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Defective nVidia GPUs?

Just as a matter of interest...

Does anyone still strip their MacBook Pros to re-apply the thermal compound between the motherboard and the heat-pipe?

Does Apple still lay massive quantities of their thermal-paste on with a trowel?
 
Columbo X said:
Does anyone know if the 8600 in the MBP dynamically scales according to temperature (on some games I get a slowdown after playing for a while that remains until I quit and reload some time later - could be many other variables, but this has got me thinking)?
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I don't think so. I'm playing AoC (in win xp) and WoW (on macosx ofc) om my MBP and it never seems to get slowdowns even after 3-4 hrs long sessions.
 
Does this affect EVERYBODY? Like even people who bought the most recent MBP?
 
Paul Turpin said:
15" 2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo purchased in approx June 2007 - first model with LED backlight
Click to expand...

I've noticed that most issues that arises or that I hear about so far is the 2.2 Ghz mbp with the 128mb vram.. I wonder why so many problems with that specific model?

I noticed that on ebay there are alot of people trying to flip the 2.2ghz even at a low $1250!

I almost snagged one yesterday and and then I saw the nvidia problems and majority of the problems are so far from the 2.2ghz model.
 
****. I think my Macbook Pro might be affected.

When playing Half Life 2, my Macbook can go as high as 80 to even 90 degrees C. Too hot to keep on my lap. It actually resulted me in building a new PC just for gaming on.

Also, when playing games I do get graphical glitches. I always assumed it was just buggy drivers though...
 
snahrl said:
Are the 17" MBPs truly not affected due to the better heat sink?
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I remember reading on Barefeats.com where they say the 17" mbp has a much bigger and more efficient heat sink which allows the gpu to clock up much higher than the 15" mbp.

Anyways, I was just using common sense and put that theory together =/ but still doesnt mean its true or that the 17" mbp is immune to the defect.

But what I've read about the last years 17" 2.4ghz hi res model (non led model), I've yet to hear anyone complain about the gpu dying on them or any glitches with the gpu as well and especially the 17" 2.5, 2.6ghz mbp from early this year so far as well (knock on wood).

But I really like to know which specific nvidia gpu cards are affected..

I did read on many other forums that mostly 8400m cards have a pretty high failure rate and started a big thread in many places even before we were aware of the nvidia gpu overheating issue.. I forgot which laptop brand it was but had the 8400m card with heating issues.

But if you read carefully the article saids that not only its the gpu but its the certain notebook models with the gpu that affects the heat dissipation.
 
jjahshik32 said:
I remember reading on Barefeats.com where they say the 17" mbp has a much bigger and more efficient heat sink which allows the gpu to clock up much higher than the 15" mbp.

Anyways, I was just using common sense and put that theory together =/ but still doesnt mean its true or that the 17" mbp is immune to the defect.

But what I've read about the last years 17" 2.4ghz hi res model (non led model), I've yet to hear anyone complain about the gpu dying on them or any glitches with the gpu as well and especially the 17" 2.5, 2.6ghz mbp from early this year so far as well (knock on wood).

But I really like to know which specific nvidia gpu cards are affected..

I did read on many other forums that mostly 8400m cards have a pretty high failure rate and started a big thread in many places even before we were aware of the nvidia gpu overheating issue.. I forgot which laptop brand it was but had the 8400m card with heating issues.

But if you read carefully the article saids that not only its the gpu but its the certain notebook models with the gpu that affects the heat dissipation.
Click to expand...

I wonder if the 8600s are affected. That's what I'll be getting in mine.

It would make sense that, if the 17" has a better heatsink, then that may mean there won't be much of an issue.
 
I've just decided to keep my 17" mbp, I havnt had any problems with it and when my apple care arrives next week I'm going to enroll it asap!

One thing that bothers me now is.. should I run an long intensive gpu session for it to fail then send it to apple in which apple will replace the logic board with the new non defective gpu that nvidia apparently reimbursed apple with?

Here's a bit of a "almost" and "not yet confirmed" relief..

http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=2172

"I know, I know, you want me to take a stab at what GPUs are affected. Here’s what I think (remember, this is totally unconfirmed and is just a hunch based on what I’ve been hearing) …

In recent weeks I’ve been hearing about a lot of problems related to the Dell m1330 and m1530, which are powered by the GeForce 8400M GS. For a while now this issue has been put down to overheating of the GPU. I’ve heard from several people who have been hit by this problem, with some having to have multiple motherboard replacements.

There’s details of a modification called the Copper Mod posted on several forums. Finally, what makes the 8400M GS a prime suspect is that the other day an update for this GPU was released by Dell."


and another place

http://seekingalpha.com/article/83754-nvidia-tanks-on-defective-chip-weak-outlook

In a nutshell, this driver may be available, but good luck finding it on Nvidia’s site–it appears to be an OEM first strategy).
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes has more on the issue. He notes that there have been problems recently with Dell’s (DELL) m1330 and m1530 related to overheating. These machines are powered by the GeForce 8400M GS. It’s not confirmed, but it’s a trail to follow. Also see this driver download and this one from Dell on July 1."

I'm crossing my fingers and praying to GOD that its the 8400m GS that's defective.
 
surferfromuk said:
OK, So I just loaded Motion with 25 HD resolution particle emitters and ran it for 10 mins...

These are the results ;

Graphics processor Temp Diode : 78C
Graphics Processor Heatsink : 70C
CPU A Temperature Diode : 78C
Main Heatsink 1 : 63C
Main Heatsink 2 : 44C
Main Heatsink 3: 51C
Enclosure Bottomside :33C

The aluminium bar behind the keyboard is VERY HOT as is the centre underside behind the battery.

Is this something I should be contacting Apple about or is it to be expected ?

P.S : Update : After stopping motion it's back down to 54C in about 2 mins...
Click to expand...


I wouldn't worry at all about the graphics temperatures here. The CPU is a little high, but within the normal range of what I've typically seen of reports here.
 
jjahshik32 said:
I've just decided to keep my 17" mbp, I havnt had any problems with it and when my apple care arrives next week I'm going to enroll it asap!

One thing that bothers me now is.. should I run an long intensive gpu session for it to fail then send it to apple in which apple will replace the logic board with the new non defective gpu that nvidia apparently reimbursed apple with?

Here's a bit of a "almost" and "not yet confirmed" relief..

http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=2172

"I know, I know, you want me to take a stab at what GPUs are affected. Here’s what I think (remember, this is totally unconfirmed and is just a hunch based on what I’ve been hearing) …

In recent weeks I’ve been hearing about a lot of problems related to the Dell m1330 and m1530, which are powered by the GeForce 8400M GS. For a while now this issue has been put down to overheating of the GPU. I’ve heard from several people who have been hit by this problem, with some having to have multiple motherboard replacements.

There’s details of a modification called the Copper Mod posted on several forums. Finally, what makes the 8400M GS a prime suspect is that the other day an update for this GPU was released by Dell."


and another place

http://seekingalpha.com/article/83754-nvidia-tanks-on-defective-chip-weak-outlook

In a nutshell, this driver may be available, but good luck finding it on Nvidia’s site–it appears to be an OEM first strategy).
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes has more on the issue. He notes that there have been problems recently with Dell’s (DELL) m1330 and m1530 related to overheating. These machines are powered by the GeForce 8400M GS. It’s not confirmed, but it’s a trail to follow. Also see this driver download and this one from Dell on July 1."

I'm crossing my fingers and praying to GOD that its the 8400m GS that's defective.
Click to expand...

Dell also sells laptops with the 8600M along with the 8400M (you have to customize it).

Did they release new drivers for the 8600M as well?
 
Oh man this is a nightmare situation, though it may seem like the 17" are less prone to the problem, it still has me worried that my week old 17" MBP's GPU could go down the crapper.
I was going to export an hour long video which would've taken hours to export, but I might just export it in chunks.

I joined this forum to gain some knowledge, instead I find out all the potential flaws my brand new MBP has, live and learn I guess :p
 
mynameisshawn said:
Oh man this is a nightmare situation, though it may seem like the 17" are less prone to the problem, it still has me worried that my week old 17" MBP's GPU could go down the crapper.
I was going to export an hour long video which would've taken hours to export, but I might just export it in chunks.

I joined this forum to gain some knowledge, instead I find out all the potential flaws my brand new MBP has, live and learn I guess :p
Click to expand...

same here
 
snahrl said:
Dell also sells laptops with the 8600M along with the 8400M (you have to customize it).

Did they release new drivers for the 8600M as well?
Click to expand...

Not sure about Dell getting the 8600m GT drivers.. but all I hear and read about is the 8400m GS and a thread that even started 7 months ago still continuing today with people who got their motherboards replaced more than 4 times.
 
I was also thinking of putting Vista on my MBP, mostly for games and MSPaint. I guess I'll put that on hold as well.

Hopefully some patch could fix this problem, but I'm not holding my breath.
 
snahrl said:
Hmm..

A little investigation for the recent driver update on Dell's site reveals this:

http://support.dell.com/support/dow...-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=6&fileid=261031

Affected systems:

Video: nVidia GeForce 8400M, GeForce 8400M GS, GeForce 8600M, Driver, Windows Vista 32-bit, Multi Language, Multi System, v.175.97 V32, A08

HOWEVER...

If you do a search for the 8600M, the last known driver update was back in March...while the 8400 line was done just recently..

Perhaps the 8600M isn't affected?
Click to expand...

Interesting.. Maybe the 8600M was included just because its a newer driver all together and will benefit from the update anyways??

When I read about some 8600M GT owners complaining about their gpu has overheated and died, its usually the 2.2ghz mbp with the 128mb vram (I think I read from 1 or 2 people with the 2.4ghz that the gpu has frozen with weird colors but not all together stopped working. (I guess still overheating issue).

Also I heard about 50 people having that mbp is picking up x1300 and the screen is not working due to the nvidia dying.. but then that's a major isolated issue..

I dont know how to look into this.. seems like almost all 8400m GS owners have had more than 1 motherboard swap that I read about and the occasional 8600M GT 128mb vram posters pop up (but to me it sounds like more of an isolated issue than a real big one unlike the 8400M GS).

Also if the 8600M GT was included in the defective gpu lot.. wouldnt Apple released a gpu or smc update by now.. or yesterday?
 
While gaming my penryn MBP, the gpu runs always 20º highter than the cpu.
So last time i saw, GPU @ 82º
CPU @ 64º

How are ur temps going ?
 
8600M is affected, I'm sure of it. I bought an HP laptop (dv9500t) last fall that came with an 8600M GS. After a few months of use, the screen output started to become corrupted when the machine was powered on for more than 10 minutes at a time. HP replaced the system board under warranty.

I have a buddy who bought an HP dv6500t laptop (also equipped with 8600M GS) who experienced the exact same problem a few months later.

Note that I was running Linux on mine, and even when the screen became corrupted, I could still SSH into it and everything appeared to be working perfectly (I even re-compiled the kernel in my SSH session, just for grins and that worked without error) which leads me to believe the problem was limited to the graphics chipset.
 
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