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Unibody affected by failing nVida - AGAIN!

UltraNEO*

UltraNEO*

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jun 16, 2007
4,057
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近畿日本
Just discovered this... And who would of thought, it could happen two in a row? :rolleyes: Seriously, this isn't good for Apple sales, particularly if your one of the few who've purchased the new Unibody MacBook/Pro.

http://cnettv.cnet.com/2001-1_53-50004762.html?tag=nl.e404

And to think many folks here sold their Penryn's because of this.. Only to upgraded to the beautiful looking Unibody, to discover the same problem STILL exists! What a complete waste of time and effort that was....

Could it possibly occur three times in a row?
 
That Inquirer article has already made the rounds on MacRumors, but it's interesting to see it all explained with illustrations.

I almost sold my Penryn MBP just to rid myself of the potential for GPU failure. I decided to keep it and buy AppleCare instead. I would have been pretty irritated if I had bought a unibody only to find out that it too could have a defective GPU. I'm all the more glad I still have a matte screen and that my laptop doesn't look like a giant iPod touch.
 
That was totally worth it just to see the Mario Kart reenactment video at the end! Totally worth it!!
 
Phrasikleia said:
That Inquirer article has already made the rounds on MacRumors, but it's interesting to see it all explained with illustrations.

I almost sold my Penryn MBP just to rid myself of the potential for GPU failure. I decided to keep it and buy AppleCare instead. I would have been pretty irritated if I had bought a unibody only to find out that it too could have a defective GPU. I'm all the more glad I still have a matte screen and that my laptop doesn't look like a giant iPod touch.
Click to expand...

Bet you're glad you've kept it?

Well... The thing is, I have the original MBP2.2 still! And from what I've heard, it's supposed to be the oldest MBP that's affect by the said fault and I don't treat my machine with any or much respect... it's a workhorse, a tool to make more money and the best part, by far!! I've yet to experience any such video corruption/defect... guess I have one of the machine's that's not affected?

kasakka said:
That cnet commentator seems extremely annoying.
Click to expand...

Yeah!! Though I can't put my finger on it, could it be her nasty accent? :rolleyes:
 
UltraNEO* said:
Bet you're glad you've kept it?

Well... The thing is, I have the original MBP2.2 still! And from what I've heard, it's supposed to be the oldest MBP that's affect by the said fault and I don't treat my machine with any or much respect... it's a workhorse, a tool to make more money and the best part, by far!! I've yet to experience any such video corruption/defect... guess I have one of the machine's that's not affected?



Yeah!! Though I can't put my finger on it, could it be her nasty accent? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Bahh~ I'm not too worried about it anymore. At least we know that the 9400m cards have good bumps and the unibody mbp wont be completely useless if the 9600m gt card dies.

Also yea I agree the announcer sounds annoying.. I think its her voice + the ****ed up teeth.
 
I wouldn't exactly shrug this one off. There are a ton of people on apple's own discussion site talking about the problem..


Just today Mine went in the shop for the exact problem. I can play a game for about 30 seconds on the 9600 before I get the black screen of death..

Also temperatures around 100 celcius +.

clearly a defective chip. It may not mean ALL 9600s are defective, but there is clearly at least one batch (the release models) that are being affected.


They are replacing my logic board.
 
Is nVidia really dumb enough to make the same mistake twice seeing as how the first mistake cost them 200 million dollars? I wouldn't think so but these corporate big wigs can do baffling things at times.

With that said, the Inquirer isn't the most reputable magazine.

Also, did I understand this correctly, the Inquirer split a chip in half, examined the material of TWO macbook pro's and found different material in each? At the end of this semester I will officially have a B.S. in Chemistry but a BS doesn't really give you a very deep background in any one subject. All they said that caught my attention was that both materials had high levels of lead. That in itself doesn't mean a whole lot to me. Going off of memory, all steel is over 95% iron. By adding different amounts of Carbon, and some other trace elements I believe, you can have a large variance in the type of steel manufactured whereas one can collapse your building and the other can sustain it with strength left to spare. In both cases they both have "high levels of iron", so that simply doesn't tell you much.

Is the type of material used a trade secret? If not I'd love to see a public statement by nVidia stating that all chips in the new Macbook Pro's are not affected and because the Inquirer has caused such a stir they should address their findings directly.
 
MVApple said:
Is nVidia really dumb enough to make the same mistake twice seeing as how the first mistake cost them 200 million dollars? I wouldn't think so but these corporate big wigs can do baffling things at times.

With that said, the Inquirer isn't the most reputable magazine.

Also, did I understand this correctly, the Inquirer split a chip in half, examined the material of TWO macbook pro's and found different material in each? At the end of this semester I will officially have a B.S. in Chemistry but a BS doesn't really give you a very deep background in any one subject. All they said that caught my attention was that both materials had high levels of lead. That in itself doesn't mean a whole lot to me. Going off of memory, all steel is over 95% iron. By adding different amounts of Carbon, and some other trace elements I believe, you can have a large variance in the type of steel manufactured whereas one can collapse your building and the other can sustain it with strength left to spare. In both cases they both have "high levels of iron", so that simply doesn't tell you much.

Is the type of material used a trade secret? If not I'd love to see a public statement by nVidia stating that all chips in the new Macbook Pro's are not affected and because the Inquirer has caused such a stir they should address their findings directly.
Click to expand...

It's not the lead content that causes the problem, the lead content just proves those chips we're from a older batch, as newer chip manufacturing processes don't use so much lead.
 
UltraNEO* said:
It's not the lead content that causes the problem, the lead content just proves those chips we're from a older batch, as newer chip manufacturing processes don't use so much lead.
Click to expand...

Well here is what I was thinking. As with steel, it's possible that a small change in other elements found in the 'bump' can have big impact on its durability under high heat conditions. Is it possible that nVidia is using a new manufacturing process that also uses high levels of lead?

Again, I don't know if these manufacturing processes are trade secrets. Maybe nVidia doesn't want to comment because they could possibly release important information. Either way I hope nVidia gives us a more concrete answer.
 
MVApple said:
Well here is what I was thinking. As with steel, it's possible that a small change in other elements found in the 'bump' can have big impact on its durability under high heat conditions. Is it possible that nVidia is using a new manufacturing process that also uses high levels of lead?

Again, I don't know if these manufacturing processes are trade secrets. Maybe nVidia doesn't want to comment because they could possibly release important information. Either way I hope nVidia gives us a more concrete answer.
Click to expand...

I dunno either mate. I just thought nVidia would of had it's faulty inventory of chips trashed, instead of selling them off cheaply. Perhaps nVidia has something to hide? :eek:
 
Slighty offtop, but i was always curious: does Apple replace faulty 8600 by the same chip or by newer 9600 ones? I strongly believe there should be no problem with 9600..
 
Pivzavod said:
Slighty offtop, but i was always curious: does Apple replace faulty 8600 by the same chip or by newer 9600 ones? I strongly believe there should be no problem with 9600..
Click to expand...

The chips used on in the MBP ain't removable cause they're surface mounted on the main logic board. So should your system fail, Apple would simply replace the logicboard, reassemble the machine and ship it back to you or their store. Some stores have the service centre on-site.
 
Fidgetyrat said:
I wouldn't exactly shrug this one off. There are a ton of people on apple's own discussion site talking about the problem..


Just today Mine went in the shop for the exact problem. I can play a game for about 30 seconds on the 9600 before I get the black screen of death..

Also temperatures around 100 celcius +.

clearly a defective chip. It may not mean ALL 9600s are defective, but there is clearly at least one batch (the release models) that are being affected.


They are replacing my logic board.
Click to expand...

not a defective chip, just need to use SMC fan control to keep the thing cool.... doubt anything will magically change with your new logic board
 
MVApple said:
Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the "bump" everyone is talking about is in fact the solder that holds the chip down.
Click to expand...

Can fail at either, but I think everyone is worried about the one a layer up.

layers.jpg


From http://www.anandtech.com/gadgets/showdoc.aspx?i=3472

And the blowup of the little circled part is here

http://images.anandtech.com/galleries/291/Picture 29_large.png
 
shoulin333 said:
not a defective chip, just need to use SMC fan control to keep the thing cool.... doubt anything will magically change with your new logic board
Click to expand...

A bad or lose thermal diode could cause the reading on the system to be slightly off. Usually the fans should kickin around 80~90°C. Having the system heat up slightly won't damage the chip in the slightest, SMC fanControl is used to override the default settings giving the user a little more control... Just remember making the fans activate sooner will use more juice!
 
shoulin333 said:
not a defective chip, just need to use SMC fan control to keep the thing cool.... doubt anything will magically change with your new logic board
Click to expand...

So everyone else reporting top temperatures of 80C on new december purchased MBPs and mine hits over 105C from release date. I highly doubt this is software related.

Furthermore, what's the point in owning top of the line equipment if you can't even use it within its normal operating specs. Its not like I'm over-clocking the thing. I'm just trying to play a damn game like Apple said I can.

Someone screwed up, either Apple or NVIDIA and someone owes me at least a machine that works as it should.


From what I have heard from people undergoing the same repair I am, the replacement boards seem to be working.. We will see. If it fails again I'll demand a refund. I should not need to use 3rd party software and bump fan speeds to blazing fast to use my machine for standard everyday functions.
 
'Bump'

Who is still having this issue?

I am.

Are newer MBP Unibody purchasers experiencing this? Mine would have been from the first batch. My temps skyrocket and black screen if I try to do any gaming.
 
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