notebook nvidia video problem

i had just read a thread given by dell in 2008, and they stated they had a bios upgrade for these notebooks that had higher than normal video failure rates with the nvidia video chipsets-
inspiron 1420
lat d630
lat d630c
prec m2300
vostro 1310,1400,1510,1710
xps 1330,1530

question- i have an inspiron 1520 with a 8600gt in it.,,,why is this notebook not included in the bios fixes???
is it the video chipsets with ddr3 ....because the 1520 has ddr2,,but i don,t see the 1520 on any chipset failure fixes,,,and i saw two of em.

 

well those socalled "fixes" only make your fan run more, they aren't really fixing anything, i wouldn't worry about the faulty cards, if it comes to fail, you can call dell if you are in warranty, but the 8600gt is not so bad compared to the 8400gs.

i wouldn't worry about it

 

And the reason that other models such as the i1520/Vostro 1500 and the i1720/Vostro 1700 dont appear in the list is because they are seperate descrete cards (not on the motherboard) and have better cooling which supposedly see's them far less prone to the GPU solder bump problem.

 

i noticed on my 1520 that the cpu and gpu cooling solution is on the same heatsink...i see there is a thick pad over the gpu....really thick..about the thickness of a credit card..if i take the pad off, and put some artic silver on the gpu...what would i use in place of the thick pad,,,because otherwise the heatsink might not touch the gpu..

i sort of wanted a 1720..but dell had none..well. the other night they had one...8400 m video card.. wanted the 8600gt...i really like these laptops..built nice,,,and love the silver and blue lights....but if i really had the money...it would be the new sony.....--

i love this notebook .,,,saw it at frys...
http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...Id=8198552921644570896&parentCategoryId=16154
not a bad price.$839..

 

You would need to do a copper mod similar to the ones on the forum for the other models - the gap is too big for thermal compound alone hence why Dell uses a thicker pad. I wouldn't worry about it too much - the cooling in my 1700 works fine (CPU with thermal compound replaced and GPU using the pad).

 

Unless you have the IGP, the CPU and GPU on the 1520 shouldn't be sharing the same heatpipe. The same fan, yes, but not the same heatpipe. The chip at the end of the CPU heatpipe is the NB. Subsequently, there shouldn't be a thermal pad interfacing the GPU (I think that's why the removable graphics solutions are supposed to be less prone to failure), but I'm not totally sure about that, having never taken one of these things apart.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins1520/en/sm/cpucool.htm#wp1179839
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins1520/en/sm/graphics.htm#wp1179839

 

Good point - you are correct. They are on seperate pipes, not sure why I forgot that

 

hehe thats funny, i also wanted the 1720... it just looked so cool, and i didnt mind the large seize, as long as it was reasonably thin, but one thing kept me from buying one, after comparing with other systems it was narrowed down to the m1530 vs the 1720, and the thing is, i wanted a top-of-the-line system, and the m1530 was both thin and powerful as hell, and so i bought it, and its an incredible machine, despite its overheating issues, it has served me incredibly through its first year with me

but the 1720 still looks tempting, might even pull a nice deal on ebay and give it to my little brother ahahaha

 

Don't worry, you have Dell, if it fails they will replace it no problem.

Unlike... LG. My 8600M GT gave out on my LG R500 nearly 1 year after I bought it, I have extended 3 year warranty. And LG wants me to pay for shipping, labour, and they will cover the part and they will just replace it with another faulty 8600M GT and then reset my warranty to 0.

Anyways, don't worry Dell is good, they will replace it if something happens.