I just got a new Toshiba Tecra S11 notebook, which has a Core i5 520M CPU, and it appears to suffer from a well-known problem: a high pitched noise when the CPU is idle.
Googling around revealed that this is caused by a specific power-saving mode in the CPU. In most cases, C4 mode is blamed for the noise.
So my question is: is it possible to disable C4 mode (or any other "sleep" mode) using some utility or BIOS setting? I don't mind if it hurts battery life.
I'd appreciate any advice on this matter. It's driving me crazy.
FYI: I'm running Windows 7 64-bit
Answer
I've checked the Toshiba (Canada) site and there no mention of that problem, either in their technical service bulletins, or from users in the forums.
I then called Toshiba personally (we're a Toshiba reseller/repair depot), and got them to dig around in their notes to see if there are any reports outside of what's on the website. They told me that they can't find anything relating to this being a common, or even previously reported, problem with the Tecra line.
I questioned them on possible warranty replacement, and they responded that if it's under warranty and it's determined that it's not a disk in the DVD drive, or a fan that's failing/whining because it's full of dirt, then that whine is not acceptable, and it would be repaired.
Which is how I would expect to deal with it if you had brought it directly to us.
My suspects would be LCD inverter first (common whiner), and if that proves to be OK, then the next step would be to test with a new CPU (only because it's easier), and then replace the motherboard with the intention being to get rid of faulty voltage controllers and capacitors that are (more likely) causing the noise. None of this "it's normal" crud. ;)
So, if you're under warranty (Tecra's usually have 3 years of warranty; you can check yours here) it sounds like it'd be covered, and that's probably your best bet to get rid of it, and not hamper your battery life (or alike) by disabling features.
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