Help needed with NVidia 580M problem

I am having a few problems with the NVidia Card in my R3. It seems that recently whenever I run a program that uses the NVidia card I often get a crash or the graphics start to deteriorate or the system just freezes but whenever I am using the Intel built-in graphics I don't have a problem so I assume my problem is with the NVidia card.

I have run the built in Alienware diagnostics and that said I did not have a problem but that also did not check the NVidia card I don't think. Does anyone know if there is a way for me to run a diagnostic of the NVidia card?

I haven't contacted Dell yet about the problem because I want to know what is happening and to have some actual information for them rather than say "um......me computa's playing up and I wan sumun to come and fix it!" Secondly I am a long way from a Dell rep.

I also want to add that this computer is stock standard, never OCed and has had the GPU heat sink repated just after I gbought it.

 

I've been having the same problem with the 5870M in my R2, as in if I use any program or playback any videos that put the GPU under load, the app/vid will begin to lag and get worse real fast. That is if the whole thing doesn't freeze or crash right from the get go. The AW diagnostics never found any errors either. With help from people at this forum, we eliminated all possible software causes. The defining moment came when I tried to use GPU-Z (which would ocassionaly cause a system freeze when the app was started) to dump the BIOS of the 5870m card. That froze the system and caused the card to lock up everytime. If I tried dumping the VBIOS, my screen would go black, I have to hold the power button to turn it off, and then do a CMOS reset to get the system running again. Final verdict was the GPU is in it's death throws.
So if your symptoms seem similar, then your card might be going bad too. Try dumping the VBIOS and see if that freezes your system. Apparently that's a tell tale sign of a hardware malfunction.

 

Thanks for the feedback radji but we have two different types of cards. Maybe you are right but I was hoping for some sort of diagnostic program to look at my card because the Alienware diagnostic isn't.

Anyway I have contacted Dell support via email so maybe they can help me out.

 

I had a similar problem, it got progressively worse and eventually if the Nvidia card engaged at all the system would crash. It was just a dead 580m and a new one fixed the problem. If you are out of warranty though it might not be so easy.

As for diagnostic, ATI tool has a nice test that will report artifacts and other problems with the card, you could use that to test or verify the issue.

 

Thanks YodaGoneMad. I am work at the moment and can't download the tool from here but I will tonight when I get home and give it a run and see if it finds a problem. I still have warranty but if I need a new card I won't be able to get a service visit until October.

 

Just a word of warning, ATI tool might push your card over the edge, so if it kinda works right now and you can't get service until Oct then you might not want to use any kind of stress/diagnostic program which could kill it completely.

Your laptop will still be usable even with a dead 580m since you can use the Intel chip, but killing the 580m will mean no more gaming until you can get it fixed.

If you decide to try ATI tool then just run the artifact scanning mode for like 30 minutes to an hour. If you get no artifacts or crashes then it probably is not the 580m.

Another bit of advice, when mine had this issue I disabled the 580m in device manager to force the laptop to always use Intel. This worked and made my laptop stable and usable until I got the 580m replaced.

 

I have no intention of stressing the card except that maybe I will give it a really good talking too! Stressing that it has a really poor attitude and even worse work ethic and if it doesn't shape up I will install it in an Apple!

My computer is working right now on the built-in Intel chip and I have more or less resigned myself to not playing Battlefield 3 or Diablo until I can get a service visit when I get home. I was just hoping that maybe there was a NVidia diagnostic tool that I could run that would confirm my fears.

Anyway I will download the ATI tool tonight but I will wait until Dell tech support contacts me before using it. If Dell just say wait until you get home and they will do a home visit then I might try running the Tool then. The worst that it can do is fry the card but then I will know what the problem is won't I.

 

There is of course always a chance that the card is fine, in which case it would suck to wait to figure it out. If you can't game now I would probably try ATI tool and see what happens. At least then you know if it is the 580m or if it is something else. It might even be a software issue which you could fix on your own.

 

Hi, if you suspect is the video card is causing that freezing, there might be a few of things you may want to try. You could flash the BIOS and Vbios and install the latest video drivers. There are currently 2 different BIOS versions on our website, if you have the BIOS dated then please flash first to A08 and then to A10.

 

Yoda and Pablo, I meant I will wait until Dell reply before trying the ATI tool. Dell has now replied and suggested BIOS and Drivers. Well I have tried the new drivers and they have made no difference so this weekend I will try the BIOS changes and if that makes no difference then I will try the ATI Tool.

Thanks for the feedback and support guys.