Dell finally speaks out on the NVIDIA FAULTY GPU bug...

Saw this over at Direct2Dell Blog... (Thanks for updating us Lionel...)

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RESOLUTION posted by Lionel Menchaca on 8/18/08:

Apparently Dell will:

 

I think the last sentence in Lionel's statement says a lot about how Dell is going to treat this. I don't see them doing a recall or mass replacing affected cards. It's going to be a 'as you call in and complain' basis. Not sure if I agree with this. Dell should pony up and replace the affected cards or offer a replacement. Send the bill to NVIDIA. As previously published, NVIDIA plans to take a one-time charge from $150 million to $200 million against cost of revenue for the second quarter to cover anticipated warranty, repair, return, replacement and other costs and expenses.

 

ahhh damn it.

i guess i have a defective video card...

 

I wish I could get a 3000% overclock on my GPUs lol. My notebook is on its 3rd pair of 8600M GT cards and I just got the notebook in late February. And BTW, I can't even use SLI without my notebook overheating so i'm probably going to have a 10 lb, $2500 paperweight after February '09, when my warranty expires. How awesome.

And as far as NVIDIA goes, they basically opened a can of whoop-ass on themselves and I don't think I would like to purchase any NVIDIA hardware in the future unless they REALLY shape up as far as hardware and driver quality goes.

-J.B.

 

Ill see if i can get this stickied or sub-stickied at least, this is quite important stuff.

 

So what do people suggest? I should be getting my M1530 with a 8600M GT anyday now with a 2 year warranty, should i get my money back? i really wanted a dell, but i dont want to have to deal with problems the hole time i have it that will in the end lead to a dead system when the 2 year warranty is up.

 

Yes now that its official, i suggest you avoid this and go for a montevina notebook

 

I would cancel the order. There is no mention of an actual fix or change in GPU for new orders. As Lionel mentioned in his post/release:

All you are getting is a new notebook with a defective chipset and reduced battery time/reduced fan life.

As Flipfire pointed out, wait for the new notebooks and see what GPU configs Dell offers. If you can't wait, find a notebook without one of the affected GPUs.

This whole thing is a mess. Ouch NVIDIA.

 

You have a m1730, your not affected

 

That does answer my question, I guess I ll forgot about the XPS 1530 8600 GT and go for a hp dv5t... So sad I love the dell design ... Thanks nvidia

 

Great, and to think that I just ordered a M1530....

 

Just for the record, even though my 1730 is not affected I am still interested in this issue (was about to order a 1530 for a relative - not going to happen now).

 

well my xps is suppose to arrive sat or mon, so from when does the 21 day return policy start?

 

When you recieve it.

 

Here is the full article:

NVIDIA GPU Update for Dell Laptop Owners
Fri. Jul. 25, 2008
by Lionel Menchaca, Chief Blogger

Earlier this month, sites like Ars Technica and ZDNet blogged about NVIDIA’s statement regarding a potential issue with some of NVIDIA's Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) used in notebooks. According to NVIDIA, these affected GPUs are experiencing higher than expected failure rates causing video problems. Though this issue is not unique to Dell, some of these affected GPUs are used in certain Dell laptops. That's why I wanted to take a few minutes here to explain the issue and to let customers know what to do next.

The issue is a weak die/packaging material set, which may fail with GPU temperature fluctuations. If your GPU fails, you may see intermittent symptoms during early stages of failure that include:

* Multiple images
* Random characters on the screen
* Lines on the screen
* No video

Dell recommends that you flash your system BIOS (see links in the table below). Each of these BIOS updates listed in the table below modifies the fan profile to help regulate GPU temperature fluctuations. Note: if you are already experiencing video-related issues like the bullet points above, updating the BIOS will not correct them. Dell will provide support for customers who have experienced GPU failure according to the terms of the system warranty.

These BIOS updates will help reduce the likelihood of GPU issues. New systems are being shipped with the updated BIOS revisions. Here's the list of the latest BIOS versions. Click on the links below to download them.

Dell Product Name


BIOS Revision


Date


Update File Name

Inspiron 1420


A09


7/14/08


1420_A09.EXE

Latitude D630


A12


6/22/08


D630_A12.EXE

Latitude D630c


A06


7/11/08


D630CA06.EXE

Precision M2300


A07


7/11/08


M2300A07.EXE

Vostro Notebook 1310


A10


7/10/08


V1310-A10.EXE

Vostro Notebook 1400


A09


7/10/08


1400_A09.EXE

Vostro Notebook 1510


A10


7/10/08


V1510A10.EXE

Vostro Notebook 1710


A07


7/10/08


V1710A07.EXE

XPS M1330


A12


7/9/08


M1330A12.EXE

XPS M1530


BIOS will be available before the end of July

If you need help flashing your system BIOS or experience any of the video-related issues listed above, please contact Dell Technical Support. Our teams are committed to working with affected customers to resolve issues on a case-by-case basis.

**** Please note that this is not a recall program, updating your Bios will do the trick*****

Source: http://direct2dell.com/one2one/default.aspx

 

Right now...updating BIOS is not a permanent fix.

The permanent fix is that nVidia fixes this, recalls faulty parts, or Dell switches to all ATI.

 

This concerns only the 8600 and 8400 right ?
Nothing to do with the new model 9200 9600 ??

 

Right, that's why you should wait for the next model that'll have the updated GPUs, if possible.

 

I wonder if there will be replacement motherboards with corrected chips. Because even though I applied the copper mod to lower my temps by like 20C, there are still large temp fluctuations and wonder if my GPU will die over time.

 

Somethings strange about my 8600M GT, never fluctuates. It's always 52C to 55C, no matter what gaming I do. Using i8kfangui to monitor, think somethings wrong with it?

 

Use HWmonitor

 

Now this got me a little worried. On normal use, the temperature of the 8600M in my 1530 fluctuates between 60° - 70°. The fan kicks in in whenever it reaches 70° and it will cool down to 55° or so. On stress, 72° is the maximum temperature it will go up to. You guys think I have any reasons to worry over?

 

The more I think about this, the more it hits me. This has the potential to turn into a nightmare for Dell and other notebook manufacturers. The implementation of a BIOS fix does nothing. The end user shouldn't have to copper mod their GPU.

All it takes is a creative end user and a well placed toothpick and they have an argument for a replacement/upgrade to the next higher unaffected model or refund due to their GPU causing major heat damage to other internal components.

NVIDIA has opened the industry up to a nasty can of worms with this issue. *sigh*

 

So my m1530 will be coming soon. Its defective huh? Should i just send it back? I have the 2 year warrenty so they will have to cover anything that will happen during that time. Think i should upgrade to 4?

 

Hey, since they aren't on the list, are the Latitude D830 and the Precision M4300 safe?

 

I have 8600 card and will my laptop be fine? I don't really play game. Just some 2D games.

 

BIOS for the M1530 is out now, revision A09.

http://support.euro.dell.com/suppor...-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=1&fileid=267480

Fixes/Enhancements
------------------
1. Added enhancement for thermal control.
2. Update Intel CPU family name.

 

Hi all, I just want to know that does this happen to all G8400 and 8600 card on XPS laptops? or just on some? I am really worried about my laptop now :'( . I just bought XPS M1330 with G8600. It have international 1 year warranty but I don't really want to send my laptop to dell office all the time because I am going to use this laptop as a desktop replacement. *sigh* .. I think I made wrong decision to buy M1330 .. Any answers to my question are really appreciated .. Thanks all

 

A lot of people are posting worried thoughts and questions. I think the first thing you need to do is read over the info from Dell and apply the BIOS update if you havent already. To most of us, a fix which alters fan control to compensate for heat generated by poor manufacturing of the GPU is not an acceptable fix.

In the end, you need to decide what you are willing to live with and accept. If you are happy with your system and are not having any issues at this time and willing to accept possible warranty work in the future, then I don't believe you have anything to stress over.

On the other hand, I think it's going to come down to the end-user community to push for a more acceptable resolution to NVIDIA's screw up.

 

i8kfan always reports the wrong temp... it is always between 50-55 degC in my m1330 + nVidia 8400, but HWmonitor and Everest reports 60-70+ degC...... i8kfan also reports the wrong CPU temp

well, if Dell had leaked/released their new line by end-july(now), i woudl have waited before getting my laptop.... but i need my laptop for college(end-august), can't wait much....(EST DELI date for orders now are around mid-august).... hopefully dell would do something

 

same here...this sucks

 

Wait so how do i check if my graphics card is defective, if it is is there a way to get dell ro replace it with the 9 series gpus when they come out.

 

Used HWMonitor and the 8600M GT is still staying in the 53C~ zone and CPU is 65F+. The CPU seems to be absorbing all the heat somehow.

 

I'm currenty waiting for my M1530 (4-year warranty w/accidental, see sig). I think I will upgrade around the same time as the warranty expires. So, in my case, is it worth going for some other laptop?

 

Same here.. waiting for my M1530... Need it before school starts mid august so I can't really wait... let's just hope that since this issue was discovered a long time ago (month? 2?) that the computers produced after the discovery aren't affected.

 

same situation here, cpt i couldn't wait any longer. ordered a m1530 earlier this week, but esd is still after i leave for college =/. just hoping that it arrives early.

 

Well, aren't they pretty much all faulty? I mean nvidia has fessed up to the manufacturing defect. The way I'm reading it, those 8xxx GPU's are defective across the board. The only question is whether any individual GPU will ultimately fail. No one can answer that.

Replacing it with the 9 series would entail a complete system board swap. No way Dell (or any manufacturer) is going to do that on a system that hasn't been adversly affected (yet) by the defect.

 

Well i know only 1 thing, my card idles at 55 and cpu at ~46 after undervolting, when i stress CPU it goes to the peak of ~67 and drops to stable 62C after the fan kicks in, the GPU wont get hotter then ~78C and from where is see it it's ok, i have a ati x1600 and idles also in 55 and peaks to 80 when loaded and that's on my desktop PC, so it's right i was frightened at the begining but now i see no problems with the laptop...guess the real problem is felt on the smaller laptops with ~13 inch display and less that suffer from ~90 and more.

 

Had the 7900 in mine go bad, a 1705 though.

 

What percentage of 8400M GS GPUs are expected to fail?

 

More specifically it seems to be the GDDR3 version of the 8600 GT that is affected. I don't see the Inspiron 1520 or 1720 or Vostro 1500 or 1700 listed in that blog, and those laptops all have the GDDR2 version of the 8600M GT. People used to complain about getting a card with GDDR2 instead of the faster GDDR3, but if the GDDR2 cards aren't affected by this heating problem, they have an advantage.

 

Theres got to be a cut off point for those defective chips.

If I were to buy a M1530 now, they cant still be putting those faulty GPUs in?

I mean if Nvidia is still dumb enough to still make them, then they need to be sued... very soon and by many people!

 

I have called dell tech support and asked them about the card in the laptop on sale now. They said the problem has been isolated and they change the batch of graphic card. I don't know why but I can't believe that ...

 

Well, read the blog closely, if they have a new and good batch of graphic cards, why do they need to ship their new systems with the new BIOS that helps a problem that no longer exists?

These BIOS updates will help reduce the likelihood of GPU issues. New systems are being shipped with the updated BIOS revisions. Here's the list of the latest BIOS versions.

 

Somehow, I suspect that is more because they are still working on the BIOS update on those systems rather than those systems are not affected. You can see in the list of BIOS update that the release dates are staggered with the first one in late June. The blogger had to add M1530 to the list after it was released after the blog was posted.

 

Hi, first, I think we have to put this in perspective; in terms of the 1330 it has been out for a year and the overheating issue has just come to light in the last month or so. I think if we use the temperature monitoring programs and make sure our cards are within the usual temps (see other threads for that information) then I think there is reason for some hope. I idle at about 60 degrees and I believe that is a normal temp for this card and this laptop. Having said that, I do believe that there is a problem (not to mention Nvidia's admitting there is a problem) and that Dell has not adequately dealt with it. All they have to do is say that any hardware failure due to this known problem (and they outlined the symptoms in the blog) are to replaced/fixed whether under warrenty or not. That way we all have reassurance that we are covered. Granted that is not a great situation (none of us want our laptops to fail) but at least we know that we will not be out of pocket for a laptop that preamaturely dies if Dell does what I suggest. We should not have to purchase 4 years of warrenty just to feel safe. For myself, I am not wealthy and it was a stretch to get this laptop as it was. I don't have the money for a large warrenty so I can only hope that any problem shows up within my warrenty ! I think Dell will end up being sued over this at some point and it will not be pretty.

 

The 8600GT chip supports both types - the chip is the same whether you have DDR2 or DDR3. The only difference is the seperate card used for the DDR2 series as opposed to mounting on the motherboard - the chip is the same again and presumably susceptable to the same manufacturing defect (unless its limited to a batch of chips from a certain period but then I'd expect Nvidia to have a better idea of what products are likely to be affected. As they are being so vague I'd guess the whole production has the chance of this issue).

 

No one can answer that. My guess is it'll be pretty random.

 

If its as serious as it is.. Dell should seriously issue a massive recall and charge Nvidia for all the damages. It would be the most honorable thing to do. Though you really never know. Maybe a year from now, Nvidia will issue a statement that the 9600GTs are affected with a manufacturing defect. It really is up in the air.

 

Seriously though, there's no way Dell could unilaterally do something like that. And the problem for Nvidia is that it isn't just Dell. Every MBP has the 8600GT as well. I'm sure there are plenty of other systems with it out there. No way Nvidia could absorb the hit of replacing all those systems.

It'll be interesting to see how failures are handled as these machines start slipping out of warranty. The Dell statement linked earlier merely said that all systems would be serviced under the normal warranty. No mention of any additional allowances.

I normally would have just purchased a one year warranty on mine, but the deal I took had two by default. I find myself kind of glad about that.