Sony comes clean on faulty 8XXX series Nvidia Chips!

[ScuderiaConchiglia]

I understand that. I followed Charlie's original discovery from its inception back at The Inq.

My point is that they did not make any "fixed" ones as by the time it was an issue, TSMC was humming along with new project like the G9X series and whatnot. So, unless they build completely new daughterboards the will take the G9X series or a completely new mobo that fits, you're not getting a "fixed" solution.

My understanding is the chips were still in production and they did indeed make fixed ones, even going so far as to replace any stock that OEM's had on hand and provide inventory for board repairs. I'll try to find the article that detailed this. It occurred long before Sony finally admitted there was an issue. I think it was partially responsible for Sony's about face. Sort of hard to insist there was no problem, when the suppier was recalling the chips.

Gary

[18000rpm]

So are the SZ series (with 8600M) affected? Why is that model not in the affected list?

[guttula007]

i have sony vaio vgn-z36gd laptop, this laptop having nvidia geforce 9300 gs graphic accelerator drivers problem in windows 7 32bit please solution....

[Skyshade]

i have sony vaio vgn-z36gd laptop, this laptop having nvidia geforce 9300 gs graphic accelerator drivers problem in windows 7 32bit

That's probably a driver problem instead of hardware problem. Check this thread first for the latest and greatest drivers made by fellow NBRers.

My discoveries on Vaio Z’s Hybrid Graphics

[Skyshade]

So are the SZ series (with 8600M) affected? Why is that model not in the affected list?

Sony said it's not affected, but most likely it's just that there are not enough complaints -- I certainly had seen several complaints. SZ does have a switchable graphics and it's more difficult for users to spot the problem if they use Intel graphics a lot.

[Freiberg75]

I have a sz650 with nvidia failure too. Sony refuses to warranty it. I suppose only solution is a class action lawsuit. Laptop is no good without dedicated video.

[leslieann]

I have a sz650 with nvidia failure too. Sony refuses to warranty it. I suppose only solution is a class action lawsuit. Laptop is no good without dedicated video.

Sorry, but I have seen few instances where the Nvidia card was significantly better than the Intel. It's a mobile 8400, it's not like you are comparing an 8800GTS to an Intel card. The 8400 was never anything spectacular and Intel drivers have come a long way.

And yes a class action is the only way.

[Freiberg75]

I bought the sz650 as a portable gaming machine while I was on the road for work. Didn't take up a lot of room. The intel video is not playable for any games really. Blizzard games one of them. The nvidia worked great till it died.
Don't even see how u can compare dedicated graphics to intel but w/e maybe trolling?

[leslieann]

I bought the sz650 as a portable gaming machine while I was on the road for work. Didn't take up a lot of room. The intel video is not playable for any games really. Blizzard games one of them. The nvidia worked great till it died.
Don't even see how u can compare dedicated graphics to intel but w/e maybe trolling?

Trolling with 800+ posts? Okay.

Are you honestly going to try and tell me that the 8400GS is a good gaming card? The day the SZ was released, reviewers kind of chuckled at including it for "gaming". Read up on 8400 reviews, it's more of a video card than a gaming card. It was something companies could throw in as a (very) cheap step up from embedded.

Run the Windows User Experience test and look at the scores. Better yet, I can post them.
I ran these on 10-26-2009 in Win7)
Stamina mode: (relatively new Intel drivers)
32bit graphics 3.5 / gaming 3.1

Speed mode:
32bit graphics 2.8 / gaming 3.4 (older driver, 185 or 186 maybe)
32bit graphics 2.8 / gaming 5.8 (190.4)

While Intel has improved, and so has Nvidia, it doesn't change that the fact that the card just plain stinks for gaming. It was a pathetic gaming card when released, just as it is today. More often than not, the 8400 does nothing for speed except suck down your battery and make a bunch of fan noise. Especially with older drivers. Another driver, released between these fell in between, and the original Sony supplied Nvidia driver was even worse than these numbers. I could only go so far back with Intel, but it varied only a little.

As for not playable for games, I play Supreme Commander, Red Alert 2 and 3 and Second Life on mine in Stamina Mode. I admit the Nvidia is slightly better on Second Life, but only marginally because it has some lighting abilities the Intel lacks, but in terms of refresh rate, the difference is negligible.

[Astera]

I have a SZ680 with both the Nvidia 8600M and Intel video adapters.

My Nvidia adapter has just failed. As soon as the unit is powered on I get a screen full of garbage and it fails to boot into Windows completely (Windows does start loading).

If I switch to the Intel adapter it works fine.

But why is my model not included in the affected models list here Sony Offering Support for Faulty Nvidia GPUs ?

My unit is a little under 3 years old and thus out of the original warranty, so I need it to in the affected computers to be able to get it fixed for free (I assume).

My SZ58 has just been hit with this problem and some searching has led me here. I'm just after advice on how indeed I 'switch to the Intel adapter' as I tried deleting/disabling the NVIDIA card, but didn't improve things at all?

Edit: Found how to do it