the p_state 'powersave'  governor by verifying that the following command returns 'powersave' for each CPU core:

   cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu*/cpufreq/scaling_governor

Then run the following as root:

   echo -n 80 > /sys/devices/system/cpu/intel_pstate/min_perf_pct

You can vary the minimum performance percentage from 0 to 100. In my case 80 worked best but results may be very CPU/board dependent.

Note that setting a minimum performance percentage means that the core frequency never drops below a certain value. In my case all cores idle around 2.5 GHz (without the performance threshold they would go as low as 800 MHz). In theory this could affect battery life, though in practice I haven't noticed any reductions - probably because the processor is still using all its powersaving C-states.

Off course it would be better if this problem is fixed at the hardware level, but in the mean time I hope these tips may be useful for others. I'm not an engineer but I suspect that coil whine is a difficult problem to solve completely because there are many components involved. The increasing number of frequency/power states of modern processors might also be increasing the likelihood of resonance occurring, potentially explaining why later XPS models are more affected.

Hi,

If that can help... I bought my XPS 13 (9350, not 9360) in April 2016 and this issue appeared within the last weeks only (never heard such a noise before and I've also been using it in the evening with no ambient noise). Unless an IC component got damaged, it really looks like a regression issue due to a driver update (OS=Win10).

To me, when the noise appears, it is unbearable. This can be reproduced especially on web pages with scrolling areas. Could it be due to an agressive change in the video driver?

@Justin

To Dell engineers, is that a hardware or software issue?

If it's a hardware issue, does it need to be returned for repair?

Hi Justin,

What's is the latest status with this coil whine issue?  I can hear the coil whine when the TV is on.  I got it about 2 months ago, but I thought it was the driver and I kept messing around with it for a long time and can't get it fixed, than I did some research and came across this thread.

D 

Same problem here, new laptop and I can hear the noise. It's bearable but annoying on a new laptop. Will it be fixed?

Well I can confirm that Dell has given the same answer to me since 2013 ...I have had great customer service from Dell UK Pro Support ...have had 3 machines 9330, 9350 and now the 9360 all have coil whine. If this is what Dell intended to do they would've done so when they launched the 9350. Optimistic? Not really.... thanks!

Ash

It's unbearable..... I'm currently working on my thesis (just basic wordprocessing and browser) and I hear the coil whine all the time.
It's like my laptop is telling me to stop working ;)

@Dell: please fix this, because it's taking a way the fun of an otherwise good product... I really love my 9360 DE, but the coil whine is a pain :(

They did change another motherboard and it didn't solve the issue. So this was the third motherboard. Also I suspect something must have gone wrong with third motherboard replacement because the temperature is now 90-100C even when idled. This made the laptop unusable.

Since I bought it, i haven't used it at all.

Not a very good experience.

Even at idle? The heat sink must not be seated properly. It is a very simple to fix - get Dell to send a technician to your place and reapply the thermal paste & re-seat the heat sink.

As is, the thermal throttling must render it unusable.

For the coil whine I got this news from Justin :

*Currently, we’re simply waiting for the hardware fix to be released. It should be out next month.

good news thanks for updating us Gardiner.D

what does this mean for us though?

will this fix only be applied for "new" models that haven't been shipped yet, or even for us, who bought it a couple of weeks/months ago?!

@Xps_ubuntu16,

Dell is work on solutions for systems already purchased as well as making changes in the manufacture process, in order to prevent future orders from shipping with the noise.

I won't make any promises yet but we could potentially see the solution released before the end of January.

Will the fix for existing XPS13 9360 require the customers to send the unit back for haedware part(s) replacement?  I am concerned with the quality and craftsmanship of the technician replacing the part(s) as I have sent in a laptop for hardware replacement in the past with Dell and my laptop came back falling apart.

Thank you very much Justin.

I have two DELL XPS 9360 (great computers !) : one of them is almost silent and the other one has noticeable coil whine that can be bothering in silent rooms. I'm very interested by the fix for the affected one.

Please keep us posted on the fix and also on how to get it (personnally, I'm skilled enough even to do a motherboard swap by myself).