2008 MBP + Nvidia 8600M GT failure rate

[freakqnc]

i'm wondering how common the, apple acknowledged, display issue is with the 2007/8 macbook pros? do they all fail, or just some?

i've got a lightly used 2008 MBP that's working fine, but what are the odds it will stay that way?

i'm trying to decide whether to get rid while it's still fine, or hang on to it and hope for the best? the 4 year GPU warranty is due to expire fairly soon.

If your is still fine sell it now. The repair has expired already for all covered models, just learnt that from the local geniuses at the NYC store on 14 St. Apple sux donkey sized ones... their hardware is garbage these days and their warranty is even worse given how expensive Apple hardware is. Not that other brands are excellent, but could have bought almost 4 similarly equipped Asus laptops for what I spent back then for my MBP!

To get good karma though state to potential buyers that while you are aware of the problem your unit never displayed it to date. It could happen... mine showed it about 6 times but then I have been able to user it for weeks hours at a time without ever seeing the issue repeating. I have been pampering this MBP a lot and I always use it with a laptop cooler... so I may have extended its life by taking extremely good care and using it quite infrequently... good luck!

 

[snaky69]

If your is still fine sell it now. The repair has expired already for all covered models, just learnt that from the local geniuses at the NYC store on 14 St. Apple sux donkey sized ones... their hardware is garbage these days and their warranty is even worse given how expensive Apple hardware is. Not that other brands are excellent, but could have bought almost 4 similarly equipped Asus laptops for what I spent back then for my MBP!

It's not "Apple hardware". As previously mentioned, other manufacturers(HP and Acer) used that very same defective GPU and had the same problems. It's nVidia you have to blame, not Apple.

Their warranty is also excellent, and the customer service is top notch. How is it that the current hardware is garbage? For laptops, Macbook pro's(especially the 15" and 17" variant) are some of the most powerful laptops out there at the moment. Find me a quality Vaio or Lenovo notebook with the same features, and it's going to cost just as much(if not more) than the MBP.

 

[voyagerd]

Mine failed and I had to pay $300 to get it repaired

 

[09iMac=Fail]

Ours was good until 2 years and 11 months, then it took a crap. The second motherboard lasted about 5 months before it failed. The third motherboard lasted about 8 months before it failed last week. We are at 4 years and 2 months and have no more warranty, but we need a fourth motherboard put in.

I'm afraid we'll have a paper weight on our hands in a few more months as this graphics problem worsens. I've had much better luck with my G5 Powermac, iPod and 2011 27" iMac. 3 for 4 ain't bad, but this Macbook Pro has been the worst electronic item of any sort I have ever owned.

My hunch was right, I should have dumped it on Craigslist for a few hundred dollars before it was too late. I wish the best of luck to all of you 8600M GT holders out there! You'll need it.

It would be really cool if Apple offered some sort of trade in program for us. I'd happily take $400 - $600 trade in value towards the purchase of a new Macbook Pro.

 

[shokan]

this did work for me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHxLC1vi0Xw

Amazingly, this radical solution has worked for me on a Dell xps 1530M. It also has the 8600M GT.

 

[Reddmanz]

My 2007 2.4 went a few months ago, after trying and failing to save up for a retina I took in into my local Apple store to see if they could do anything. They ran the usual GPU test and it came back as failed. After long conversations with 2 genius' and the store manager they said there was nothing they could do apart from me paying for a whole new logic board, something which we both agreed wasnt worth it for a machine this old.

After that I sent a message to Tim Cooks public email just to see what would happen. Funnily enough I got a reply from someone in Apples Cork headquaters (Im from the UK) asking me to give her a call. We had a short conversation and she asked me to leave it with her for a few days. 2 days later she gave me a call and said if I took it back to the same store and could get it to fail the test again they would replace it for free even though it is obviously well past the 4 year window Apple gave.

Obviously it failed again and to my suprise they had replacement logic boards for mine in stock! I asked them if it would just happen again in another couple years but they assured me the one they were putting in was the Rev B board. So after 4 hours wondering round the shopping centre I came back and my Mac was sat there waiting for me back to normal!

So just a message to people out there who think they are completely screwed, you aren't! Go talk nicely to your local store/send a nice email and it seems Apple are still happy to help out customers with this issue!

 

[clyde2801]

My 2007 2.4 went a few months ago, after trying and failing to save up for a retina I took in into my local Apple store to see if they could do anything. They ran the usual GPU test and it came back as failed. After long conversations with 2 genius' and the store manager they said there was nothing they could do apart from me paying for a whole new logic board, something which we both agreed wasnt worth it for a machine this old.

After that I sent a message to Tim Cooks public email just to see what would happen. Funnily enough I got a reply from someone in Apples Cork headquaters (Im from the UK) asking me to give her a call. We had a short conversation and she asked me to leave it with her for a few days. 2 days later she gave me a call and said if I took it back to the same store and could get it to fail the test again they would replace it for free even though it is obviously well past the 4 year window Apple gave.

Obviously it failed again and to my suprise they had replacement logic boards for mine in stock! I asked them if it would just happen again in another couple years but they assured me the one they were putting in was the Rev B board. So after 4 hours wondering round the shopping centre I came back and my Mac was sat there waiting for me back to normal!

So just a message to people out there who think they are completely screwed, you aren't! Go talk nicely to your local store/send a nice email and it seems Apple are still happy to help out customers with this issue!

I was wondering if they had replacement boards in that DIDN'T have the same manufacturing defect after hearing early on about people's fixed MBP's subsequently failing.

 

[Reddmanz]

I was wondering if they had replacement boards in that DIDN'T have the same manufacturing defect after hearing early on about people's fixed MBP's subsequently failing.

I dont quite understand what you mean? I obviously also heard about peoples machines failing after being fixed and I mentioned this to the guys in the store. They obviously assured me that this one would be perfectly fine.

My thinking is that if it does go again, this repair is logged under my name and I'll take it back in and ask for a replacement machine.

 

[geoffreak]

I seem to be one of the few owners of this MBP that hasn't had any issues. My machine is still working fine 4.5 years in. I want to replace it soon just because it's a little slow for my liking, but I haven't had any graphics problems.

 

[Queen6]

My Early 2008 15" MBP 2.4 Penryn is still running like a champ, it has hardly been off only to travel or change country (work related) and has effectively been the family desktop running nonstop, only restarting for Apple updates.

It will pass to my daughter this weekend and it will hopefully continue for several more years. It has spent two years in the Middle East and the last two years it`s been in the tropics. The Early 08 has seen little mercy over the years if it had to be pushed it was, only fault both fans failed this year. It ran on one fan for nearly six months with consequent stratospheric temperatures (mid 90C`s) I am pretty sure I can thank the dust from Qatar for being the catalyst.

So what do I think? I would say it`s time to move on, I already have only I dont need to sell, Apple will no longer cover these machines and GPU failure is both terminal and expensive. If you want to avoid or at least mitigate failure of the GPU watch your temps and try to keep it below 70C I use UltraFan and it attempts to keep the CPU at 60C, by spooling up the fans sooner than Apple`s own algorithm, it works however dont expect miracles.

Thermal stress is also the killer as my machine has rarely been shutdown over the years, it has helped with the systems longevity. Heating and cooling components rapidly is by far one of the biggest causes of failure. I you choose to keep the machine as each year passes, it`s residual value will drop, which is also a consideration, less return and equally less loss. I replaced mine for performance issues rather than solely the Nvidia GPU, if you need a newer machine now is the time, if you are concerned about premature GPU failure sell, however let`s be fair with full disclosure or you are only dumping your problem onto someone who is likely uninformed, and they may well end up suffering the consequence...

 

[Tannerman917]

My 2007 2.4 went a few months ago, after trying and failing to save up for a retina I took in into my local Apple store to see if they could do anything. They ran the usual GPU test and it came back as failed. After long conversations with 2 genius' and the store manager they said there was nothing they could do apart from me paying for a whole new logic board, something which we both agreed wasnt worth it for a machine this old.

After that I sent a message to Tim Cooks public email just to see what would happen. Funnily enough I got a reply from someone in Apples Cork headquaters (Im from the UK) asking me to give her a call. We had a short conversation and she asked me to leave it with her for a few days. 2 days later she gave me a call and said if I took it back to the same store and could get it to fail the test again they would replace it for free even though it is obviously well past the 4 year window Apple gave.

Obviously it failed again and to my suprise they had replacement logic boards for mine in stock! I asked them if it would just happen again in another couple years but they assured me the one they were putting in was the Rev B board. So after 4 hours wondering round the shopping centre I came back and my Mac was sat there waiting for me back to normal!

So just a message to people out there who think they are completely screwed, you aren't! Go talk nicely to your local store/send a nice email and it seems Apple are still happy to help out customers with this issue!

So there is a Rev. B board for the laptop? I'm considering buying one from a friend, but I can't afford to spend $500-600 on a shiny slab of aluminum.

 

[crammedberry]

I have an early 2008 Macbook Pro with the 8600M GT. Hopefully I'm not jinxing myself here but I have never had a problem with this laptop. I get occasional graphics glitches but I've gotten those on every computer I've ever owned. Again I'm not speaking about what most of you guy see like the lines on the screen etc, I've just seen small artifact, hiccups from time to time. They are rare but I have seen them and can probably count the cases with one hand, being as honest as I can be here.

I have in no way pampered this laptop, it is has run under variable loads as well, and certainly under heavy load a majority of the time. I have ran games on this maxed out fairly often. In fact during the first few years I was still in my teens and all I pretty much did was play games (don't judge... haha), it heats up quite a bit but somehow it just keeps on kicking. This laptop is going on 5 years now and it has been maxed almost everyday for the past 5 years.

I don't believe that the failure rate for these machines is 100%, I had an iBook G3 back in the day that failed about 6 times on me, often within days of it being returned to me before apple replaced it, that was a bad machine. To me, this machine has actually been a godsend. Maybe I just got lucky and the powers that be cut me a break, I guess I was due for a break after the iBook fiasco... haha.

Anyway, those are my 2 cents. Hopefully there are others out there with fully functional pros and I'm not the last man standing.

 

[shokan]

You're lucky not to have had the GPU failure.

For anyone who picks up a laptop (any manufacturer) with this GPU, here's what worked for me to prevent failure. Buy this:

NZXT Aluminum Notebook cooler w/ 3 120mm adjustable fans Model CRYO LX

It's the granddaddy of laptop coolers and about $100. You'll have to search around to find it somewhere because I notice Newegg lists out of stock at this writing early 2013. I've used this beast for over six months, and no more failures. It drops the GPU temp sometimes up to 20°C. Use the AC power cord instead of stressing the laptop by using the USB power option (and causing even more heat). When you're away from home and not using the cooler, use your screen at dim settings and set the display to shut off early when not in a session.

By the way, earlier in this thread you'll see a post of mine about the radical fix I used to resurrect the GPU after it failed. It worked... twice. Right after that, I got the cooler above and it's been good ever since.

 

[crammedberry]

That is surprising... my GPU Diode is at 61ºC right now and I'm not even doing anything intensive, just reading this site. It is usually much higher than that when I'm really pushing it. I noticed some users resorted to torching their GPUs, or baking them among other creative solutions. I guess if it ever does actually fail I'll resort to that since at that point I'll have nothing to lose. I've gotten 5 years of use out of this machine, hopefully I'll get another few years out of it before it craps out on me.

So I guess I really am the last man standing then?

 

[Idefix]

Posting this from my 15" 2008 MBP with its recently replaced MB under the now-expired 4-year warranty. It failed at 3.7 years.

Luckily enough, it failed during the video test on the second time I took it in (persistence paid off--it was an uphill battle with Apple...possibly one of the last few MBs to be replaced under the warranty.)

And, while I was there picking it up, lo and behold, an older lady was paying $300 for a replaced MB on an MBP looking to be the exact same model as mine...man, that was really disgusting to see happening.

Yeah, it could have been a different issue with the old lady's MB, but what are the odds of that?

 

[duervo]

... I've gotten 5 years of use out of this machine, hopefully I'll get another few years out of it before it craps out on me.

So I guess I really am the last man standing then?

My early-2008 MBP is still going strong (knock on wood). It's had 2 left fan replacements, and the DVD drive is finicky (probably on its last legs). It's not used for gaming like it was when I was using it (wife uses it now.) It's just a general usage system now ... lots of Facebook, web browsing, and basic photo editing (red-eye correction, blemish removal ... very minor touch-ups.) So, hopefully we should get at least another year or two out of it. Considering its age, I figure any extra day it continues to work is just a bonus at this point (and this one is almost old enough to start going to school soon.)

 

[shokan]

That is surprising... my GPU Diode is at 61ºC right now and I'm not even doing anything intensive, just reading this site.

With the cooler I mentioned above, 60° is the absolute low end of temps I see for my unit, and I check often. Usually I'll see around 70-80. Converting a video will push it to an incredible 90°. And that's with the cooler. Before I got the cooler, the temps were truly insane. Like fry an egg insane.

Wonder why and how your GPU runs at temps that it was probably designed to run at. Maybe a manufacturing flaw that affected only a certain percentage of their output. Meaning maybe there's a million people out there happily still using their laptops with this GPU at normal temps and are completely unaware of the many who got the bad ones.

edit: just checked now and it's 61°. With the cooler running full blast. Just browsing. It'd be up around 75° without the cooler.

 

[crammedberry]

I think 61ºC is more than enough to fry an egg... haha. I still think my laptop runs pretty hot. I never really paid any attention to the temps that much, other than knowing that it always ran hot to the touch. Today it is actually even cooler, coming in at 53ºC for the GPU Diode, though in all fairness, it is a cold day out.



A friend of mine from school actually has the same laptop as mine, and as far as I know she hasn't ever had a problem with hers either. Don't get me wrong, back when I was doing some heavy graphics work on my computer I would run into other laptops in the field that would have lines on the screen, kernel panics, graphics artifacts, nothing mine ever even came close to matching. That's how I first found out about the nVidia 8600M problem.

 

[Badrottie]

Logic board replaced by recall and still see GPU Diode at 63…

 

[snaky69]

Logic board replaced by recall and still see GPU Diode at 63…

That's because it's the normal operating temperature for this computer when it's nearly idle, simple as that.

 

[shokan]

Imagine the time and money spent because of the problems with this one little chip. Not just Apple, all the other manufacturers like Dell, etc also. Tally up all the negotiations by phone and online, mobo replacements, ramifications over at nVidia... increased dosages of high blood pressure medication... it had to run in the millions. all told.

 

[MagnusVonMagnum]

I'm pretty sure it's ~100%. Check the thread out that's up to 1435434602493452 pages of people complaining about the 8600.

Yes, that many pages

I'm pretty sure it's not ~100%. I've had mine since late 2008 and I'm typing on it right now and it's never had any service done to it (I did replace the internal hard drive with a 500GB 7200 RPM one and upgrade the memory, but that was to enhance performance with Logic Pro. I spent 2.5 years working on my album with it. I even played Torchlight, Diablo2, Tales of Monkey Island, Jedi Outcast, Jedi Academy and Doom3 on it among others (many on a 24" external monitor at 1900x1200). I simply have fan control on it so it never gets too hot. No glitches. No freezes. No issues (so far knock on wood). The only issue I've had is the left fan has a slightly noisy bearing that started about two years after I bought it. I've been meaning to clean or replace it, but it's not "real" loud and I didn't want to chance something going wrong in the middle of my recording project. I'll probably get to it soon.

 

[Idefix]

it's definitely not 100%--it's just no good, very bad, when your number comes up...

 

[shokan]

better home-made cooling solution

My NZXT Cryo LX super-duper laptop cooler broke a few days ago, a sheared off power jack that fell inside a metal housing I can't get apart. Disaster!

Suddenly, I am in the position of having a ticking time-bomb laptop again. The 8600M GT already failed twice last year and received the infamous blow-torch treatment.

See the pic. Inside the box under the laptop is a small household fan pointing upwards through a hole cut-out in the box top.

The laptop is a Dell XPS 1530M... same chip inside as the Macs in this thread. With this home-made arrangement, my laptop never been happier. Still hot by any standard, but a lot cooler than it was with the NXZT cooler, the most badass cooler on the market.

Even under heavy video conversion load, the temps are acceptable. On lowest fan setting, it sounds about the same as a noisy desktop. I won't even bother getting the cooler repaired or replaced.

 

[MagnusVonMagnum]

My NZXT Cryo LX super-duper laptop cooler broke a few days ago, a sheared off power jack that fell inside a metal housing I can't get apart. Disaster!

Suddenly, I am in the position of having a ticking time-bomb laptop again. The 8600M GT already failed twice last year and received the infamous blow-torch treatment.

How hot would you say it was when it failed (or would cause it to fail)? I've been using my Macbook Pro with the 8600M GT now for almost four and half years and I've had no problems at all. I use Fan Control (auto-adjusts for temperature at a preset curve). Dumping my song tracks runs the thing at nearly 100% on both CPUs and I did that several dozen times to no ill. Maybe I just got a "good" one? (I thought I read they were ALL bad, though).