Nvidia Graphics Chip/Chipset Problems

I know this isn't the place for this, but considering how many people here use Nvidia based laptops and desktops I thought it might be prudent to let people know.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/31/figuring-out-which-nvidia-gpus-are-defective-its-a-lot/
"So now that HP's joined Dell in releasing information on which laptops have those defective NVIDIA GPUs, we can sort of piece together which chips are faulty -- and just as had been rumored, it looks like basically every Geforce 8600M and 8400M chip is affected. Other affected chips appear to be in the GeForce Go 7000 and 6000 lines, as well as the Quadro NVS 135M and the Quadro FX 360M, but that's just looking at model numbers, and we can't be exactly sure."

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/07/31/nvidia-790i-board-pulled-makers
"Nvidia GPUs and chipsets have been crapping out at an amazingly high rate of speed. The executive summary is that Nvidia has a massive batch of bad chips and the first ones to go bad are in laptops, but the problem is by no means confined to those machines..."

or just Google "nvidia recall".

There's a LOT of finger pointing going on in the industry reguarding this right now.
What I gather is it's the graphics chip itself, either from cheap materials or improper coatings inside. The BIOS patches being pushed out by pc vendors ONLY turn the back fan on full power all the time to try to mitigate the damage, but do nothing to correct the problem. The chips are much more succeptible to burning out. This is stress damage from the expansion and contraction of the chip due to the hot-when-running, cold-when-off cycle.

Obligatory question: If you knew of an issue that possibly affected a large number of users here.. many not tech-savvy, would you post about it in the best visible spot? or just shrug and keep it to yourself?

Its only laptops, not desktops.

K.

and every desktop motherboard that comes with one of those graphics chips integrated.

i agree that people need to be made aware as im sure there are retailers who wouldnt hesitate to sell a product that they knew to be defective. so bottom line, if you want to purchase either a 790I chipset mobo or the recalled 8600M/8400M mobile gpus make sure that you are purchasing the newest revision as these problems have been fixed. you can look online to find out what indicators to look for that signify the newer revision.