nVidia G84/G86 question

Okay I know nVidia has this huge class action lawsuit, about faulty material used in those chips causing end users to needed BGA repairs and them releasing a BIOS fix that would make the fan spin 500 million rpm;

I've had to service M1330/M1530 and numerous HP DV6xxx and DV9xxx notebooks. However those models have the GPU on the motherboard. My Vostro 1500 has a discreet card, and I am upgrading to the 8600M GT G84 core later on this week. Does the nVidia lawsuit affect the proprietary Dell GPU models? My model is not listed on the lawsuit, so would I be safe to upgrade up?

 

Yup the Vostro 1500's 8600m GT is safe.

 

I believe I read somewhere only the GDDR3 memory models were affected, as the one I'm getting is the GDDR2 version

 

They are theoratically "safe", not only these cards are discreet but its design is proprietary unlike other standard MXM cards and the failure rates reported have been the lowest in all notebooks. The older 2007 Vostros and Inspirons have known to run cool, keeping temperatures under the 70s.

There are also notebooks with discreet 8600M DDR2 MXM Type II cards that fail as well.
But as far as possible, I would keep its notebook in its optimum condition; keeping it clean and free from dust and the usual maintenence standards. Just watch your temps and keep it low.

And if I were you, I would save up for a newer notebook with more powerful and latest hardware instead. Personally, I find the cost of upgrade from an 8400M GS to an 8600M GT (and its only DDR2) not justifiable comparing today's standards. My 0.02 cents...

Good luck.

 

i agree.. not worth upgrading really.. a 8600M GT is not much better and cost is not worth it.. i'd really save up and buy a new laptop.

 

I'm getting the part for 75 dollars. Money isn't really a big issue for this laptop.

 

Just make sure the 8600M is a Dell part. Dell's MXM 8600M never had any issues, but it's tough to vouch for one which is coming from somewhere else.

My Vostro 1500 is still riding strong.

 

My GDDR2 8600m GT died in after 10 months.

 

GDDR3 memory produces less heat than DDR2, and it makes the card 20-25% faster. I still can run every single game on my (oc'd) 8600GT after 3 years.