8600M GT Life Support and Death Extending tips.

[Quad 2.5 G5 =)]

It is now a fact that all GeForce 8600M GT GPUs will die (please correct me if I am wrong). Now, I have a last-gen 17" MBP, and when I play games, I do not put it into sleep mode right after, but continue to use it for less heavy tasks. Is there anything else I can do to keep it alive? What is the purpose of the Intel GMA X3100 in the MBP, and could it be used like the 9400M/9600M GT combo in the Unibody MBPs, with a firmware patch?

 

[Sneakz]

MBP doesn't have a GMA X3100. It uses an Intel 965PM chipset which doesn't have integrated graphics.

 

[shadowbird423]

Actually, the OP is right, it does have one (at least what I heard). I know tons of people who haven't had problems yet, so I wouldn't worry too much...

 

[Quad 2.5 G5 =)]

MBP doesn't have a GMA X3100. It uses an Intel 965PM chipset which doesn't have integrated graphics.

I read that it kicked in when the GeForce 8600 failed, that's the reason you could see it in Target disk mode, or screen sharing.

 

[Smurfed]

I do that sometimes after gaming, but for now i just prop up the back with the old mbp manual for more ventilation and smcfancontrol it at 4k rpm min fan speed.

BTW, this is after the gpu crapped out this summer, now I'm just waiting for apple to put some ATi cards on the next gen mbp's.