8600m Bsod

Hi guys;
I tried Searching for anything related to this problem on the forum and came across nothing. So I thought I'd just ask.

You can see my system specs on my signature. The problem is as follows, I've been running Windows 7 for little over a month. This is my second install of the OS which I did just this morning, a clean install I mean.

The last time I installed the OS a month ago everything seemed well, however after a week or so I started experiencing BSODs randomly, and after a while my computer was pretty much unusable, I kept getting BSODs for just about anything.

Everytime the BSOD ocurred it said it was a problem with the display driver crashing and failing to recover, which also happened a few times where the display driver crashed but did recover. I've been reading around and saw that many people seem to be having issues similar to mine (just haven't come acorss any on this forum)
I was wondering if there's any solution?
I was having this problem which led me to do a clean installation of windows this morning all over again. I know it's not a compatibilty issue because my system is very much capable of handling windows 7. I know it's the 64 bit part because the T7250 is x64 able.

and I know the problem isn't a faulty 8600M GT because right now everything seems to be running smoothly after a clean install with no BSOD whatsoever, no crashes, no nothing. Just as it was the first time I installed Win 7 at first.

It's not a problem with the OS either because I ran it in Safe Mode with networking capabilities and ran flawlessly as well. I also got the problem sometimes when moving to battery power, also when using the windows slideshow for desktop wallpapers.

However even though it is all fine now, I'm wondering if anyone can give me any input on what might have been the problem.

On my prior installation I undervolted my processor to a max of 0.9625v however it seemed to run stable on all tests where I stressed it for over an hour with no failure. Is the voltage related to the GPU voltage? maybe down the line something happened for the GPU to now having enough power causing it to fail?
On this time I have not undervolted, and even though on max load I get 83C on my CPU cores I don't plan to undervolt until i get some feedback from you guys.

Thank you in advance, I would greatly appreciate the help

 

ok im guessing u need the newest nvidia driver i had same EXACT issue and changed to it and now that machine is cooler and no more BSOD's

x32
http://www.nvidia.com/object/notebook_winvista_win7_195.62_whql.html

x64
http://www.nvidia.com/object/notebook_winvista_win7_x64_195.62_whql.html

 

i was undervolting but now with new driver my laptop runs cooler then with vista with no undervolting

 

did it help?

 

well I wasn't having the problem since I reinstalled Windows, but I did install the driver you recommended along with it, since then I've had no problems.. last time the same thing happened where everything was fine for about a week and then it all started happening, I guess I'll need to get back to you on that, but so far so good, I do undervolt still though, with higher voltages than before but with lower over all max load temperatures, I'm guessing maybe I had a virus or something the last time because everything seems fine now.. can a virus affect a display driver?

 

Undervolting the CPU won't affect the GPU. 83C isn't too hot, but is warm enough where undervolting is a good idea.

It may have been some OS corruption issue causing the problem, or a very nasty virus (to affect a driver it would have to be unusually nasty, but it's theoretically possible for that to happen, though I've never heard of any such actual virus). I would not rule out a faulty 8600M GT, however. Just because it runs fine on regular desktop settings on a clean install doesn't mean the problem was with the previous install - you just may not have encountered whatever was causing the problems yet. The 8600M GT, as well as most other GeForce 8 and GeForce 9 GPUs, has an unusually high hardware failure rate due to an engineering flaw, which has resulted in nVIDIA paying manufacturers over $300 million to compensate for the higher repair costs. Some describe these GPUs as time bombs; I wouldn't go that far, but I do know one person in real life who is having a GeForce 8400M GS in a Vostro 1500 slowly die due to this flaw. If no problems recur for a few months, you're probably in the clear, but if they show up again with this install, you may well have a hardware problem. Of course, do make sure you have proper virus/firewall/anti-spyware if you suspect that may have been an issue.

Incidentally, I also have a 1520 with an 8600M GT, and similar though not identical specs elsewhere. I've lucked out so far, but am undecided on how/if to hedge my bets when my warranty eventually expires, as I don't really trust this GPU to last until I would normally replace it (in 2011 or 2012).

 

I agree, however it's odd that it would happen now don't you think? as I was running Vista 32 for 2 years perfectly fine before any of this happened, and all of a sudden after installing Windows 7 64 the problem started back then, however I agree completely. I will have to wait a few weeks before saying I'm in the clear, however unlike you repairing is not an option for me as my warranty already expired. So if it is a faulty 8600M GT I'm quite sure Dell won't do anything to fix it without my having to pay a fortune, and I'm possitive NVidia won't even budge about my problem or do I have this wrong somehow?

 

jalex what r u talking about repairing? i gave u all the repair u need i had the EXACT SAME ISSUE not 1 bsod since over a month now change and temp is much lower...its a simple driver conflict hence new driver doesnt casue BSOD

 

I didn't mean I am going to do so, but it's always good to have a backup plan. I meant in case I have a faulty GPU, but as of right now everything is working perfectly fine with no BSOD since the clean install and with the new drivers you suggested.

How did you hear about what to do to solve the issue?

 

hear? didnt hear from anyone i made a thread on here about my BSOD got very little help but got some and took that and I started digging deeper into driver conflicts and took me to new nVIDIA driver figured it out after asking enough questions and searching... trust me this is 100% the reason of BSOD's... it also seems to me that nVIDIA was aware of this issue hence the new driver not like they put out drivers all the time my gut tells me the voltage was wrong on old driver among other glitches, but with new driver machine runs cooler and no more BSOD.

 

8600M? Mine was a faulty 8600M, died on me 2 weeks after the warranty period ended...

I had the same problems...

 

so far so good for me, let's just hope it stays that way.
thanks guys, cheers..