M1330 Display Issue (Vertical Lines on Reboot & Crash & Vertical Lines)

NVIDIA says "significant quantities" of laptop GPUs are defective

Excerpt: "...Laptop makers have apparently already been given an updated GPU driver which kicks in fans sooner to reduce "thermal stress" on the GPU..."

Dell seems have to released a new video driver:

Description: nVidia GeForce 8400M, 8400M GS, 8600M
Platform: Microsoft Windows Vista 32-Bit
Release: 07/01/2008, 175.97, A08
Size: 53.20 MB
Download: NVIDIA_MULTI-DEVICE_A08_R190091

 

Yeah, just read that as well.

New driver = fan runs faster = battery life goes down the drain.

Now, this sounds like a band aid solution to just stop the bleeding. Run the fans sooner and faster so they lessen the chance of overheating damaging the probably weak chip.


Interesting.

Funny I don't hear other 8400GS equipped notebooks fail. Perhaps less out there compared to Dell?

 

No XP drivers?

 

I might have the placebo effect going completely through my mind, but every time I install a Dell Nvidia driver ( instead of the drivers from laptopvideo2go), everything just heats up. I just installed Dell's latest 175.97 and immediately the palm rests get warm, whereas with the 167.45 drivers, NO HEAT. I don't know what the hell is going on as someone mentioned that these drivers are inaccurate when it comes to giving off a correct GPU temp, but everything says otherwise based on my tactile feel of the laptop. The back of the notebook is cooler, the keys are cooler. I don't know what to tell you. Either I have a laptop that's in love with the 167.45 driver or I'm smoking something that's making me see something that isn't there. I don't care what Dell's releasing to 'so called' address the problem; I'm sticking with the 167.45 drivers.

 

I installed the new 175.whatever from Dell's site the other day, and when my screen saver came on it gave me an error about how my video card was not supported. I rolled them back to the older ones, and all works fine.

I dunno if it was just my system or what.

 

The only thing that Nvidia driver 175,97 fixed is this???

Issue fixes:
-Inspiron1720 Display goes black and comes back with error "nvlddmkm.dll stopped"

Dell XPS M 1330

Nothing about heat!!

 

Sounds like another battery-charge life killer, along with the A11 BIOS...

If you have any experience whatsoever with replacing CPUs in desktops, etc. then I definitely recommend the Cu Mod - not only does it improve GPU temps up to 25%(!) but it will also bring about a small gain on battery-charge life too

 

No, I doubt that very much.

Dell's 1330* GPU-cooling solution is $hit, simple as that. Now that my GPU (and many other 1330 owners) runs 75C at full load (read: Half-Life 2's Lost Coast, settings on high, 1hr...), I doubt the GPU will give me any problems** - this time 'round... .

*In Dell's defense, their 1530 has a proper HSF implementation that addresses both CPU and GPU appropriately!
**Of course introducing the mod after running the GPU "hot" for the past four months may not guarantee that it's not already damaged...

 

*Although*, if there were shoddy electronics in a whole bunch of GPU's, then they would be more susceptible to a sub-optimal cooling solution. To me, it sounds like a "perfect storm" situation. The GPU is rated to 105C. Maybe if the GPU had been able to perform as described, we would have all had hot but not melted graphics. Personally, I'm hoping that there was a bad set of chips-- and that our "refurbed" motherboards contain better ones. Then we would have cooler AND better engineered computers.

 

When was it that Dell had provided XP drivers for M1330?

 

Actually there was a brief time when you could go onto the m1330 downloads page, select XP as your operating system and download all the drivers. I know-- that's how I did it! Then Dell backed off and removed it.

Lordnikon, if you search the Dell forum, somebody has a post which notes the demise of the XP drivers, and links to all the appropriate drivers, most of which are available for other notebooks (Inspiron 1520, etc.).

I myself will stay away from updated GPU drivers; all they can do, as I understand it, is underclock or over fan.

 

Anyone knows about 64bit drivers?

 

I am proud (and somewhat sad) to see this thread is still alive 7-months after I started it. I would have hoped Dell would have caught this issue earlier instead of making some people get replacement after replacement.

 

Maybe you could add (even more) value to your initial post by highlighting the key facts (well, strong assumptions, anyways), including links to useful and related threads (like the Cu mod thread).

Also helpful would be to provide links to monitoring & testing tools so that 1330 owners who suspect they may have this issue can verify temps, etc.

Now that would be just grand...

 

Hi,

Just adding to the count of user's affected. Does Dell have a fix for this yet?

Back in October 2007 I paid around $2300 with everything souped up. Thin backlit led screen. 2gigs of RAM. 7200RPM HD. 2.0GHz. Windows Ultimate.

1. Laptop1 got vertical blanks
2. Dell sent a new laptop2 but the wrong fat screen (still it worked so moved data over to laptop2)
3. Dell sent a third laptop3 but the wrong cpu 2.2 and screen
4. Tech support brought new screen and put on laptop1
5. Laptop1 saw rainbows and screen went totally blank (no lights)
6. Tech support came back with new screen and put on Laptop3 and upped RAM to 4 gigs for inconvenience. Also approved the 2.2 ghz cpu since it was a mistake.
7. June 6 the rainbow screens came to Laptop3
8. laptop3 sent in to depot. Came back with motherboard replaced.
9. June 25 after 1 week us using the laptop rainbow screens came back
10. July 2 had big presentation, laptop did not turn on at all! But luckily I borrowed my friends m1330, laptop4
11. Today July 3 Laptop4 has started having rainbow screens and I discovered this thread.

I is very disappointing that the dell tech support did not appear to be aware of this issue. I was impressed with the friendly service and that they understood it was a hardware issue (when I was able to cause the problem running various Linux distro's off of a live cd).

They are sending me a new laptop but it sounds like I would be better off asking for a refund. If the only fix is to run the fan more... well that sucks because my battery life is out the window.

=== Update July 3, 6:29pm ===

Looks like somebody even came up with a fix for this but it voids your warranty.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=250129

 

Last year but I guess they taken off all their XP drivers support.

 

If you know the names/numbers of the XP drivers you need, you might find them here
http://ftp.us.dell.com/
But that is a LOT to sift through if you don't know which specific drivers you're looking for.

 

So is the nvidia gpu being defective is pretty much the 8400m gs?

I just want to know because I'm afraid my mbp will be affected by this since its an nvidia 8600m gt.

Also I was thinking about picking up a dell m1330 as my 2nd machine.. but maybe I'll wait until this issue gets sorted or dell decides to update the gpu with ATI..

 

Guys,

Do you think my motherboard will survive if my max cpu/gpu combo temps are

Cpu = 75C
Gpu = 75C

They are both at that temp when i ran orthos for about 10mins.

Im sure if either one is at 75C and the other at a lower temp (i.e. 55-65) is ok. Im not exactly sure though if both are running high temps

Thanks

 

no that is not good.. imagine after 1 hour of use the temps will go to about 85-90c+

 

M1330 - Just got off the phone to Dell and they said that :

Idle : 34/35c
Max : 61c

 

What's with those temps? "They said" what?!

 

that is what tech support said to me. i posed a customer for the M1330 and they gave me these untrue temperature specs. He said with the A11 bios the system will stay cool.

 

Hi ghost_boxer,

what i mean to say is 75C cpu and 75c gpu is already the max temp that it goes during orthos run... it wont go past that no matter how long i leave the computer... fan spins like hell tho...

question is, at that max temp ranges, will it damage my mboard, cpu, gpu and require replacement?

 

75c seems JUST ABOUT ok.. i suggest you get a notebook cooler to be on the safe side.

 

Liar liar pants on fire!

I can't believe those tech support guys/girls. They would say anything just to cover Dell's ass. It almost seems like they are brain washed.

 

why would they use a thermal pad in the first place? why didnt they just use copper in the design??

 

Orthos doesn't really stress the GPU, it's mainly a CPU stress test as you can see from the high CPU temps. You'll find that the GPU idling in the low 70s isn't too uncommon for M1330s. However if you have BIOS A11 the fan will kick in when it reaches those temps, cooling it down to the low 60s, at which point the fan will stop, causing the GPU temp to increase again, and the cycle repeats.

 

my normal idle temps are around high 40s to low 50s CPU and around 65-68C GPU. At this temps, the fan is always running on low. -- i believe the gpu should be idling around mid 50s and cpu to low 40s to stop the fans

once my temps reach 70s, fans kick in at high.

oh yeah, btw, in orthos, it makes my cpu and gpu temps go high.

i tried the nvidia stress test, it only made my gpu temp go high (around 73) and not the cpu (cpu remained about 52c)

 

Too short time for real testing before releasing the laptop to the public?! Don't know.

 

If you're referring to the financial article, then no, it's not mentioned which "mobile" GPU are affected.

I'm still convinced that in regards to the 1330, it's not a case of bad GPU but a case of bad cooling. I have, however, no problems whatsoever in being proven wrong - as a matter of fact, I would welcome it! I'm also an owner of a second GPU (2nd mobo)....

 

Holy Crap thats gotta be the worst luck i ever heard when it come to fked up NB's!!!!!I empathize with you and hope to hell that my m1330 doesn't follow suit. I just got it!

 

Hello,

Here's an update for people after some investigation.

1. I found that if I run with an external monitor and the lid closed I will not run into problems with the overheating.
2. My sister has had her XPS M1330 for about a 8 months now with no problems. I borrowed it and killed it in a matter of days. Why? I believe it is because I run cpu intensive development applications (not gaming).
3. People have been commenting that the new A11 bios will fix it... well I had updated my laptops and I can still cause the issue.
4. I have found one thing that may hold off the problem (but who knows how long). Installing I8kfanGUI and setting it to run the fan at high when it detects GPU temperature over 50. (Of course this kills my battery life, is noisy and is not what I had paid for).

 

My M1330 had similar issue as well. I got it last September and then, starting in May, the screen would flicker or get "fuzzy" and then I started getting either blue screened or the vertical color lines. I hadn't visited this site in over 6 months, so I just called XPS support and they had me run the diagnostic tests (which didn't find anything wrong at all). I left town for two weeks and when I got back, the unit would only display the vertical lines and would not boot, even into diagnostic testing.

Dell replaced the motherboard last month and I upgraded to A11 recently. I haven't had any new problems, but after coming back to this forum today and reading all the other problems M1330 users are having with overheating, I decided to purchase a Zalman ZM-NC1000 notebook cooler to be safe.

At least I have over 2 more years left on my warranty if the new motherboard starts acting up again.

 

+1 to the list of victims.

The machine started freezing for no reason a couple of days ago. Kept coming back to life though, so thought not much of it (it is Vista!). Though yesterday it did it one last time, now it refuses to POST, green lines etc etc etc. Hooray for Dell!

 

I join the club too... Display started showing vertical lines occasionally.. I didn't wait for it to die.. Had them send out a mobo, and replaced it myself.. They sent out an A01(didn't even know they stocked it till now, but at least that one revision doesn't whine, from what i have seen)... Anyway, it seems to be running slightly cooler than my older one(another A01)..

 

Well, seeing as you clearly have experience building computers, you should seriously consider the CuMod

 

So the main issue is with a Nvidia card, and owners of intel GPU have no problems?

 

no they won't

 

I had just upgraded to A11 (from A08) and the new video drivers.

Had a significant improvment in temperatures, GPU was idlling arround 75-80 and now idles at 65 - 68.

Hope that it increases the life of the motherboard.

Regards

 

hi guys,
just to let you know that another one has joined the long list of the "vertical line" nightmare.
bought my XPS september last year and it has been getting the vertical stripes for about a month now. checked this great forum for a while now for solutions, in the mean time hoping that it would disappear (how naive...).

mobo is A01, and have BIOS version A10. can't tell you about temperatures my notebook is running at, as installing new software (eg 3dmark) is enough to make it crash.

nonetheless, when i do get it to start up properly, and run vista in safemode, i can run for days and it just never crashes. restart windows normally and within 10mins the screen flickers, freezes and it is vertical stripe bonanza all over again...

vertical stripes can last for days without me being able to start up properly. noticed though, that eventually it will startup again. could this be cause windows has attempted to a startup repair that works, or is accidental proper startup just luck?

today finally called dell and i get my mobo+GPU replaced by tuesday. i read that when it gets replaced, it's often a refurbished mobo. any tips on how to deal with the tech guy, can i ask him not to give me a refurbished mobo with GPU but a new one (version A04 is i recall correctly?)? or is it just a matter of luck what he/she brings?

and then i've just gotta get my warranty extended before it expires in september and then i'm safe to wait for the next crash... .
am not a notebook expert, but will try to do the Cu-mod as you guys have suggested and hope for the best. so thanks for that
cheers

 

sAt.
phamti
rbg08
mitchN
sesshomaru
dafoek

makes for about 135 NBR members with toasted GPUs...

 

Is anyone having this issue with a recently purchased M1330? Say, one that has been purchased within the last 2-3 months?

I'm really interesting in purchasing the laptop but these issues are scaring me away from it.

 

I think most people who have had this problem don't see it until they have been using their computer at least six months, so 2-3 months of happy use wouldn't predict anything, as I see it.

I imagine that Dell and NVidia are all over this, trying to make things better, even if nobody's willing to admit it, but I'd say until you hear something definitive either on these boards or Dell forum or in the press, you should assume that nothing has changed. Meaning: a significant number of these computers with the NVidia GPU are failing. NO reported failures using onboard graphics. If I had it to do over, that's what I would choose. Everything else about the computer is great.

 

I got mine in start of May, so two months have gone now without problems. Have undervolted mine, which did decrease temps a bit. GPU-temps in normal use 60-70'C, haven't tried max for a while. But when undervolted, max decreased from like 95'C -> 82'C. Still scared when it'll burn. Have 3yr warranty, so I'm not going to do the mod for a while, but is probably one for the future.

 

The problem is getting a Copper piece cut to those specifications. I haven't been able to find any near where I live. And ordering online from the stores referred to here isn't an option, since international shipping makes the prince insanely high.

 

Hi Hybr1dz, if you are in Canada or a place where they sell it consider the lg 300. It still uses the nVidia chip but from what I have read it has a better cooling system.

Right now my laptop will not start at all and it is impacting my work. So I am thinking of heading to Futureshop and getting it with extended warranty.

 

ya can add my name to the list im gettin mine replaced on wednesday as im graduating tomorrow!

 

Cnet.com is asking for input of owners of failed Nvidia chips to offer their two cents worth on which notebooks are failing. Thought we M1330 owners might have plenty to contribute.

http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9983840-1.html?tag=cnetfd.mt

 

On Friday it was said that only the 8500M chips are affected. That does not have to be the end of the line though.

I think the tech guy can not do anything about it. He just gets one part from DELL support and has to use this as replacement. The guy who repaired my XPS1330 did not even know if it was new or refurbished. But as others said here it is likely that they are all just refurbished ones.