New details on Nvidia problem (08-26-08)

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Nvidia-GPU-failure,6248.html

 

lol, another example of Nvidia messing up, finding out about it later, and not doing **** to fix the problem.

I would have so much respect for Nvidia if they'll recall these ill designed chips and switch in the new 9000s for current users. But I guess thats impossible for a corporation whose main goal is to make money and not customer satisfaction.

 

If NVidia is willing to upgrade my G86-based 9500M GS to a 9600M GT or other safe comparable part for free, I'll bite.
The question is whether they'll follow Intel's lead, when their Pentium chips had a critical error in them.

 

geeez come on. Its true they care bout the money then about theree costumers. I hope my 9500Gs wont die on me.

 

Well, cross your fingers guys, 'cause my 8600M GT just died on me (It hasn't even been a freakin' year yet!) .

If it wasn't for the fact that Dell's warranty still covers my laptop, I'd have a hunk of 7.5 Pound 15.4 Inch black paper weight on my desk.

This is such a shame, especially when their G8X cores and line of product were powerhouses. How the mighty have fallen... Again? Lol. Lets hope nVidia wakes up and starts delivering soon...

 

70C? I'm idling 72~80 >_>

 

Thats because when intel had issues instead of getting a replacement, alot of people went AMD and until the Core Duo days never looked back. Im affraid that so many people may do this to nvidia and head over to ATi. When AMD was the choice CPU for enthusiasts intel had to resort to netburst. Personally i dont want an nvidia version of netburst...

 

kinda sucks eh? me too

(well not quite as high, mine idles at ~70 but gaming takes it to 90)

 

hey, haven't totally kept up with what chips are involved... are the 8600GT's part of the problem? I've got a Toshiba with SLI 8600's, is this something to be concerned about? Thanks, been out of the loop for a few months.

 

stop *****ing and trying to get a new free card. they have a responsibility to their shareholders first and foremost, buy some stock and then maybe they will care .

also chances are they ARE trying to fix it, but its impractical for a full re-call, they will minimize damage, fix the problem for future releases and move on.

 

nvidia isn't going anywhere, the problem isn't so much with the cards which are still vastly superior to ATI cards imo, but in their heat toleration, normal use most likely cause issues, but OC'ing might.. The problem is more than likely already fixed for future cards, and just affects cards made in a few month period. Also keep in mind nvidia just makes the chip, 3rd parties make the actual card so its partially their fault for not implementing satisfactory thermal solutions.

 

Charlie Demerjian from The Inquirer may be on to something but so what? My ATI-M10 died a few years back..OMG!!!

I would hope that Nvidia will do the right thing..and you can always go for the extended warranty?

 

It doesnt matter, Intel couldve stayed with Netburst, but it wasnt cost effective.

Unfortunately, we enthusiasts make up only a tiny part of the market, the very market that AMD has now lost. Id much rather see ATi beating out NVIDIA right now considering both it and its parents are in a dire situation

 

I know they arent going anywhere. But because intel was behing AMD they artificially inflated Clock speeds to market "faster chips" to the public. Im hoping nvidia doesnt resort to such things, as they are already in deep poo with not reacting correctly to the issue at hand.

Netburst was one of the biggest blunders intel made, if not the biggest. It made it possible to have 3GHz + CPUs possible because of an insanely large pipeline. Worst cpu setup I can think of off the top of my head.

 

Thanks for the details on this one.... Well, at least they fessed up to the problem somewhat.

 

They also have a responsiblity to their customers, who paid for a working GPU without defects, who instead get a GPU with defects. This is no different to a company like Ford, Honda, or Chevy. If they put out a vehical that has a faulty breakline but only in .5% of its vehical, everyone would be demanding a recall. Granted its not a life or death situation, put you get my point, people use these laptops for more then just enjoyment, so some people simply can't afford to wait till the computer fails. If you were going to to another country for a 2 week buisness trip, and your computer fails the day you get there because of a faulty GPU, what do you do?

 

Been out of the loop for a while too. Is my 8800GTX in my Sager 9261 going to be affected?

 

i think it was everything less than the 8800's in the 8xxx series

 

So, 9600M GT is out of these troubles?

 

According to that article (chips G84, G86, G92 & G94 are affected) this is the list:

8400M GTS
8400M GT
8600M GTS
8600M GT
8800M GTS
8800M GTX
9700M GT
9700M GTS
9800M GTS
9800M GT
9800M GTX

 

Interesting thread..

Have there been any more updates on the issue?

Mostly because, like the rest of you, I would like to know what steps I need to take to ensure that I get a faultless graphics card, instead of one that overheats and downclocks. I have upgraded to the latest bios for my system. It changes the fan profile for the gpu, which is fine, but the fact that my gpu downclocks itself because it overheats kind of annoys me. I agree that enthusiasts who pay top dollar shouldn't have to settle for faulty goods, and should always get what they paid for.

Edit: Ok, I should have done this before I posted. Makes a noob out of me, but whats new.
I just spent the last 2 hrs testing for downclocks due to high temperatures. I used Thermofan, GPUZ for results.

According to GPUZ, my 8800M GTX is the 92M chip. A2 Revision.
After 2 hrs of playing, testing. (1hr of which was crysis) The highest temp recorded was 79c and the highest fan speed was 5491rpm. According to GPUZ under the sensors tab, the clock speeds remained @ 500Mhz GPU Core Clock and 700Mhz Memory Clock.

I will do some more research when I have the time, but 2 hrs I thought would be a good start? But so far I would say that I dont have the problem, and that I was victim of gpu hysteria and conducted the test to make sure.

 

seriously this is concerning me and now I suspect why Toshiba could come out with the first sli notebook at such a nice price at the time and probably why all their x205 sli series comes with the 8600m gt. I think Nvidia knew this even before it became public and they wanted to just get rid of the chips so they sold em cheap to Toshiba for their Flag ship gaming notebooks. My one year warranty expires in December and I'm praying my Sli1 doesn't fail. I have had no problems whatsoever thus far, and I'm seriously thinking about calling Toshiba to extend the warranty cause I'm still paying for this. Although I'm very satisfied with it, just bummer thinking about the news.

 

Why don't they just extend the warranty on affected cards!

So if it kicks after the 1 year expires, they will replace it for free.

 

They haven't at all. That article doesn't talk about official nVidia statements *at all* :/

 

if thats the case then nvidia is screwed, thats pretty much all their cards except the 9600's and the 9200's and a bunch of bottom of the range cards

 

Just a note to those new to this situation - it's not *only* the actual temperatures your notebook reaches that's the problem - it's also usage patterns (i.e. heat cycles). Basically, laptop cards are failing at these higher rates because users put a lot of stress on their cards while gaming, then the laptop might get turned off, so it goes from very cool to very hot and back again. This is causing some of the material surrounding the chip to crack. The BIOS fix makes the fan run more often, which I'm going to guess is aimed at reducing the speed of temperature fluctuations to temporarily delay the inevitable.

 

Okay, I noticed in the OP that it said that Nvidia had changed something in the manufacturing proces since June-- does that mean that cards produced after that time would not have this problem?

 

i would hope so, i bought my laptop with a 8400 gs the last week of july. its weird though, cus in that list of gpu that dude put up, it doesnt mention anything abou the 8400 gs. only the 8400 gt and gts

 

im thinking this is wrong though, im pretty sure my chip was included with this problem

 

As no official list from NVidia has been released we can just speculate based upon what Dell and HP has said. They point to a select few cards. Not the full list as quoted by the Inquirer.

 

Sorry, i wanted to put GS but i wrote GTS. 8600M GTS doesn't exist. So, this is the list:

8400M GS
8400M GT
8600M GS
8600M GT
8800M GTS
8800M GTX
9700M GT
9700M GTS
9800M GTS
9800M GT
9800M GTX

 

hmm, interesting... figuring I've got two of those bad boys (8600mGT's in SLI), wonder what my chances are ha.

Guess I'll keep my fingers crossed, as from what I gather, nobody is stepping up to the plate and fixing anything?

and lordy do these things run hot in the X205's, mid 90's are completely normal

 

Is there any report of affected 9300M G?.

Obviously, this card is based on 8400, but (AFAIK) it's not completely identical.


Thanks in advance

 

that is worrying. i would also like to know if the 9300M GS is affected.

 

don't start up old threads. this is a solid 2 months old.

 

why not? i would be double posting if i started a new thread asking about the 9300m gs without any newer information wouldn't i? there has not been any resolution to this problem. shouldn't it be an ongoing discussion? however, i did start a new thread with the newest information i could find: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=325828

in your opinion, should i make a thread asking a specific question about the 9300m gs?