So are all MBP owners with the 8600m GT cards screwed?

[Eddyisgreat]

I think you could even get the 17" model, because it is the only one that has an express card slot which the 07 macbook pros have. They have to give you a model that is equal to your old machine spec wise ie discrete graphics or whatever. I got lucky in that this occurred 20 days before my applecare ran out haha.

happened to me. and since the matte ones I assume are the 2.66 i7's...yeah...awesome

My girlfriends 8600GT was replaced twice, sent in once more but the techs "failed to reproduce the issue, then the screen was replaced, and now the screen light won't go on. All 4 issues were separated by about a month. It's driving her crazy. I was assured a MBP replacement would come next if the the fourth repair didn't fix it. I'm waiting for a reply now. Do you think they are just replacing the faulty 8600GT mobo's with used ones and hoping for a statistical win?

lol what is a statistical win?

anywho might as well start to salivating on your (girlfriends) new MBP 'cuz it's pretty much in the bag. Make sure you check out your MBP for ANY issues that are legitimately out of spec i.e. broken disk drive, faulty batteries, nonworking airport etc etc and bring it into apple asap.

 

[FuNGi]

-snip-

lol what is a statistical win?

anywho might as well start to salivating on your (girlfriends) new MBP 'cuz it's pretty much in the bag. Make sure you check out your MBP for ANY issues that are legitimately out of spec i.e. broken disk drive, faulty batteries, nonworking airport etc etc and bring it into apple asap.

The "statistical win" is a poorly worded reference to the idea that if Apple knows the 8600 graphics cards have a certain fail rate that is low enough, say 1/100, to justify continuing to send them out in repaired machines (as opposed to using newly designed or upgraded cards) even if eventually they will need to replace the entire laptop.

The odds however of the same person receiving
2 chips that fail in a row is:
1-(99/100 * 99/100) = 1.99%
and 3 chips that fail in a row is then:
1-(99/100 * 99/100 * 99/100) = 2.99% {NOT 3.98% as you might expect}
and 4 chips that fail in a row:
1-(99/100 * 99/100 * 99/100 * 99/100) = 3.94%

It's an economic gamble on this chips failure rate vs. replacement cost (of the chip and the laptop). Whew.

Just got off the phone with the Apple tech and a new 15" unibody is on the way for her. I am thoroughly salivating now and she will fall back in love with in all likelihood.

 

[Cheesebach]

The odds however of the same person receiving
2 chips that fail in a row is:
1-(99/100 * 99/100) = 1.99%
and 3 chips that fail in a row is then:
1-(99/100 * 99/100 * 99/100) = 2.99% {NOT 3.98% as you might expect}
and 4 chips that fail in a row:
1-(99/100 * 99/100 * 99/100 * 99/100) = 3.94%

Actually, the odds that the same person would receive 2 bad chips in a row under your assumption is:
(1/100)*(1/100) = .01%
and 3 bad chips in a row:
(1/100)^3 = .0001%
and so on.

So the actual failure rate must be much higher or some people are just EXTREMELY unlucky. It seems like most, if not all the chips are failure prone and its more a matter of usage on when they'll eventually fail.

 

[MartiNZ]

Had not seen this thread before but sitting here with my early '08 15" MBP with said GPU, only 6 weeks after its first logic board replacement, I really have to chime in.

Now I'm really hoping it fails again within the remaining 7 months of AppleCare, or better yet not at all again, touch wood, but playing SC2 a lot should increase the chances hmmm.

It really annoys me that this has become the next in a long line of faulty GPU systems in Mac laptops, and even more so given that I've experienced most of them.

First my 800MHz G3 iBook was eventually part of the lifetime replacement programme for ... I can't even remember what the GPU was, but at least that one was reliable, dying every 8 months for me and for other people I knew with such machines.

Then my 12" PowerBook with the GeForce 5200FX failed after 13 months - that was the last time I forewent AppleCare! That replacement was thankfully covered, and the next one 6 months later was eventually FIXED rather than replaced under Consumer Guarantees. That machine is still going happily 2.5 years later!

I sold it to a friend and got this next fail machine. So 3 Apple laptops in a row have been bad apples, as it were. I almost don't want to risk getting another one , but I'm very keen to see what becomes of the overdue Air update! It's just a shame that they know they've got me.

 

[TAJones99]

I took my 2007 2.4 ghz macbook pro with the 8600m GT to apple today, just to have them check on it and to make sure that I will get the free fix if it does die, the test came back as good so for right now things are good. But it feel good that if it does die that it will get taking care of for free

 

[MIKE666]

Actually, the odds that the same person would receive 2 bad chips in a row under your assumption is:
(1/100)*(1/100) = .01%
and 3 bad chips in a row:
(1/100)^3 = .0001%
and so on.

So the actual failure rate must be much higher or some people are just EXTREMELY unlucky. It seems like most, if not all the chips are failure prone and its more a matter of usage on when they'll eventually fail.

(1/100)*(1/100)=0.0001
(1/100)^3=0.000001

 

[wesrk]

Actually, the odds that the same person would receive 2 bad chips in a row under your assumption is:
(1/100)*(1/100) = .01%
and 3 bad chips in a row:
(1/100)^3 = .0001%
and so on.

So the actual failure rate must be much higher or some people are just EXTREMELY unlucky. It seems like most, if not all the chips are failure prone and its more a matter of usage on when they'll eventually fail.

(1/100)*(1/100)=0.0001
(1/100)^3=0.000001

That's what he wrote, he just put a % at the end, so your numbers are the same as his.

 

[dexterousdeven]

happened to me. and since the matte ones I assume are the 2.66 i7's...yeah...awesome



lol what is a statistical win?

anywho might as well start to salivating on your (girlfriends) new MBP 'cuz it's pretty much in the bag. Make sure you check out your MBP for ANY issues that are legitimately out of spec i.e. broken disk drive, faulty batteries, nonworking airport etc etc and bring it into apple asap.

The 17" 2.53 i5 and the 15" hi-rest are both matte so if you had the base macbook pro model like I did they wouldn't give you the 2.66 i7s. They are, however, giving me a 17" macbook pro because the 15" ones don't have an expresscard slot. I just hope I don't regret it cause it's bigger than my old 15" one. Anyone who's had experience going from a 15" to a 17" mbp have any advice or anything?

 

[Eddyisgreat]

Anyone who's had experience going from a 15" to a 17" mbp have any advice or anything?

Yeah hit the gym cause the 17" is HUGE!

Not really. I think you'll appreciate the bigger screen size as you just begin to spread out a little more. Trust me, I thought it was going to be an issue too because I listened to people with the 13" MBP tell me how the 17" wouldn't fit in their purse or how big and heavy it was, but once you realize that it's only a pound heavier than the 15", it's normal after a while. If you plan on using it in planes and the like then it becomes sort of an issue.

 

[Inconsequential]

I've been cycling my 2007 MacBook Pro recently and it seems to be fine. :/

To those who have had theirs replaced, what kind of GPU intensive activities do you do and how frequently?

 

[ek-spoz'd]

So I have the 2.2GHz Santa Rosa and had my 8600 replaced back in Feb...it was 128Mb VRAM on the original and when I look up the new video card in System Profiler it lists it as 128Mb VRAM as well. This was/is expected...everyone was always saying they would replace the card with the same thing (tho mind you a "Rev 2 PCB" on the Apple work order..whether or not there's anything different).

However...I'm having issues with my Superdrive. Ran the Apple Hardware Test on my install Disk 1 last night. Under my hardware profile my VRAM is listed as 256Mb. Can anyone explain this oddity to me??? Anyone else ever notice this?


//

 

[Cheesebach]

There is apparently a bug in the way the hardware test reads your VRAM. The VRAM shown is the system profiler is the accurate one. There is a description of the issue on the Apple website here:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TA24774?viewlocale=en_US

 

[looking4anotebo]

My 2.2 mbp recently kicked it at the 3 year mark. I don't think there can be any doubt that these cards have an extremely high failure rate. Should have been recalled. These were lemons from the start, nvidia knew, apple probably knew sooner than we think. Their half-ass solution of repairing them with the same card is expected, but it's not going to fly with me.

 

[Eddyisgreat]

My 2.2 mbp recently kicked it at the 3 year mark. I don't think there can be any doubt that these cards have an extremely high failure rate. Should have been recalled. These were lemons from the start, nvidia knew, apple probably knew sooner than we think. Their half-ass solution of repairing them with the same card is expected, but it's not going to fly with me.

so what are you going to do now?

 

[looking4anotebo]

so what are you going to do now?

I'm going to give Apple hell if they can't prove to me that this replacement card isn't another dud in waiting. Otherwise, I bought an extended warranty through my cc. They have a lemon policy. I plan to explore that and convince them this situation constitutes a lemon.

 

[Eddyisgreat]

I'm going to give Apple hell if they can't prove to me that this replacement card isn't another dud in waiting. Otherwise, I bought an extended warranty through my cc. They have a lemon policy. I plan to explore that and convince them this situation constitutes a lemon.

Ahh ok. I didn't know whether or not you knew Apple increased the warranty to four years for GPU issues; didn't want you to throw in the towel too quickly.

 

[panzer06]

Ahh ok. I didn't know whether or not you knew Apple increased the warranty to four years for GPU issues; didn't want you to throw in the towel too quickly.

I think the point is some people will be getting repair (or better yet, replacements) right up until that 4 year extension is changed to 5 years. There is no real belief any of the 8x00 series GPUs will last. I'd say go for a full machine replacement if the user has had more than 1 repair regardless of the 3 repair policy. If these folks have stuck with a know defective machine this long they deserve something more than continued uncertainty.

Cheers,

 

[MKelleher]

Are the replaced chips any different?

I had my GeForce 8600M GT fail and Apple replaced the logic board free of charge. I asked the genius if they were replacing the graphics chip with the exact (failure-prone) one as before and he replied that the replaced logic board has a different manufacturing process that takes care of the nVidia problem. Anybody know if this is the truth or just a story?

I checked out the chip on System Profiler before and after the replacement. The only thing different I can see is that before, the PCle Lane Width (whatever that is) was x4, and now it's x16.

 

[jbrenn]

I had my GeForce 8600M GT fail and Apple replaced the logic board free of charge. I asked the genius if they were replacing the graphics chip with the exact (failure-prone) one as before and he replied that the replaced logic board has a different manufacturing process that takes care of the nVidia problem. Anybody know if this is the truth or just a story?

I checked out the chip on System Profiler before and after the replacement. The only thing different I can see is that before, the PCle Lane Width (whatever that is) was x4, and now it's x16.

I have heard it is a different process. They unsolder the gpu and solder a new one in place. The problem is the new chip is the same bad chips. I dont think they have made new boards for quite some time now. The chip will most likely fail again. the x16 is what it should have been.

 

[creative78]

Anybody know if this is the truth or just a story?

My "rev2" failed quicker than the original, under the same usage.

 

[204353]

My "rev2" failed quicker than the original, under the same usage.

Same for me. My revision 2 logic board just experienced the same failure, approximately 3 weeks after the first repair. I was shocked by how quickly this 'fix' failed and it happened at a really bad time as well. I was recording a gig, it didn't make it past the first song before the dreaded flickering and freezing began.

I'm surprised and very frustrated that the replacement died so quickly, considering that the first one took almost two years to fail. In fact, I'd barely used the new chip (compared to the kind of day-to-day use the old one had).

Can anyone confirm that Apple will decide to replace the whole machine if this problem occurs for a third time? Without AppleCare, by the way.

 

[AnonMac50]

Same for me. My revision 2 logic board just experienced the same failure, approximately 3 weeks after the first repair. I was shocked by how quickly this 'fix' failed and it happened at a really bad time as well. I was recording a gig, it didn't make it past the first song before the dreaded flickering and freezing began.

I'm surprised and very frustrated that the replacement died so quickly, considering that the first one took almost two years to fail. In fact, I'd barely used the new chip (compared to the kind of day-to-day use the old one had).

Can anyone confirm that Apple will decide to replace the whole machine if this problem occurs for a third time? Without AppleCare, by the way.

I can't guarantee will replace it if it happens a third time, but they have before and probably will). Good luck.

On another note, I got my 8600M GT replaced last week. It failed the PCI-e lane width test, but it was "Stop on error" mode selected, so it might have failed other tests as well.


AnonMac50

 

[alskdj]

Hi guys, sorry if this has been asked before, but my internet is capped atm and limited to dial up speeds. I was just wondering, since I upgraded my hard drive, which is technically not a user replaceable part (although I took care and didn't damage anything), would the coverage on the 8600m gt be null and void? thanks

 

[AnonMac50]

Hi guys, sorry if this has been asked before, but my internet is capped atm and limited to dial up speeds. I was just wondering, since I upgraded my hard drive, which is technically not a user replaceable part (although I took care and didn't damage anything), would the coverage on the 8600m gt be null and void? thanks

Do you still have your old drive back? If yes, then install that again, then put the computer back together and send it to (I had upgraded to a 500 GB WD).

 

[creative78]

Same for me. My revision 2 logic board just experienced the same failure, approximately 3 weeks after the first repair. I was shocked by how quickly this 'fix' failed and it happened at a really bad time as well. I was recording a gig, it didn't make it past the first song before the dreaded flickering and freezing began.

I'm surprised and very frustrated that the replacement died so quickly, considering that the first one took almost two years to fail. In fact, I'd barely used the new chip (compared to the kind of day-to-day use the old one had).

Can anyone confirm that Apple will decide to replace the whole machine if this problem occurs for a third time? Without AppleCare, by the way.

It seems Apples policy on replacements is somewhat "flexible", in my situation it was replaced after the 2nd repair (I had no Applecare). (The 2nd repair was a total mess so a replacement was ordered the day I received my laptop back from the second repair - so I suppose it was at the beginning of my 3rd issue, see #2409 of this thread - https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/10540795/)