XPS m1330/m1530 xsystems dying after 1.5 years?

Hey all,

I've heard some stories of XPS systems (m1330/m1530) imploding after 1.5 years... anyone have any firsthand/secondhand info on the percentage of these or have I just heard about a few random people who have been unfortunate enough to have had disasters?

I have the nVidia GPU in my m1330, if that makes any difference - I heard about those dying, but I was under the impression that problem popped up out of the box and not 1.5 years down the road?

It's my only computer, so I use it most of the day, but I don't game (mostly word processing, browsing, working etc) and I try to be gentle with it. I'm also beginning to think constant extra cooling is a good idea.

Thanks!

 

The nVidia 8400M GS and 8600M GT graphics cards in the M1330 and M1530 are susceptible to damage from repeated heating/cooling cycles. Basically, as the card heats up and cools down, certain parts of it expand and contract at different rates from other parts, which eventually causes solder to crack, and other nasty things, which causes total GPU failure.

Not to be a spoilsport, but odds are your 8400M GS will experience failure at some point in its life. Luckily, Dell has acknowledged this problem and has automatically extended GPU warranty coverage on all affected models by one full year. So, if you got the standard 1 year warranty, your GPU will now be covered for 2 years at no extra cost.

Like I say, the failure is caused by heating and cooling cycles. If you leave the laptop on a lot, then it will stay warm, and not contract much from cooling, meaning it may last longer. Of course, leaving a laptop on so much may cause other unrelated problems.

Cin', a member here, says her M1530's 8600M GT has not failed yet, and it probably has something to do with the fact that she leaves her laptop on nearly 24/7.

 

Thanks for the info. Two questions:

is this a problem with ALL m1330 systems or just ones built up till a certain time? I got mine as a refurb in April 08, so I'm hoping it was past that cycle.

secondly, is the GPU problem generally the one behind the 1.5 year crash cases or are there a variety?

 

It's hard to tell. nVidia, for obvious reasons, isn't really spilling the beans about it, so it's uncertain whether or not newer 8400M GS chips have been redesigned to avoid this issue or not. I would err on the side of caution, however, and assume the worst.

Of course, there are people who get the 8400M GS, even the older ones, and never have a problem. It seems to be luck of the draw.

The GPU failure can happen pretty much any time. It will probably occur sooner if you rapidly heat up and cool down your GPU several times per day (turn it on, use it for a bit, turn it off, let it cool, turn it on later, etc.), due to the nature of the flaw.

 

I've had my XPS 1530 (8600M) for a year and a half. The machine typically goes through several awake/sleep cycles every day. There has been no sign of issues.

I have the three year warranty, plus one additional year covering GPU failure from Dell. I figure if the thing fails in four years of normal, worry-free use, then Dell will replace it (win). If the thing fails after four years of normal, worry-free use, then I got four years of normal, worry-free use of a laptop (win).

 

I'm just wondering if the replaced motherboards is bound to fail, since it is using the same chip. But I guess the warranty can save us the cost of having to replace it. Still, Dell should have replaced the GPU with a defect-free 9 series or even the G or GT series. But I guess that with the SXPS series, that won't happen.

 

I have had my 1530 for approx. 1.5 years now..and no GPU Failure to report, to date..(Mastershroom, is correct)! And, I do leave it on nearly 24/7.

Maybe I am just lucky? The only potential problem I would expect to have would be GPU failure with my lappy. I'm happy this hasn't happened..and I'm remaining positive that it won't. If it does, the extended warranty on the GPU will certainly help!


Cin

 

This is supremely ironic. But my motherboard died this morning. Del is sending a tech to replace it but the phone tech wasn't clear on whether the new mobos still suffer from the same nvidia GPU problems. Any ideas generally?

Sigh I wonder. Do Vaios have this many problems? Does Sony have a comparable complete care/accidental damage warranty to Dell?

 

if dell were to replace the GPU with a 9 Series, it means they will have to redesign the mobo... not worth it to them i guess


dell's XPS support is superb IMO.... think i'll stick with them for now

dell general support though, is hit+miss

 

It's such a shame that M1330 has this for a problem. Well, redesigning the mobo wouldn't be cost effective for dell. I'm imagining hordes of people clamoring over the new 9 series version of the M1330 if ever it was done. So I'm guessing if you want to spare yourself the headache of the GPU dying, you'll want to pick the integrated X3100 graphics.

Any chance we can see a new XPS line of notebooks soon? I'm puzzled at why Dell singled out the Pink color and the 8400 GS as the only configuration for the m1530. I'm predicting they'd close the m1330/m1530 line soon.

 

probably pink b/c few people chose that color and that's left...



it's kinda weird... i thought previous 'pull-outs' were instant....

at least the m1330 still has almost full-options...

 

I have an M1530. I had my motherboard replaced about a month ago. I'm not sure whether the issue was with my GPU or not, but it was running very hot. I'd say it was moreso a combination of things. The machine is almost 6 months old.

From what I've heard, the M1330's seem to have a much higher failure rate than the M1530's. It's really luck of the draw. With an M1330 you're almost guaranteed to have issues, with an M1530, whilst the issue still exists it's not as prevalent. (that's purely my personal understanding/humble opinion).

 

Yep. We have seen a lot of problems with M1330, but not so many with the M1530. The simple reason is that the GPU temps of the M1530 (both idle and load) are a lot lower, maybe 15-20C lower on average.

So maybe the M1530s will all fail eventually as well, but so far we havent seen enough failures to be able to make a concusive statement.

 

I don't know if I have this problem, i have the M1530. My Laptop was working fine yesterday. However, it had some driver crashes when I played games on it before. But today when I tried powering it on, the screen stayed black, but everything else was running. so I hooked it up to a monitor but still no picture. I'm getting really frustrated right now I don't know what to do.