Razer Blade 15 Advanced (2021) RTX 3080 fan whine

Just commenting because I just opened mine and have the exact same issue; it whines at any speed and is noticeable except when they are completely off. Following for a potential fix before I give up and return it :(

As an FYI, I opened a ticket with Support as well. Haven't heard back yet. I'll try to remember to update this thread with what I hear.

Thanks for the info, much appreciated. A shame on an otherwise amazing laptop. I’ll go ahead and open a ticket as well. Good luck with yours, I’ll remember to update here as well if I find a solution

Unboxed mine yesterday and got the same issue. Sad since I've been waiting for this device since mid February. Looks like there is an issue with cavities between the foam surrounding the fans on the bottom plate so hopefully it can be sorted out, can't stand the sound. I've paused my setup for now waiting for answers on my ticket.

Sent this in my reply to the Razer Support. I'm assuming you likely have a similar sound: https://www.dropbox.com/s/im2p0gbu9zmdho2/fan-demo.mov?dl=0

Exact same :( On reddit some users posted about this issue, and came up with a home-made fix. Can't say I recommend working on a brand-new laptop though as I'd be concerned about voiding the warranty: https://www.reddit.com/r/razer/comments/mf9ywc/razer_blade_advanced_15_qhd_3080_whistling_noise/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf Waiting for a reply for my ticket as well - here's hoping there's a way to fix it, because I love everything else about the laptop

Same here. And I definitely wouldn't want to void the warranty. Maybe someone from support can chime in on whether or not opening up the bottom panel and "adjusting" the foam strips around the vent would actually void the warranty. I work in IT, so the job doesn't scare me.

The reply I got from support: [INDENT]Thank you for the response. Regarding your concern, please be inform that you can do that as long as there will be no any damage to laptop because it will automatically void the warranty. We look forward to hearing from you soon. [/INDENT] I take that as "go for it and hopefully it will fix your issue, because we don't have a solution ourselves".

StevenTheRed
The reply I got from support: [INDENT]Thank you for the response. Regarding your concern, please be inform that you can do that as long as there will be no any damage to laptop because it will automatically void the warranty. We look forward to hearing from you soon. [/INDENT] I take that as "go for it and hopefully it will fix your issue, because we don't have a solution ourselves".

Interesting! Very curious to hear your results if you do attempt something, as I've seen a few options explored elsewhere on forums. My support claim seems to be heading to a fix under warranty. However if you manage an easy fix that doesn't void the warranty I might consider that before going through with shipping it back, so very curious to hear what happens with yours. Good luck!

Finally found someone has the same issue! I just unboxed mine RTX 3070 advanced model yesterday and right before the fan started moving I’ve already noticed the noise, its such intolerable sound! I came from a 2070 model which doesn't have this, just wondering can we really find any solution or this is more likely a hardware flaw and a swap might help? Or not…hopefully this is not becoming a common issue for RTX30 models, or for certain batch from factory?

I've got some thermal padding strips coming later today. I'm hoping to play around with it more at that point. I actually think it's not caused by airflow, but by vibration. I have a feeling that the reddit solution posted earlier "accidentally" fixed it by adding enough padding to disrupt the connection of whatever was vibrating, even though he thought it was eliminating an airflow issue.

StevenTheRed
I've got some thermal padding strips coming later today. I'm hoping to play around with it more at that point. I actually think it's not caused by airflow, but by vibration. I have a feeling that the reddit solution posted earlier "accidentally" fixed it by adding enough padding to disrupt the connection of whatever was vibrating, even though he thought it was eliminating an airflow issue.

Do you think this could be more like a design flaw which applies to all the units? Cuz I'm thinking of a replacement not sure if it helps...

I would guess it's a design flaw. As to whether or not it affects all units, I couldn't say, because it would depend on if they figured it out and corrected it after a while. I'm guessing this, because when I take off the bottom, there is no whine. You can then lay the bottom back on and play around with lifting the bottom up a tad in a few spots to see where the whine comes from. Again, I'll be playing with it more later tonight or tomorrow when I get the thermal pads in. I'll try to give more details as I get them.

StevenTheRed
I've got some thermal padding strips coming later today. I'm hoping to play around with it more at that point. I actually think it's not caused by airflow, but by vibration. I have a feeling that the reddit solution posted earlier "accidentally" fixed it by adding enough padding to disrupt the connection of whatever was vibrating, even though he thought it was eliminating an airflow issue.

You might just be right, because the solutions that seem to work best so far were those that completely filled the gap between the back plate and the fan casing (leaving no free space for any vibration). Very interested to hear about your results! Was looking into thermal pads or even just foam tape for the same application. Might give it a try if it keeps annoying me this much

VICTORY! I think I fixed it. The TDLR on it is to do exactly what the Reddit article says to do. I put two layers of the thermal pads instead of just one, and I did the extra pads from the OP's update (red dashed lines in one of the last pictures). Works like a champ. Fans come on, even go on high, but the high-pitched whine is gone! For those who are interested, I did think it was vibration based and tried putting pads on nearly every touch point between the bottom shell and the main interior, but that did pretty much nothing. When I finally did what the Reddit post said and sealed off the exhaust fan chamber, the whine went completely away. So I think it must be a whistle against some component somewhere. Anyhow, for the cost of some thermal pads (couple bucks) and some really small torx bits (T5), it's now working as expected and I don't have to send it back. Good luck to the rest of you. I'd be interested to know if those of you who send it back for repair/replace have it come back working as expected.

StevenTheRed
VICTORY! I think I fixed it. The TDLR on it is to do exactly what the Reddit article says to do. I put two layers of the thermal pads instead of just one, and I did the extra pads from the OP's update (red dashed lines in one of the last pictures). Works like a champ. Fans come on, even go on high, but the high-pitched whine is gone! For those who are interested, I did think it was vibration based and tried putting pads on nearly every touch point between the bottom shell and the main interior, but that did pretty much nothing. When I finally did what the Reddit post said and sealed off the exhaust fan chamber, the whine went completely away. So I think it must be a whistle against some component somewhere. Anyhow, for the cost of some thermal pads (couple bucks) and some really small torx bits (T5), it's now working as expected and I don't have to send it back. Good luck to the rest of you. I'd be interested to know if those of you who send it back for repair/replace have it come back working as expected.

Awesome to hear, must be quite a relief to finally have it be quiet!! Thanks for updating, really tempted to give this a try now :o Do you know what thickness thermal pads you used (1mm, 1.5mm)? And did you apply them onto the bottom panel, or directly to the vapor chamber/main chassis of the laptop? It seems to me the reddit solution has them on the bottom panel but that last picture with red/blue dashes has me wondering. Thanks again and congrats on the fix!

They were 1.5mm. I applied the ones where the reddit solution had the red dashes directly to the main chassis, and the blue dashed section to the bottom panel. Either way, I think I had enough there to make a seal between the two.

StevenTheRed
I put two layers of the thermal pads instead of just one, and I did the extra pads from the OP's update (red dashed lines in one of the last pictures).

Did you double the thermal pads for both the red and blue outlines in the reddit picture? I tried it myself and it did not seem to get rid of it... thinking maybe I too need to double up on the pads but want to do it correctly... Getting tired of this whistle...

jrac86
Did you double the thermal pads for both the red and blue outlines in the reddit picture? I tried it myself and it did not seem to get rid of it... thinking maybe I too need to double up on the pads but want to do it correctly... Getting tired of this whistle...

I’ve already returned it, just felt ridiculous if we needed to do this kinda fix by ourselves on this brand new machine...wonder if a repurchase would help or wait for a future batch

Tried my best with thermal pads, up to 3mm along both red and blue line but didn't change anything. Back to stock for now, will see how annoying this is in the day-to-day...