UPDATE: Follow up articles:- http://popey.com/blog/2006/07/10/My_broken_Dell_Laptop_part_2/, http://popey.com/blog/2006/07/20/Joined_up_Dell_support/, http://popey.com/blog/2010/03/08/roast-laptop/
My gorgeous (but massive) Dell Inspiron XPS Gen 2 has a problem. It locked up on me the other day. I thought this might be a software problem of some kind. These things happen now and again. However after rebooting to clear the problem it didn’t go away.
Now very little has changed software wise on my laptop recently. No changes that I can remember have been made to the video subsystem – the nvidia binary driver I use and the xorg window system haven’t changed recently. I usually remember when updates come down on Ubuntu. I would have noticed something as big as the video driver being updated.
After a couple more reboots it was clear this was not a software issue. The system was locking up sometimes before I had even logged in. I found corruption on the screen sometimes and was starting to suspect the worst. The first diagnostic test was to boot not to Ubuntu but to memtest86 which is available on the standard boot up menu grub.
I left memtest running for a full 24 hours. Usually a failed memory chip will show up pretty quickly, but my friends advised me to give it a much longer test. Apparently you need to run memtest for a good while to be sure that good memory really is good.
Today I got in from work and the memtest was still running, with no errors reported. My suspicions turned to the video card. Being a laptop I can’t just yank the video card out and slap another in to eliminate that from my enquiries. Instead I turned to the Dell support website.
After tapping in the asset tag from my laptop I could enquire what support options were available. I was told that as I’d bought the laptop back on the 9th September last year I still had some of the first year warranty left. It also told me there was another two years to run after that. This makes me feel good. I have used Dell technical support over the years, and whilst I know some people have had bad experience with them, I’ve really not had that problem. Well, now we can put it to the test.
Before contacting Dell I thought I’d best check the knowledge base to see if it was a known problem. I answered the questions and was taken to a list of video based questions and problems. None seemed appropriate. I next followed a link which detailed how to run the diagnostics test on this laptop. To activate the onboard diagnostics (which Dell call ‘Pre-boot System Assessment – Build 3107′) I simply held down the blue Fn key whilst tapping the on button.
In the top right of the screen I noted the message “Diagnostic boot selected”, which was promising. The diagnostics ran and as you can see from the pictures I took, it’s not a well bunny at all. In fact technically it passed the tests, but the only graphical test was to display some colour bars and ask me if I saw them. It’s tricky, clearly there are colour bars there, but they’re a bit knackered.
Once I’d taken the pictures revisited the Dell website (on another [Compaq] computer). I clicked the contact button, it’s getting late and I guessed that I wouldn’t be able to phone them at this hour. Instead I typed up a short detail about my problem. I put detail in about how to view the pictures I’d taken. That was 20 minutes ago or so. Lets see what happens next shall we.
103 Comments
My xps gen2 started with the same problems (blocks on screen, system freezes) in Aug07. Bought the system in June05 and it had worked perfectly up until then. Dell fixed it with a new graphics card and then a new motherboard too. Lasted 4 months then died again on Xmas day – lovely timing.
Trying to get Dell out to fix it again is proving difficult – ok its a bad time of year but a next working day on site warranty should be just that. They are due on Wed 2nd, I reported the problem on Thurs 27th – thats not good enough in my eyes. Wasted all Fri 28th waiting for the engineer – Dell didnt contact me to tell me he wasnt comming – very professional.
I await to see what the new set of parts will do. Starting to get the feeling that Dell dont really care about their users with the level of after sales care service they are providing. Think they know the system is generally crap and just wait for the 3 year warranty to expire as most people wont want to spend good money after bad. I’m trying to extend my warranty at the moment but not surprisingly havent had a call back from the dell warranty dept!
Will update after the engineer has called. Good luck to everyone who are suffering with this problem too.
I too had a video fault with a speckled image. Tried everything including fresh re-load of windows but the fault remained. Eventually came across technomart, they cured the video chip fault on my existing graphics card. Works well and its been going for nearly a year without problem.
Had to post a comment – had the nvidea card problem. Managed to get a knowledgeable and relatively local person at Dell to assist and organise getting the machine back to Dell. I sent it Tuesday 4th Sept from Calgary and received it back today the 6th. For around $280 CAD it included getting a special box sent to me and all Puralator costs. I’m impressed! Was not ready to use this machine as a door stop even though some local repairers suggested that. Remember if you have this problem remember that it will boot using the standard video card – just need to tell the machine not to look for the nvidea card.
Sorry to be so positive but its important to tell good stories too.
email me if you need more data barrypendergast@shaw.ca
You probably have a desktop. Mine is a laptop. There is no onboard VGA which you can use instead of the Nvidia chipset. The Nvidia chipset is all there is in the machine.
Its a laptop XPS Gen2 Inspirion with the shiny aluminium top – I was able to take it to Europe for 3 weeks and at least use it for downloading digital photos. You just need to get the machine to look for the onboard video card. Other functions would noy work but nothing major. Email me if I can add more barrypendergast@shaw.ca
I have had this same problem on my 9400/e1705, 2 years old. (geforce go 7800). Thankfully it is still under onsite warranty, but this hasn’t really helped me as I have now been through 4 service calls, each time replacing at least the video card, but also the motherboard, ram, lcd, and fans at times. The first repair lasted several months. The second repair worked flawlessly for 10 minutes – long enough for the tech to be long gone. The 3rd repair lasted about 4~6 months, and the most recent repair (last week) lasted all of 5 minutes!
IT troubleshooting IS tough, but I’m a computer engineer and it does seem like this is & only can be a 100% hardware malfunction… but given how many replacement parts I have had this is getting hard to believe. At times i would just be better off with NO laptop, at least I wouldn’t wish I could use it in that case!
Has anyone really solved this???
Hi, well I have seen so many reports of NVidia cards failing, caused by overheating (they all run hot) see the latest Dell Bios A061A10 Fan corrections etc, and unless you use the Laptop for gaming (not designed for) IE just everyday mobile stuff, why not ask the Techs to use the ATI card, its slower but so what? Dell and other manufacturers dont tell you (Dont buy a laptop for gaming) but in fact this is true!!
Do what others do and use a desktop for highend stuff,a laptop for mobile tasks!!
And whilst laptops are generally not upgradable, Desktops are easily repairiable, easier to work on too!! Pete
*****read the end of this long article could save you money + extra warranty for free**********
this is to help anyone having this problem and getting repaired by dell
First my story
I got this computer late August 05 after I got it about 4 days later the keyboard broke they said it was my fault blah blah it was there fault. I got them to ship me a whole new computer and I shipped back the old one early September. Next year August 06 the video card broke I called dell and my computer was out of warranty so I talked to dell out of warranty repair they said about $460 for new video card I said no thanks and get my neighbor who know everything about computers possible to fix it for $200 all is good. Until late August 07 same problem so I call deal and find out it only cost $200 to repair it so I send the computer away. Then I get a call we also need to replace your mother board I am like oh sh*t. So I call the guy says it will cost $400 but since I a some kind of special customer (this is the only dell computer I bought on this account) I get it for $329 so I say oh that way to much I probably just get a new computer from some other company. Then he quickly drops the price to $229. (I have the guy’s name and extension number I can probably get the same price for you) so I say let me think about it. I call back the next day and ask can you extend the 90 day warranty to a year he says no but he did give me a 6 month warranty for free (they can extend the warranty to this) so I say ok he add the $229 to my bill (also some tax which I don’t understand no tax the first time ($199) but the ($229) there was tax but what ever) so they fix it. Now fast forward to last Friday September 7 2007 I get the computer back I am all happy BUT I start up the computer all is good so far. Then I decide to play a video game to test the graphics card I load the game and I get a weird message unsupported video card (that is odd I have played this game before) so I like what ever I load up game all is good for 5 min then all video picture all messed up game freezes. I try this again restart computer with different games same thing happens. I tried to update drivers but it won’t updated them it will only take the 2 year old dell drivers. (At this point I realize my computer is still broken) so I shut it down call dell at Friday at like 8 pm and I get transferred to out of warranty department. They are closed. So I wait with a broken computer. Play around with it a bit more testing my graphics card and now my computer freezes up randomly on normal websites. So I turn it off. Come back Saturday when I turn it on I have the same problem I sent the computer in with. It will load with lines on screen the same thing in the article above. So I restart again 5 more times. Then it loads up fine randomly. Still have the video card problems. So when I restart it sometimes it works sometimes it does not.
Now Sunday I write this articles because
1 because I bored waiting for dell service department to open
2 to help everyone else get good prices on repairs (see below)
3 I hate dell at this point
4 also to help out any one having these problems feel free to email me at kcarr91@gmail.com I will help you out.
5 may i suggest cyber pc (www.cyberpowerpc.com) my friend got a computer from there they are great computer + cheap (compared to dell) + all have 3 year warranty standard
I will update on my computer when i get a hold of dell
********important prices and warranty*********
Video card $199 (normal price)
Mother board $229 (they said originally cost $400 to $329)
Also ask for 6 month warranty they can do it (cost free) (or at least when you replace the motherboard also)
My 2 year old XP laptop got 2 lines down the middle of the screen.. if you run it a while longer the screen will go to all blocks of unreadable garbage.
I have been running it off another display, but would love to find otu how much it will cost to get the display replaced, or find a way to verify that it is a screen problem. Since it is fine on an external display I am sure it’s the screen on the laptop. It waited until it was out of warranty to go on me of course…
All I have to say it Jesus H. Christ. I never knew everyone was having the same problem I have had twice in 5 months. Freaking epidemic. I am somewhat glad to know now that I am not alone with this horrendous problem. The XPS Next Gen 2 Laptop truly is a beast as I have been telling everyone; eats graphic cards for a lite snack. I thank you Alan for bringing this peculiar and recurring problem to the broader scope. Right now safe mode is my haven and hell and I am curious if there is any short term fix or way to get it to work a tad better than safe mode. I somehow predict Dell is going to give me an incredibly hard time when I ask them to come visit me in Japan while I am away. Lazy assholes. Anyway thanks to all of you people for making me feel not alone. Anyone know how to force Dell into a recall? Class action lawsuit? something?
your first para after ‘how it all started’ .. says it ALL… if you could still see windows extremely dimly up on the screen, and the computer is still responsive, then the prob is unequivocally that the light has gone out. 90+% of the time this is just the ccfl bulb streching across the top/bottom/both of the screen, which eventually needs replacing just like any flourescent. Very rarely the inverter board has also gone (the thing that powers the light)
Hi. I too have the problem with my XPS Gen 2 notebook with nVidia 6800 Ultra card. The first time it happened (Jan. ’07) my 1 yr warranty already expired so I had to pay $199 to service it (includes the replacement video card). The second time it happened on April. Damn the 90-day warranty on the first replacement already lapsed. Since I really love this machine, I have paid to service it again. This time they gave me a $150 discount off the $199 minimum service fee but I had to pay an additional $300+ because they had to replace the motherboard also. Which in my opinion shouldn’t be because I believe it was caused by the video card! But what can I do? Nothing. Pay or leave it broken. The third time happened just recently (July). Lucky me it happened within the 90-day warranty period of the second replacement so I didnt have to pay any. But I wasnt happy anymore and asked for a replacement machine. Of course they refused. They said they’ll just service it free of charge. But the rep added that if after the same thing happened again then they’ll (try to) give me a replacement.
So now I’m set to test this latest replacement and make sure to exhaust the video card asap so I can find out early if it will break (as expected) again and hopefully my case will deserve a replacement machine of a newer XPS model!
I was a fool to pay all the money to service this notebook before but I wont make that mistake again. Next time this happens, all money back or new notebook! And I wont recommend Dell anymore to whoever is interested in buying a notebook.
My xps gen2 has died with the exact same problem for the second time in 4 months. Engineer due Wed 2nd Jan with new graphics card, screen and motherboard. Took 3 days to get here mind – bit disapointing considering I have the next business day warranty. Will update with results after engineer has fixed.
I also have this same issue. I was playing BF2 and the game froze up. I had to do a hard shutdown. On rebooting the laptop I now have a line that runs top to bottom on the right side of my screen. I, like so many of you have no warranty left on the system.
I have yet to call the Dell Customer we don’t Care line yet. Too bad this was a great laptop.
Haha, I don’t have your problem, and I have a 3-4 year old XPS
Gen 2 Laptop. rofl, did u guys update your drivers to cause this problem? If so, what driver did u start with and update to. Its still funny though. Not for you I guess.
I too have a Gen 2 with screen displaying garbage (out of warranty). Does this too on an external monitor hence pointing to graphics issue. Previous posts have mentioned disabling the graphic card then it works fine (backup video on the motherboard?) How is this done as I cannot find a BIOS setting to turn it off.
Cheers, Mark
Im afraid the problem is not limited to xps systems. I have a Inspiron 9400 with a geforce 7800 graphics card which is now showing the same symptoms Alan has described.
Thank you for making this article Alan as it has shed some light on my prediciment. My laptop is showing the same screens as you have shown in your screenshots. Unfortunately, my warranty has expired and am now awaiting a phone call from Dell. I will find out soon how much the service call will be and im not looking forward to it.
This is in fact the second time the graphics card has failed on me. Im really regrettng the fact that i didnt extend my warranty. But i feel that Dell are well aware of this widespread problem and they wont do anything about it on purpose so that their customers fork out more money on their warranties. I wont be buying a Dell again.
I got you all beat. I got my computer (lines going through screen) back two weeks ago. Board, video got replaced. Guess what 2 days I turned it on yay same problem…
I can unfortunately also join the list of all folks having a problem with their Dell XPS Gen2 videocard, GF Go6800 Ultra.
My screen has plenty of lines disturbing the view, not only in Windows and in startup, but also in Bios. I tried Dell Diagnostics CD, which reported some issues with accessing the videocards memory, and this must be where the problem is at. I also tried connecting a crt- monitor, and the stripes appeared also there.
One fact though, is that during the test, the lines disappeared completely when the Diagnostics program only trigged specific areas of the graphic card.
It is very sad that Dell delivers such crap out to the market. The XPS machines, if no problems occurs, are very nice laptops for gaming- purposes, but because of the poor quality, and because so many have problems with Dell computers, this is a brand I never will touch again. And as for others in here, also I will spread the word about the lack of quality in Dells machinery.
I`ve used my last minute on this case. Now I will use some minutes to sell parts from this tincan of a laptop…
having read all these comments I think I’ll save my money on repair and get a new laptop from another company.
I have an xps m1710 laptop bought summer06 and last week while surfing the net my display went black ,not as if it was switched off because the backlight was still on.
after a few attempts rebooting without success I decided to get my DVI cable and connect to my tv.
Hurrah I got the diognistics screen but it wouldnt load windows tp i tried again and ran in Safe mode ,
I disabled my geforce go 7900 gs card and now I don’t have to boot up in safe mode , shame I still can’t get any output from my laptop screen and obviously no gfx either.
I’m not gonna buy a new card or get a repair as I’m not sure the motherboard or screen isn’t also damaged , I’ll just buy a cheap laptop in the future as I don’t play games on it
WTF i have a 15 month old m1710 with the same problem. Dell’s supposed to be replacing the vid card in a few days…
I too have a 9400 with NVIDIA GeForce Go 7800. On startup of the system there are ramdom characters displayed. Running the DELL diagnostics (hold FN key while turnning on) shows video memory on the card failed. The orginal card lasted 2 years and the 3 replacements lasted about 5 hours each. 3 service calls in 2 weeks. Happy I got a 3 year warranty not so happy about the problem. The mother board, screen and video cable kit has also been replaced. My guess is overheating because every major part has been replaced. I tend to leave it on all day, maybe not such a good idea. Going to ask for a replacement, let you know how that works out.
He means using the standard in-build SVGA drivers instead of the Nvidia ones. It works, but they’re painfully slow.
Nothing to do with drivers. Jeez.
I’ve posted here before (below), my 3rd card failed this week.
Thankfully, I bought the 3 year warranty and the card was replaced today under warranty.
As the engineer left, I said see you soon – he knew what I meant.
What is interesting with my problem is that I’d just bought the 24″ LCD from Dell and started using that for my XPS Gen 2, and using the laptop monitor as a 2nd screen (connecting the 24″ by DVI), previously failures were also when I started using external screens.
So it’s either when the graphics card is working hard it causes failures, or heating issues as previously it’s failed on me during a game when pushing the machine to it’s limits.
I’m in no doubt, by fitting a refurbished 6800 Go Ultra as Dell always do, will mean I’m posting here within another 12 months and before my warranty expires.
On my 4th failure, my sense of humour will also fail … I’ll be demanding a laptop replacement with a newer model.
Ok the graphics card was definately the problem. If you have wierd blocks and artifacts even in bios then it’s 99% that your card has gone. My 6800 had died. I’m not sure if it’s fixable in any way but i bought an 7800 instead which i found on US ebay for $400.
Also bought a compatible 120 Gb HDD for £80 ($160) from a local store. You’ll need a 2.5inch ATA100 compatible drive and will need to take the adapter off your old drive and fit it to your new one (for someone who asked about HDDs earlier). I’m no sure if the graphics card overheating caused the total failure of the HDD but I’ve never had one die like that before.
Anyway the 7800 is compatible and seems to be working fine. It also feels like it is running a bit cooler.
It is not too difficult to replace the card (10-45mins depending on your expertise) and if you need instructions you can find them here: http://support.euro.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xpsm170/en/sm/index.htm
Make sure you have a good screwdriver that fits the screws well so you don’t ruin them. You’ll need to remove around 40 screws in total.
I haven’t tried the cheap ATI card that apparently fits but if you’re looking to just get your laptop up and running (ie no games/designing) then this could be a good cheap fix.
Anyway guys good luck thanks to Popey and all the others for the great comments (except the idiot known as HAHA! – may his laptop explode into sharp, hot fragments while he’s having a wank over naked pictures of his inbred sister) and I really hope I never have to come back to this board again
The Dell Tech Supervisor was suppossed to call me over an hour ago so I thought I would add my experience with this. Just spent the last 6-7 hours researching this problem and communicating back and forth on Dell Tech Chat Support which has been less than helpful…seemed at times I knew more than they did perhaps from Popey’s post.
How it all started:
Using my Dell Inspiron E1705 to view a photo slideshow. Screen flashed for a second and then went black but was still illuminated if you looked closely at it.
Tried the usual reboot a few times and nothing. The system start up appeared to go ok but you could see green/yellowish lines running down the screen. After the system was rebooted with drivers the screen went black as described above. Don’t waste your time doing a system restore because this will not work to resolve this issue.
Got on to another laptop and researched this problem.
Utilzed Dell Chat Tech support for several hours back and forth and what was most frustrating was that the chat sessions would end abruptly with out my case being resolved.
Dell will tell you that if you update your BIOS and complete a unistall/reinstall of the NVIDIA GE FORCE GO 7900GT that this will solve the problem. Based on hours of researching this online in numerous forums this NEVER resolves the issue.
The only way I could go online with the laptop was to turn off computer and to start it in SAFE MODE by pressing F8 repeatedly as you powered on the laptop. In SAFE MODE I was able to disable the video card which allowed me to go online with the laptop and I had all functions with the exception of the horrible screen resolution caused by disabling the video card.
I did an uninstall/reinstall of the 7900GT and as soon as the reinstall completed and the video card driver was installed the screen went black yet again. Dell Tech Support kept wanting to “flash” and update my BIOS which I kept teling them that I had the latest update on the BIOS which was A09 (06/27/07)
After MANY hours of Dell Tech Support via chat and all of the sudden abrupt chat disconnects where I had to start all over again explaining this, NOTHING WAS RESOLVED STIL.
So the Dell Tech Rep told me to run a special hardware/harddrive diagnostic test. To run this you hold down the Fn key while you power up your piece of crap Dell Laptop. I was told that this would take 15-20 mins and that the Dell tech Rep’s supervisor would call me on my phone to discuss this problem further…STILL waiting for the call. After the roughly 15-20 mins of running this test the test stated that everything seemed ok and that I had the option of running a more extensive test which would require another 20-30 mins to run. Since the Dell tech Supervisor had not followed through on what was promised I elected to run this more extensive test..still nothing wrong according to the test.
I told Dell from the start to send an engineer to my house to fix it and to bring a new video card and motherboard since it is integrated. So here I am still waiting for the phone call when I need my laptop urgently for work. They promised a call in 15-20 mins by the supervisor and they failed to deliver.
I am so glad that I found this post because the way popey described it in detail made me realize that this was a much bigger issue than a simple BOIS update or uninstall/reinstall of the video driver.
Based on all of these comments to this post it is VERY CLEAR that DELL has serious issues with this happening to not only XPS systems but also to INSPIRON laptop as well.
Can you say class action lawsuit against Dell?
Here I am still waiting for Dell to call as promised!!
Thank you again for such a detailed post.
My DELL XPS M170 is now useless. All of a sudden it goes from brilliant laptop to a blury screen that moves black blocks around the scren and switches on and off.
The black scren, distorted picture, and ability to turn on and off at will happen intermitently from perfect piture to illegible.
Its not Win XP Pro or Ubuntu either moving away from a graphics problem as the screen messes up on boot, in BIOS, and even the DELL diagnostic utility which has told me that my hard drive has a problem. Even though Windows boots and works fine.
It always did overheat and I guess after about 4 years it had had enough. I took it to pieces, cleaned it, and put it backl together to no avail.
Gonna have to go looking for a new laptop I guess. Would rather have had a choice in the matter as it was getting a wee bit old for my liking but worked a treat.
Its dificult to find a replacement graphics card and I dont want to waste money on a new hard drive or compatible graphics card if its not going to work. This money could go nicely towards a new one.
Aww well, end of rant.
I can promise you this is indeed a ploy. My XPS had monitor problems after I had it for a year, when they fixed it, it took about two months and NOW my video card is messed up. I am sick and tired of dell’s horrible quality. I think I’d rather get a mac, and I HATE mac
Yeah im writing with a bunch of lines or(flakes) on my xps inspiron2 is broken, but my warranty is over a year ago not after sending this piece of s%*%& twice to fix, do what i did dell has lost at least 18-20 people that i have convince not to buy from them, and the word keeps spreading.
Everybody here probably agree that we doomed with our dying but shiny and good-looking inspiron gen 2 XPS…
I believe the lines-on the screen stuff is more screen that video-card problems per se. I even thought about buying another similar computer on E-bay and used the parts to get a working machine…
If we have to buy another computer, can the hard drive at least fit another known machine: I am tired of redownloading everything everytime…?
Cheers
Ok my hard drive died first. I replaced it and a couple of days later noticed these strange lines and figures on the screen. Can’t change resolution or anything. Dell diagnostics say something is wrong with the video card and to contact Dell support. As it’s out of warranty i won’t be going there.
If anyone at all has found another reason why this has happened with a possible fix (apart from total gpu failure and replacement) please tell us here.
Also i’ve found a link to a XPS M170 compatible graphics cards but I’m not sure if they really work. See here: http://www.portableparts.co.uk/products/product.asp?pid=10824&l=M170
Again if anyone has tried fixing the problem with a cheaper gpu and it’s worked let us know, i don’t fancy waiting to find a 6800 go ultra on ebay for a fortune.
Thanks.
I share everyone pain about this overrated type writer they call the perfect gaming laptop as I have had my motherboard replace due to the BGA that burnt out on it which now dell consider a known issue. As well as none of the chipset had any thermal paste on them and when I ask dell they told me that it probably dry out which I reply to them that buddy I work for a technology place we build this #@$% cards and I know what dry thermal paste looks like. He said well we only use the cheap stuff anyways what do you expect. The conclusion is that I still can’t play World of warcraft without the system rebooting itself or the video card shut off but at least I must look at the bright side when the video gives out I still have the pleasure of listening to my character getting destroy as the sound card work perfectly. As far as I am concern Dell built what might of been the ultimate gaming laptop but lack the proper cooling system for such a condense area. They should replace all defective unit with a laptop or desktop that is capable of fulfilling their empty promise.
Kevin, thanks for the info on best prices for graphics and mobo. I was given the higer price when I called too. I bought my XPS March 2005, so it’s out of warrantee. A few days ago I got a thin vertical green line of pixel on the left side of the screen, but didn’t worry about it. Now this morning it won’t boot up at all. When I hit the power button, I get 3 or 4 green leds lighting up for about 10 secs. then all goes dark. Any idea if this is just the graphics card or if the motherboard is gone too? I took it apart and found a lot of dust and hair in the heat exchangers next to the cooling fans, so things probably got a little warm. I assume Dell has heat sensors to shut things down before they cook though.
Anybody have any advice? I called Dell “out of warrantee” support, and they weren’t very encouraging. The guy told me I was probably better off just get a new laptop.
I am writing just to inform all of us irate XPS and, apparently, Inspiron owners what the supposed problem is according to Dell. My Computer just went again recently (See ‘All I Can Say is Jesus’ comment below) and after numerous talks with Dell people I was informed that only on october 15th was a report published about this perpetual problem we encounter. According to Dell it is NOT the graphics card but the monitor that is the problem. I was told that if you replace both the graphics card and the monitor you get the same problem eventually but if you replace just the monitor problem fixed. The needed replacement monitor is specific to each computer
so I can not post the model type. Just call Dell and see what they say. It also occurred to me that this may be a ploy by Dell so they save money on graphics cards by just telling us consumers that only the monitor is the problem. I also can not verify that this will really solve anything as it is quite recent I was told about this and I have yet to receive a replacement monitor. My suggestion is to call Dell, be relatively forceful and kindly unmoving, tell them what the problem is, if need be tell them about this website and that many other people have had this problem (I did and it helped expediate the process) and you should be fine. If you are particularly adept at talking to service people on the phone or maybe
good at applied psychology you should be able to get a replacement
regardless of whether you are under warranty. Good Luck to everyone!
Your story sounds exactly like my own. Part after part replaced.Obviously there running too hot, they’ll keep changing parts till the extended warranty expires and won’t even talk to us after that without paying. Good Luck
its only a matter of time… i hope yours suffers our fate soon…..idiot!
I have had an increasing number of vertical lines on the display of my XPS gen2 that I bought in 2005 for almost 4000 dollars. Finally, one morning after a 15 hour render of an animation. Now when I boot I get some artifacts then the screen goes black. This often comes with the blue screen speaking of the video card problems. I went through the process with dell support and bought some support. They decided that I needed a new video card and chose to send me the ATI Radeon VisionTek X1300. I do not know much about computer hardware, but when I got it in the mail, it looks like a video card designed for a desktop. I found this site while searching for information about the video card that was originally on my laptop.
We are a computer repair shop and we too have gotten so many of these in stock. We got two this month and one customer decided to go with the video swap. After swapping the video everything worked ok. The laptop came back yesterday with the same issues!!! XPS does have a problem. I personally use to have a Insprion 5150 and luckly we had 3 year hazard warranty upgrade on it. We bought 5 at my previous job. All of them had their motherboards and cpus replaced. Dell later lost a class action lawsuit in california and they were forced to extend the warranty on those laptops. The problem was due to the design of the laptop and overheating. So when they replaced parts it was only a matter of time before part went bad again. HP has a similar problem with their DV2000 DV6000, DV9000 models and few other models. Frustrated customers have made a site called HPlies.com and its a shame these companies screw their customers over by selling them crap. I have to eat up the $200 cost to replace the card again for the customer because its not his fault and my supplier only gives me 30 days warranty!
just had the same thing…i ve open the entire PC, so the case and the monitor…cleaned up everything and reconnected ALL the cables especially the one on the mainboard and two behind the screen…it took me 30 minutes to do it and it works just like before….
Chock me up as another very unsatisfied Dell customer. My Dell XPS gen 2 sprouted a few vertical lines on the screen shortly after moving to Guam. Now, the only way it will boot is if I used the default Win XP drivers (system crashes and will not display as soon as I install the NVidea drivers). And yes, the 460 bucks Dell wants for a REFURBISHED card is absolutely assinine. I’ve been dealing with this for a while and finally found this website. I don’t know if anything will come of it, but at least I know I’m not alone in being the receiving end of this immoral company… !@$$ Dell…
I have the same problem – an increasing number of vertical lines of dead pixels (about 20 now) on the display of my XPS gen2 that I bought in 2005 for K4$. I think it’s LCD problem
That’s really sad
Dell fixed my keyboard for the keys falling off for only $200, when the system was returned the video problem immediately showed up. So they broke it since for 2 years we didn’t have this problem. So they agreed to fix it free – knowing they caused it. Shipped it back and it worked fine for 3 weeks and failed again this time after warranty expired. So they wanted me to fork over big bucks to reinstate warranty before they would even determine if they could fix it. And they told me since the computer was now 5 years old they no longer support it since they can’t afford to stock the parts of old computers. Does this sound like a company you want to do business with?
I failed to mention that Dell Tech support claims to know nothing about this problem or this log of comments about the same problem for numerous people.
Well Sir.
The first thing that jumps out at me is the BIOS revision (A03).. There is a Dell update to flash your BIOS to A05.. That would be the first thing I would try. I also us the 79.11 Guru from Guru3D.com video driver.
1. It was fixed by replacing the video card in the laptop.
2. You’ve fallen into exactly the same trap as the guy from Dell! Suggesting that I install a driver for the video card when the problem manifests itself BEFORE the operating system loads smacks of a fundamental lack of understanding how computers work.
How do you replace the video card in the XPS Gen 2? Can I do it myself or do I have to send it to Dell to do it?
Thanks
I called Dell and they sent an engineer with a new card to replace the broken one. They did offer me the opportunity to replace it myself but I chose not to.
I have a Dell XPS Gen 2 laptop with the Nvidia 6800 Ultra card that just gave me the nv4_disp error. I have tried everything from updating the bios prior to the driver installation to a full reformat/reinstall to no avail.
Alas, I have no warranty left (15 month old computer), so unless there’s a known fix, I’m destined to turn this thing into a bitter doorstop or buy and install another video card.
Going through this blog confirms my worst suspicion… my beautiful 15-month old, out of warranty XPS with the 6800 Ultra is going to die soon.
I don’t get random freezes or artifacts with normal boot or browsing. But when I play a game for atleast an hour, as someone pointed out, the fan on the left side starts to spin real loud and I know its a precursor to a system freeze. When that happens, I cant do anything except to do a hard shutdown.
Dell diagnostic startup has found no problem. No amount of driver updates solves the issue. Its fairly predictable – play and hope that the DotA game finishes in an hour, otherwise I’d be frozen, disconnected, abused by my clan and peers and possible banned from gg-client for disconnections
I wish Dell here in the UAE do a trade-in and I’d happily plonk in more money for an M1710 but they don’t :’(
Hey there,
I’ve got a 15 month old Dell XPS Gen 2, running a 2.13GHz centrino, 1 GB RAM and the nVidia 6800. I get the exact same issue with lines on the screen and the only way I can operate my system is to disable the video card completely. I get the 0X50 stop error if I ever try to reinstall the card drivers.
I did call Dell, but as my warranty was only for a year, they said I would have to pay $400 for a refurbished card. It seems that the heat problem with this computer is fairly well documented (I even mentioned this to an XPS tech at Dell, telling him that I can’t use this as a laptop because it will burn my legs, and he replied “yeah, that’s why we stopped calling them laptops and now we call them notebooks or desktop replacements”). Quite frankly, I’m appaled that Dell knows so much about the problems of this computer and seems to not want to do anything about it (can you say “RECALL”??). At any rate, I’m going to continue to bitch at Dell Customer Care, Tech Support and anyone else that will listen until they do something about this problem. I suggest anyone else having this problem do the same so that Dell sees that this is not an isolated incident and the XPS Gen 2 laptop is a safety issue to it’s users.
Thanks for the posts!
No, Dell have gone with something other than MXM for the XPS range. You can replace the card… if you can find the spares. Ebay might have them but all I can find are 6800 Ultra units, nothing newer.
I havent even pushed the laptop hard. I am working on extending the warranty three months out of coverage hopefully this will work because I fear replacing the card only to get the same problem.
Piece of crap dell and horrible customer support leaves thier best customers with doorsteps for laptops. This is freakin rediculous. Last time I ever buy dell.
RECALL
I have the same problem with my pieceo-crap XPS Gen 2. I have a link to the manualfor operating on this beast Ihave ripped it down to the motherbourd to try to reset and clean the video card. All went well, except when I got it all back together, same problem. Nothing changed. I guess if you got a new card it is possible to replace it in about 2 hours. I did it i about an hour and a half, but I also have some computer repair experience. The instructions on this series of pages are quite detailed and user friendly . I will find the link and post it. GOOD LUCK..
Hi all,
this is a question probably asked before.
My xps gen 2 is two years old and the about three weeks ago the screen went black with white lines going all over it. I restored it to an earlier date and it seemed fine for a week or so; then the start up screen popped up one day with the lines all over it again. The home screen was fine and looked normal until about a week ago when it all of the sudden just crashed and got so streaky and covered in lines you could not see anything on it. We took it to a guy who said that the screen had gone out and now another guy says the video port or card is out? (2nd guy said he had no clue what to do about it and would ask the 1st guy tomorrow) anyone with the same computer have any advice of what this problem is that has taken my $2700 dollar computer away from me?
All comment would be greatly appreciated. I am really just thinking of selling it for parts and buying a new one. (NOT DELL)
Kat
I’ve been left to buy a used 6800 on Ebay for $300+, only to hope and pray that the card doesn’t die on me, so the XPS will be turned into a doorstop (as another poster said) and I wont ever buy another Dell.
I also steer any friends and family away from Dells as well.
Good job Dell! I hope your stock goes to 0!!!
Well the same thing just happened to me about 15 minutes ago. My XPS Gen 2 locked up on me in the middle of a gaming session and wham…I reboot it to find the lines and glitchy display on the boot screen. It doesn’t fully boot into windows as the screen just goes black after posting.
I found your website and am convinced it’s the exact same issue that you had. My only problem is that I’m currently working in the Middle East and I’m just not too sure how great Dell’s support is going to be in the tiny country of Qatar. It’s currently Ramadan at the moment and all shops and stores close at 1pm. I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out just how long this crisis is going to take to be resolved.
I appreciate that you posted such a thorough description of your issue…complete with pictures and such detail. Your page hit number one on my google search of “XPS Gen 2 Video Problem”.
Anyway…thanks again for confirming my suspicions. I’m so depressed right now that my horrendously large beautiful baby is out of order.
I just dropped by and noticed you have a similar issue I had with my Inspiron 8100. I believe the error is caused by a short from the graphics card to the mainboard. This short causes half of the memory from the graphics card to fail and, depending on which half, your screen will be populated with garbage.
The problem only came up for me after the machine had been running a game for some time. I.E. Once the machine heated up the faulty board expanded and the short became active.
…John
same thing happend to me guys. i have an xps gen2 and in the middle of a game it froze. upon rebooting all i would see were vertical and horizontal lines,wouldnt even boot to windows. i was still in warranty. called dell and gave them the error code that the diagnostic tool gave me in dell bios. right away the guy knew the problem and said i need to send the laptop to them at no charge. needed a whole new 6800 ultra. problem solved but hopefully it doesnt happen again since i have no contract. but for almost 3 grand you would think a high end laptop would last. never buying dell again. overpriced crap.
Not sure if the guy talking about the shorting PCB is on to something, but… I too have an XPS Gen 2 laptop (6800 Ultra).
It’s on it’s second graphics card and the engineer is scheduled to appear tomorrow with… yep… a replacement graphics module, gone in exactly the same way (techinicolour blocks) and displays exactly the same error in Dell’s diagnostics (myself and helpdesk guy compared notes). Brought the laptop new, from ebay reseller, Sep maybe Nov 05, so in just over a year it has gone through three cards. On the plus side, Dell no longer make the 6800 part so any failures will be upgraded to the next available and compatible module (7600 I’d guess, maybe 7800).
My friend in Canada has a none XPS Inspirion with a 7600GS in it that has gone the same way; so it’s not a fault limited to the Gen 2′s. Good luck and I hope for you it’s a one off event.
Wow, thanks for this page & everyones comments.
My XPS Gen 2 has also had the same issue although it was intermittant to start with, but one more session in Battlefield2 caused the whole machine to freeze and then I have the same symtoms, can’t reboot into Windows unless it’s in safe mode.
My machine is 15 months old, I bought a 3 year warranty as it’s for business use.
Dell are due out to my house in 2 days time, I’m hoping too they’ll replace it with a 7000 series card and an upgrade since 6800′s are no longer in production.
I didn’t have to argue with them as I said I know it’s hardware failure just from seeing the issue on the BIOS screen, seeing this page confirms all of this of course and in a sadastic way I’m kind of glad I’m not alone with this problem.
2 working days later, a nice chappie came supplied with a replacement from Dell.
I didn’t know the heat sinc’s are integral to the card (the two brass coloured fin ones at the back left/right) and stretches accross the back, a VERY large part indeed, not what I was expecting.
Mine was replaced by a refurbished Go 6800 Ultra again, the first thing I’ll do now is push my graphics card by playing some hi-res games to ensure it doesn’t happen again whilst still under warranty.
Got the same damn problem and i didnt know what the source was at first i thought it was the powersupply and i just saw your blog. What is the problem my screen is messed up….shows 0′s usurping the place of letters and numbers. got the same vertical lines you have and i don’t know what to do any help would be greatly appreciated.Is this a BIOS problem or is it a short in my 6800 go ultra???? and if so do i have to replace the whole graphics card?? Can it be repaired?? Thanks in advance
because that means that what I feared was true. That this XPS lapbeast eats graphics cards and will probably continue to do so. Much like yourselves, it’s time for me now to test their warranty as well. Thanks for all the info guys. I wonder how many people you need for a class action suit? Hmmm….
I have the gen 2 no one seems to know much about fixing it at dell. Thanks dell for being so good at one time but not anymore I guess .
Mmmm, what’s that been … 2 weeks?
Same fault occurs on my replaced Go 6800 Ultra (refurbished).
Just got off the phone to Dell, nice chap there says he’ll put in a request for a replacement laptap (I doubt that will happen).
I won’t be pleased if they try to put in yet another refurbished Go 6800 Ultra.
The Saga continues, tune in soon for the next episode.
Finally this blog gives me hope that Im not the only person who faced the same problem.
Today i had the same problem and after going through with Dell Support I was a bit confused as to what to do. Finally after reading your blog Alan, I came to realize that I too am a victim of a graphics card failure.
Now im convinced that my laptop needs a new card. Unfortunately, my laptop warranty expired long time back so I need to buy a new one or probably a refurbished one.
I think getting one from Dell would be alot expensive as compared to getting it from ebay. Plus from the layout of the laptop when i opened it today and stripped out everything, I came to know that it would be possible to install the card yourself.
I would like anyone who has installed the card themselves to please comment on the procedure.
Thanks and by the way, once i get it sorted, I would surely sell it.
We have an XPS Gen2 laptop with a 6800 Ultra in it also. It lasted four or five years, then we got the infamous lines down and across the screen. This includes the boot screen and everything. Dell replaced the LCD and the video card, and it happened again that same day. They replaced the motherboard and video card, and it happened again the day after that. Next they replaced the RAM and the video card (third video card!), and it ran fine for a while, but we installed some fan and temperature monitoring software for Dell laptops at this point.
This is where we se the CPU fan to turn on at 111deg and off at 86deg. Works great! We set the GPU fan to come on around 130deg and off at 120deg. This also works, but over a week’s time the GPU just seemed to get hotter and hotter! It used to be down around 150 max, now it’s around 220 max! Sometimes i even shuts itself off. Time for yet another new video card!
I will never own another Dell product. We used to have a desktop by them and it ran hot also. Gateway has theirs setup so that it pulls air from one side and spits it out the other side, cooling the entire laptop on the way through. This was their 17″ laptop the last time I looked. I also found Gen-X PC and they look good as well. Hell, even Acer laptops run cool as heck! Why can’t Dell make theirs run cool? Laptopts that only last five or six years are NOT worth $3k.
yep you guessed it. have the same problem as well. I bought a quadro fx 2500 to replace my geforce go 7900GS, and after installing it went to power on my machine. Nothing. Won’t turn on, won’t make a noise. Put my old graphics card back in…nothing. Could Dell’s laptops be an crappier? they don’t provide enough cooling for the 7900GS, so it overheats and dies within a year. When it does die, if you’re not under warranty you have to spend around $500 for them to replace it or get your own on ebay and do it yourself. I was VERY careful and don’t see how I could have fried anything in the computer while switching graphics cards. I swear, dell just makes laptops that look decent on the outside, but on the inside they are just crappy designed parts that will fail a few months after your warranty runs out. Their customer support absolutely BLOWS. Name another company out there than won’t even talk to you if you arent under warranty unless you PAY EXTRA. I had had good experiences with Dell desktop computers but after my horrible laptop experience I will NEVER be a dell customer again and I’ll make sure I tell everyone I know to do the same. Shape up dell, you’ve got a lot of work to do.
As all of you, I’m extremely frustrated with my XPS M170/Gen2 purchase… most of all with myself I guess for not getting an extended warranty.
My notebook won’t boot… last time it was working I did see artifacts on the screen, but now it won’t boot/show video at all. I assume its the graphics card (7800gtx) but I suppose it could be the mobo as well? Does anyone know of a good way to diagnose the problem and eliminate one or the other?
1) Connecting to external monitor doesn’t make a difference (no video).
3) Hitting the f-keys or trying to go into the bios during startup won’t work (no video).
2) Hard drive powers up, as well as fan. I tested hard drive in a separate machine and it does work fine.
Thank you, and good luck to wveryone getting their machines up and running.
I had exactly the same problem as shown in the screenshots above. My laptop was a few years old and one day the graphics started to go blurry. After reinstalling the whole operating system several times and even after installing Linux still the image was poor. The very fact that the BIOS was messed up did not give me much hope.
Recently however I tried to run my system, as it was able to work over remote desktop fine, on its battery and for a short period it worked.
After a few days I managed to hoke out my power supply and the monitor was messed up again. Argh! So then I removed the battery from the machine and only attached the power supply. Turned it on a bobs your uncle. It worked!
I pressed the battery meter button that is found on my batter and it shown 1 bar! 1 out of 5!
So far this has worked for me and I will be looking to get a new battery.
I would be interested to know if this works for any one else and saves them a small fortune i.e. less than £100 compared to the £350 I was quoted for a new graphics card!
I bought my 17″ dell paperweight 10/05, in Nov 06 the screen went blank. It was 2 weeks out of warranty & dell refused to repair
it for free. So I paid $420 for card & $70 install to local authorized repairman. That card just went out last night, it was another
nvidia 6800 ultra. Wondering if anyone else had this problem, I found this site. I have spent alot of time today searching & reading
the internet, dell support etc. There are a couple of class actions that have been recently filed against nvidia. I am going to email
dell support & see if the xps gen 2′s are going to be covered for new video cards. Nvidia , dell & hp knows there there is a big problem.
Hi all,Inspiron 9400/1705 nvidia geforce 7900gs has failed,always hot,two years old,never gamed just surf and photos.
Have just received a quote from Dell Spain for repair,1,o30 euro,yes thats right one thousand and thirty euros to fix,thats 1200 bucks plus.
Been through all the same tests as every one else on the page,nvidia have stated that the cards are faulty but Dell Spain obviously enjoy good wages.
Should anyone like to see the official quote please email me I will gladly send it,you can all have a good laugh too.,
On a serious note folks,Dell seem only interested in selling new products with the same bad cards,will Dell survive?,who knows,there are many thousands
of people out there with bad laptops sold by Dell,great when they work,two years if not good for expensine machines.
Hey Matthew,
This worked for me too. I was having trouble with my cd drive not powering up and removing the battery worked like a charm.
Thanks
Hi, I comiserate with you, this is my second burnout of the 6800Ultra, the first was within the warranty, the second cost me 312 euros and now it has broken down again, same symptoms, broken up blue lines on the windows loading screen and fails to boot.
Definetly not spending another 2500euros buying a XPS, I just don’t trust the build quality anymore, and having to pay to replace for another graphics card which will probably burn out in a few months again is not an option, too expensive.
And their support service just gives me the run around, claims it is normal wear and tear…
My XPS Gen2 laptop is still under warranty, and one month ago dell the backlight went on the laptop – since then DELL have had four technicians service the laptop, they have replaced the LCD 4 times, the cable twice, the grpahics card two times, and the motherboard two times…still the same problem!
Add me to the list.
Bought an XPS M1710 last summer for about $4000.00. 1 Month after the warranty ended the video card failed. Was told by Dell I had to pay $500 for a new card but they were back-ordered. I was promised someone would call when they became available.
9 weeks later I called them back and was told that the card for my $4000.00, 15 month old laptop was no longer manufactured and they couldn’t get me one. But – good news – there MIGHT be a different card available at a later date that would still work and I should keep calling back in to check just in case! Apparently they can’t be bothered to call me when (if) this new card comes available.
I can’t imagine not being able (or willing) to support a product that is only 15 months old.
I bitched at how much their support sucks and demanded a video card (I’m sure the warranty holders are getting them). This got sent on a merry journey through Dell Hell – being bounced from department to department of being forced to sit on hold and then enduring people who read from scripts and can barely speak english.
I’ve bought so much stuff from Dell over the years – desktop computer, laptops, televisions, game consoles…never again, though.
Dell used to be a good company. Now they just blow.
its pretty bad you pay all this money for one hell of a game laptop and cant use it
anyone find a cheap answer to this
http://international.com.com/8301-13924_3-10000353-64.html
Dell issues update for Nvidia graphics chip glitch
Dell has issued a system update for a well-publicized problem with Nvidia chips.
The company said Friday it has posted BIOS updates for an Nvidia graphics chip glitch affecting laptop computers. Citing Nvidia information, Dell said the “affected GPUs (graphics processing units) are experiencing higher than expected failure rates causing video problems.”
“The issue is a weak die/packaging material set, which may fail with GPU temperature fluctuations. If your GPU fails, you may see intermittent symptoms,” the Dell blog said.
Dell said the symptoms include “multiple images, random characters on the screen, lines on the screen, no video.” But added this caveat: “if you are already experiencing video-related issues like the…points above, updating the BIOS will not correct them. Dell will provide support for customers who have experienced GPU failure according to the terms of the system warranty.”
Dell laptop systems potentially affected by Nvidia glitch with update file name
(Credit: Dell)
Dell is recommending that users flash their system BIOS. “Each of these BIOS updates…modifies the fan profile to help regulate GPU temperature fluctuations,” Dell said.
New systems are shipping with the BIOS update, according to Dell.
On July 2, Nvidia said it would take a one-time charge of between $150 million and $200 million to cover “anticipated warranty, repair, return, replacement, and other costs and expenses, arising from a weak die/packaging material set in certain versions of its previous generation GPU and MCP (multi-chip package) products used in notebook systems.”
I got the same problem as viewed on the photos, after 1,5 years. Got 3 year warranty so I got a new GPU the next day. Dell support is the best support you can get. I will never buy anything else than dell laptops with 4 year warranty.
I believe I have this issue, I have a 9400 with the 7900GS card the warranty is over this august 2009.
I have been having blue screen errors the last while. It seems to happen after the computer has been on overnight or I play a 3d game. If I reboot right after the blue screen the dell screen comes up with a lot of random pixels being the wrong color like the video memory / frame buffer has been corrupted or something. If I turn the laptop off and let it cool down for 5 or 10 mins and turn it on the screen comes back on correctly, no random colored pixels.
The error that comes up is a NMI Memory Parity Error. I have reseated my system ram, 2 X 1 gig sticks, ran with 1 stick then the other the error always returns. I have ran all the built in memory tests and the memory diagnotic utility in vista with no errors. So this plus the wierd pixel colors after a blue screen reboot is pushing me towards blaming the video card.
I have also ran the video card memory stress test application overnight without it detecting any errors and the nvidia ntune stability test and no errors on that either. Should I let it run for a a couple of days to see if it picks anything up?
What I am wondering is how I can get dell to replace the video card or the entire system prefferably, I have been on the phone with thier support for over a hour on sunday and they are telling me since none of the tests come up with an error they are sayings its a software / driver error and they cant replace anything.
I’ve had my laptop for about 2 – 3 years now. I left it on so it could recharge my I-pod touch and all of a sudden it shut off. It wont turn on or anything. i figured the shit box got over heated and died. so i was wondering if there was any way that i could get it fixed. I bought it second hand off the internet so there is no warrenty. if you would like to email me back i would really appreciate it.
Really glad I found this site.
I have had my XPS Gen 2 for about 4 years. Last year just before the warranty ran out, I had to have the video card replaced twice in 2 weeks. I put the second replacement down to just bad luck on getting a dodgy replacement card, and Dell service tech did come out and replace in within a couple of days. Anyway, the warranty ran out last year and I never thought much of it until last week. I was using the laptop fine on Thursday and in the evening turned it off as usual, no problems at all. Then Friday morning I turned it on and white horizontal lines all over the screen, and then booting into XP normal mode came up with a BSOD about a Page fault in NonPage area. This reminded me exactly of the same issue the year before so I was sure it was video related. I found that by going into safe mode and uninstalling the nvidia drivers then at least the XPS will boot into normal mode, but very slow redraw. I called Dell but they wanted nearly £300 for a replacemet card. However after removing and re installing the card, and then trying once more to install the nvidia drivers the card worked for the rest of the day. I have now extended my warranty, but the video card has now broken again and so I am back to a driverless video card just so I can get into it to use it. Talk about a pain in the proverbial neck.
Very frustrating, and not one of the dell support team acknowledged that it was a known issue, but then I suppose that isnt a surprise. If anyone else has any ideas what I can try then I would love to hear.
Cheers
noi
well……..XPS 2
similar story, they replace my broken dvd drive on warrenty then it got alot worse, there support even under warrenty is appauling, my ram failed, then my hard drive, then my graphics card……. all 3 went within 6 months of my warrenty running out.
my XPS 2 has now cost me nearly £3000 and i just wanna get rid while it works but no one will buy it!
law suit? yes please! count me in brooketherington@hotmail.com
may all your future laptops be anything other than dell people!
The M1710 isnt listed there.
I can’t believe all you people have had this problem as well as I! When you spend 3k for a laptop that the video card craps in 3 years, hey I want a refund or a fix to the problem. count me in for a Class action lawsuit!
Just want to add another sample to the collection. My XPS Gen 2, with a nVidia 6800, had the same failure you’ve posted – three times in the span of 2 years. Thankfully the machine was still under warranty.
I have the 9400 as well and just got the thing back from the Dell depot the other day. I got the 3 year complete care warranty which runs out in January, but I have to give Dell credit for replacing my 7900 gs twice now. This latest time they also replaced the motherboard >.>
This thing has broken down on me 3 times in the last 6 months now so I don’t have high hopes for when the warranty expires =\
This happened to me about 3 months ago, paid £270 to have it fixed, 2 weeks ago it went again. Dell advised another out of warranty repair, another £270, i refused to pay it. Spoke to Nvidia who were great i must say, they said that they were aware of the problem, apologised and said that Dell were putting reconditioned parts into machines and that it was a matter of time before they failed again. They said i could ask for a free repair and ask for a new, not reconditioned part. I have just spoken to Dell again who said there is no issue with the cards and said that Nvidia are wrong to say that there is and that i would still have to pay. AT NO POINT HAVE DELL SAID SORRY. I am not paying, i am going to take advice from Trading Standards as at no time did Dell inform me that the part was reconditioned or that the warranty was 90 days.
I will never evr buy Dell again, and anyone who asks my opinion of them will be told of all the problems that i have had.
Has anyone had any help from Dell at all?
Well what a surprise…..NOT.
Dell sent a technician and replaced the video card. It has since been working fine for the last 2 weeks…until tonight. Again the same thing. Lines all over the place then freezing screen. Had to remove the nvidia drivers to get back into OS. Have now called Dell yet again and they will now be sending a tech out again and this time replacing the video card and the LCD just in case it is that. They obviously have money to burn, but this has to be a problem with the die packing on the nvidia card not allowing the heat to be released effectively.
will let you know how we get on
I have had a result, my wife spoke to (well shouted at Dell yesterday) and threatened legal advice. We called Consumer Direct who were very helpful. They sent two template letters, one to send to Dell and the other to send to the credit card company. They have been completed and are ready to send. Late yesterday afternoon i got a call from Dell’s legal dept who wanted me to go through a fault finding mission again. i refused as i had already done this and said i was not prepaired to sit through it again. The guy then said an engineer will call tomorrow and repair for free. guy has called this morninmg and will be here this afternoon. WOW!
Just goes to show, let a woman deal with it, my wife took no shit from the manager at Dell and was prepared to take it all the way. They backed down, i suggest you keep at them and do not back down, let them know you are prepared to take legal action and do it if necessary.
Good luck people
Totally the same experience for me man.
Spent 3000 US $ in my E1705/9400 and more than 600 us $ for the extra warranty and when my 7900 gs fried i had to by a spare one for more than 400 us $ .. .
I believed Dell was worth it, but their support is as you mentioned and i did … . “I bitched at how much their support sucks and demanded a video card (I’m sure the warranty holders are getting them). This got sent on a merry journey through Dell Hell – being bounced from department to department of being forced to sit on hold and then enduring people who read from scripts and can barely speak english.”
. . .
So my xps gen 2 failed after about 3 years of gaming just as described above. The warrenty was expired. Even the bios screen was corrupted and an external monitor showed the same. So I knew it was the card. I sent it to dell, for 250 CAD they mailed me a box for me to put it in and they replaced the 6800 ultra with a 7800 gts. I got it back and ran it for about 5 minutes when it locked up again with the lines on the screen. It would sometimes run for about 5 minutes on windows before crashing. Any 3d hardware acceleration would cause it to crash with the lines. I formatted, that didn’t help. Now I am sending it back to del again and they say they will fix it for no cost.
Bought her in late 2005 – $3800.00 – she is only used for Email, MSN, and basically iTunes which I run over to my Home Speaker system. NEVER has a game been played on her or has she been used for any sort of Multi-media. Surfing the Internet, well maybe a total of 5 hours of that since I purchased this piece of shit from Dell. Video Card is crap after 2.5 years. Dell does not care, and I will NEVER again purchase anything Dell. Dell Refurbished Video Card $592.99 with 90 day warranty, no extended warranty available. dell sucks bigs time!!!
Exactly the same happened to me on a refurb Inspiron 9400 (same as E1705) I bought off Ebay. It had a single-heatpipe 7900GS that kept seriously overheating, and when it did, 3D framerates would plummet – if you really pushed it, the laptop would instantly shut down with a thermal warning.
I opened it up, and it turned out that the heatpipe that is attached to the heatsink had a tiny hole in it. Heatpipes have liquid in them, it evaporates if your pierce them and then they don’t conduct heat. So I bought a spare heat assembly off Ebay (despite what Dell say you _can_ replace them, you need a Torx (star-shaped) screwdriver, some thermal paste and thermal pads).
It seemed to work (temperatures dropped), but two weeks later the card failed completely (usual garbage on-screen including BIOS, Nvidia drivers no longer worked, only the basic Windows SVGA ones which are horribly slow). I didn’t replace the heat pads, and this might have been a mistake, however I think the card was overheating for so long that it was probably going to fail sooner or later anyway.
I then bought a 7950GTX (dual pipes), that was easy to install as the 9400/1705 chassis is ready for two pipes, you just have to break out a little plastic piece by the left-hand vent. So far so good, but like everyone else here I expect it to fail again at any time.
These laptops have a faulty design, they simply can’t (or won’t) shift the necessary heat to keep the GPUs alive. The fans come on too late and do too little, and worse, the vents draw air at the bottom! How stupid is that?! – if you have it on your lap, or on something soft like a pillow or duvet, you’re constantly worried about blocking the airflow and killing the card again.
My xps gen 2 took a crap right after the Warranty expired… The problem was the video card 6800 gtx nividia geforce go etc…. threw up the striped lines all over the screen. I had to buy a new card so I “upgraded” to a 7800… my 7800 lasted for 9 months… then took a crap. Ordered another 7800 for 800 plus dollars… i hate dell. XPS for sale.
When I was ordering my first 7800 card. The guy I was talking too was in panama I believe was very unprofessional arguing with me over the ablity to upgrade my card. He was actually using profane language toward me. I was unable to get his name because he hung up on me. I found out later that the moron FLAGGED MY COMPUTER AS STOLEN!!! needless to say I was pissed and contemplating a trip down to panama to the dell call center to find the sh-thead.
yes here is another one all the way from the uk i have had my xps2 for arround 3 years and the warenty ran out last week (5 days ago) and yes the same fault ….. i have had 7 gpu cards over the last 3 years and everytime the same fault what realy does my head in is some poor little indian guy in india telling me that its not the card but some form of driver / bios problem !!!!! now i ge on with anyone how the hell can you offer customer support for the UK in bleeding india !!!!DELL SORT IT OUT !!!!
I Think i will try the ‘Not Fit For Purpose ‘ line on dell because in the uk we still have that option as a customer …. failing that … extend tthe warrenty for 60 days and sell it on when fixed
Well, I bought my XPS Gen 2 in USA and moved back to my home country – Brazil. One week before the move I called Dell telling them my computer was crashing from time to time and it was probably a overheating issue. They said they couldnt do anything to fix it, because I didnt had a specific error message on the screen.
Well two weeks after that, one week after I was back in Brazil, I got screens very similar to the ones you posted on your site and I called Dell again. Luckily, they decided to ship a new video card to a friend in USA, who shipped the card to me here (over $300 dolares shipping). Well the computer worked fine after I replaced the video card for about 1 year.
One day, at work, I came back to my desk and found out the computer had a small (but perfectly visible) bubble near the hinge cover over the keyboard. That piece WAS MELTED, as well all the region on the pieces underneath it. Dell agrees that the computer overheats, but since I am in Brazil, they cant do anything! Dell Brazil wont support the computer. My warranty expired 1 week ago.
Honestly I am starting to think about sending some pictures to newspapers and such… what if my arm was there the moment it melted that plastic piece???
Exact same problem as described above. Happened right before the 3 year mark. Will get a BSOD everytime Windows starts, unless the GeForce Go 6900 Ultra is disabled via Windows Safe Mode. Tried new drivers, flashed BIOS, even ran a repair install of Windows XP. Dell Diagnostics shows a video card memory fault.
Never had an issue with this or any Dell, and have always been happy with their products. Until now.
After 4 phone calls just to get them to be able to access my service code (bought through Dell.com refirbished, and my service code was lost in their system), I was put on hold by 3 different reps in India for a total of 30 minutes, to find out:
***DELL WANTS $395 FOR A REPLACEMENT (REFURBISHED) GEFORCE GO 6800 ULTRA, OR $592 FOR THE UPGRADE TO THE GEFORCE GO 7800 GTX***
I couldn’t believe it. Being that these cards are out of production, they can set whatever price they want. Looks like I’ll turn to Ebay and hope for the best. Way to back your products, Dell.
If anyone plans on participating in a class action lawsuit, please count me in. gr_mk_1b@hotmail.com
Good luck
–Matt
I am SOO outraged with DELL!!! Just 2 years and my XPS laptop with 6800 go ultra is WORTHLESS (warrenty expired days before). Throughout the lifetime of the laptop, it would constantly overheat and crash. I can’t believe I paid over $3000 for this piece of crap! Previously I had considered Dell a good brand, but having this experience has completely changed my opinion. I am a professional computer programmer and know a lot about computer hardware. I will NEVER buy DELL again, and will ALWAYS make recomendations for people to stay away from DELL!!!! From browsing the internet and forums, I have discovered SO MANY people with similar experiences, crappy DELL laptops with burnt out video cards. DELL should at least make replacement cards semi-affordable and reasonable to purchase. Who’s gonna buy a replacement card for $600 when that’s practically the price of a brand new dual core laptop!! It just doesn’t make sense! THIS DEFINATLY WARRENTS A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT!!! Any lawyers out there with a doorstop DELL laptop?? (count me in: tdickes@hotmail.com) In the meantime, DELL – burn in hell!!!!! At least from this end, I can do my part and tell everyone to stay away from DELL!!
Same shit happended to my XPS. i had long experience with XPS since first generation in 2003 till now. XPS has issue with graphic card. same what happend with all of you guys, one year later my video card CRASHED – acctually blue screen while playing high res. game. Since i bought it from UAE it took 6 months to fix and they return it back to me scratched. Guess what, at that time it was just brand new laptop 2 months old. They are selling people “Gaming Machine” title ONLY but its not a machine. all these coments should be posted to Dell so they can back up them self…we are not buying normal laptop just for regular work, we are buying something special.
Its abviouse that we are sharing same pain for our lose ” XPS Gen2″ and its clear like crystal that F**king Video card…my Xps was 2 months old bought from UAE. what was intresting that guaranty had 2 months to expire when it got broken. I was big fan of XPS Gen1 and Gen2.. BUT NOT ANYMORE. back again my laptop staid for around 6 months to be fixed, i wish i knew it will take long and it will give me same problem with blue screen then i updated the BIOS and the driver then CRASHED dead video card again.. Mostly, Over heated, High Resolution games – yeap, i like to put resolution on MAX – its GAMING MACHINE, right? F……………………..K
I too had a similar problem on an Inspiron 8100, and thinking it was the video card, bought a new one and replaced it… BUT IT DIDN’T FIX THE PROBLEM!!! I then took the LCD cover apart and checked the connector. It looked and felt snug, but when I put a little upward pressure on the connector (laptop cover open, press from the bottom side of the connector straight up), the pictur returned to its normal beautiful self! I couldn’t feel that I moved anything, but it fixed the picture. The connector is taped on the backside of the LCD, and I didn’t untape it, just pressed up on it. Did that about 6 months ago, and its been working fine, however I am more gentle in opening and closing the cover, just to prevent jarring that connection loose again.
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