While it's extremely fair to be critical of the Inquirer it doesn't mean they're wrong. Where did the huge $200 million dollar check from nVidia come from if not for a genuine problem?
It's like Microsoft, they have always maintained there wasn't any problem with the xbox 360s yet the scores of people with red ring of death, the fact that it was proven they would change the cooling in refurbished systems, AND then coincidentally extend their warranty to 3 years.
Is this panic-worthy? Certainly not, at the end of the day Nvidia will do the right thing so the worst I think most are in for is an inconvenience but the Inq could be guilty for in this place is trying to cause panic.
Is this a proven track record of diminishing reliability from nVidia? Since the nforce4 which was extremely solid, their latest chipsets have had numerous documented problems ranging from general reliability to heat. Honestly, I just think it's growing pains. I think this is more due to the fact that since the nforce4, nvidia had been the de-facto chipset for AMD and the massive numbers of nvidia boards flooding the market has just magnified the amount of issues reported.
The seediest part of this article is:
While evidence may point to only notebook chips being afflicted, one theory is that notebook chips go though more stress than their desktop counterparts. Notebooks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laptop are power cycled more often, and by extension the GPUs go through more heat cycles – quickly exposing the defect. GPUs in notebooks may also be harder to cool, with less space for elaborate heatsinks and fans.
That's the old "people are saying" BS. It's a specious and rediculous argument that they cannot possibly backup, nor can nVidia realistically deny. The cooling profile in a desktop is galactically different than the cooling profile in a notebook. I wouldn't be concerned about your desktop part, even if it's fanless, as long as you have decent airflow.
Overheating in notebooks is really not a surprise and it does look like nVidia is trying to man-up about it.
Unlike some people I don't see everything as black and white, and it's amazing, when you think about it, how many times depending on perspective someone can be a fanboi for like 30 different and conflicting companies.
I don't think Inq is specifically "anti-anyone" so much as "pro-sensationalism" like... all journalists and pseudo-journalists which naturally, and should, destroy credibility.
This fan bios fix will work just fine if heat is the actual issue, and IMO if you were buying a laptop with dedicated graphics engines in it like the 8600 you probably weren't too concerned with battery power anyway. Me, I'd deal with it and still have confidence in nVidia though I'm more of an ATI guy myself. I wouldn't blame anyone for a Class Action suit to get their money back for a more power conservative laptop either. Specifically reducing battery consumption to fix their mistake AFTER you bought it sounds is kindof iffy to me.
And the buzzing noises are more often leaky caps or vibrating power coils like others have suggested. Often you can touch or hot glue said coils and fix the problem. leaky caps... bad... vibrating coils, not really a sign of a bad thing, albeit annoying.
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