Thinkpads Forum

I hardly ever frequent this forum but came across a lot of posts relating to the Nvidia GPU issues on T6x when doing a search for some other information.

Nvidia GPU's fitted to T6x's had design faults, and more details are here.

Typical symptoms are that the laptop starts running much hotter than usual, and then the display either pixilates or goes blank even though the rest of the laptop appears to work OK.

Until the end of 2011 it was possible to buy updated versions of these chips however the Chinese have flooded the market with fakes and there is no longer any genuine ones available despite the adverts on eBay and other retail sites.

Despite these design issues, many repair companies still the issue is to do with unsoldered solder balls, and there's no doubt that reflowing (heating up the chip so the solder balls melt) can cause the chip to work again. However this is because the process resolderes the micro solder joints (AKA bumps) within the chip substrate, but what happens is the chip will fail within a short space of time, and providing it's after the usual 90 day repair warranty period, they don't give a d*%n since they've already taken your $$££'s.

Fortunately for UK owners (and USA owners in some States) Consumer Laws allow you to make a claim against the retailer providing the laptop is less than 6 years old and more information can be found on the UK based Nvidia Defect Forum where help and advise etc in making such claims, can be found.


<EDIT: 21-07-12 re-written to include more info>

Could you, please, re-post it here? I (and many other, I believe) can not get access to the off-topic forum.

Thanks Nick, I've been warning people of the same thing. Websites like ebay are loaded with reflowed boards and laptops, all of which fail. The only way to fix a failed GPU is to replace it.

Regarding all the fake chips from china, this is nothing new, they have been pulling used chips off of electronic waste for years. Usually it provides a cost effective source of serviceable chips, but when they do it with chips that are likely failed (or will fail), then all he!! breaks loose.

It's also very shortsighted of them to do this with such a well documented bad chip, it only draws attention to a scam they have been running successfully for years. Now all chip buyers will be looking at them more closely. In that regard, a google search for "fake chips" and "china" will reveal that even the united states military has been scammed by these fake chips, having bought thousands of them even from legitimate defense contractors who either can't resist a cheap chip, or buy from distributors who cannot.

Part of the problem is the mentality that you should buy the cheapest chip price you can get... afterall, they all look the same, and it's not something that really makes a difference in the computers function or use like a keyboard with shiny keys would (intentional sarcasm meant to be humorous). Most of the cheap cpu chips traded on ebay come from the same chinese part strippers that make these fake GPU chips. I've seen the laptops that get shipped there. For example, out of a warehouse full of close to 100,000 T61p thinkpads, I selected the best couple hundred for myself, the rest were bid on by brokers and ended up on ebay and other websites. After the auctions ended, there were a few hundred laptops left over, smashed, dead, some badly burned from electrical fire. These were put on pallets and shipped to china where the chips were pulled and sold on ebay, and I find it odd that anyone would recommend buying a cpu from one of the "bottom of the barrel" laptops because it's a few dollars cheaper then one from the "cream of the crop".


Ps. Nick, if you do find a source for new genuine nVidia chips please let me know. I'd like to get some boards rechipped

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