High pitched noise coming from new 9500 fans

I am experiencing the same high pitch noise. After a few testing here's my take :
- Noise is not audible when the laptop is sitting on plane surface

- Noise appears when the fan are not idling

- Noise can be heard when the bottom grill is uncovered like when you lift up the bottom of the laptop for better air flow

It does not bother me too much as I primarily use my laptop with headphones but it could get anoying while watching a movie.

I'll wait a bit and consider returning it too.

@RonanMacdid you return yours in the end ? or maybe found a solution ?

Hi @Hyti

In the end I told them I would give it a few days and consider. And I'm still considering/testing things. 

I played a light/not demanding game yesterday with cool mode enabled, and it felt like this was bringing the whistling noise out at the higher fan rpm, which was very loud and noticeable, despite being on the table.

I'm going to continue to test different scenarios over the weekend when I have time - I've been wondering if this is affecting all laptops or some, because it seems quite a few people are experiencing the issue. The fact that a lot more people aren't talking about it makes me think it could just be certain laptops, because it's not hard to notice the sound. 

@RonanMacThanks for getting back, I'll do the same and see. Probably tinker with the fan speed if doable.

I'll probably try and open it as I am wondering if this comes from the fans or the air whistling while passing the bottom grill.

Hi @RonanMac and @Hyti 

my son is experiencing same issue with his new Dell. High pitched loud whistling noise during times of high or heavy performance. Would expect to hear fan working hard but not the whistling noise. On the phone with tech support tonight and we decided to check dell community for similar reporting. Suspect is a bad bearing iN the fan. Thought we’d share the info and plan to monitor this post for updates. Thx

Hi

Has Dell managed to resolve this issue?

I have the same issue. When I use the laptop on a laptop stand (lifted) I can hear the fan high pitched whistle noise. When the laptop sits on a surface the whistle is gone. I think it has to do with the air movement, as the air escapes the bottom air vents. Not sure though if it is just mine or every 9500 laptop... really annoying and kinda disappointed with all the defects of this supposedly premium laptop. Another fault is that the lid doesn't snap / stay completely closed when the laptop sits vertically (as in your backpack) which could allow debris / objects to fall through and damage the screen , but that's a subject for a different post

Copy-pasting my answer to another similar thread :

Hi, I've had this problem on my new xps 15 9500 as well, and after considering returning it (even though everything else was perfectly fine), I think I've found a solution that hopefully may apply to most people's case.

So, after extensive testing, I noticed the noise is actually coming from the metal frame on the back panel/chassis : when air goes through, the thin metal bars start whistling, and it looks like a design issue (so I do not think returning it will change much). 

It's not very pretty, but what I found effective was to put a little of scotch tape on these metal bars to keep them from vibrating : try to find the best spot, but most importantly, avoid the fans to keep an optimal level of air flow. On my unit, putting some tape on the very edge of the ventilation grid did the trick, I have no issue anymore.

I hope this helps.

I also have a maddening high pitched noise coming from my XPS 9510. It does seem to vary with fan speed. I'm wondering if replacing the fan would solve it. Anyone try?