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Is 8600M GT failure just as likely for a non-gamer?
- Thread starter thadoggfather
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What 8600M GT Failure? are you talking about the hype on this forum thats really only the 0.001% of people who have had the chip break, out of the millions who bought the computer?
if you are one of the .001% of the people with a faulty 8600M, then i dont see if it would matter if you were a non-gamer or not.
it could quite possibly be true that if you ARE a gamer, the fault if more likely to happen SOONER than LATER, but if you are one of the .001% it is bound to happen anyway.
it could quite possibly be true that if you ARE a gamer, the fault if more likely to happen SOONER than LATER, but if you are one of the .001% it is bound to happen anyway.
you know, the failure both nvidea and apple have recognized.....
op: i would venture not as much as you arent stressing the gpu as much as you would by gaming. however, im not entirely sure
0.001% ????
Do you honestly think that Apple and all the other PC manufacturers would take steps to extend the coverage for this issue if it were only 0.001% of units affected? It's a lot more and, given that Apple has stated that all MBPs with that chip are covered under the extended agreement, we can probably assume that they are all *potentially* defective. The question is just under what conditions the defect reveals its ugly head and whether there is any way to predict that. The answer seems to be that nobody knows and it's completely unpredictable.
Do you honestly think that Apple and all the other PC manufacturers would take steps to extend the coverage for this issue if it were only 0.001% of units affected? It's a lot more and, given that Apple has stated that all MBPs with that chip are covered under the extended agreement, we can probably assume that they are all *potentially* defective. The question is just under what conditions the defect reveals its ugly head and whether there is any way to predict that. The answer seems to be that nobody knows and it's completely unpredictable.
I did NOT game on my MBP at all and unfortunately I experienced the failure two weeks ago, unexpectedly. Although I knew I possibly had one of the affected models (purchased early Sep '07), I, too, figured the issue was probably a little overhyped and I probably woudn't have any issues seeing as how I don't do anything graphics-intensive anyways. I also do not recall seeing any symptoms of the on-coming failure.
When I took it the Genius Bar, they were unable to run any of the regular diagnostic tests so the tech was told by another "Head Genius" to check the graphics card. He pulled out another external drive labeled "Graphics Test", hooked it up to my machine and ran that test (which of course, it failed).
IMHO, the fact that I don't do ANYTHING taxing on my machine coupled with there being a dedicated Graphics Card test at the Genius Bar (and Apple's response to MBP owners), would lead me to believe that this issue is not all hype. This is an issue that became very real for me but was handled very well by Apple. In the end, they replaced my machine with a brand new unibody 15" and restarted my 3-year Applecare period from the day I picked up the new machine.
When I took it the Genius Bar, they were unable to run any of the regular diagnostic tests so the tech was told by another "Head Genius" to check the graphics card. He pulled out another external drive labeled "Graphics Test", hooked it up to my machine and ran that test (which of course, it failed).
IMHO, the fact that I don't do ANYTHING taxing on my machine coupled with there being a dedicated Graphics Card test at the Genius Bar (and Apple's response to MBP owners), would lead me to believe that this issue is not all hype. This is an issue that became very real for me but was handled very well by Apple. In the end, they replaced my machine with a brand new unibody 15" and restarted my 3-year Applecare period from the day I picked up the new machine.
They replaced it with a unibody macbook pro?!
Come on Nvidia graphics card, fail on me!
Wait, what?!
I kid you guys not, this has been the absolute BEST handling of defective merchandise I've ever received from any manufacturer. I never expected to receive a new machine and in fact was worried that the failure had somehow expanded to my hard drive (my last backup was performed during the week between Christmas and New Year's) and I would lose some recently purchased music. Luckily, it hadn't and they were able to migrate everything over to the new MBP.
To give some details on what happened in my situation: One evening I came home from work and started surfing on the web. About 30 mins into it, my computer completely froze. When I tried restarting it, it would not boot past the apple and it kept on giving me the kernel panic message alternating with a completely frozen screen. The only test I was able to actually run was the hardware test and it gave me this error code - 4VDC/1/40000003: VideoController (kept it in my iPhone to show the tech). I took it to the Genius Bar the next day and they ran the tests and took it in to replace the NVIDIA card and the logic board. The next day I got a call from the tech and he told me that they had replaced the parts but the temps were running a little high, so I had two choices - 1. They could order more parts and try the repair again (which would add days to my repair time) or 2. Replace the MBP with a brand new machine and migrate my information over. The tech actually sounded a little like he was trying to talk me into taking the new machine and so I kinda got the feeling I might have a recurring problem on my hands if I decided to just repair it. Of course, I took option 2.
When I went to pick it up the next day, the tech told me that my Applecare I'd purchased with the original MBP was applied to the new MBP and the date would be reset to start from the day I picked up the new machine (meaning I now have 3 yrs. from Jan. 2009 worth of coverage).
My exchange: Mid-2007, 15" MBP, Base model (2.2GHz, 120GB, 2GB RAM) for a Base model, 15" unibody MBP (2.4GHz, 250GB, 2GB RAM).
The Knox Street store on Knox and McKinney. I normally go to the Northpark store since parking is easier to find, but I was unable to make a next-day appt. at either store. I decided to stop at Knox just to see if they would be able to fit me in since they are usually a little less busy and luckily they were nice enough to help me right on the spot (something I've never gotten at Northpark). Although I know it's not close to Lewisville (I attend UNT), I would highly recommend that location. They are now my official Apple Store.
dont get your hopes up, i got the same machine back with a new logic board
but yeah it happened to me too and i only use it once a week for gaming
whoever said its .001% is not so informed me thinks espically when my apple store has a external HD just used to check for Nvidia graphics issues...
Bringing the thread back from the dead....
Okay this thread has been inactive for a while but I figured I would post. My 17" MBP (2.4) just gave up the ghost today
I was having some weird performance issues but nothing that I could put my finger on. Then I was getting a problem where once and a while I could not get my display to come on but after a forced reboot (or two) I could get it back. Today - nadda. No display nor any display on my external Cinema Display. I reset PRAM, NVRAM, PMU and still nothing. The machine is indeed booting up though - once up I can control the keyboard backlight, volume etc... but no display.
Turns out today is one day after my systems 2nd birthday as it were. Originally Apple extended coverage to 2 years from date of purchase for the faulty 8600 chips. Now it turns out (to my relief) it is three years. I do also have an Apple Care agreement so I should be fairly covered. I'm just a little concerned about how long it will be to get it fixed (taking it to the Genius Bar in an hour).
To answer the OP - I do pretty much zero gaming on this system. It is my work computer. Granted I use it around 8 hours a day every day - but nothing really taxing. One thing I can note - it gets hotter than any computer I have ever used (sounds like the video problem is somewhat related to heat).
The fact that Apple just extended the repair warranty for this issue by another year (as of May 2009) means this was not something happening to 0.01% of the MBP population.
Here's hoping I get it back quickly....
Okay this thread has been inactive for a while but I figured I would post. My 17" MBP (2.4) just gave up the ghost today
I was having some weird performance issues but nothing that I could put my finger on. Then I was getting a problem where once and a while I could not get my display to come on but after a forced reboot (or two) I could get it back. Today - nadda. No display nor any display on my external Cinema Display. I reset PRAM, NVRAM, PMU and still nothing. The machine is indeed booting up though - once up I can control the keyboard backlight, volume etc... but no display.
Turns out today is one day after my systems 2nd birthday as it were. Originally Apple extended coverage to 2 years from date of purchase for the faulty 8600 chips. Now it turns out (to my relief) it is three years. I do also have an Apple Care agreement so I should be fairly covered. I'm just a little concerned about how long it will be to get it fixed (taking it to the Genius Bar in an hour).
To answer the OP - I do pretty much zero gaming on this system. It is my work computer. Granted I use it around 8 hours a day every day - but nothing really taxing. One thing I can note - it gets hotter than any computer I have ever used (sounds like the video problem is somewhat related to heat).
The fact that Apple just extended the repair warranty for this issue by another year (as of May 2009) means this was not something happening to 0.01% of the MBP population.
Here's hoping I get it back quickly....
Taking my machine to the Apple Retailer tomorrow
I know this is an old thread but thought I'd post the link to the KB article for posterity. My 17" with G-Force 8600m failed yesterday. I've booted up and backed up manually and with Time Machine so now it will be interesting to see if it is repaired or replaced since mine was custom configured to the maximum in every way possible.
To give you all an idea of failure time.
The computer was purchased in August 2007
The GPU died on the 5th December 2010
I didn't play games, this machine was primarily for programming, media and web development.
Apple's warranty extension should cover this as no output on the inbuilt TFT or the external display and it matches the symptoms from this article:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts2377
I know this is an old thread but thought I'd post the link to the KB article for posterity. My 17" with G-Force 8600m failed yesterday. I've booted up and backed up manually and with Time Machine so now it will be interesting to see if it is repaired or replaced since mine was custom configured to the maximum in every way possible.
To give you all an idea of failure time.
The computer was purchased in August 2007
The GPU died on the 5th December 2010
I didn't play games, this machine was primarily for programming, media and web development.
Apple's warranty extension should cover this as no output on the inbuilt TFT or the external display and it matches the symptoms from this article:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts2377
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No problems, they check the graphics card, not ur ram or hd.
I told the tech that I've changed both RAM and HD when I got mine replaced, and he told me: "We expect that quite a large part of the owners will have replaced both RAM and HD when a computer approaches 3 years old. It's a reason they are called user replaceable parts and they won't affect your graphic card anyway"