T61p & the Nvidia Problem......

[SarahZ]

So I've been wanting a thinkpad for awhile now..... I finally purchased one on ebay yesterday; a  t61p... But, RIGHT after I paid for it, I started finding stuff out about the Nvidia failure problems.... and of course the one I got has a NVIDIA Quadro FX 570M (& I thought I was getting one with a nicer gpu than the others I was considering in the same price range)........ This is such a disappointment. I was so excited about finally getting a thinkpad.. Do you think I should just resell it right away, and get one with a intel GPU instead??   I know that if I keep the one with the nvidia gpu, it will fail sooner or later, and I don't have the money to buy another one......  This one that I got, isn't under warranty as far as I know.. And Lenovo still isn't replacing them without warranties, right? ...I've heard of a few cases of them replacing some that weren't under warranty any longer, but that is rare from what I understand........Which isn't fair.. if one person gets a replacement, everyone should. 

[Vince69]

Hello mate,

What's your prolem exactly with you GPU ?

[lead_org Microsoft MVP Contributor]

The free repair is not indefinite, there is an end date. So if you are worried about future liability of the laptop's gpu, then you should not purchase it.

[SarahZ]

Well, I don't have a problem with it yet, that I know of.... I haven't received it yet (it's in the mail)..... But I suppose I should resell it as soon as I get it, before the GPU fails...

[Vince69]

Some have problems and some never. Just you can decide if you want to keep it or not.

[SarahZ]

But I've heard that all of them are defective, and will fail.... Just that some may last longer than others...  But I wonder when did this start?  How long has nvidia been making defective GPUs?  & are they still making them this way? 

[lead_org Microsoft MVP Contributor]

The Nvidia GPU debacle is only limited to a certain line of GPU, and they are no longer producing them. There are lots of information on this, and you can read up on it, if you are really interested in the background story.

Just google G84/86 GPU failure.

[Vince69]

The problem is actually an intrinsic problem of the gpu chip, where heat soaks somehow causes the problem with the GPU electrical wiring. It means the chip doesn't handle as well as the other the sudden change of heat. Basically 7XXX, 8XXX, 9XXX and their workstation variants were all effected. Lenovo fixed a part of the problem by updating the BIOS. They modify the way the chip was cooled down.

You just have to consider than failure percentages were just a little higher than normal but many people and apparently  the failure rate of T61p's has actually been fairly low in comparison to other 8600m-equipped laptops.

To conclude if you want to use you T61p for gaming and a lot of 3D applications, or everything who will use intensively your GPU, your laptop maybe will die more quickly. If you want to use it for browsing the web, watch videos and "a normal home or office usage" it should be ok.

After all that you only can decide what you want to do.

[lead_org Microsoft MVP Contributor]

the infamous Nvidia GPU failure has nothing to do with heat soak, it is more to do with electromigration of the lead free bump material used in the GPU packaging. 

[Vince69]

Yep I agree but they also use as underfill a material who have a low Tg and goes softer when the temperature rise.

But the problem is still the same

good article to read in three parts : http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1004378/why-nvidia-chips-defective