M1330 - Dell tell me they have a "secret" new design to fix GPU

I'm not sure if I'm being spun a yarn here, so I wanted to see if anybody else has heard this.

GPU in my 1330 died. Following that, I discovered the well known issue with the nVidia 8400M chip used within.

Engineer came out today to replace my motherboard and heatsink.

Following that, HWMonitor still shows the GPU at over 80c idle and over 100c under load (with load meaning me scrolling a web page up and down repeatedly!)

I called them to say enough was enough, and I would like a free alternative replacement because this laptop is not fit for purpose. It will just die again.

I was initially told that nvidia and dell were "working hard" to resolve this known issue but unfortunately there was no fix as yet. I was given the option of having another M1330 (which will die in 6 weeks) or an XPS 13 if I paid the difference. He went away to find out what deal he could do for me and promised to call back in an hour.

A hour passed, an he called back with news. Suddenly he is splurting on about a new version of the M1330 with a modified form factor (?) which uses a re-designed motherboard and a different graphics chip. He said this version is *not* available on their website (I'm in the UK, btw), only available through themselves internally. It fixes everything. "Are you sure?" I asked..."Most definately", he said.

I wish I'd asked what chip it *did* have now, but he is due to call me to tomorrow to get my decision so I will update then. But for now, has anyone else heard this story?

I did ask him how new this new design was, given that I'd had a new mb fitted just today. He played dumb so much and being in bangalore, I couldn't understand him, so just left it.

My choices tomorrow are to go for the M1330 again, or choose the XPS 13 and pay the difference.

James

M1330, LED Screen, T7250, 8400M GS

 

I highly doubt they fixed the problem.. the only thing they could have done is possibly delay the problems.. which means you would be out of warranty before the problems occur, in which case, you would be screwed). Also, if there were such a fix, surely everyone on here would be lining up to get the "fix".

I would go for the SXPS 13 if I were you, but I don't recall anyone else having to pay the difference, so you should be able to argue a bit with him.

 

Thanks. I don't think I should be paying the difference either, like for like and all - it's 11 months old.

I will definately post details of this mysterious re-design tomorrow.

 

"a new version of the M1330 with a modified form factor (?) which uses a re-designed motherboard and a different graphics chip."

Sounds quite like the sxps 13..

 

Well, shockingly enough, the man from Dell did not call me back today.

It's 11.02pm UK time....I'm going to call them now.

 

Same old trash. The man I was dealing with has gone home, he's back tomorrow.

I asked about this "new design". He said they are now using the nvidia 8600 chip. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't this chip have the same overheating issue as the 8400?

He kept stressing that it was only "some" of the 8400's that would overheat. I told him that I had my motherboard replaced just yesterday my GPU is idling at 85c rising to 105c if I scroll a page up and down.

Then I got the old "there has been a bios update" crap, to which I replied "yes - to make your fans spin faster"; to which even he laughed. Give me strength!

I just don't know what to believe any more. Surely if this re-design of the board and inclusion of a "fixed" 8600 is available (even though they're still selling it with the 8400 on their site), then other people would have heard about it?

 

Quote from Wikipedia:

Seriously, don't take any more crap from them, there is no real fix, period. Tell them you want a replacement.

 

Aaah..Tell him your simply *done* with his frivolous discussion regarding this, and you want a replacement...that's it end of their story...

Cin...

 

Biggest load of crap. There is no fix or revisions for that card. Theres no new design either. Hes just telling you lies to get rid of you. You cannot put a 8600m on a m1330, it would overheat even more plus being also defective in the first place.

Keep in mind that they stopped mass manufacturing these things yonks ago to make way for newer lines. they are just running down old stock.

If you want a free XPS13, get mad and say you are not going to take this anymore . They have the power to replace/upgrade your notebook free of charge, you just need to push them.

If you cant get them to do that, take the replacement m1330, run GPU-z and i can guarantee it will still be a 8400m. If it somehow says 8600m then they probably just reflashed the vBIOS to make it look like one

Personally id skip the crap talk and just counter their lie with another lie. Pretend you spoke to another Dell employee and they said thats not even remotely possible.

 

Maybe he is trying to send him one with an Intel card?

 

Now, I am about to call them and unleash hell. Check this:


11:03:36 James Dee Initial Question/Comment: M1330 Graphics Options
11:03:46 System You are now being connected to an agent. Thank you for using Dell Chat
11:03:46 System Connected with Bharath_R_Reddy
11:04:16 Bharath_R_Reddy Thank you for contacting Dell Chat Sales. This is Bharath, your Sales Advisor
11:04:41 James Dee Hello. I was looking at the XPS M1330, I see you can buy it with Intel X3100 or NVidia 8400M. My question is, is it possible to buy this laptop with 8600M?
11:04:55 Bharath_R_Reddy I'm afraid, no
11:05:02 James Dee A friend of mine told me that the 1330 has recently been resdesigned to use 8600?
11:05:27 James Dee With a different form factor
11:06:31 Bharath_R_Reddy Please give me a min while I check this
11:06:35 James Dee ok thank you
11:11:53 James Dee Are you still there? It's not a difficult question.
11:12:17 Bharath_R_Reddy It is not possible
11:12:33 James Dee That's odd.
11:12:55 James Dee I was offered that very same laptop by Dell Techinical support only yesterday.
11:13:24 Bharath_R_Reddy We had many option before for XPS 1330
11:13:52 James Dee So, there has been no re-design, no new form factor and no new use of the 8600M for M1330?
11:14:37 Bharath_R_Reddy It is going End of Line
11:14:42 Bharath_R_Reddy End of Life
11:15:01 James Dee Ok, thank you.
11:15:02 Bharath_R_Reddy We have the new Studio XPS 13
11:15:10 James Dee You have been very helpful.
11:15:22 Bharath_R_Reddy Thank You
11:15:22 System Bharath_R_Reddy has left this session!
11:15:22 System The session has ended!

 

Well.

I have just spoken to another tech support person who, after taking my service tag, again told me that the recently re-designed XPS M1330 does indeed now contain an 8600M. This was the same story I had last night from somebody else. As shown above, I had a web-chat with sales who said this wasn't possible. Smelling a rat, I asked to speak to a supervisor.

Finally, a good guy.

He was very sorry that I had been given false information. Initially, this came from another supervisor at his level (the redesigned board, etc). It was then repeated by two other technical support people remember, so they were all singing from the same sheet. I told him I'd spoken to sales who denied this option was possible.

So, after being slighty wary of helping me, he finally did U-turn and said there has been NO re-design of the M1330. Besides the Intel option, it's 8400 or nothing. Not an 8600. He didn't know why I had been repeatedly lied to.

So finally, I have been offered at least an XPS13 with like-for-like spec for free and he will call back later today to confirm the spec. I asked if this would include an LED screen as that's what I have; he said if not then a different model - but guaranteed it would be same spec or higher.

I am totally disgusted with Dell for intentionally lying to me, I can't quite believe this. If I hadn't posted on here and had the support from you guys then no doubt I would be sitting here with another 1330 soon and another crappy 8400 inside of it.

Will update later.

 

Yes the warranty replacement policy is of same spec/value or higher, nothing less. Like i said, you gotta push these guys if you want something.

Enjoy your new xps13 anyway, hopefully its not defective in some way too.

 

After all the stress you have been put thru from the other inept Support Reps, you are finally getting some resolve, good!

I'm glad you are getting a replacement SXPS. This should have been done the first time you called.

I hope this one works out for you going forward!

Cin...

 

You should be able to get a 1340XPS out of them

 

The supervisor I spoke to earlier stayed true to his word and tonight e-mailed me the spec for a replacement, it's a Studio XPS13 with WLED screen. I have replied to accept.

Hooray!

Hopefully this thread will be helpful for other suffering M1330 owners.

James

 

Did the get the full specs of the machine? It would be a pain to find out after receiving it, that it is inferior to your previous model in some way.

Also, good to hear it's (finally) resolved. But did you really need THAT many people to tell you the "re-design" is not possible? I would've unleashed hell onto Dell with just 2 people telling me otherwise .

 

Oh dear, oh dear.

I'm a little lost for words for what has just happened. Let me remind you that my M1330's GPU has been idling on boot up at 80 to 85c, rising to 100-105c on load. That was the basis for my argument that this laptop was not going to last long.

A moment ago, I was just tidying away for the night when I noticed the laptop was wobbling on the desk. Turning it upside down, I saw that the plastic cover which conceals the CPU and GPU was not flush with the rest of the unit. I grabbed a screwdriver and whipped the cover off.

At the left, thin end of the heat pipe is a screw. I think you know what's coming! It wasn't just loose, it was completely unscrewed - just dangling within it's hole and not connected to the main board. Directly to the right of that screw is the GPU.

I screwed the screw into the hole and made it tight. This brought the pipe and pads in tight to the GPU.

Now the GPU idles at 60-65c and rises to 80-85 on load! That's 20c cooler.

Jesus christ! Isn't it ironic that the guy from Qualxserve on behalf of Dell had come out to replace a board that was fried by a GPU and upon replacing the heatsink forgot to bloody screw it in right at the point of the component that needs it most!

Now the M1330 is silent, no whirring fan, and sitting at 64c as I write.

You couldn't make it up!

If I was being totally paranoid, I'd say Qualxserve technicians are told to leave that screw loose in order to get more work.

P.S. Demonic: Well, the first person was in sales, you know what they're like! Yes, I did get the full specs. Every aspect is either the same or better, which is good.

 

QualXServe Technicians.....oish.. Don't get me started....You don't even want to know the damage the Technician did to my 1530 when he came to replace my MoBo..Heatsink.GPU... *sigh*....

You either get a *good* one, or you get a *bad* one. I think it all depends on if they take *great pride in their work*. If they don't things like what happened to you above, happen.

Finally, your getting the a replacement SXPS 1340..which I'm sure will be 110% better than what you have been dealing with! And, hopefully, no more QualXServe Technicians!


Cin...

 

Hah...just remember to leave that screw undone when you give the laptop back to Dell, otherwise they might realize it's fine and take your replacement back!

Nah, they wouldn't really.

 

I had the mobo replaced couple of months ago and ever since then, temps are increadibly high and the notebook itself is really hot as well. I wonder how long the mobo is going to last with these high temps.

Are high temps and the constant running fan now reasons to ask for a replacement? I don't really like the new SXPS but if that one actually doesn't fail, I might consider that as an alternative...

 

Just to share my situation w/ Dell on my 1330. I got the unit in 1-2008, first unit was poorly built (bezel sticking out, uneven keyboard, etc.). Replacement came and it has been ok, once I sorted out the keyboard-sitting-on-wire issue.

Unit has been working but I mainly gave it to my wife for surfing with a cooler at the bottom, I have since gone back to Thinkpads.

About a month ago, I started getting the random incorrect AC adaptor message along with lines on the screen. Called up Dell and I was told it was the GPU and the support person ordered field dispatch for a mobo.

1st service call, tech came & replaced mobo, somehow the webcam cable got messed up (one of the pins towards the mobo connector came loose), tech said he had no part & could not call in, so when I called Dell, I specified the webcam cable & NOT the webcam itself.

2nd service call, Dell sent the webcam + bezel, but NO cable, another tech showed up and insisted on opening up the 1330 "just to see" if it were the webcam instead of the cable. It took him a lot of time just to reconnect the media bar back but I didn't think twice as everything worked.

3rd service call, the webcam cable showed up and this is with the first technician, when he opened up the 1330, he noticed that the connector on the mobo for the media bar was broken (the piece that you push in to keep the cable locked), he went ahead & replace the webcam cable and micky-mouse the media bar cable connector so that it worked, meanwhile, he called to dispatch for another mobo because that little plastic lock/connector is not field replaceable.

4th service call, a new tech showed up with the mobo, no grounding strap and armed with 2 small screw drivers. When everything was put back together, he stripped one of the 2 screws securing the keyboard (the one above the Fn keys to the left), and the remaining screw + the media bar were not enough to keep the keyboard from flexing when typed on. Furthermore, the new media bar was somewhat different that the backlit indicators showed up as a tiny dots, can't even tell which indicator was what. and the touch keys no longer worked.

Long story short, they offered me depot service, at that point, I was so disgusted and actually had no confidence with the techs, Dell's or 3rd party ones. The C/S then offered me a 1340 and I am using one right now.

In short, I wouldn't want a contracted tech to touch my system. Wonder how much they spent on all the parts & labor on a messed-up 1330.

 

It's unfortunate that repair techs try to play games with their customers thinking you'll believe everything they say. But it's more unfortunate that customers do believe it. And when you bring up the GPU known problem they deny it exists and tells you it's something else.

 

Just wondering, who are you guys speaking to in order to get these XPS 13 replacements? I have a $1800 CAD XPS M1330 that is close to running to the end of the 2 year warranty and I recently got it shipped in to get the motherboard replaced due to the overheat. Obviously my new motherboard is no better and I don't want to be left with a dying laptop when my warranty expires.

I don't have any standard warranty left, just the extended GPU one. I've been only able to speak with Dell India and they have refused and denied to be able to replace my GPU motherboard with that of the Intel integrated one, and they have also refused to replace mine. They claim that neither choices are even possible.

Are you guys also speaking with Dell India? Any advice?

Thanks!

 

Its usually a 3 strike rule before a replacement.

Keep playing games, if it overheats and dies again then its not fit for purpose.

You have to persistent and persuasive when speaking to tech support in India.

 

I abandoned ship and sold my m1330 off. Dell never again I'm afraid....

 

Agreed. Still, if you can get your case elevated, there's a chance you could find a support person that will give you a break and replace it earlier. You just have to emphasize how the problem is only being temporarily fixed and that you deserve to have a permanent solution to this issue. Be polite but firm. And keep calling back. The more often you call them the greater the chance you'll find someone willing to help you out.

 

I had the same thing when my motherboard died they tried to say that it wasn't the graphics even though it obviously was. I just kept trying and pushing. Finally I got through to a tehnician who didn't even know about the faulty chips and was surprised I knew and got my motherboard replaced. But I suppose that this doesn't solve the underlying problem. I heard somewhere that if your GPU is above a certain version or something then it doesn't get affected by the failure problem??? Is this true or more dell rubbish?

 

Thanks for the quick responses!

I guess all I can do is just continue to phone and hope for the best. My extra year GPU warranty expires on January and am afraid to push my notebook graphically in case that it dies shortly after my warranty period. Hopefully Dell India will budge.

 

UPDATE: Well, I am still waiting. The order status just keeps on updating over and over and today it stands at 30th November.

That is 75 days from the original order date, coming up for 11 weeks. What an absolute joke. It's gone from "In Production" to "Work in Progress" more times than you can shake a stick at and every time I look the delivery date just creeps further forward.

I can't even be bothered to call and shout at the moment, they won't understand me anyway.

STEER CLEAR OF DELL

 

Update: Delivery 8th Dec. (82 days).


15:02:55 Beachball Do you know if all laptops are taking 3 months+ ?

15:03:54 Pradeep_Chandrasheka Yes we do have a problem with delivery on most of the system due to unavailability of components

 

right, so the engineer has just finished replacing the motherboard for the third time in a year!!!

just ran some tests and it says its idling at around 70 - 80 and when playing a game, it shot up to around 100. the game became so glitchy after around half an hour it was virtually unplayable, this is something which never happened with my previous motherboard/gpu

also, when the engineer was replacing my motherboard, i noticed that there was a sign that read "refurbished" on the side of the box it came in. i asked him about it and he said he doesn't work for dell, he only replaces the parts he is sent. does this mean dell are giving us replacement motherboards which have already failed once in the past?

anyway, i doubt this replacement motherboard will last long due to its ridiculous idle and load temperatures. i hope i can blag myself an sxps 13 free upgrade

 

Im getting my motherboard replaced on my xps 1340 for second time, and yes they do the replacement with refurbished parts if your product id older than 21 days.

I personally think that sucks because if you're getting a Motherboard replacement that is refurbished, it might have passed all the tests... but stil is very likely to have microscopic cracks on the mobo itself from previous owners.... since some ppl dont care about their technology... and some do... you just dont know what you gona get!

I tried yelling 2 tech support ppl and a supervisor, told them I demand a new mobo since my product is only 5 months old and its not my problem that NEW parts died out..... still that led to nothing and they are currently shipping the refurb mobo for SXPS 1340

 

so whats the problem with the xps 1340 if this is the 2nd motherboard replacement? i heard its even hotter than the m1330 when in use. could you tell me the idle and load temperatures for its gpu?

 

Just keep at it if you want an XPS13.

The 1330 is not fit for purpose. Unfortunately there seem to be a lot of liars at Dell XPS support. I only got to the truth after a lot of sweat and tears.

Because I think all the lying is so bad, here is the e-mail address of the only Tech Support Team Leader that actually told me the truth (being the M1330 has no fix, and will continue to overheat even after mb replacedment).

Karthik PS
Technical Support Coach
EMEA,DIS Bangalore
[email protected]

The fact that my replacement hasn't arrived almost 3 months after it was promised is another matter! Currently 8th Dec for delivery....

I won't be touching Dell with a barge pole after this. And I have always been a loyal Dell customer, even for my business. We only buy HP these days.

 

Delivery date shifted to 16th Dec. (Which makes it exactly 3 months).

What a complete load of.....

 

It is dell policy that if the same problem occurs 3 times under warranty, you may ask for replacement of a different comparable model. In this case the Studio XPS 13 aka M1340 for FREE. just a FYI, even though the Studio XPS 13 also has the gpu over heating issues that I don't want to deal with.

Try Dell support Chat instead of calling, I find they are MUCH NICER.


I had a M1330 where the gpu fried on me 3x, Dell is sending me a M1340 as replacement. However I am going to sell it and I have moved on to better things,

just came out yesterday
http://www.amazon.com/UL30Vt-X1-13-...remium/dp/B002XZLURC/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

 

Dell SXPS 13 never overheated. The new bios fix the issue. If you run on 9400m mostly then the heat will not be a issue.

 

how long does it take them to get someone out to change the mb & gpu etc?

my xps1530 temps are getting sky high. just got a cooler and will clean it out this weekend and see what the diff is.

I have ~9 months left of extended warranty so i think i will get them out for the first time soon since its just going to rebreak.

 

it takes 2-3 days in my experience, but i dont think theyd change your mobo due to tempurature. itd have to be fried.