What was previously reported as an issue contained to HP laptops, has now been linked to 10 Dell models. Nvidia had acknowledged that certain GPUs are suffering from high failure rates when undergoing “temperature fluctuations”. The problem stems from a weak die/packaging material set.

While Nvidia is dealing with their supply chain problems, Dell has provided a list of affected notebooks and recommends that you flash your system BIOS as a preventive measure. The BIOS updates, found here, are designed to reduce the likelihood of GPU failure.

[[[UPDATE 8/2/08: THE BIOS UPGRADE MIGHT NOT BE IN YOUR BEST INTEREST, AND MAY NOT BE REVERSIBLE. SEEMS IT MOSTLY JUST TURNS THE FAN ON ALL THE TIME. GOOD FOR THEM, BAD FOR YOU.]]]