The Nvidia Defect Forum

Hi All,

Just wondering if someone could clear up a couple of points for me. My laptop (HP DV6330EA) has been overheating to the point of shutting down. It's almost unusable as I have to balance it on the corner of a table and point a desktop fan at it just to keep it ticking over! It's been like this since around a year after I bought it from HP direct, but as it was out of warranty I thought there was nothing I could do. I've tried blowing air into the vents and no help. I've even meticulously taken the laptop completely apart down to its bare bones but there was hardly any dust build up inside so I'm stumped. It's now 3 years and 2 months old and I've been putting up with this for about 2 years but it's driving me nuts.

If someone could help me with the following I'd be really grateful!

1. Has anyone else had problems with the GeForce 7400?
2. Does this sound like a Nvidia defect? My wireless has been working fine, the only problem is the overheating.
3. How can I be sure this is an inherent fault? - I'd rather not fork out the £65 for a report to find out it's not going to help me get a refund (money is tight enough as it is )

Well, hope someone out there can help!

Many thanks,

B.

Sorry, I should have included some more details:

My p/n is: GH878EA#ABU

Unfortunately I didn't use a credit card to buy it, but a debit card instead.

Another thing that is confusing me - I downloaded and installed GPU-Z.0.4.4 from TechPowerUp to monitor my GPU temp. It only said 57C even though the internal fan is straining whilst just running a browser. I then attempted to watch a HD movie on BBC iPlayer and it overheated and shut down after a couple of minutes.

Could it perhaps be something other than the GPU that is causing the laptop to overheat? If so does that mean I wouldn't be able to claim back under this Nvidia defect thing?

Hello Barbarian and welcome to our forum.

Sorry to hear of the problems you have been experiencing with your laptop.

Well, as you have already stripped the laptop down and ruled out the possibility that it is a dust build up that is causing the problem the only other thing that remains is an overheating GPU or CPU.

Please find below answers to the questions you asked.


Well, in all the reports I have produced (and it is well over 400 now) I have only ever seen one Nvidia 7400 that had failed - and that was in a Phillips Freevents laptop.

That does not mean that yours may not be defective, it is just that I have only had one laptop in that contained that version of the GPU.



Well, as you have ruled out the possibility that it is a dust build up and I presume you have also checked that the fan is spinning, then the overheating has to be caused by either the GPU or the CPU but most likely the GPU.



At this stage there are no guarantees that it is the fault. If you were to send it to me and it was not the defect then all you would be charged would be the collect and return carriage and a small administration fee which would total £30.



Well, 57C is not bad at all when there is not much of a load on the laptop. What temperature did it reach before shutting down? If you bring the GPU-Z program to the foreground whilst running the DVD and keep an eye in the temperature and then please let me know.



Whilst you were checking the fan assembly for dust did you notice if the thermal transfer compound on the CPU had dried up? Did you also check that there was either a thermal pad or thermal transfer compound on the GPU?

Was the old compound hard and dry?

Please let me know and I will advise further.

Best wishes

Paul
The Admin Team

Hi Paul,

Thanks for the honest, helpful reply.



I just ran Core Temp to check my CPUs and then ran this alongside GPU-Z.0.4.4. As I tried the HD vid again the temp in the GPU remained pretty much constant (at around 49C) but the temp in both of the CPU cores steadily rose until it neared the Tj Max (85C), at which point it shutdown. From this I'm guessing it's the CPUs.



Unfortunately I didn't check at the time and have put it all back together now (they don't make these things easy to pull apart do they?!). I didn't want to detach the CPU as I didn't have any thermal paste handy.

Shame it isn't the nice easy solution that this Nvidia defect seems to offer!

I guess the paste might be worth a shot though, although I am sick to the back teeth of this machine and almost ready to throw the towel in!

Cheers for the help anyhow

B.

Hello Barbarian,

When changing the thermal paste make sure you get something like Arctic Silver as it is one of the best available.

Also, make sure all the old compound has been removed from around the CPU and also from the heatsink assembly. Make sure it is all nice and clean before applying the compound.

Something else you may want to try, sometimes inside the heatsink assembly dust and dirt block the internal copper vents (where the fan is). If you angle the assembly to look through the fan blades at the rear of the vents you may see that it is blocked. If it is you will need to get a can of compressed air and give it a good blow to make sure it is all clear inside.

Fingers crossed this does it for you. If you have any questions then please let me know.

Good luck and best wishes

Paul
The Admin Team

Great, thanks again for the advice Paul. I see Amazon have Arctic Silver at half price at the moment so will give it a shot.