14 DAY TRIAL // Dell announced few days ago that the company found a way to patch the problems expected to burst on its notebook models that have an Nvidia G84/G86 graphics card. The solution Dell found to the problem was the regulation of fan speed to prevent GPU temperature fluctuations through a series of BIOS updates. The company released these updates for ten of its mobile PC models that we presented yesterday.
Dell's solution for the problem received immediate responses from users. The main concern they have is whether the fans activated sooner will affect the battery life or not. Some might expect the battery to be worn out and the fan to die faster than expected. Dell's solution is a rather temporary one for the GPU temperature problem. According to the company, the battery won't be affected by the fan running longer, as it will have only a quarter of its full speed, and it will not work all the time either.
Since Nvidia said that the actual issue comes from a "weak die/packaging material set in certain versions of our previous generation MCP and GPU", there are some people who hold the graphics cards manufacturer responsible for the mess. They also suggest that, while Dell's solution does not eliminate the risk of experiencing GPU failure at a certain moment, replacing the defective cards with good ones would.
According to Dell, the cards are subject to failure due to temperature fluctuations. Customers are advised to pay attention to signs such as multiple images, random characters on the screen, lines on the screen or no video at all. Those customers that have already spotted some of these signs should contact Dell immediately, and the company will provide further assistance according to its warranty system terms. The rest of its users that have one of the ten models that pack a faulty Nvidia card are advised to flash their BIOS as soon as possible in order to prevent failure.
Dell also said that its new models are shipped with the updates included. A few users have also suggested that the company should consider extending the warranty period. Even so, they say, the machine could fail at any time. Dell's response is that users will be kept up to date every time something new comes to surface.
The question that pops up is why does Dell take the blame for the GPU problems and not Nvidia, the manufacturer? The Santa Clara company has already announced that $200 million are reserved for solving the issues, even if it also blames its suppliers for the faulty material. For sure, this is not over yet, and other details will come out. Until this happens and all problems are fixed, Dell users should consider getting the notebook BIOS updates, which are available for download on Softpedia.com as well.