NVIDIA reportedly urging customers to buy new problem-free GPUs

NVIDIA has yet to step in and confirm this publicly, but a purported leaked memo from the outfit has been posted over at VR-Zone. What's it say, you ask? Only that the company "strongly recommends that customers transition to the latest revision of the NB8E-SET GPUs as soon as possible." Said revision taps a new Hitachi underfill packaging material that "improves product quality and enhances operating life by improved thermal cycling reliability." If you'll recall, certain PC vendors such as Dell issued their own firmware updates to combat the weak packaging set in the chip maker's faulty GPUs earlier this year, but it appears that NVIDIA's solution is to just let bygones be bygones and get on with the new and improved.

[Via Electronista]

[zimbo @ Dec 26th 2008 4:13PM]

How about i just buy ATI next time eh?

[kastonie @ Dec 26th 2008 4:17PM]

i have nvidia with faulty gpu, i have ati with just crap drivers....im owned both ways....

[Mobius_1 @ Dec 26th 2008 5:25PM]

And of course, you do have the option of buying Intel, but do I even need to say what the obvious problem with them is?

[d889 @ Dec 26th 2008 6:11PM]

meh, id rather not deal with the clusterfuck that is ati drivers

[NGPixel @ Dec 26th 2008 6:37PM]

Ok, nVidia fanboys, move on. Stop bashing on ATi as their drivers are much quality than nVidia now.

[Jon Doe. @ Dec 27th 2008 2:26AM]

NGPixel,


Ummm no. Not really.

[E71 @ Dec 27th 2008 5:44PM]

I say, let them suffer. Then maybe their douche bag CEO won't be so cocky.

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Dec 27th 2008 10:36PM]

ATi has had decent and stable drivers ever since the released the 9500 and 9700pro cards. So with that said, I think it's time you fanboys drop your hate for the other side and take a more middle of the road viewpoint.

[KAIKAI @ Dec 26th 2008 4:13PM]

haha jone's mentality in play still o.O

[djrayz408 @ Dec 26th 2008 4:19PM]

This is a totally bad look for NVIDIA. It shows that the company doesn't directly want to deal with the problem and they sit and hope the problem will go away. Makes me think twice about buying their products if they treat me like that. VERY SHADY Business!

[Kris120890 @ Dec 26th 2008 4:19PM]

Or just buy ATI.

[ethana2 @ Dec 26th 2008 7:39PM]

On this laptop, my options were nVidia and intel. Had ATi been among them, there is no question that's what I would have gone with.

[Basic @ Dec 26th 2008 11:00PM]

That's a good reason to look for and only buy MXM-slot laptops.

[jason @ Dec 26th 2008 4:19PM]

I'm on my second 3rd Dell m1330 board because of nVidia's sh*tty GPU's (bought in April 08!). Thank you nVidia. Luckily, Dell has been more than helpful through most of this. Next time I will be sleeping with ATi.

[ethana2 @ Dec 26th 2008 7:36PM]

I sent my Dell back for repairs three times. I have the box for the fourth.

I'm glad they've been 'more than helpful' for you; you probably bought yours with Windows. For me, they've been nothing but incompetent (albeit apologetic about it). When they told us to upgrade our BIOS, they were all 'You'll need Windows for this', when they SHOULD have been like 'the linux kernel has a bios upgrading mechanism called 'smbios' built right into it, just download this file and run these two commands, frick, here's a bash script to do it for you'.

[salbucks @ Dec 26th 2008 8:07PM]

Next time you should sleep with your own computer instead of a terrible company called D e "double hockey sticks".

[jason @ Dec 26th 2008 9:52PM]

As opposed to what? Apple (yes, even the precious previous gen Macbook Pro's are plagued with the EXACT SAME PROBLEM)? HP? Sony? ASUS? This is an nVidia problem, NOT Dell's. Dell has been VERY helpful. I even got them to upgrade my copy of Vista Home Premium to Ultimate x64, free of charge. I bet NONE of the above mentioned companies would do anything close to that. XPS isn't a Inspiron or Demension...by the way. What experience do you have with Dell...by the way?

[ishism @ Dec 27th 2008 12:00AM]

I must be a lucky S.O.A.B. I bought a refurbed dell inspiron 1720 with the 8400m gs almost a year ago and have never had the dreaded BSoD. Even while gaming it has not gone over 54 degrees c. And now with Nvidia offering notebook drivers, its gaming performance has increased dramatically. It ain't a powerhouse, and some may laugh, me calling the 8400m gs a capable gamer, but I'm happy with it.To this day, I haven't found a better deal for same config. Though, I wouldn't mind having a more powerful card.

[lUp @ Dec 27th 2008 6:07AM]

no "return three times for the same cause - get money back" policy in your country? If I have to send in something for the third time, because the exact same problem occurs, the vendor has to offer either a completely new device or refund the price I paid.

[Cj @ Dec 26th 2008 4:27PM]

My Acer laptop has one of the faulty chips. Could this be why it randomly shuts off and wont boot? Iv only had it for a year.

[Patriks7 @ Dec 26th 2008 5:23PM]

That's perctly normal with Acer's after one year...

[Kieran @ Dec 26th 2008 4:28PM]

crap you've been low ranked to oblivion

[Nick @ Dec 26th 2008 4:31PM]

My poor macbook pro is whimpering in the corner of the room.

[futurepastnow @ Dec 27th 2008 2:50AM]

If it's less than a year old, buy that Applecare.

[waiownsyou @ Dec 26th 2008 4:32PM]

O HAI CORPORATE AMERICA

[Kris120890 @ Dec 26th 2008 4:35PM]

Stop being a troll. Almost as stupid as shugg.

[conor @ Dec 26th 2008 4:36PM]

So, people have to buy a new GPU because of this company's incompetence?

[makoto42 @ Dec 26th 2008 4:45PM]

And by customers, they problem mean companies like eVGA, Dell, etc etc. I.e. their 'customers' are resellers, not end-users. It's a little more sane wording with that in mind. Of course, it still doesn't make sense unless they have a facility to replace reseller stock.

Either way, nVidia got greedy and botched big time.

[jdl24 @ Dec 26th 2008 4:46PM]

I do love nvidia but still.

[sirnoobius @ Dec 26th 2008 5:00PM]

nVidia is going to find it's way on people's shit list soon.

[Crusty Magic @ Dec 26th 2008 5:06PM]

They already are for me.

This whole situation is a reflection of their outlook on customer satisfaction with their products.

[Johan S @ Dec 26th 2008 5:05PM]

So, they still make a line of problem-having graphics cards too?

[MarbleMind @ Dec 26th 2008 5:19PM]

I somehow imagine a rather pathetic (but in some way incredibly adorable) pigmy desperately running around full-grown, everyday-bored joes to get his shit sold.

NVIDIA: "We strongly recommend you to purchase a product featuring the newest, completely overhauled rendition of our award winning GeForce M GPUS!"

Customer: "Mmh... I already have a 'book with GMA and another one with, hm, what was it, HD3200 from AMD? Yeah, I think so. Nothing groundbreaking but doing their"

NVIDIA: "Your purchase helps to fund future development and further improvement!"

Customer: "Uh-huh. Well, maybe in half a year or something? Yeah, I'll pass my old 'book on to my daughter anyway then, gotta have one for her studies."

NVIDIA: "We give you a refund of 2% on your previous faulty NVIDIA-powered notebook!"

Customer: "I don't have a notebook with NVIDIA chipset."

NVIDIA: "But... well, then we give you a sales discount of 10% on your next purchase!"

Customer: "I just told you...!"

NVIDIA: "20?"

Customer: "Now listen...!"

NVIDA: "40?"

Customer: "..."

NVIDIA: "Please?"

Customer "...no."

NVIDIA: "WUUUUUUUAAAAAAAAAH"

...

Okay, that was stupid.

[Mobius_1 @ Dec 26th 2008 5:26PM]

I'd say: "how about 60%" and buy 3. Of their new improved, non-melting ones.

[Arkenklo @ Dec 27th 2008 6:35PM]

TL;DR

[LTM @ Dec 26th 2008 5:22PM]

I've already experienced 1 motherboard / gpu failure on my M1330 and even with Dell's extra year extension on the warranty of the GPU, it doesn't provide me with any confidence whatsoever. To think I had my last Dell computer for 10 years and there wasn't one problem; this one had the motherboard go out on me, the crappy Matashita slot drive went south and is a bitch to reach to replace ( warranty just expired ) and the USB power ports need the battery to be removed and the power cord unplugged every other week for some reason in order to reset the usb ports so that they'll recognize my two external hardrives and printers. Let's just say Dell and Nvidia won't be on my shopping list for my next notebook.

[blah @ Dec 26th 2008 5:55PM]

lol you're rather unlucky

[Sizer @ Dec 26th 2008 5:31PM]

Hmmm, yeah, I had my GF 8800 GTS crap out on me since Nvidia wanted to save a few pennies.

So I agree with them, time for new hardware. I'm running an ATI now. I see people complaining about the ATI drivers, but this thing is far more stable for me than the Nvidia was. It runs all my new games (and some old ones like Fallout 2 and WoW) just fine, whereas the Nvidia would bluescreen at least once a day across a wide range of drivers. Now that was probably 'just' Nvidia's defective hardware, but is that really an excuse?

[Adam @ Dec 26th 2008 5:36PM]

How about a nice big 50%+ rebate to compensate for the existing problems GPUs?

[Dustin @ Dec 26th 2008 5:43PM]

What about the faulty 9600m GT's in the new MBP's? CSS gives me the black screen of death. others are having similar issues. just go on the apple MBP late 2008 forums

[roach @ Dec 26th 2008 5:49PM]

Make me wonder why Apple still went with these GPU, because this issue is well known. I guess it would be easier to sell shaky GPU (and deal with support later) than ripped them out of thousands of laptops.

[nikster @ Dec 26th 2008 6:23PM]

I have a 2007 SR MBP which most definitely has the affected chip and no problems in the graphics dept. Nearly everything else broke on this machine but not the gfx card. If you feel like yours is getting too hot, use smcFanControl to keep temps low. I know, but it beats bitching and whining.

[sim @ Dec 26th 2008 5:48PM]

...but it appears that NVIDIA's solution is to just let bygones be bygones and get on with the new and improved....

Just like every other company. Thanks Capt. Obvious.

[orubasarot @ Dec 26th 2008 5:59PM]

I bet those nvkdkdm or whatever BSOD errors are part of this. I sure love getting BSODs on my perfectly stable, non-overclocked, internet-free, non gaming audio worstation.

[Bryant @ Dec 26th 2008 6:36PM]

What's with the two-fold symmetrical flower design on the base of the chip?

[dotAaron @ Dec 26th 2008 6:39PM]

I never had a preference between ATI and Nvidia, just went with the best for my moolah :)

Now i will not buy an Nvidia, my trust/respect in the company is long gone. And from what I've read in these comments a lot of people are the same :)

They might be saving short term loss but imagine how this will effect them in the long run.

[Boards of Canada @ Dec 26th 2008 8:01PM]

then the new 9400-9600 series is not safe too in laptop? Is there any guide out there telling wich card are affected?

Im saving for a nice i7 desktop workstation anyway... but as my old toshiba got a blue line accross the screen, maybe I'll have to buy another laptop soon.

I guess an ATI 3650 or 3450 would be the safest choice for futur! the new Dell Studio series have them.

[vampritt @ Dec 26th 2008 8:15PM]

The bug is now a new feature called "opps, better luck next time... try again with our new GPU"

[CoasterG @ Dec 26th 2008 10:38PM]

How about a nice class action suit to get them motivated to do something other than sitting on their rears saying:

"Please, pretty please buy our new revised stuff, its better now. That other piece of hardware, just toss it out and forget you spent $X on it - its nothing, no money at all. New stuff is better, buy new stuff!"

[Jon Doe. @ Dec 27th 2008 2:32AM]

My thoughts exactly. Sue the fuckers if they won't do the right thing.