nVidia 8700/8800/9600/9800 chips are failing across the board

[skunksmash]

yes it gives you more FPS ....that's not my point
im sure your rig with the 260 in it produces far more FPS than your monitor can handle stock.
so adding more FPS is pointless unless benching b/c you see ..NO.. difference on the eyes...

 

[Everlong]

Umm sorry, but that;'s not the only way.

nTune is about the worst POS I have ever tried to use - but you can easily (and with a lot less pain) OC using RivaTuner. You can even make the OC permanent using NiBiToR and editing a copy of a good BIOS for your Video card and then flashing your video card.

nTune was made to allow more for the temporary testing of OC - but it quickly gained fame with n00bs because they did not have to go into the BIOS to OC. The good thing is that with nTune it was applied at startup - meaning when you booted - so if an OC hosed yer system, boot into Safe mode and it boots default values - so makes testing a lot easier. If you edited the BIOS and it hosed your card, it was a lot harder to fix that when the card wold not allow you to see you machine anymore.

A lot of people are going to disagree with me, saying nTune has become more refined and whatnot - but I stand by my experiences - nTune sucks. I have never had stability problems without it and I always have stability problems with it (and that is even without setting any boot time optimizations).

This time round, when I installed Vista 64 (2 weekends ago after wiping because I thought I had infected myself with Vundo while testing Malwarebytes' AntiMalware, when in fact I had forgotten that I changed a BIOS setting and it was simply causing system instability) I left nTune off.

If I want to OC, I'll do it by BIOS or eVGA Precision utility or RivaTuner (the last two being basically the same).

I got nTune when it was first released and tried using the auto-OC, which I left running for a few hours. AFAIK, it doesn't tweak the voltages, so you're left with some PC that's overclocked to hell, without the voltages increased. Never touched it again to OC with.

I find RivaTuner simple enough, just wish the OC increments were more to 1Hz instead of just a slider which jumps up in 3Hz. And it's easy enough to save different OC/Fan profiles in RiverTuner to use at startup.

Another ballache about nTune is that when you OC with it and set it to run at startup, it always showed the pop-up saying it had loaded the OC profile

 

[xguntherc]

ya skunk that makes sense. your probably right.

oh and I actually sort of like the Nvidia Control Panel, but I do indeed hate ntune.

 

[rive0108]

Pretty resounding evidence this is not just an Inq [only] story!!!

NVIDIA GPU Update: Dell to Offer Limited Warranty Enhancement to All Affected Customers Worldwide

 

[Fumz]

Given the build up, what with the mauve text exclaiming "resounding proof", I was expecting to read about more than just a few bad Dell laptops. :huh:

 

[xguntherc]

lol ya, but dell's having the biggest problem with it, more than others. and have you ever seen the inside of a dell PC, or even a laptop, they cram everything together, and they have the WORST airflow ever.. always.

This is more of an overheating issue than defective parts. they are getting to hot in these laptops. as the cards get better, they are slightly getting hotter, yet laptops are getting skinnier. They need slightly better cooling. People should buy those little tops they sit the laptop on that cools it. that would help. lol but thats not what I'd wanna do after spending $1500 on a laptop.. haha.

I love my Desktop

 

[johngalt]

The *other* problem is that those are all mobility chips - and the G2x and G9x are a broader range than *just* mobility chips.

 

[Everlong]

Re: The issue with nVidia chips, and what to look for if yours is failing

Does this address just OEM cards, or all?

 

[rive0108]

Re: The issue with nVidia chips, and what to look for if yours is failing

does this address just oem cards, or all?

Both desktop chips and notebook chips are affected, but the issue is most likely to pop up in notebook chips due to the increased material constraints amplified by the turning on-and-off procedures.

 

[WildEagle]

Re: The issue with nVidia chips, and what to look for if yours is failing

Oh come on, those are mobile chips the bios updates are being pushed out the door for.

It's been revealed by another website, that The Inquirer is stirring up this trouble, and has a habit of stirring up trouble constantly.

 

[rive0108]

Re: The issue with nVidia chips, and what to look for if yours is failing

Oh come on, those are mobile chips the bios updates are being pushed out the door for.

It's been revealed by another website, that The Inquirer is stirring up this trouble, and has a habit of stirring up trouble constantly.

Toms Hardware is now reporting the failures as accurate, and that it may be worse than the Inquirer initially reported.

 

[rive0108]

I'm starting to smell a rat now. A website has revealed that The Inquirer has a habit of stirring up trouble like this. It was stupid for me to buy in to this lock stock and barrel.

If there was truly all of these problems, cards like the 8800GTX would be failing like mad now.

Desktop and Notebook chips affected (Tom's Hardware)-
In contrast to Nvidia’s claims that only a limited number of GPUs are affected, sources indicated that "most" recent Nvidia GPUs carry the problem and a chance of failure, pushing the potential damage into stratospheric regions

 

[WildEagle]

Re: The issue with nVidia chips, and what to look for if yours is failing

Come off it already, Toms Hardware is spreading the same bull that The INQ is spreading. It's going to have to come from a more reliable source than these two.

If these chips were truly failing, people would be reporting it all over the internet and that isn't happening.

 

[WildEagle]

I'm starting to smell a rat now. A website has revealed that The Inquirer has a habit of stirring up trouble like this. It was stupid for me to buy in to this lock stock and barrel.

If there was truly all of these problems, cards like the 8800GTX would be failing like mad now.

Desktop and Notebook chips affected (Tom's Hardware)-
In contrast to Nvidia’s claims that only a limited number of GPUs are affected, sources indicated that "most" recent Nvidia GPUs carry the problem and a chance of failure, pushing the potential damage into stratospheric regions

Here we go again with you spreading rumors just like Toms Hardware and The INQ. give it up, it's nothing more than a rumor.

 

[rive0108]

Consumer Affairs-
Graphic Card Problem May Affect Millions of Computers

Hmm, Contrary to WildEagle's 'misinformed' assessment that DELL, HP, INQ, Tom's Hardware, Consumer Affairs, and nVidia are just spreading rumors...

nVidia SEC filing attached (see page 24)
It should be noted that nVidia has admitted that [graphics boards] “are failing in the field at higher than normal rates,” and that “testing suggests a weak material set of die/package combination ..." [which is used in both desktop and notebook chips, but is less likey to manifest itself in desktops due to obvious reasons]

"Our products are complex and may contain defects or experience failures due to any number of issues in design, fabrication, packaging, materials and/or use within a system. If any of our products or technologies contains a defect, compatibility issue or other error, we may have to invest additional research and development efforts to find and correct the issue. Such efforts could divert our management’s and engineers’ attention from the development of new products and technologies and could increase our operating costs and reduce our gross margin. In addition, an error or defect in new products or releases or related software drivers after commencement of commercial shipments could result in failure to achieve market acceptance or loss of design wins. Also, we may be required to reimburse customers, including for customers’ costs to repair or replace the products in the field, which could cause our revenue to decline. A product recall or a significant number of product returns could be expensive, damage our reputation and could result in the shifting of business to our competitors. Costs associated with correcting defects, errors, bugs or other issues could be significant and could materially harm our financial results."

 

[johngalt]

I've merged these two threads as they were about the *same* topic.

No more flaming. News links are OK to be posted - but the thread will stay *on topic* or it will get closed and I will issue infractions.

 

[rive0108]

Nvidia violated U.S. securities laws

Brower Piven Encourages Investors Who Have Losses in Excess of $200,000 From Investment in NVIDIA Corp. to Inquire About the Lead Plaintiff Position in Securities Fraud Class Action Lawsuit Before the November 10, 2008 Lead Plaintiff Deadline

BALTIMORE, MD--(MARKET WIRE)--Sep 10, 2008 -- Brower Piven, A Professional Corporation announces that a class action lawsuit has been commenced in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf of purchasers of the common stock of NVIDIA Corporation ("NVIDIA" or the "Company") (NasdaqGS:NVDA - News) during the period between November 8, 2007 and July 2, 2008, inclusive (the "Class Period").
No class has yet been certified in the above action.

The complaint alleges that the defendants violated the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 by issuing a series of misrepresentations and omissions that concealed and failed to disclose the unusually high failure rates of NVIDIA's mobile video adapters and the impact of these defects on the Company's financial condition and results for future business prospects.

and...

Nvidia offers $200 refund to OEMs with defective GPUs

By Justin Mann, TechSpot.com
Published: September 8, 2008, 11:51 AM EST

Nvidia is still bleeding money due to the defective GPU issue, which has been problematic for them amongst multiple cards. Initially thought only to affect certain cards in the G84 and G85 series, it was later to be found more widespread. Matters were made even worse when many mobile GPUs were found to be outright defective and needed to be replaced.

This didn't make vendors happy, so Nvidia has been forced to deal with issuing refunds to them to cover their losses. Nvidia is being generous with the refund, issuing $200 per laptop, enough to cover the cost of replacing the defective part and getting it to/from the customer.

 

[xguntherc]

Prower Pivon is just some stupid Lawyer trying to make some Bank on the market of failing GPU's. and it's a fact that some have defects, as all products have some defects. These are running hot due to the Extreme nature that they are being used for. If we, the Consumer continue to ask for, and COMPLAIN, everytime a release doesn't completely blow out it's father product, then very soon everything will be starting to overheat. These cards do some serious work. what do you guys expect when putting it into a tiny, no airflow flat Laptop. Buy a real PC if you wanna do EXTREME GAMING!

 

[Fumz]

The lawsuit is crap, I agree; afterall, investing is risk... sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. You can't sue when you lose though.

However, there is some merit to the issue. It isn't just a fan issue, it isn't just a heat issue and it isnt' that these gpu's are subjected to "extremes". The gpu's in question are subjected to the same games every other gpu is subjected to; to ask that they operate without failing isn't unreasonable.

Imho, with nothing to back me up whatsoever (thx nvidia), there just may very well be a flaw in the process? That g80 doesn't suffer and that the 200's don't suffer suggests that the g92-94 process got borked somehow?

I would not worry too much over it though... most guys who buy high end cards get rid of them in a year or two, and the low end cards really aren't that much to replace anyway.