[rayiner]

It'd be a deal breaker to me. It's one thing to have it on a desktop machine that sits under your desk and probably has a fan going at all times. Very different to have it in a laptop that you're using a few feet from your head and where the fan doesn't run unless under load. I had a Dell with coil whine, and if I was using it in the library or at home that was all I could hear.

[nibnib]

Is it possible to dope the coil with something to damp out the whining? I have an old Lenovo that has this, and the noise seems to vary depending on what's onscreen. It can be very annoying.

[Gracana]

Manufacturers often apply some goopy glue on top of inductors to damp out some of the noise, like this: http://i.stack.imgur.com/144ui.png

[nibnib]

Yeah, I've done this myself when building switching power supplies. I guess there's no reason not to tray silicone or nail varnish on noise graphics cards.