It is sad really. NVidia has always been my favorite graphics manufacturer. After some issues I had with ATI years ago, and ATI’s lack of solid Linux drivers for many years, I have been a real NVidia fan. Unfortunately it seems like they are experiencing wide spread failures and there is no solid reason described. There are plenty of rumors. Now it seems that Apple’s laptops are experiencing problems.

My own experience is with my Dell XPS M1210 NVidia failure. NVidia claims that the 7400 chip in my laptop is not affected, however it was affected. It was a typical video card problem with the broken vertical lines in the screen and lockups during 3D usage. Dell graciously changed the motherboard in my laptop along with the heatpipe.

There is a class action suit against NVidia by its shareholders for keeping its problems from the public for so long. This resulted in some layoffs which are ongoing. NVidia has kept quiet about exactly which of its chips were failing. I’m sure it is because they don’t want people to return product that hasn’t failed. The problem is that they lose significant goodwill by doing this. The alternative is that they lose their shirts.

It may be time for me to start looking at ATI for my next graphics card.