Dell offers 1-year limited warranty enhancement for NVIDIA GPU issues

Details are slim at the moment, but one thing's for sure: Dell customers affected (or not affected... yet) by those wonky NVIDIA GPUs will have their warranties extended by 12-months to compensate. The 1-year "limited warranty enhancement" will add coverage for this issue to everyone who recently purchased one of the 15 NVIDIA-equipped machines listed in the read link, and we're told to expect further details about the whole ordeal in short order. Breathe easy, folks -- you'll be taken care of somehow or another.

[Muhammed @ Aug 18th 2008 6:28PM]

nVidia FTW!

[misha @ Aug 18th 2008 6:35PM]

ye but dell sucks i dont like those mirrord motherbords your graphic card is upside down .And the fan ventilation is weaker i think

[phanbouy @ Aug 18th 2008 7:44PM]

um.. you mean Dell ftw? or you just advertising your fanboyism?

[Walt @ Aug 18th 2008 9:55PM]

In the second quarter, NVIDIA took a $200 million charge to deal with this issue. I am fairly certain that some of this money will end up with Dell to compensate for these replacements. If nvidia expects repeat business from Dell, they are not going to leave dell holding the ball.


From press release July 2:
Separately, NVIDIA plans to take a one-time charge from $150 million to $200 million against cost of revenue for the second quarter to cover anticipated warranty, repair, return, replacement and other costs and expenses, arising from a weak die/packaging material set in certain versions of its previous generation GPU and MCP products used in notebook systems. Certain notebook configurations with GPUs and MCPs manufactured with a certain die/packaging material set are failing in the field at higher than normal rates. To date, abnormal failure rates with systems other than certain notebook systems have not been seen. NVIDIA has initiated discussions with its supply chain regarding this material set issue and the Company will also seek to access insurance coverage for this matter.

[Richard @ Aug 18th 2008 6:29PM]

My 8800's just crapped out on me two days ago. Replacements should be installed tomorrow :(

Not sure what happened to them though.

[misha @ Aug 18th 2008 6:32PM]

did you played to much ?? cuz i do and i dont want to buy a new 8800gtx

[ethana2 @ Aug 18th 2008 6:34PM]

misha: no.
it's made for gaming. if it's made correctly, it'll be fine.

[Abuzar Baloach @ Aug 18th 2008 6:48PM]

People shouldn't be playing less just because they are afraid their GPU will give out. That's crazy talk!

[chansthename @ Aug 19th 2008 4:26AM]

Thats like not using your computer because you'll burn your CPU out. Not turning your monitor on because it'll get dead pixels and not using your vacuum because it'll get dusty

[TheKing @ Aug 18th 2008 6:32PM]

you're doing it wrong

[ethana2 @ Aug 18th 2008 6:37PM]

Yeah, I got one. They actually don't sell the model I bought anymore, but I think it's to keep up XPS sales..
http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/linux_3x?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs
But now that they replaced it and it works, it's a nice gaming machine, I just wish I knew that nexuiz had a default physics resolution of 20 frames per second /before/ I had my LAN.

[Robert @ Aug 18th 2008 6:42PM]

This is crap, they only give it to certain models, not all laptops with nVidia GPU's. My god dam 8600 on my Inspiron 1520 has burned my leg, and failed on me easily over 50 times.

[El Taco @ Aug 18th 2008 7:15PM]

im with you, got a vostro 1500 here (exactly the same parts and everything as inspiron except all black), and you can see a red mark on my leg from where the GPU has overheated.

[milton359 @ Aug 18th 2008 9:00PM]

@ El Taco
I'm guessing you are the reason why everything must be labeled "hot" nowadays.

[ShadowKain @ Aug 18th 2008 10:47PM]

50 times? Why are you still alive? Smoke Pot much?

[hiko36 @ Aug 18th 2008 11:09PM]

I have a scar on my left arm from where my vga and s-video ports burned me after my GPU overheated... The only reason I haven't called HP for a replacement is b/c Im afraid they are going to send me the same GPU again :-/

[chris @ Aug 18th 2008 8:07PM]

I had a problem on Saturday with my video going out on my M1330, i posted a message on getsatisfaction.com on Monday, this guy from dell "bill" sent sent me a few emails and after that i was able to get my part in by Tuesday and installed whithin an hour on Wednesday! the only reason it took until Wednesday was because i was out of the office on Tuesday, at first i was dissapointed, but after seeing how awesome dells customer service and warranty handling was it was astounded! i never actually called dell either, i just posted to ask what the number to the XPS support was so i could call. the only hitch was that the board seemed like it was the same motherboard it came with already, with the same chips and a A08 bios (current is A12 i think).

overall my customer satisfaction is through the roof with my experience with dell.

[timmer @ Aug 18th 2008 6:51PM]

I had CPUID Hardware Monitor up while playing BF2. My GPU (QuadoFX 570M (same thing as an M8600GT)) hit 94 degrees celsius on my thinkpad. I'm suprised my keyboard isn't melted by now.

[ethana2 @ Aug 18th 2008 8:24PM]

Mine stays around 50 under normal use, but before they replaced it, I actually had it logged at i think 78.

[Knives_Out @ Aug 18th 2008 6:56PM]

... seems like a very limited amount of computers there on that list.

weren't there many more models affected?

[kastonie @ Aug 18th 2008 6:59PM]

What about XPS m1210? i have that one, and it has crapped out on me a few times.....

[Good_Bytes @ Aug 18th 2008 7:17PM]

You have a Geforce 7300 inside.. not a 8000 series were the issue exists.

[Iamjohn @ Aug 18th 2008 7:10PM]

This would be why I bought dell instead of someone else, they actually seem to be trustworthy....

[ethana2 @ Aug 18th 2008 8:31PM]

/now/ they do. They still haven't told us whether the replacements we got are technically defective or not though. Plus, their support still isn't that great --/especially/ if you're not on windows. All the techs try to do is get rid of you when they see what OS you bought it with.
I've even been forwarded to the /wrong department/. If you get an Ubuntu Dell, make sure you keep all your contact with Dell during normal business hours whenever you have the flexibility to do so-- and I really recommend sticking to text chat, I _HATE_ phone support. They're all indians, and i am very bad at understanding people with accents, plus being on hold for 20 minutes at a time is just miserable. ..'cause you can't just minimize it and check it occasionally, you have to listen to their awful hold muzak...

[Russell @ Aug 18th 2008 7:25PM]

My 9600GT is crapping out after 4 months, my sister's XPS laptop with nvidia has already failed, out of everyone I know with nvidia graphics almost half of them have had an NV card die on them in the last 6 months...

pretty amazing % really

[ethana2 @ Aug 18th 2008 8:38PM]

...and in comes AMD with the 4800! Clock gating! 32 bit float precision! 55nm process! *sigh*
One of the downsides to tech is that buyer's remorse can kick in /so/ fast. It could have been the absolute best choice when you got it, and one month later it's like 'man, if i had just waited a little longer, i could have gotten it with $FEATURE for that price..'
grass is greener and all that
...and hardware defects _really_ don't help that at all.

[Aaron @ Aug 18th 2008 7:31PM]

I'm gonna give this a try when I get home. I've had trouble with some of valve's games. The video driver crashes after some intense play. It usually recovers itself after 2 or 3 minutes and allows me to keep playing though. When gaming I always keep my laptop propped up so it gets excellent airflow underneath. Hopefully this update will cure the crashing.

[srue @ Aug 18th 2008 7:35PM]

Maybe I'm being unreasonable, but I'm not pleased. I paid for a non-defective chip - one with all the normal life expectations. I want Dell to exchange my bad chip with a good one. I accept that some chips are going to go bad and you just replace them as they fail. But I accepted that risk based on the premise that I was getting a chip without such a major design defect. I want what I paid for - a chip that's less likely to die an early death.

[Robert @ Aug 18th 2008 7:35PM]

Fellow engadget readers, when I saw this post I was very very happy to hear that the warranty on my system would be extended, but to my dismay, it wasn't true. I went to dell's blog post, and apparently a very LIMITED amount of systems are on the list, not all models with nVidia GPU's. Why? Because according to dell its a "Bios problem" not related to nvidia GPU's. I contacted Dell to try to fix the issue, but I was only spoon fed the same BIOS bullshit.

NOTE: Some elements in this conversation has been cut out to hide some names and/or other things irrelevant to this comment.

Agent : "Thank you for contacting Dell Technical Support. How may I assist you today?"
Robert: "Hello, I have been experiencing many problems with my GPU on my Inspiron 1520 (my GPU is a 8600M GT), and I've done all driver updates and nothing seems to help. Now I see on your blog that there is an extended warrenty for certain models and the 1520 is not listed
Agent : "Robert, could you please let me know the exact issue with graphics card?"
Robert: "Ok, well the drivers for my card fail on a daily basis, about 5-7 times a day"
Agent : "Alright."
Agent : "How long have you been facing this issue?"
Robert: "Almost since i received the laptop"
Agent : "Okay."
Agent : "Have you performed any other troubleshooting steps to resolve this issue? I would request you to let me know so that we don’t repeat the steps that you have already performed."
Robert: "I don't exactly remember everything, but i'm sure i've done just about everything on the troubleshooting help"
Agent : "Okay."
Agent : "Thank you for the information."
Agent : "Are you using the same computer to chat with us, with which you are facing the issue?"
Robert: "yes i am"
Agent : "Okay."
Agent : "Robert, We have software available at http://www.dellconnect.com that would allow me to assist you remotely. If I have the permission, I can go ahead and guide you through the steps for downloading the same. Would you like to try it?"
Robert: "Could I have a question answered first?"
Agent : "Sure. Please go ahead."
Robert: "ok thanks, why isn't the inspiron 1520 not listed under the list of models with known GPU issues and ellegable for a limited warrently enhancement (http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2008/08/18/nvidia-gpu-update-dell-to-offer-warranty-enhancement-to-all-affected-customers-worldwide.aspx)
Agent : "Robert, please note that this issue is with the system setup (BIOS) of these system. This issue has been identified only in these systems."
Agent : "Therefore, only these system are listed on the blog."
Robert: "So then what about the reported bad nvidia chipsets?"
Agent : "The system is under warranty. I will go ahead and check all possible failures. If we found that the vidoe card is bad. We will replace it."

As you can see, Dell is playing this as a BIOS problem and won't come forward completely. The only response to bad nvidia chip sets was that I was still under warranty. But what if I was not still under my warranty? Is it my fault that i was given a bad chip? Obviosly not! This is irritating me greatly, and I wish that nVidia would come out and admit the problem so we don't get fed bull shit just because Dell doesn't want to waste money on every single person who has an nvidia GPU. Support should be spread to ALL affected chip sets, and not just a warranty extension, and no cover ups! Thank you for your time and I apologize to anyone who hates these rants.

[Iamjohn @ Aug 19th 2008 6:46PM]

I don't know, they were certainly willing to acknowledge that it was a graphics card problem.

[NeoDarkSaver @ Aug 18th 2008 10:13PM]

i called in, they wouldnt exchange it for me. they insist on telling me to run test. my comp crashes during TF2 all the time. I have vostro.

The computer kept passing all the test softwares they have, so they refuse to do anything.

But luckily it did crash during the stress test that comes with nTune. You guys may want to try that if u have issues with ur laptop.

[Techy @ Aug 22nd 2008 3:38PM]

thats probably because Nvidia will not cover their half if Dell comes forward with the true culprit....personally I would stick it to em....it your fault you fork it all up or we go ATI....sounds simple enough

[Jon Niola @ Aug 18th 2008 7:43PM]

PLEASE Apple, PLEASE do the same thing. Knock on wood my Macbook Pro has not shown signs of this problem yet but I do not want to be caught with this problem just as the warranty runs out.

[nikster @ Aug 18th 2008 8:38PM]

My MacBook Pro also hasn't shown any GPU related problems. But that's probably because I don't game on my Mac so I hardly ever do anything that would get the GPU hot. Would love to know from MBP owners who use their MBP for gaming, even if its under Windows/Bootcamp.

[swordth @ Aug 19th 2008 5:03AM]

I use it for COD4 at high settings under bootcamp. It gets hella hot (about 80C), but i've been doing it for quite a while, and I haven't had any problems.

[dbam987 @ Aug 19th 2008 1:50PM]

While I give Dell props for handling something NVidia should do, it is still alarming that no class action suit has arisen from this. It's a big deal if a person's computer or laptop fries causing harm to the person.

My next machine will definitely have an AMD/ATI option for a graphics card, since those are on the rise in terms of best performance. The 3870 is already getting great reviews for being a mid-range card. I'd be in the market for an ATI graphics card in the next MBP revision/update/upgrade. But if Apple chooses to stick with NVidia, I'd be very reluctant then.

[pakkman781 @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:35AM]

Mine has shown problems, but even if I get a repair/replacement, it'll still be defective in the new one! WTH am I supposed to do? At least I have AppleCare...

[Dellowner @ Aug 18th 2008 8:44PM]

Ok, here is the base line situation. Dell knows its bad, I have been working with a supervisor, and basically, all the hands are tied due to contract limitations, or nvidia can sue them. I have been told that people can not talk about the issue without a lawyer present, that is how serious the situation is. Unfortunately, until things from nvidia open up, dell will continue, like hp, to chase it's tail in order to avoid being sued (which is what nvidia would want for breach of contract, so it would not have to pony up the money for the company, or all together for this incident). I believe if dell says more than they are nvidia would no longer be held responsible for any of the damages and it would all fall on dell. If you talk to someone who knows what they are talking about when the subject comes up they can only aknowledge it with hums and no comments, or the stiffled laugh that I have heard. It is not dell, it is the limitation that came about with putting an nvidia chip on the computer, which I partially blame the consumer for, because of the ATI hate, most gamers would avoid them like the plague before the 38xx line came out.

[Nick B @ Aug 21st 2008 11:41AM]

Then we need a class action suit against nVidia for screwing everyone over. I don't care if they go bankrupt as a result. There's good money in this... why aren't there lawyers all over this one on our side?

[zuke @ Aug 18th 2008 8:45PM]

I hope they provide more details on the serial #'s of the affected models and whether any current stock available for sale (online, retail outlets e.g. BestBuy & Costco) have the defective GPUs or have been recalled.

I'm in the market for a higher end laptop with Nvidia GPU, but there's no way I'm risking a purchase until details are provided on these 2 issues! Since you can custom spec just about any brand, I'm going to pretty much purchase the brand who first guarantees that all models currently available for sale do not contain GPUs from the faulty production batches.

[Walt @ Aug 18th 2008 10:01PM]

PS - nvidia (NVDA) is up 18% since I last recommended it in these forums on the 12th. It's a pretty wild stock, but it's still undervalued at $13.22/share.

[NeoDarkSaver @ Aug 18th 2008 10:09PM]

what happened to Vostro 1500, 1700, inspiron 1525? they all have 8400GS and 8600GT as the options.

[Knives_Out @ Aug 18th 2008 10:13PM]

hmm .. class action lawsuit?

[KingJackass @ Aug 19th 2008 12:12AM]

I am doing it wrong too!!

The answer is " C "




"Jackass is a GOOD thing!"

[Iridium @ Aug 19th 2008 12:40AM]

A one year warranty extension is not good enough. If a product is faulty because of a manufacturing defect that can render the entire system worthless they need to issue a recall.

2 years is not what I would call a adequate life cycle for a laptop.

NVIDIA needs to issue a complete recall of all affected chips and pay for all replacement parts. Nothing short of that is acceptable. Paying $900-$3000 for a laptop and having it die within or outside of the one year warranty because of inaction from a company like NVIDIA is grounds for a class action lawsuit.

If NVIDIA has to go out of business to correct the problem then so be it. My chip idles at 62. I think that is a little too hot just running IE.

Perhaps Microsoft could be added to the lawsuit for having Aero run as the default GUI which uses the GPU to render the GUI. The added GPU cycles Vista adds could be making the problem worse.

[frankXchange @ Aug 19th 2008 2:33AM]

I made the mistake of buying an Nvidia FX board from PNY. After a long delay they finally sent me a RECONDITIONED board, and due to the incompetence of their shipping department I was billed nearly $100 for delivery on a board that is now only worth $300. To top it all off, the new board is also defective and cannot display any game and some applications in higher than 1024 x 768, plus video above a certain size experiences lines and static, and sometimes the whole system begins to 'flutter,' forcing me to reboot.

DON'T BUY ANYTHING FROM PNY!!!

[Firefox @ Aug 19th 2008 4:23AM]

This is terrible ! My Dell E1705 (not very old) is affected by the quirky Nvidia 7900GS Search google and you'll find a pletora of users who suffer from this problem. Dell I Do NOT like you

[Zwaf @ Aug 19th 2008 6:34AM]

Is there any word on Acer yet? I got a 5920G and my 8600GT chip is clearly faulty too

[jpconard @ Aug 20th 2008 12:07AM]

My HP dv2313cl died this weekend. It is on HPs list and it is an old 6150 machine. This problem is very widespread. I spent an hour on the phone with Costco last night and another 1/2 hour with HP. Nobody mention Nvidia or video chip problems even once. It is all hushed. HP acted as if I was getting a free repair and they were a saint. I want a refund and Costco, HP, and Nvidia can stick it where the sun doesn't shine. All I knew when I called was overheating problems, thought it was only HP. Wished I would have known the truth at the time.

This PC was only used for crappy Vista Internet Explorer for a little over 1 year.

Where are the lawsuits? Did they pay off the lawyers too?

[pakkman781 @ Aug 22nd 2008 4:33AM]

My MacBook Pro has been weirding out on the graphics for months, and then I found this out, and knew the reason. But even if I call Apple and get a fix/replacement, I'll still have a MacBook Pro with a defective GPU D: Come on Apple, don't be outdone by Dell on this!