NVIDIA G84 & G86 chips on borrowed time?

Johnathan Rush 10 Jul, 2008 at 6:41pm ET Article published in Tech

Comments

1. 
   10 Jul 2008 ~ 7:03pm mas0n Wow, this could get pretty ugly. Especially since they seem to have known for quite some time and denied it. :thumbsdow
2. 
   10 Jul 2008 ~ 8:36pm GnomeWizardd this is why i bought a 4850
3. 
   10 Jul 2008 ~ 9:04pm Thrax That doesn't make any sense.
4. 
   10 Jul 2008 ~ 10:03pm GnomeWizardd

   Thrax wrote:

   That doesn't make any sense.

   
   
   
   It plainly out performs my 9600gt on EVERY benchmark, and even out does my fathers 9800GTX on most benches and games AND It cost me absolutly NOTHING
   
   
   SO if you have a free upgrade and had only a 200 limit what would you buy?
5. 
   10 Jul 2008 ~ 10:25pm mas0n

   GnomeWizardd wrote:

   It plainly out performs my 9600gt on EVERY benchmark, and even out does my fathers 9800GTX on most benches and games AND It cost me absolutly NOTHING
   
   
   SO if you have a free upgrade and had only a 200 limit what would you buy?

   
   I think you've solidified Thrax's point, or at least what I understood it to be. You have a 4850 for the same reason I have a 4870. It's new. It's shiny. You were in a position to get one. These are all good things, but your upgrade had nothing to do with the ongoing story linked to in the OP.
6. 
   10 Jul 2008 ~ 10:44pm BuddyJ Reason wut?!
7. 
   10 Jul 2008 ~ 11:29pm Garg I've got one of these chips in my laptop. Hope it goes south before the warranty is up. Maybe Dell will step up, acknowledge the problem, and give some extended coverage - but it sounds more likely that they've been complicit with the cover-up.
8. 
   11 Jul 2008 ~ 2:16am pigflipper Woah, this looks like it could be bad, really bad.
9. 
   11 Jul 2008 ~ 2:46am Thrax It's -$300 mil. USD in profits bad.
10. 
    11 Jul 2008 ~ 4:01am Leonardo Alright, the article stated the chip nomenclatures - G84 and G86. What are the corresponding desktop video card models using these chips?
11. 
    11 Jul 2008 ~ 4:05am Thrax 8400M and 8600M.
12. 
    11 Jul 2008 ~ 8:44am Ryder Hmmm.. and Vista reports "The video driver stopped responding, but has recovered" from time to time on my laptop... not a good sign me thinks
13. 
    11 Jul 2008 ~ 9:34am lemonlime Yikes, this doesn't look good
14. 
    11 Jul 2008 ~ 9:42am Garg

    Leonardo wrote:

    Alright, the article stated the chip nomenclatures - G84 and G86. What are the corresponding desktop video card models using these chips?

    
    The writer from the Inq (who looks to have a pretty solid anti-NVIDIA bias) claims it includes both the desktop and laptop parts. Other outlets say it's just the laptop chips. If the Inq is right, it includes everything from the 8300 to the 8700.
15. 
    11 Jul 2008 ~ 10:10am Linc /me retrieves his ATi fanboy from hiding and puts it back on
    
    
16. 
    11 Jul 2008 ~ 10:14am Qeldroma Yeah- it should be interesting fielding emergency posts related to this. We may want to have a sticky? It would be nice to know early symptoms.
    
    I think nVidia got too caught up in trying to be a defacto fps standard. I also think they may weather it like the 5xxx series fiasco and should continue to turn out fine video cards...but this could be the thing that could help save AMD/ATI for the short term. They don't seem to do major fupahs like nVidia can.
17. 
    11 Jul 2008 ~ 11:03am GooD Oh damn
    
    I have a Dell 1530 with de GE-FORCE 8600M in it :sad2:
18. 
    11 Jul 2008 ~ 11:15am Winfrey

    Gargoyle wrote:

    The writer from the Inq (who looks to have a pretty solid anti-NVIDIA bias) claims it includes both the desktop and laptop parts. Other outlets say it's just the laptop chips. If the Inq is right, it includes everything from the 8300 to the 8700.

    
    I was wondering about if that was true or not. It seemed biased to me, without direct evidence of failures, mostly a bunch of info that we are supposed to take at face value. But thats the inquirer for you. True it's correct about a lot of stuff you think couldn't possibly be right. Call me doubtful, but I don't think I can fully trust this source.
19. 
    11 Jul 2008 ~ 11:39am Snarkasm

    RyderOCZ wrote:

    Hmmm.. and Vista reports "The video driver stopped responding, but has recovered" from time to time on my laptop... not a good sign me thinks

    
    Is a chip failure and a driver issue the same?
20. 
    11 Jul 2008 ~ 11:50am Garg

    Snarkasm wrote:

    Is a chip failure and a driver issue the same?

    
    I'm not real sure what the symptoms are for this defect. I've had some funny things happen in Source games after my laptop heats up (strange polygonal artifacts), but other people report BSODs or lockups. Something else could cause all of these things, though.
21. 
    11 Jul 2008 ~ 2:35pm Thrax TheInq isn't the only site reporting what's been said there, btw. Giz and Engadget said roughly the same thing.
    
    And TheInq is rarely ever wrong.
22. 
    11 Jul 2008 ~ 2:51pm Winfrey Inq is definitely correct a lot more times than not. I just wish they would write their reports with less of the writer's opinion in it. The way this article is written detracts from its credibility instead of add to it. It just bothers me I guess.
    
    If the report is correct then write the facts and leave out your personal opinion. I can decide for myself if company x is doing something dirty, don't do it for me.
23. 
    11 Jul 2008 ~ 3:06pm Thrax TheInq is a blog, not a news site. It's always been written in that style. Not to mention, NV and INQ have a rather hateful history of one another.
24. 
    11 Jul 2008 ~ 3:34pm Ryder

    Snarkasm wrote:

    Is a chip failure and a driver issue the same?

    Depends on what is causing the driver to fail. If the core is "doing something weird" like throttling/cutting out due to overheat/whatever.. then might the driver not suddenly "lose track of it" (yes this is all in very non technical terms) and have to reset?
    
    This is the message I get: http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&q=The+display+drivers+has+stopped+responding+but+recovered
    
    Looks like more than just I get it. I realize that it could be a lousy driver.. Vista and Nvidia have a history of this. But.. what if it really isn't the driver being poorly coded??? hmmmmm
25. 
    11 Jul 2008 ~ 3:37pm Snarkasm Yeah, I've gotten that before. I wasn't knocking you or anything, just wondering, and I suppose you're right, a sudden blurp when it's on its way out might indeed bork the driver.
    
    Zis is bad news... but just like ATI survived, nVidia's not going anywhere.
26. 
    11 Jul 2008 ~ 5:16pm airbornflght I have an 8600GT. So are the desktop cards included in this or not? I've heard conflicting reports. Just glad my laptop has an ati card in it.
27. 
    11 Jul 2008 ~ 5:30pm Thrax Just mobile. There have been no reports for the desktop.