Tuesday, October 14th 2008
GPU Defect Plague Spreads to Desktops, HP Slimline First Blood
Over the last year or so, there have been a disturbingly high number of manufacturers reporting defects with NVIDIA graphics processors, on the mobile front. Up until recently, even some Macbooks have been diagnosed with problems related to NVIDIA GPUs. The latest victim of this, is a desktop line: HP's Pavilion Slimline series. The PC major is reporting as many as 38 models of desktop PCs under the Slimline series.
HP on its part has implemented a Limited Warranty Service Enhancement that provides for a motherboard replacement at no charge for 12 months from the date your one-year Hardware Limited Warranty expires or until December 31, 2009 (whichever comes first). Owners who may have paid for repairs relating to this issue, could contact HP for reimbursement. Repairs on HP's part could include a complete replacement of the systems' motherboards, since the graphics processor (read: IGP) is embedded on to the motherboard. NVIDIA's Director of Public Relations EMEAI, Luciano Alibrandi told PC Pro, that they were working closely with HP to determine if/how the failures were related to NVIDIA chipsets.
Source:
PC Pro
HP on its part has implemented a Limited Warranty Service Enhancement that provides for a motherboard replacement at no charge for 12 months from the date your one-year Hardware Limited Warranty expires or until December 31, 2009 (whichever comes first). Owners who may have paid for repairs relating to this issue, could contact HP for reimbursement. Repairs on HP's part could include a complete replacement of the systems' motherboards, since the graphics processor (read: IGP) is embedded on to the motherboard. NVIDIA's Director of Public Relations EMEAI, Luciano Alibrandi told PC Pro, that they were working closely with HP to determine if/how the failures were related to NVIDIA chipsets.
14 Comments on GPU Defect Plague Spreads to Desktops, HP Slimline First Blood
It seems the partners are preventing NV from revealing exactly what's f'ed up, and at what scale.
The scenario is a bit similar to "mac" going to therapy and saying "I'm not sure if I'm gay or not".
(Apologies to anyone who hasnt seen the mac vs PC ads. You got to see a few for the above to make sense)
The nVidia issue is having a brand-damage-crossover effect. Am I hesitant on buying the new macbooks because they dont look so great and have silly glass ultrareflective screens, or subconsciously am I ALSO concerned about the GPU design? And that subconscious concern just makes me tip the balance of importance on the design issue. ie. unknown risks change your impression of unrelated features.