SB2 13.5" coil whine

[wynand32]

Well, I got in the SB2 13.5-inch model I was hoping to try out. The 15-inch model seemed a bit too large, and as I noted in another thread I don't like the display's white point/color temp as much as other Surface machines I've owned/used. And indeed, the display on the 13.5-inch model is definitely more in line with my preferences.

In what is a really frustrating turn of events, I've now discovered the coil whine issue that apparently all/most 13.5-inch models suffer. And boy, is it annoying. I'm sitting here in the evening in a quiet room, and so long as the machine is plugged in the coil whine ranges from just barely annoying at the "Recommended" power setting to oh-my-god-this-will-drive-me-batty at the "Best performance" setting.

To top it all off, apparently, the fan in the base is running at a very low speed for whatever reason (I'm not using the dGPU). At least, I think it's the fan. And it's also creating a very annoying pitch.

Unless you're using this in a room with some significant level of ambient noise, it's unbearable. At least to me, and I can't imagine anyone would find this acceptable. I'm venting a little here, because this is incredibly disappointing.

Honestly, I can't believe Microsoft is shipping these things like this. I've used systems with a slight amount of intermittent coil whine. This is constant, and coupled with the apparent fan noise makes the machine unusable. To make things worse, the coil whine continues even when the lid is close and SB2 is supposed to be sleeping.

Note: I should note that the SB2 15-inch also has some coil whine. But it's nowhere near as bad as this one.

 

[brosenz]

My SB2 15" is extremely quiet, I hear almost nothing from it, only the fan sometimes when there is high CPU usage, that would be 10-20% of the time

 

[wynand32]

My SB2 15" is extremely quiet, I hear almost nothing from it, only the fan sometimes when there is high CPU usage, that would be 10-20% of the time

Yes, if you research this issue (which I now have), highly excessive coil whine is much more prevalent on the 13.5-inch model. I'm tempted to believe it's present on all 13.5-inch models to one extent or another. And it's not based on CPU usage -- in fact, if you run the CPU at 100% (i.e., via Intel's XTU) then the coil whine actually goes away. It's actually kind of bizarre. But when I put mine to sleep and set it next to my bed, still plugged in, it's audible. That's crazy sauce.

Like I said, it's barely present on my 15-inch, to the point where I literally have to hold it against my ear to hear it. That's clearly not a problem.

 

[JonathanH]

My 13" model gets so loud in better/high performance and I can't bear it next to my bed...

 

[wynand32]

My 13" model gets so loud in better/high performance and I can't bear it next to my bed...

Yeah, judging by this Reddit thread, it's pretty widespread: Coil Whine on Surface Book 2 13.5 • r/Surface

Not sure what Microsoft is going to do about this, other than just hope that some people don't notice it because they just don't happen to work in quiet environments. For a writer, it's the kiss of death, though, because we try to work in quiet environments as often as we can (or at least I do).

 

[JonathanH]

Yeah, judging by this Reddit thread, it's pretty widespread: Coil Whine on Surface Book 2 13.5 • r/Surface

Not sure what Microsoft is going to do about this, other than just hope that some people don't notice it because they just don't happen to work in quiet environments. For a writer, it's the kiss of death, though, because we try to work in quiet environments as often as we can (or at least I do).

This is already my second model and I haven't heard that anyone can get rid of it by exchanging for anther one. So it's kinda common and inevitable so far.
What a shame it'll have to be one major issue of it since everything else works just fine. It's not about working in quiet environments, I mean, the noise is noticeable enough that people can easily catch it at night. So I guess Microsoft has to response for it as more and more complaints flooding in.

 

[wynand32]

Yeah, I can see how it would be loud enough to be heard even if the environment isn't very quiet. I only put it that way because that's where I've tested it -- I haven't bothered to do any further testing because it's simply unacceptable as-is and will be going back.

 

[gman713]

I haven't heard any whine on my 15". Maybe it's there but nothing beside the fan was audible.

 

[wynand32]

I haven't heard any whine on my 15". Maybe it's there but nothing beside the fan was audible.

From everything I've seen, coil whine is definitely significantly less on the 15-inch model and in many cases possibly non-existent (although I don't there's absolutely none in many). On the one I'm trying, I have to press my ear right up to the tablet to hear any at all. So I think it's the 13.5-inch model that has the issue, for whatever reason.

 

[starcrusader]

Weird. My 13.5 SB 2 is completely silent, whether on battery or mains.

 

[wynand32]

Weird. My 13.5 SB 2 is completely silent, whether on battery or mains.

If you're checking when plugged in and the power slider is all the way to the right in Best Performance, then you might have won the coil whine lottery.

 

[Seneleron]

I'm not convinced any unit lacks coil whine. I think some people are just more sensitive to it. If i put my ear to the back of the tablet portion while it's charging I can hear it plain as day, but the unit is dead silent to me under normal operation.

So I guess the question is, am I just not sensitive to it, or is the coil whine so bad on some units and mine just isn't bad? Kinda hard to judge when I haven't heard a sampling of someone with a "bad" unit to compare to.

I'm just kinda curious, I've seen a lot of complaints about it, and I think I'm missing something.