The Nvidia Defect Forum

Is the HP dv2799ea laptop affected by the Nvidia defect? It does not appear on the lists of defective HP laptops, but there are posts on HP's own forum claiming that this laptop is defective due to a faulty Nvidia chip. Is there a way to find out which graphics chip the machine uses and determine from this information if it is affected by this defect?

I bought mine in August 2008 and it has always run extremely hot, despite being serviced (i.e. cooling system cleaned) professionally twice. The fan never turns off. The hard disk is now failing due to the overheating - the area above the drive can get too hot to touch. The HD now switches itself off anything from 10-30 minutes after starting the machine, and the HD temperature monitor utility I installed showed it had reached 61 deg C recently. When this happens the only way out is to hold down the power button till the laptop switches off and then leave it to cool down. (I am currently waiting for delivery of a new hard disk.)

I bought mine from an Amazon Marketplace seller. If the Nvidia chip is to blame and I pursue a claim, does it have to be against the Marketplace seller, or can it be against Amazon? I've no idea if that particular seller still operates...

Thanks for your help - and for your excellent forum.

Stephen

Hello Stephen and welcome to our forum.

Sorry to hear that your laptop has failed.

Your laptop contains the Nvidia 8400 GPU which is one of the more prolific of the defective GPU's.

I did a quick check on the HP support site to see if I could find any information relating to your model of laptop and found this:- http://tinyurl.com/346sgvz

This is the BIOS update for your laptop which was released on the 8th April 2008. The purpose of this update, according to HP, is :-



So, as early as the 8th April 2008 HP were aware for the potential for your laptop to overheat - otherwise why release a BIOS update that switches the fans on 24/7 to the detriment of the battery?

I note from your date of purchase that the BIOS update was released BEFORE you purchased the laptop.

Why did HP allow the continued sale of a product that they really should have known suffered from overheating?

This will be excellent corroborating evidence if and when you file your claim.

Who you claim from depends on what is printed on your invoice. If it is the marketplace seller then it is them that you must pursue.

There is a step by step guide on this forum that will help you reach a positive resolution and that is here:- post13.html#p13

If you follow my advice in that guide then you will be successful.

However, now that I have told you all the above just because the hard drive temp is reaching 61c does not necessarily mean that your laptop is inherently defective.

Can I suggest, before you proceed with a claim, that you download the 2 utilities from the downloads section of this forum. They are available here:- tools-to-test-to-see-if-your-nvidia-gpu-is-about-to-fail-t57.html

The first is a program called GPU-Z which is a temperature monitoring program. You should run this and then click on the "Sensors" tab then make a note of the temperature at idle.

The next program is called Rthdribl, which is a GPU stress tester. You should run that full screen then check the temperature under load.

Once you have done that please pop back here and let me know the results and I will advise further.

If you have any questions or if you need any advice then please let me know.

Best wishes

Paul
The Admin Team

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Thanks Paul

I'll download these utilities and get back to you.

Stephen

Hi Paul

At idle, the GPU hovers around 75 deg C, see Screenshot1.jpg. At this point the machine had been booted from cold and left idle for half an hour - though it reached these temperatures much more quickly than that, perhaps five or ten minutes after booting.

Under stress, running rthdribl (1.2), the GPU temp went up to 100+ deg C, see screenshots 2 & 3. The HD temp also shot up to 60 deg C, despite not being in use (HD light not flashing). My assumption is that it is near something hot inside. At this point I switched off the machine to let it cool down.

Incidentally, I also found HWMonitor, available from http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html. I thought you might look at adding this to your downloads page. There are some other interesting freeware and shareware utilities here, too.

Before going into possible remedies, I would be grateful for a quick reaction to these results.

Stephen

Hello Stephen,

Those temperatures are way, way too high. In fact, at 104°C that is higher than the boiling point of water, which is just under 100°C.

At those temps it is unlikely that the laptop will last very long. It could also pose a health and safety risk as using it on your laptop could cause burns.

Have you tried blowing compressed air into the grilles in order to free any potential blockage?

It could be that the fans and grilles are blocked by dust/debris and this could cause the high temperatures that your laptop is reaching.

If you have checked for blockages and if your laptop is free from such a blockage then I would say it is highly likely that your laptop is inherently defective and on the fringes of failure.

Again, presuming there is no blockage I would say it is now time to contact the retailer.

What do you think?

Best wishes

Paul
The Admin Team

_________________
=======================================================
Calculate the minimum refund that you would be entitled to.
FAQ's
Why you should not accept a repair
Links to evidence
What is the Nvidia Defect?
Step by step help to getting a refund
Do you need an engineers report?
=======================================================

If you like what you see on this forum and would like to help then please post links to this forum in other forums or blogs. The more people we can help the better.


Please note that I am not legally qualified and I only offer my own personal advice. You are advised to seek professional legal advice for formal clarification of advice I give.

Hi Paul

The problem for myself is that the Amazon Marketplace seller (Cleverbase) from whom I bought the laptop no longer exists. The last time they sold anything was in early 2009 (as far as one can tell from the seller's feedback page on Amazon) and according to Companies House the company has been dissolved. A search on Google reveals a number of complaints about this company, and quite a lot of other non-complimentary information.

So I think chasing this non-existent company would be a waste of time. Is there any other possible strategy? As I understand it, under the Sale of Goods Act, it is the retailer with whom I had the contract to buy, and who has the responsibilty towards the individual consumer. Unfortunately I bought it with a debit card, so a claim under the Consumer Credit Act would not seem to be possible. Is there any chance of getting HP to do something?

Although I can see the logic of making the retailer resposible towards the consumer, it seems astonishing to me that the manufacturer is apparently therefore absolved of any responsibility with regard to ensuring that goods are not faulty, unless the goods cause actual damage to the purchaser.

Stephen

Hello Stephen,

It is not good news that the seller has gone out of business as this means the door to a resolution as far as the retailer is concerned is firmly closed.

Your only other option is to contact HP and to tell them that in the absence of the retailer you are holding them as the manufacturers responsible for the inherent defect in your laptop.

As I pointed out in one of my previous posts, HP released a BIOS update for your model of laptop which switched the fans on continuously.

This, in my opinion, means that HP must have known of the potential for your laptop to overheat otherwise why release a BIOS update to the detriment of the battery?

I would contact HP and would see if can at least obtain a free repair.

Whilst I hate to advise that anyone accept a repair to these laptops, unfortunately for you it seems to be your only option as HP would be under no real obligation to refund or replace the laptop.

Saying that they may have no compulsion in law to repair your laptop for free so it would probably be done as a "gesture of goodwill".

I hope the above helps.

Sorry I cannot offer more positive advice.

Best wishes

Paul
The Admin Team

_________________
=======================================================
Calculate the minimum refund that you would be entitled to.
FAQ's
Why you should not accept a repair
Links to evidence
What is the Nvidia Defect?
Step by step help to getting a refund
Do you need an engineers report?
=======================================================

If you like what you see on this forum and would like to help then please post links to this forum in other forums or blogs. The more people we can help the better.


Please note that I am not legally qualified and I only offer my own personal advice. You are advised to seek professional legal advice for formal clarification of advice I give.