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Nvidia warns of high failure rates
Author: Gareth HalfacreePublished: 7th July 2008
The problem is currently thought to only affect certain previous-generation mobile graphics chipsets.
Betanews has quoted a filing made by Nvidia to the US Securities and Exchange Commission in which the company warns that it will take a “$150 million to $200 million charge against cost of revenue to cover anticipated customer warranty, repair, return, replacement and other consequential costs and expenses arising from a weak die/packaging material set in certain versions of our previous generation MCP and GPU products used in notebook systems.”
Although the identity of the affected products is not given in the filing, the company goes on to state that the chips were “included in a number of notebook products that were shipped and sold in significant quantities,” and that “certain notebook configurations of these MCP and GPU products are failing in the field at higher than normal rates.”
With the root cause of the failure still unknown, the company is suggesting that the failures may be due to the excess heat: the current plan, pending a possible recall, is to issue a software patch which will keep the fan permanently on in order to reduce the sky-high failure rates. Not an ideal solution, really – especially as many laptops, typically those with high-end discrete graphics, tend to sound like jet-engines once the fan kicks in.
Nvidia finishes its filing by assuring vendors that the issue caused by a weak material set is not causing “any abnormal failure rates in any systems using NVIDIA products other than certain notebook configurations,” but ominously ends with the statement “there can be no assurance that we will not discover defects in other MCP or GPU products.”
Are there any bit-tech readers with a Nvidia-powered notebook that's been misbehaving recently? Perhaps you're feeling a little smug about choosing ATI? Share your thoughts over in the forums.
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As much as I dislike the greenskins, at least they're not trying to shuffle it under the rug and ignore it.
i read people using notebook coolers to keep the fps stable so possibly a heat thing going on here so i guess my notebook is one thats defective :(
I mean, what the hell? They discover these defects right before Tegra-based devices are to come?
I have already made my mind about buying one, but that's certainly an interesting marketing technique.
Bear in mind the MBP fans don't ramp NEARLY often enough, I have to use SMC fan controller to run them at 4k RPM to maintain even 40 degrees. They ramp at a CPU temp of above 60, which is not, excuse the pun, cool.
That said - Mine is quite old now >.>
"OMG I downloaded Nvidia's update and now my laptop is going crazy and the fan is stuck on and it sounds like a jet HOW DO I RFIX IT!!!111"
Even worse, the 'forum battles' between users when one reverts the patch and fries his GPU, then blames another forum member :D
Those actually might get fun to watch..
well, this is why i think dedicated graphics cards should live and stay in large space (or HTPC) PC, not laptops, laptops are meant to be portable.
ati.amd.com/technology/xgp/index.html
Make removable, cleanable dust filters for the coolers, and tell the customers that if this isn't cleaned once a monthly they will void their warranty. (Or even better, make a system that prevents the laptop from being turned on before the filter is cleaned.)
I have seen computers melt because of clogged fans. (AMDs thermal shutdown doesn't work very well...) As things are now manufacturers can't really blame the customers, because most models have to be disassembled to be cleaned. The average user won't do this (Or can't, because it will void warranty). On cheaper laptops the disassembly can be very difficult as well.
Problem is that people want compact computers (smaller coolers) with hight performance (more heat). The only solution is more airflow which in the end will clog fans with dust.
/semi rant
Does this not mean the 7-series graphics cards, in which case Macs will not be affected?
Still, ouch for them. It would really suck having a laptop fan stuck on full.
I was thinking the same thing (for my pavilion not XPS though)
From the BetaNews link
We are doomed, DOOMED I say. I might bring HP up on this and see what they can do, there is no way I am having a laptop which has a graphics chip that is almost guaranteed to fail. Though HP have not released any new (graphics) drivers on their site for my laptop since November 07, so if any driver was supposed to keep the fan spinning longer it would have been here by now, this suggests that maybe they are not having a problem.
I am going to kick up a fuss with HP though, just so I can get a real idea of how likely my chip is likely to fail. And if there is a real chance I will just get rid of it. I would rather get an intel x3100 and a faster core2duo. This Turion and 8400 makes for burnt legs. I simply cannot have it on bare legs if its on AC power and doing any thing more than just idling.
I have a friend with a mac book pro that has already has his nvidia card fail. The laptop would run but he could only terminal in from another computer and he could see that it no longer detected the nvidia card. It also happed to his roommate twice with his mac book pro. The funny thing on his was that the first time it stopped displaying video he let the computer get hot then rebooted and the graphics worked for awhile but then once it had cooled down again it never worked again. The problem definitely sounds like an issue of thermal expansion either within or between components. I would say, and they both agree, don't let it stop you from getting a mac book, just make sure you get the apple care protection and you will be covered.