M17x R1 260 with and without sli..all games crash

Specs.
M17X
Q9000
4gig ram
500gb 7200
2 260gtx
A05 bios

Just facts, cutting out the bs.

Have had the system for a little over a year. It started locking up when playing WoW. Disabled sli, same lock ups. Blue screens, grey flashing, totally black. Called dell, said to format. Formatted..same thing. Any game. Even started locking up on single card in windows. Warranty expired, have amex warranty, sent it off. Said it was windows...they wipped and reinstalled. Was sent back without motherboard drivers installed, installed from windows update. Ran WoW, got grey flashing screen after 2 min. Restarted, locked up after 10 min in WoW again.

I have done the hardware tester from dell, the warranty people also tested the hardware as well. Have come up with nothing. Does not seem heat related. Here is the info from Nvidia Control Panel. Have tried with 9400 disabled and enabled and was never overclocked in any way.

I don't know what to do. This is driving me crazy. Any help would be appreciated.





NVIDIA System Information report created on: 10/29/2010 09:58:23
System name: XXXXXX-PC

[Display]
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium, 64-bit
DirectX version: 11.0
GPU processor: GeForce GTX 260M
Driver version: 260.99
CUDA Cores: 112
Core clock: 550 MHz
Shader clock: 1350 MHz
Memory clock: 950 MHz (1900 MHz data rate)
Memory interface: 256-bit
Total available graphics memory: 2687 MB
Dedicated video memory: 1024 MB GDDR3
System video memory: 0 MB
Shared system memory: 1663 MB
Video BIOS version: 62.92.89.00.0A
IRQ: 19
Bus: PCI Express x8 Gen2
GPU processor: GeForce 9400
Driver version: 260.99
CUDA Cores: 16
Core clock: 450 MHz
Shader clock: 1100 MHz
Memory clock: 1064 MHz (2128 MHz data rate)
Memory interface: 128-bit
Total available graphics memory: 1919 MB
Dedicated video memory: 256 MB DDR2
System video memory: 64 MB
Shared system memory: 1599 MB
Video BIOS version: 62.79.60.00.03
IRQ: 22
Bus: FPCI
GPU processor: GeForce GTX 260M
Driver version: 260.99
CUDA Cores: 112
Core clock: 550 MHz
Shader clock: 1350 MHz
Memory clock: 950 MHz (1900 MHz data rate)
Memory interface: 256-bit
Total available graphics memory: 2687 MB
Dedicated video memory: 1024 MB GDDR3
System video memory: 0 MB
Shared system memory: 1663 MB
Video BIOS version: 62.92.89.00.0A
IRQ: 20
Bus: PCI Express x8 Gen2


[Networking]

NVIDIA nForce 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet

Ethernet Address 00-25-64-3a-6e-dd
Interrupt Level (decimal) 19
BAR (Base Address Register) 0XF0888000
Speed 1000 Mbps
Duplex Mode Full Duplex
Connection Status Connected
Number of packets sent without errors 215
Number of packets received without errors 352
Number of packets failed to be sent 0
Number of bad packets received 0

FirstPacket

Number of high priority packets sent 0
Number of normal priority packets sent 0

[Components]

nvui.dll 7.17.12.6099 NVIDIA User Experience Driver Component
nvxdsync.exe 7.17.12.6099 NVIDIA User Experience Driver Component
nvxdplcy.dll 7.17.12.6099 NVIDIA User Experience Driver Component
nvxdbat.dll 7.17.12.6099 NVIDIA User Experience Driver Component
nvxdapix.dll 7.17.12.6099 NVIDIA User Experience Driver Component
NVCPL.DLL 7.17.12.6099 NVIDIA Compatible Windows Vista Display driver, Version 260.99
nvCplUIR.dll 3.4.772.04 NVIDIA Control Panel
nvCplUI.exe 3.4.772.04 NVIDIA Control Panel
nvWSSR.dll 6.14.12.6099 NVIDIA Workstation Server
nvWSS.dll 6.14.12.6099 NVIDIA Workstation Server
nvViTvSR.dll 6.14.12.6099 NVIDIA Video Server
nvViTvS.dll 6.14.12.6099 NVIDIA Video Server
nmi.dll 2, 2, 0, 7305 NVIDIA ForceWare Network Access Manager
NVSTVIEW.EXE 7.17.12.6099 NVIDIA GeForce 3D Vision
NVSTTEST.EXE 7.17.12.6099 NVIDIA 3D Vision Test Application
NVSTRES.DLL 7.17.12.6099 NVIDIA 3D Vision Module (0)
nvDispSR.dll 6.14.12.6099 NVIDIA Display Server
NVMCTRAY.DLL 8.17.12.6099 NVIDIA Media Center Library
nvDispS.dll 6.14.12.6099 NVIDIA Display Server
PhysX 09.10.0514 NVIDIA PhysX
NVCUDA.DLL 8.17.12.6099 NVIDIA CUDA 3.2.1 driver
nvGameSR.dll 6.14.12.6099 NVIDIA 3D Settings Server
nvGameS.dll 6.14.12.6099 NVIDIA 3D Settings Serve

 

A lot of people with the 260s/280s have similar issues, seems to mostly be because of Nvidia's Verde drivers, I myself have tried several, all had problems like you're having.

Best drivers for me are 197.84, have absolutely no issues whatsoever, am also running the A03 BIOS which seems to be the best, with SLI and 9400 enabled. Give them a try!

 

I second menengroth's recommendation. The BIOS can cause all kinds of issues with the wrong NVIDIA drivers.

I tried the beta drivers that someone linked here, and have had no issues since.

 

So I should go back to the A03 bios as well?

 

A05 bios works well with the last beta P06 graphics driver (in my experience only).

Out of interest does the latest signed graphics drivers work well (without crashing the laptop randomly) with the A03 bios, its one combination I have not tried yet.

 

The BIOS shoudl be fine, try using the Dell drivers rather than the Nvidia Website drivers...

 

I had these same exact problems. Same exact machine. Used my Warranty and they game me the rig in my sig.

Call Alienware and demand to speak to a supervisor. Let them know you will not go away. They sent me replacement cards and it still locked up, then they finally gave up on me and gave me a pretty good upgrade.

 

Ok, installed 179.84 drivers. Left WoW on for like an hour and came back to a turned off computer. I called the people who do the warranty work for Amex and spoke to the guy who worked on it. He said he ran Batman Arcane Asylum for 14 hours without one crash with the latest drivers. They checked every hardware component..and so I have I through the dell diagnostics. The guy basically said it is a "software" issue and doesn't really come under the original warranty from Alienware.

I just want to throw this thing out the window. I am so tired of dealing with this crap. The most expensive laptop I have ever bought and it won't even play WoW.

 

Maybe a long shot, but if you're still on the latest 260.99 (or any of the 2xx series), I found my machine doesn't like games when the power plan in Windows is set to 'Balanced' (CPU speed modulated). Setting the power plan to 'High Performance' magically solves the crashes...