Hacker News Reader

Comment by nivertech | Hacker News Reader

Which model exactly do you have?

Specifically which CPU/RAM and display option?

I've just got a new X1 Carbon Gen10 with i7-1260P/32GB/WWAN/OLED screen, and it's one of the quietest laptop I ever used.

I did heard sometimes coil whine on my old Gen4 X1 Carbon, but not that it was super annoying.

I initially was spooked by the reports that 12gen Intel processors are not a good fit for an ultra-portable and may overheat and be too noisy, but that's not the case.

Did you had the same problem under Windows? Maybe it's some Linux-related problem?

In my case the only problems so far that webcam (that comes with OLED screen) and Fibocom modem are not yet supported under Linux ...

View on HN

Not OP, but I have coil whine and crackle with the x1 Carbon Gen 9. So maybe they fixed it with the Gen 10, after ignoring every complaint on the forums about the Gen 9 of course.

Mine is Gen9. I could go for Gen10, but that would be a good bit more expensive, and I don't need the additional performance. I think I'd rather go for a Dell XPS then, which would be like one third of the price.

It is not Linux related, the sound is the same before I even booted Linux and go into the Bios settings for example. If you check the Google link in my post, you can see that it is a common problem with Lenovo.

I found this page that says applying superglue to the right component might fix it:

https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/how-to-quickly-ea...

But I'm not sure if I want to do that to a laptop I just bought. Success seems kinda uncertain, but it certainly voids any right to return it.

Don't do that. That's a good way to turn an annoyance into a very expensive failure to fix (and, of course, no warranty anymore).

Superglue or epoxy on an inductor is going to prevent the inductor from having sufficient cooling. As these are usually power converter inductors for various power supplies on the motherboard (GPU, CPU, etc.), they can get fairly warm. If you put superglue on it, it could overheat and literally melt ...

If the whine is a problem, you could try to have the laptop replaced but I wouldn't have much hope with that - it is working as intended (as designed ...).

Maybe a piece of https://duckduckgo.com/q=thermal+interface+pad could do instead? They come in various thickness.

Depending on where the coils are located, and if they are in some sort of airstream or not, I'd try that. But only in one piece, not several layered above each other.

Could result in dampening the whine, or eliminating it altogether, and better cooling. By pressing on the coil on one side, and some part of the inner casing on the other.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com