yesterday I had a weird behaviour with my FW16 when charging. But maybe it is not weird and I was just too nervous.
The battery was at 36% when I connected it to the charger. It then started to make some constant “brizzling” noise, coming from the top left quarter of the laptop I would say. Not super loud, but notable. The cable was plugged in at the top right USB-C extension card.
It also got very hot at the area located near the Y key on the bottom side. The area below the trackpad, where the battery is, did not heat up that much. Also the fans started to spin after 5-10 seconds (the laptop was turned on, but I didn’t do anything).
I unplugged the charger as I was not sure if something is odd.
Currently it is connected, but as the laptop is near maximum capacity I guess it does not try to drag that much load.
The charger supports up to 140 Watts. It is from Intenso
I cannot confirm that it is expected, but mine started to noticeable buzz too when charging with over 40 watts (original charger and cable)
I did not notice any excessive heat but I am also using an external mouse and keyboard so I don’t come in contact for the most part
At least that there is some noise is a very helpful insight for me
Could you locate from where it comes from? For me it was confusing that it seems to come from the upper/mid left part. If any I would have expected it near the battery or the extension card.
I did a Bios update to the latest version. With that, at least the fans do not start to spin and it also seems to be less heat. So the noise mainly is what remains as “strange” issue.
I let mine run without the midplate today, but could only locate the sound to somewhere around the interposer and CPU, also took a picture but nothing unusual as far as I’m concerned (the laptop was pulling 100W for about 15 Minutes at this point)
So I got a new charger, Vuohoeg 140W.
Charging on one of the ports with 100W works without any issues, charging with 140W creates the same sounds as the charger from Intenso. So maybe that is normal.
I also observed the temperature with Speedfan and it was stable.
Also the fans did not start, which is what they did with the old BIOS.
Same here with Anker Prime Charger (250W, 6 Ports, GaNPrime) (Max 140 on 1 port, 100W on other…)
No sounds on 100W port, but some on 140W port (charging or not… ) stay on 100W port most time only when high load is need I switch on 100W
Note: the sounds in my case depend on CPU/iGPU load, always present but different.
So I have the same question as other… is it normal ?
I try to keep track of some of these threads. Just search “140w” and you’ll see all kinds of issues reported with charging. I have done extensive testing with 4 different USB-C 140W capable Chargers, including Apple’s own 140W Charger, as well as using not only the Framework 180W USB-C Power Cable, but also aftermarket ones like Anker’s 240W EPR Cable.
In all cases, there is audible noise when charging from 140W Sources. One of the key issues that occurs during this time is that clocks rapidly fluctuate on the GPU during this time. My laptop has the Dedicated GPU, but I also have the standard internal bay that I’ve swapped it with during testing.
One thing that stands out very obviously is that the GPU performance is abysmal while in this state. As in, you get more performance by running strictly off the battery than while plugged into a 140W Power Source. Even though the laptop is taking in that power, the rapid GPU clock fluctuations completely destroy any performance, and you’re left with a stuttering mess.
I tested for Framework Support and found the noise continued regardless of load when connected to 140W power sources and nothing else.
30W USB-PD Power Adapter - Just fine
45W USB-PD Power Adapter - Just fine
60W USB-PD Power Adapter - Just fine
100W USB-PD Power Adapter - Just fine
140W USB-PD Power Adapter(s) - Noisy chassis, GPU clocks and power consumption are all over the place.
180W USB-PD Power Adapter (Framework’s) - Just fine
Ultimately, Framework Support hand-waved and says it’s gotta be the adapter. I had 2 adapters at the time + the Framework Charger, and you can see their reply below and judge for yourself:
It seems there may be an incompatibility between your 140W charger and the Framework 16 laptop. A sufficient power supply is crucial to ensure all components, including the CPU, GPU, and peripherals, receive the necessary voltage and current to function optimally. Insufficient power can result in performance issues, system instability, or even hardware damage. Additionally, the laptop requires adequate power to charge its battery while in use.
It’s important to highlight that the Framework charger works seamlessly with your laptop, confirming there are no issues with either the Framework charger or the laptop itself. The problem only arises when using the Anker or UGREEN chargers with a 140W output.
The Framework Laptop 16 supports USB-C power adapters up to 240W. For optimal performance, we recommend the following:
A minimum of 180W power adapter if you are using a Graphics Module.
A minimum of 100W power adapter if the Graphics Module is not in use.
Ultimately, and unfortunately, the fact that the chassis is making noise with 140W Power Adapters, despite the video evidence using AMD’s own overlay tools to show the wildly fluctuating graphics clocks and GPU power consumption even though the laptop was consuming 130W, and even though literally no other device, including my 16" Macbook exhibit this behavior, Framework support feels the issue is with the Charger, and not with how these laptops deal with 28V, 140W Power Delivery.
You’re welcome to contact support. They’ll have you reset the UEFI, then jump through some hoops, and ultimately will probably come to the same conclusion. Here’s some other links to other folks who have already done the song and dance:
tacsist opened an issue about this on the Framework GitHub months ago:
Framework Support’s stance is simply that it is all the chargers, including Apple’s that are wrong. But I wish you luck!
I could open a ticket, warranty runs out this month and I do have the same problem with the og charger and cable.
But I doubt that it will lead anywhere since I am not running with the newest drivers or BIOS, both on purpose.
The drivers I updated and rolled back within 30 minutes last week since it made videos unplayable, and charging works mostly fine so I’ll not risk that with the newer BIOS.
Thank you for that insight!
Good to know that charging with 140W seems to be odd with any adapter. So at least I could stop looking for some that works as I would expect it. And also good to know that the GPU module only seems to be usable when using the official charger.
I think I will contact the support to raise visibility of this issue, although I have limited expectations regarding the outcome now.
By the way, also other companies seem to struggle with USB-C chargers. For example I have a Tuxedo laptop at work. There, with some chargers not providing enough power, the performance drops up to 200% (so taking two times longer) for cpu heavy tasks.
Unfortunately now I have a charger the Framework likes, and another charger the Tuxedo likes. Which means I need two different chargers at my homeoffice desk for two laptops “supporting” the same standard.
But I wish you luck!