Medion x6601 Erazer

[Timpie]

Hello everyone,

I bought this laptop a year ago in April i think.
However since the start i used it. It makes an annoying crackling noise.
Whenever i play videogames it does that. When im browsing the web or do other stuff it remains quiet and silent.
I believe it also starts making noise when im watching videos but i dont that much since i got a Chromecast.
Well i used to put my headphones on and ignore it. And delayed the problem later. I’m tired of it now.
Also i think i still am under warranty. And i didnt wanted to open my laptop up to check the fans or anything. It certainly cannot be dust.
Since the problem persisted since the beginning it arrived.

So today i tried some software tools to determine which part of the hardware is the problemcase.
I used speedfan. And look at the statistics when im running a game. (Heroes of the storm).
The games do run fine, they wont stutter or drop in FPS. only if its a heavy one. But it gets warm though.
Temperatures go a little bit above 75 celsius for my GPU. And it feels like that when i put my hand above the area where numpad is located.
And i downgraded to the medion support drivers for my GPU but it didnt fix it.

Is there anything i can do about it? Should i just contact medion for a new one?
I got some specs in short if you guys need that:
Medion Erazer X6601 Core i7-6700HQ 16GB 1TB + 256GB SSD Nvidia GTX 960M 2GB DVD-RW 15.6 Inch Windows 10 Gaming Laptop

[veeg]

Hello

Does this crackling sound come from the speakers or from inside the lap top itself? If it still is under warranty,why not use it..

@Rustys @Bruce @Twitch6000 @phillpower2

[Timpie]

Hi vger,

No its from the hardware itself. Its not from the internal speakers of the laptop.
I almost exclusively use bluetooth speakers during the day. And in the night headphones.
It’s not a coil whine sound neither. Its a bit like a muffled popcorn sound.
I could make a video with my mobile for capturing the sound. I don’t know if theres a better way maybe with the internal microphone.
Also i thought it was my SSD drive for some reason.

Why i don’t use the warranty is a good question. I’m afraid that they will put me off saying its my own fault or anything like that.
Companies always want to reduce money and come up with lame excuses for it.
I don’t know how long it will take before they sent me a new/fixed product.
I’m not sure if the sound it does make is considered normal and part of the design anyway.
But i’m pretty convinced its not. I had a Lenovo ideapad before and didn’t had this thing.
Luckily i found the receipt of ordering it was back in June 2017. It has a 24 months warranty.
Also i got the original box in my shed, but not with all the plastic casing and everything in it.

I was hoping for a simple fix but i’m afraid its not possible.
I’m from The Netherlands so sorry for my English.
Let me know if you want a video recording with the sound if you like for further investigation.

[Bruce]

a video recording would probably be very helpful.

and with the headphones in, you don’t hear the noise through the headphones, but it’s still audible if you take them off (but only when playing games)?
so the noise doesn’t actually come out of the speakers? can you pinpoint the source?

I’m not up on the Netherlands consumer rights, but in Oz we have the right for a refund, repair or replacement. (the 3 R’s)
it’s the customers choice which the ‘place of purchase’ has no control over.
I’d be surprised if most countries don’t have these sort of rights heavily skewed in the customers favour.

[jmarket]

If it’s under warranty, take it back.

[Timpie]

I’m going to make a video later today when i come back from jogging.
And hopefully show you guys what i mean. I’ve ordered the laptop through a website.
Which i still got the receipt. And warranty is not expired until next year somewhere in June.

I actually would love to open this baby up. But then the warranty seal will be broken.
Ofcourse i can always do that later when IF they would sent it back to me again, saying its not broken or something.
Ive opened up my last laptop till the point of the CPU and assembled it back all together.
Build my own desktop PCs multiple times. I’m very curious what exactly is making this noise.
RIght now i’m not sure if its the fan of something. Probably my GPU. Only its a suspicion.

To Bruce >>
The sound is audible outside of having the headphones. Dependable how much volume i have.
And how much focused i am what i currently am doing. I live with other house members sleeping in the next room.
They don’t complain about it when i’m doing stuff while they’re sleeping or so. But i want to prevent that at some point too.
So for this sake i’ll make a video, displaying what im normally doing. And i’ll put the volume bar at 0%.
Hopefully the noise will be recordable with my mobile phone. And you guys can maybe recognize the cause of it
Remember. It was already there the day i start using it, and it came clean out the box. When i started up videogames or doing something GPU related.
My old laptop never made this sound and i practically use the same applications on it, that i use today.

So in a couple hours i will put up a video.

[Timpie]

I made a video now and got it uploaded to my Youtube channel.
Because it was over 300MB. Heres the link:

[MEDIA=youtube]fgH4QJhvqFU[/MEDIA]

So probably you gonna reply that i would use the warranty. Which i am preparing for.
Already checked the warranty disclaimer on medion website. And i need to contact them through their website first.
I don’t live in the USA so there is no Medion shop around the corner. Theres only 1 i think in the whole country here.
Rest is in Germany. Then i have to package it. I’m guessing i wont get something for a temporary replacement of them.
I don’t know how long i will have to miss my laptop as i use it daily. Don’t know if they going to repair it or sent me a brand new one.
I hope the latter. In the disclaimer they stated i need to put a ‘detailed’ description with it when sending it retour.

Maybe you guys got some tips or advice how to handle it?
With packaging i should just stuff it up with old newspapers or something?

[Rustys]

From where the sound is coming form is there a fan in that area?

Sounds like the fan is wobbling and or hitting something.

Yes would definitely return for repair since it is under warranty.

Then i have to package it. I’m guessing i wont get something for a temporary replacement of them.
I don’t know how long i will have to miss my laptop as i use it daily.

Before you send it in back up any personal data (documents, pictures, ETC) that you do not wish to loose. They may preform a factory restore on the system. No they probably will not send you a temporary system to use.

[Timpie]

I’m not sure what you mean by a fan in that area. Not outside the laptop no.
There is a big fan on my left side apart from the laptop. But the weather is normal again.
I forgot to mention or show in my video. That when i alt+tab out of a videogame. In approximately 30 seconds
the sound will go away, and it co-relates with the GPU temperature dropping down in the SpeedFan software.
When i go play the game it comes back again. I tried another program called ‘HWiNFO64’.
To manually adjust the fans in my laptop to go on full blast. So i could determine which component it was.
But i couldn’t manage that, i never use them programs. Got them from youtube videos other people explain their noise problems…

Like Rustys said, i think theres something hitting my fan. Could be a lose cable, a seperation foam cube, or something else.
Can only pin point the cause by opening it up. Which im not going to risk for breaking the warranty.

I was thinking ahead already by making a back-up of my harddrive.
I’ve got an external Seagate drive which hooked on through USB, with 720 GB of free space.
Since the laptop only came with a 164 GB SSD drive.
Is there a good free software out there which you can make a ghost of your C: drive to your external drive?
Both are NTFS. I have heard of Clonezilla..

Tomorrow im going to contact Medion and inform them of my case.
And the procedures to sent it back to them. Its the part i hate the most.
Including the waiting time for a new/fixed laptop.
Luckily i have an Asus transformer book..

[jmarket]

s there a good free software out there which you can make a ghost of your C: drive to your external drive?

Macrium Reflect free HERE or Aomei free HERE are both top line backup and imaging software.

[Timpie]

I’ve send my laptop back yesterday.
Today i got an email it reached the repair service of the webshop.
I chosen to handle the warranty with the webshop i ordered it from.
Not directly through the manufacturer Medion. The webshop will sent it to Medion.
If they cannot fix it i think. Or they will repay me stating on automated forms and their website.
Although i read other things from certain reviews. Hopefully everything goes well.
They can either repair it with their own repairshop. Or they will repay me the full amount roughly 800 euro.
The webshop is a big brand here like Amazon. Sort of the Dutch equivalent.

I can keep you guys informed if problems arrives.
Or when it turns out good in my favour.

[jmarket]

Do keep us informed and updated @Timpie

[Bruce]

fingers crossed.

[veeg]

Any updates for us?

[phillpower2]

Any update for us? This thread will be closed if not replied to within 48hrs.