Constant microstuttering, buzzing coil whine sounds from Framework 16 dGPU

Framework Laptop 16
1

Hello! Not sure if anyone else has experienced this yet - I’m hoping it’s not a hardware issue. When the dGPU kicks on and spits new frames, I’ve noticed that there’s a very noticeable buzzing sound every time. This leads to constant stuttering in games. The effect is most noticeable when working on CAD, where every time the renderer does its thing (e.g. rotating your model) the GPU does this constant buzzing noise until the rotation stops. I’ve done a clean install of the amd gpu drivers in the hopes that would fix it, but no luck so far.

Does anyone else have any experience similar to this with the Framework 16?

All this has been done on the internal display, no external display tested yet. Batch 6 running Windows 11 Pro

2

I haven’t experienced your issue but if you’re experiencing coil whine in your dgpu fans, it’s probably a hardware issue not anything to do with software. You should contact support and tell them about you’re issue and if you’re unable to solve it, ask if they can send you a replacement unit for your defective gpu.

As for the stuttering, I’m am not sure why either. It might be because your gpu is throttling and the fans might have some issues causing them to not provide enough cooling.

Also try installing the driver package specifically provided by Framework, not the ones provided by AMD.

3

The coil whine is not really an issue. It’s harmless but annoying.

Regarding the GPU usage: Can you do some GPU based benchmarks and check for sensors?

4

Let me clarify, I don’t believe the coil whine is a separate issue (and it’s not from the fan), it’s linked directly to screen movements and I believe is a symptom of whatever the problem is. It’s less of a standard coil whine, more of a ratcheting sound sounds like is being made with every frame that’s getting pushed to the display.

5

This sounds to me like a faulty switch mode regulator within the GPU. It is possibly going into current limit mode which can cause the regulator to run in a strange mode which causes it to stop and start, causing the coil noise.

I would suggest you contact framework support, with the eventual aim of getting a replacement GPU.

1 Like
6

Thanks for the hypothesis, that definitely seems very plausible. I’ve reached out to support and will see what happens.

2 Likes
7

I’ve had coil whine that follows movements on my desktop for two GPU generations as well. I think it’s just how it be. I am dealing with perf problems too, but more macrostuttering than micro (60+ms frame times!).

8

I get a bit of coil whine occasionally, usually at menu screens when the FPS is ridiculously high. It’s just the way of modern GPUs.

My founders 3070 does it, the Sapphire Vega 56 did it before that. Even the RX 5500 in my MacBook Pro did it.

9

After running VR for a bit yesterday, I definitely noticed this morning that even page updates in chrome are quite loud in the 16. Not sure if it is just that I notice it now that it is a cool morning without intense GPU use, so no fan noise at all, or if the very heavy session from yesterday (at least as heavy as Beat Saber gets) made the coil whine/buzz more pronounced. I’m hoping it is not the latter.

I can live with it, but it is noticeable even over the A/C sound in my home or when not sitting on a flat sound amplifying surface. Even just scrolling this page is making little creaky buzzing, like a VRM somewhere is working really hard.