FINALLY -- MB/MBP Whine/Buzz solution(s)

[robotica]

Yes I belive they all have it, and its not just Apple. Dell's as well, and all other Core 2 Duo laptops. Its the intel chip.

my c2d doesnt

i think its just sr macbooks

 

[TBi]

No, not everyone has this whine. Some laptops have it, others don't.

Do a search, you'll see mixed answers in forums everywhere

Everyone of them that uses PWM has it. It's a degree of how bad it is plus how good the persons hearing is. Younger people hear it better than older people. Some laptops have it louder than others too. My original MBP was so loud you could hear it on the other side of the room. My MB has it too but very quiet. I rarely notice it.

I think this is a different problem - I had a Dell XPS M1330 before with this issue (un-fixable in windows vista) and other people told me it has existed as far back as 1996.

It is an intel processor problem, do a search.

The noise doesn't come from the processor but yes the processor causes the laptop to make this noise. It is a PWM circuitry problem. If you draw less power (CPU in sleep mode) then it switches a lot slower and comes down into the audible range. All the fixes just increase the load on the CPU increasing the PWM rate out of your hearing range.

The problem in early MBP's was a different one...maybe?

Same problem, same noise, same fixes!

Anyways, I'm quite sure all SR Macbooks have this, as you will see if you read several threads in this forum, people have returned it 2,3,4 times even and the problem persisted. Some people hear it, others don't depending on their age (apparently) and other things. Additionally you need to be in a very quite room to notice it, and some laptops have it louder than others.

Well that much is true

 

[D4F]

I must be very lucky then cause apart from Lopard bugs my SR 2.2 runs perfect.

 

[TBi]

I must be very lucky then cause apart from Lopard bugs my SR 2.2 runs perfect.

Not lucky, just not unlucky

Remember over 99% of people get a good laptop, but the 1% who don't are more vocal

Congrats on the laptop! I'd love a SR MBP but i don't have the funds to spare at the moment!

 

[John01021988]

use ShhhMBP, its way better than QuietMBP, keeps both cores cold, while QuiteMBP is like another process running in the background, therefore making the computer consume resources at "idle"

 

[anibalcascais]

My macbook CPU (not SR) is running at 40º Celsius at the moment just using safari, according to iStatPro. Fan is at 1800rpm...

And its about the average it goes when running safari, itunes, pages and some other stuff...

Also, I cant hear no whinning...does someone has a recording of that?

 

[TBi]

Also, I cant hear no whinning...does someone has a recording of that?

If you can't hear it then don't worry about it

 

[aureiden]

never mind, i found it

 

[dcorban]

I have a new SR MacBook and the only sounds I ever hear from it are the DVD drive spinning up and the fans moving air.

 

[QCassidy352]

No, not everyone has this whine. Some laptops have it, others don't.

Do a search, you'll see mixed answers in forums everywhere

not quite. It's just that some ppl can't hear it b/c it's too high pitched. Those that can hear it can hear it on EVERY core duo/core 2 duo laptop. It drove me crazy when I first got my core duo MB, but I don't really notice it anymore.

 

[TBi]

It drove me crazy when I first got my core duo MB, but I don't really notice it anymore.

Maybe you are slowly going deaf

 

[redrevival]

i guess the only question i have about the noise is... if it's the high pitched electronic sounding noise... and if it isn't very loud and isn't a bother.... then, is there a problem with the machine or is just how it is.

 

[TBi]

i guess the only question i have about the noise is... if it's the high pitched electronic sounding noise... and if it isn't very loud and isn't a bother.... then, is there a problem with the machine or is just how it is.

It is a high pitched electronic sound.

The volume varies from computer to computer. Some are loud, some need a stethoscope to hear it.

Some people (mostly under 25) can hear it, some others (older) can't due to normal hearing loss at these frequencies.

 

[Jiddick ExRex]

It is a high pitched electronic sound.

The volume varies from computer to computer. Some are loud, some need a stethoscope to hear it.

Some people (mostly under 25) can hear it, some others (older) can't due to normal hearing loss at these frequencies.

Thank the gods I just turned 24. One more year and I can stop worrying about this particular problem!!

 

[TBi]

Thank the gods I just turned 24. One more year and I can stop worrying about this particular problem!!

I'm 27 and i still hear it! Some people over 40 can still hear it too. It all depends on how good/bad your hearing is

 

[rezonat0r]

My MBP 17" C2D (not SantaRosa) has the whine slightly as well. I can confirm shhmbp works. I have heard the whine on every Intel notebook I have been able to spend some time with.

Last week I sent away my MBP to get the inverter and screen replaced, and in the interim used an old Dell 8200 with a Pentium 4 Mobile, and it had the same exact whine, except about 2x louder. Which of course made the whine on my mac slightly more noticeable once I got it back. It's there (in varying degrees) on all Intel machines going back to the P4 (at least), including my GF's Pentium M (centrino), and my first CoreDuo 17" MBP. I'm almost 26.

I think the PWM circuitry is the culprit just as TBi says. That might explain why the whine doesn't come from just one place (where the CPU is) but is heard all along the logic board. When the power circuitry is in its slowest switching mode it affects not just the CPU, but the chipset's northbridge, southbridge, etc to some degree. But strangely enough shhmbp does do the trick.

Anyone think the new Penryn chipsets may not have this problem nearly as much? They claim to have significantly reduced "leakage", and the whine does sound a bit like leakage.