XPS M1330 NVIDIA clarification please

Hi,
My first post to the forum. I have been reading numerous threads (some of them over 60 pages!) regarding the Nvidia GPU problem and how it relates to the M1330. However, I can't seem to find definitive answers to the following questions. I would be very grateful for any input.

1) After Nvidia identified the "weak die/packaging material set" problem did they change their manufacturing process? i.e. are the more recently manufactured G8400 GPUs not affected by this issue? If so does anyone know the cut off date for the faulty chips and is there a way to distinguish between the 2?

2) I am aware of the Bios update to address this issue by switching on the fan sooner but did Dell at any stage alter the design of the M1330 motherboard to address this issue either by having a new revision containing a non defective GPU or by modifying the heat sink design for more effective cooling. If so does anyone know the motherboard revision numbers?


3) If I buy a M1330 now (Dec 2008) is it likely that it will experience the same GPU/heat issues that have been reported by hundreds of others or has Dell managed to resolve this issue? I find it hard to believe that they would still be shipping laptops with this issue given that there are so many reports of people having to motherboard replacements (in some cases 3 or more times!).

4) Is the "copper mod" still relevant to a recently bought M1330?

I tried to get some information from Dell tech support by online chat but all I could get was "there is no such problem" repeated about 20 times. I pointed the guy to the Dell webpage detailing the extended warranty but just got "sorry I cannot access the webpage you are referring to"

Cheers

Steve

 

nVidia doesn't even know how many defective GPUs were made and released to the manufacturers. Only when there was an increase of complaints regarding no video that they found out it was overheating. I had a Compaq laptop which conked out on me within a month. Then my HP Slimline desktop showed the same symptom after just over a year. Good thing HP extended their warranty repair for another year. To fix the problem manufacturers revised their BIOS's to make the fan turn on sooner to cool the GPU. In the end it's the luck of the draw if you get a defective chip. It encompasses all manufacturers from Sony, Dell, HP and others. It's also the reason why nVidias' stock tumbled. Radeon chips looks better and better.

 

When you say "it's the luck of the draw" do you mean that some chips do not have the defect?

Its strange that manufacturers still seem to be shipping laptops with these chips if there is a known issue.

 

I agree with your thoughts but the truth just does not seem to be out there. I would have thought that the cost of fixing all these failed M1330's would make it uneconomic to continue to sell them if they were still going to fail but if Dell has managed to push the bills onto NVIDIA and if Dell are such an important customer to NVIDIA that they can't say "boo" to them then it is entirely possible.

I suspect all the GPUs are prone to failure - the prime determinant is probably the temperatures and cycling that each one gets subjected to.
Also the number of failures reported here may be misleading - people with problems naturally gravitate to these forums and also there are probably a lot of us who use the hardware more heavily (games?) than Joe Average.

I was actually contemplating buying a second M1330 when this one failed for the second time. I think now that without some clear statement that the issue is resolved it would be crazy to get a M1330 with the NVIDIA option.

 

1) They say the new chipsets are good, and that laptops assembled after August or so shouldn't have any trouble. But again, who knows!

2) As far as I know, besides BIOS changes, they haven't changed anything on the motherboard or heat sink structure.

3) Maybe. Again, it's all related to point 1.

4) I think the copper mod is very useful. As I recall from reading on this site, there are two somewhat related problems on M1330s. One is the faulty chipset (for those with the Nvidia card), the other is a poor cooling system. The last, can be improved (i.e. lower temps) with the copper mod, which indirectly helps extend the life of your GPU as well.

Hope this helps