Alienware 18 with twin nVidia 860M Code 43

Everything was perfect with the laptop until I received the code 43 on the secondary card back around September and I have done every search, read every thread, tried every option that worked for others, and I still cannot get this solved. I did the complete clean driver DDU and I tried about 10 different drivers from nVidia and nothing but a complete waste of time.

Before I take a hammer to this worthless laptop that is still basically brand new since I have been using my old laptop as I was slowly moving applications over to it, is there some way I can take out the twin 860Ms and just replace it with a single graphics card? Can I send it back to Dell (out of warranty) and tell them to fix it and charge me? I am to the point where I am ready to accept this as a big $2,400 loss and move on with life.

Any useful advise on options will be appreciated.

 

It is possible one of the GPUs is no good. You have two and it's not likely both are bad. It could be GPU1 (secondary/slave) so you need to test both of them to confirm it. More often that not, it's GPU0 (master/primary) which is located on the left side as you are sitting in front of the laptop as if you are going to be using it. In other words, under the Esc/F1 key area. Simply test each GPU one at a time in the primary PCIe slot and you will identify the one that is no good. Get a tube of cheap thermal paste for this testing exercise, as you will need to remove the heat sink from the primary GPU to test the seconary GPU in the primary PCIe slot. The reason for this is the secondary PCIe slot is not usable unless the primary PCIe slot is populated with a working GPU.

As far as using the machine, you can use it with one GPU in the or no GPU running from Intel HD Graphics. And, yes, you can replace both 860M with one more powerful GPU if you wish.

 

Thanks for responding Mr Fox. The code 43 started when I installed an nVidia release and did the restart. I tried reverting back and it was no good from that point on so I think it is a driver issue. If I just disconnect the SLI cable will that make any difference and the laptop will just use the main GPU, or would I have to remove the secondary? I have not done anything physical with graphic cards before.

 

Run DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller) in Safe Mode, reboot and install a new driver and see what happens. Reverting or rolling back GPU drivers is not a good idea. That could be all it takes to resolve it. Download the driver from Dell Support or a newer release from the NVIDIA web page. Try 359.06. Stay away from 361.43 as it is very buggy.

 

I did the DDU in safe mode with about 10 different drivers with no luck.

 

Then, you must have a hardware problem. There is nothing left that I know of than to do the testing previously mentioned, or pay someone else to do it.

 

Thanks, I will do what you mentioned and see what that tells me.