Late 2008 MBP issues old news?

Late MBP video issues old news??? I've been watching the new MBP like a hawk because I've been wanting one but was burnt with the last gen nVidia failure.

This problem started manifesting itself about 2-3 weeks ago with "rumored" failures on a small scale. Now it's starting to increase. nVidia only listed a max temp rating on their chips at 105C. This is the temp to last for approximatly 6-12 months, not the lifetime of the notebook. They never published publically a ten year temp rating. In reality, it's probably 80-85C just like CPUs. They're pretty much made out of the same matter, just designed to do different things and in a different way. I've been seeing people discussing how their card runs up to 90C, which isn't bad. The downside is that you can't see that the memory is running way overtemp unless you have your own temp sensor built onto it. That's probably where the hardware failure is.

As for all of you bashing ATI, you're comparing a 2006 Car to a 1960 Classic. ATI has been down for almost three years while going through merger changes with AMD. Before that whole thing started, ATI and nVidia had GPUs that were neck and neck, but here we are discussing how nVidia is far, far superior to a three year old graphics card, Lord help us if we bring up the fact that the newer top of the line ATI cards crushed nVidia. ATI is back up and running and they will probably be neck and neck again. I'm only really upset that nVidia can't develop a product that will last and that's why I haven't made the move to apple yet.

I don't want to buy a MBP knowing that once the warrenty expires, I will probably have to buy a new one a year after. I've managed to do just fine on the same P4 from 2001-2007 with the same video card and it did just fine. I've bought 4 more computers starting 2006 due to my job, should have been one.

First one: a Gateway, shipped broken. Took a year and $250 to finally get it warrenty fixed only for it to ship in a box soaken wet. Refused shipment, was shipped back again rusted in a new box. Didn't know that and Gateway refused to cover it. The end of that one.

Second one: Sony, mouse ended up broken but I could fix it myself after warrenty was up. I ended up buying a lower end video card and regreted it. That's why I went to 3. Also, they didn't support 64-bit.

Third one: Dell M1330, nVidia 8600 failed after 6 months. nVidia memory is now failing after an additional 6 months. Everything else is just fine on it.

Fourth one: For my wife, a HP 13". nVidia chipset 6xxx series. Chipset failed after 8 months. It's been in for warrenty repairs for SIX additional month for repairs. It has been sent back twice repaired but the new chipset failed after one week, then the second time after one day of use.

The one from 2001: Dell, still works just fine, ati 9800 runs WoW (I don't play that anymore) just fine and HL2 just fine. Still fully functional. This is how a notebook should be built.

I'll throw in this, the MBPs that had ATIs in them are still running just fine. Apple couldn't upgrade the hardware because it didn't exist for ATI and it put everyone in a corner to work with nVidia. Now we're in the age that notebooks will not, WILL NOT, last, just like cars nowadays. Classics have more than a centry in it. My wife's first card is 12 years old and the body's clearcoat is gone, almost every engine component has failed, no interier options work, power windows, radio, A/C, power locks, all pretty much failed just due to age.

If you make something to last 3 years, people will buy another 3 years later.

 

Yup, pretty lame, eh?

 

So what is your point? All I see is you complaining about laptops.

That is very unusual, going through 4 bad laptops.

 

nah, i've been having the same problem too.. with everything. it seems companies are making things with cheaper and cheaper build quality. technology nowadays are acellerating too quickly.

i've been distrusting everything that i've bought .
its a pain having to scrutinized everything for defects for stuff that we just bought, and if it doesnt have a defect on arrival, then you gotta hope... really hope that nothing goes wrong thereafter.

 

Solution: Get old MBPwith an ATI card.

 

Yay for outdated tech? No thanks....

 

Agreed- it's a pretty scattered intro to a very specific problem. A good, detailed review of the late 2008 MB/MBP GPU problem has been published by the British tech site The Inquirer. It seems like a flaw in the (rushed) design & production of the Nvidia MCP79 chipset, manufactured May-Sept. It may affect all new MB and MBPs with the Nvidia 9300/9400 chipset line. The GPUs in the new apple notebooks have been cherry-picked by NVIDIA to meet their thermal specs, so other manufacturers may have worse problems.

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/11/29/nvidia-heat-causing-macbooks