Inspiron 9400 - massive problems with 7900GS

Hi,

I own a Inspiron 9400 with a 7900GS since November 2006. In the beginning, I was perfectly happy, but in August 2008, the problems began: There, my video card broke down for the first time, failure of the video memory. OK, no problem so far, but in December 2008, the "new" card showed the same problem and had to be replaced. And now, just after 1 month, this 3rd card broke down again, always the same problem.
Additionally, this time, they don't have a new one in stock, but I could make a deal, so they give me a weaker card in the meantime, so I don't have to wait like 4 weeks to have my lappy running again.

But my question is: How can this happen, that the notebook "grills" 3 cards in less than 6 months? The fans were checked at the last exchange, and showed no dust or anything. Anyone else having that massive problems with this card? I really doubt that "number 4" will have a much longer lifetime than a few months and I really need a reliable computer...

Cheers,
Tobi

 

Burnt 79xx cards seem to be a fairly typical problem with the E1705/9800. If you ask me, I think the cooling in the machine just isn't sufficient to handle the heat output from those cards under all but normal operating conditions. Dell may have realized the same, which is why they no longer offer anything faster than an 8600M GT on any of their 15" or 17" machines (except for the M1730). That's just my two cents though.

That being said, two more GPU failures in the past few months seems to be somewhat more than normal, so you may actually have some problem that's not limited to the GPU. If you ask me, my recommendation would be to stick a lower-end GPU if you want something reliable (or maybe stock up on those 7900 cards XD); at least if that fails, you can narrow your problem down to something other than GPU heat.

 

Exactly my thought...

Yep, I thought about a problem not limited to the video card either. But the notebook performs normally in all diagnostic tests and so, it is probably impossible to find the source of the problems, if there are any. Another problem is of course, that my service contract ended after 2 years, so I'm lucky the cards always fail after less than 6 months, and so they have to be replaced by Dell according to German law.

Tomorrow or wednesday, the technician will come and replace my card by the alternative model (don't know, which exactly, but seems to be NVidia w/ shared memory). I think I'll contact the customer service then and see, if there's any chance to get a new notebook at a special price or exchange my old one (+ reasonable payment for the difference in value). Like this, it's really annoying for me and also expensive for Dell, so maybe, I'm lucky. Would go for a Studio XPS 16 probably...

Cheers!

 

You should not be OK with a weak card. If Dell can not replace the card on time, dell should replace the whole computer for you.

sean

 

Yeah, but I have no service contract anymore, so I should feel lucky that they made me this offer at all. The first representant told me i have to wait for the new cards to be delivered, which means 4 weeks without notebook for me. I had to ask for his boss for several times before I could talk to him. Better than having no lappy at all...

 

Hi,

can anyone tell me if:

CARD (CIRCUIT)..., GRAPHICS..., 256MB, M54, 9400, IMGA3

Is the ATI X1400? Must be yes, i guess... When I asked the first guy on the phone if I couldn't have this card in the meantime, he told me that I had to wait the same time for this one. His boss just told me, they had another card for me, but he "didn't know", which one, but he said NVidia...
Sometimes, i really have the feeling they are trying to trick you. You always have to get angry until they really care...

 

That's a tough situation to be in. Personally, I would push and push to get a different (but comparable card) - Like an ATI instead of Nvidia. If it cooks again, I would suggest buying a desktop next time around! Gaming on a laptop is fun . . . but man, desktops are just so much easier to upgrade and salvage when something goes bang.

 

Yeah, but the point is, I'm not a hardcore gamer at all, I just want a machine which gives me good performance for occasional gaming. With hte last card, which failed after 1 month, I didn't play games at all, because of work. And besides, Dell sold this laptop, so it should be able to handle multiple-hour gaming sessions also.

Tomorrow I'll get the ATI card and then I'll try to get a good deal for a new machine. If they don't want to help me, I'll think about a different brand.

Cheers