XPS M1330 laptop Black Screens

What would cause an M1330 laptop with an nVidia GeForce 8400M
GS graphic card and a Corsair SSD (which was about a month old)
to just suddenly quit with a black screen and no power?

The M1330 laptop sat on a wire grid for cooling, and was running
Win7 on the SSD. I had about a dozen browser tabs open, and the
fan was running audibly (indicating warmth). The palm rest was
considerably cooler with the SSD, and the fan was not as noisy
as it used to be with the 2.5" hard drive, so I wasn't concerned about
overheating.

Then there was a "tick" and the screen bent black. Pressing the power
button got nothing. After a couple hours of cool-down, still nothing.
The battery is 4 years old, but I always run the laptop on a power adaptor -
which continues to supply voltage. Nothing rouses the laptop, can't
get it to POST.

What could have happened?

*TimDaniels*

On Tuesday, July 9, 2013 8:21:04 PM UTC-6, Timothy Daniels wrote:
What would cause an M1330 laptop with an nVidia GeForce 8400M

GS graphic card and a Corsair SSD (which was about a month old)

to just suddenly quit with a black screen and no power?



The M1330 laptop sat on a wire grid for cooling, and was running

Win7 on the SSD. I had about a dozen browser tabs open, and the

fan was running audibly (indicating warmth). The palm rest was

considerably cooler with the SSD, and the fan was not as noisy

as it used to be with the 2.5" hard drive, so I wasn't concerned about

overheating.



Then there was a "tick" and the screen bent black. Pressing the power

button got nothing. After a couple hours of cool-down, still nothing.

The battery is 4 years old, but I always run the laptop on a power adaptor -

which continues to supply voltage. Nothing rouses the laptop, can't

get it to POST.



What could have happened?



*TimDaniels*

When that happened with my XPS M1530 it was the motherboard. However it did not occur while it was running but failed to start up. No power.

Mine was running way too hot for quite a while before the failure.

On Tuesday, July 9, 2013 8:21:04 PM UTC-6, Timothy Daniels wrote:
What would cause an M1330 laptop with an nVidia GeForce 8400M

GS graphic card and a Corsair SSD (which was about a month old)

to just suddenly quit with a black screen and no power?



The M1330 laptop sat on a wire grid for cooling, and was running

Win7 on the SSD. I had about a dozen browser tabs open, and the

fan was running audibly (indicating warmth). The palm rest was

considerably cooler with the SSD, and the fan was not as noisy

as it used to be with the 2.5" hard drive, so I wasn't concerned about

overheating.



Then there was a "tick" and the screen bent black. Pressing the power

button got nothing. After a couple hours of cool-down, still nothing.

The battery is 4 years old, but I always run the laptop on a power adaptor -

which continues to supply voltage. Nothing rouses the laptop, can't

get it to POST.



What could have happened?



*TimDaniels*

I should add to my previous post that the XPS M1530 was still under warranty. Dell support had a simple way of testing to see if the motherboard was at fault, but since it happened a couple of years ago I don't remember the steps. But it was easy to do.

"Larry" replied:
Timothy Daniels wrote:
What would cause an M1330 laptop with an nVidia GeForce 8400M
GS graphic card and a Corsair SSD (which was about a month old)

to just suddenly quit with a black screen and no power?

The M1330 laptop sat on a wire grid for cooling, and was running
Win7 on the SSD. I had about a dozen browser tabs open, and the
fan was running audibly (indicating warmth). The palm rest was
considerably cooler with the SSD, and the fan was not as noisy
as it used to be with the 2.5" hard drive, so I wasn't concerned about
overheating.



Then there was a "tick" and the screen bent black. Pressing the power
button got nothing. After a couple hours of cool-down, still nothing.
The battery is 4 years old, but I always run the laptop on a power adaptor -
which continues to supply voltage. Nothing rouses the laptop, can't
get it to POST.

What could have happened?

*TimDaniels*

When that happened with my XPS M1530 it was the motherboard. However
it did not occur while it was running but failed to start up. No power.

Mine was running way too hot for quite a while before the failure.

I had been watching Youtube for an hour before opening the dozen
browser tabs, so there was probably a period of "high" heat, although
the fan was not at full speed.

Dell Out-of-Warranty Repair department quotes the price of a new
non-discrete graphics chip motherboard as $480 without CPU. The
"service kit" (small parts, daughterboard, thermal paste, etc.) would be
another $405. An on-site technician's labor would cost $180. IOW, if
I were to swap the mb myself, it would cost $480 plus tax and shipping.
I may just salvage the SSD and move on to a brand without the thermal
design problems.

*TimDaniels*

On Wednesday, July 10, 2013 12:57:49 PM UTC-6, Timothy Daniels wrote:
"Larry" replied:

Timothy Daniels wrote:

What would cause an M1330 laptop with an nVidia GeForce 8400M

GS graphic card and a Corsair SSD (which was about a month old)



to just suddenly quit with a black screen and no power?



The M1330 laptop sat on a wire grid for cooling, and was running

Win7 on the SSD. I had about a dozen browser tabs open, and the

fan was running audibly (indicating warmth). The palm rest was

considerably cooler with the SSD, and the fan was not as noisy

as it used to be with the 2.5" hard drive, so I wasn't concerned about

overheating.







Then there was a "tick" and the screen bent black. Pressing the power

button got nothing. After a couple hours of cool-down, still nothing.

The battery is 4 years old, but I always run the laptop on a power adaptor -

which continues to supply voltage. Nothing rouses the laptop, can't

get it to POST.



What could have happened?



*TimDaniels*



When that happened with my XPS M1530 it was the motherboard. However

it did not occur while it was running but failed to start up. No power.



Mine was running way too hot for quite a while before the failure.



I had been watching Youtube for an hour before opening the dozen

browser tabs, so there was probably a period of "high" heat, although

the fan was not at full speed.



Dell Out-of-Warranty Repair department quotes the price of a new

non-discrete graphics chip motherboard as $480 without CPU. The

"service kit" (small parts, daughterboard, thermal paste, etc.) would be

another $405. An on-site technician's labor would cost $180. IOW, if

I were to swap the mb myself, it would cost $480 plus tax and shipping.

I may just salvage the SSD and move on to a brand without the thermal

design problems.



*TimDaniels*

The fellow that dell sent to replace my motherboard thought that the thermal paste was at fault. After the motherboard replacement both the cpu and gpu in the M1530 does run cooler.

I wouldn't think watching youtube videos would cause overheating unless the thermal paste is bad like mine was.

I sometimes run music videos on youtube in the background while writing. Right now the cpu is 48 degrees C and the gpu is 52 degrees C and I have two browsers and 15 tabs open. But the temps tend to jump around a lot, but never as hot as with the old motherboard. I monitor the temps with i8kfan.

Idk, for $480 I might repair mine. But then I still have an old and slow machine running Vista. On the other hand you have a quality machine that you could not replace for $480. Its personal preference I guess.

Consider also that you might experience heating problems with a new one, especially with the 8 core machines.

This machine of mine is going on six years now. LOL.

On Wednesday, July 10, 2013 4:18:32 PM UTC-4, Larry wrote:
On Wednesday, July 10, 2013 12:57:49 PM UTC-6, Timothy Daniels wrote:

"Larry" replied:



Timothy Daniels wrote:



What would cause an M1330 laptop with an nVidia GeForce 8400M



GS graphic card and a Corsair SSD (which was about a month old)







to just suddenly quit with a black screen and no power?







The M1330 laptop sat on a wire grid for cooling, and was running



Win7 on the SSD. I had about a dozen browser tabs open, and the



fan was running audibly (indicating warmth). The palm rest was



considerably cooler with the SSD, and the fan was not as noisy



as it used to be with the 2.5" hard drive, so I wasn't concerned about



overheating.















Then there was a "tick" and the screen bent black. Pressing the power



button got nothing. After a couple hours of cool-down, still nothing.



The battery is 4 years old, but I always run the laptop on a power adaptor -



which continues to supply voltage. Nothing rouses the laptop, can't



get it to POST.







What could have happened?







*TimDaniels*







When that happened with my XPS M1530 it was the motherboard. However



it did not occur while it was running but failed to start up. No power.







Mine was running way too hot for quite a while before the failure.







I had been watching Youtube for an hour before opening the dozen



browser tabs, so there was probably a period of "high" heat, although



the fan was not at full speed.







Dell Out-of-Warranty Repair department quotes the price of a new



non-discrete graphics chip motherboard as $480 without CPU. The



"service kit" (small parts, daughterboard, thermal paste, etc.) would be



another $405. An on-site technician's labor would cost $180. IOW, if



I were to swap the mb myself, it would cost $480 plus tax and shipping.



I may just salvage the SSD and move on to a brand without the thermal



design problems.







*TimDaniels*



The fellow that dell sent to replace my motherboard thought that the thermal paste was at fault. After the motherboard replacement both the cpu and gpu in the M1530 does run cooler.



I wouldn't think watching youtube videos would cause overheating unless the thermal paste is bad like mine was.



I sometimes run music videos on youtube in the background while writing. Right now the cpu is 48 degrees C and the gpu is 52 degrees C and I have two browsers and 15 tabs open. But the temps tend to jump around a lot, but never as hot as with the old motherboard. I monitor the temps with i8kfan.



Idk, for $480 I might repair mine. But then I still have an old and slow machine running Vista. On the other hand you have a quality machine that you could not replace for $480. Its personal preference I guess.



Consider also that you might experience heating problems with a new one, especially with the 8 core machines.



This machine of mine is going on six years now. LOL.

Per my earlier post, if you still have a working laptop with an nVidia chip in it, run (DO NOT WALK!) to get the MSI Afterburner. Install it, and set the speeds to the slowest possible.

http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/download.htm

nVidia graphics chips have been chronic overheating for a number of years. I have replaced a number of failed nVidia graphics cards in desktops after they began displaying strange artifacts on screen. It does not help that nVidia licenses its card design to almost any manufacturer and that the cooling fans are often substandard.

Yes, there was a class action lawsuit against nVidia for its failed graphics in Dell, HP, and Apple laptops. You did not hear about it? That's because the suit was not publicized in the press and you had 90 days from settlement to file a claim. Whoever does the hardware design for Dell's laptops, they are generally pretty good. It's just that the choice of nVidia is godawful. This will not change. Only three mainstream graphics chip companies remain: AMD (they bought ATI), nVidia, and Intel. nVidia will continue to have undeserved design wins.

Your best bet for survival with a nVidia chip laptop is to UNDERCLOCK the graphics. No absolute promises, but better odds, anyway... Ben Myers

On Wednesday, July 10, 2013 5:08:32 PM UTC-6, Ben Myers wrote:
On Wednesday, July 10, 2013 4:18:32 PM UTC-4, Larry wrote:

On Wednesday, July 10, 2013 12:57:49 PM UTC-6, Timothy Daniels wrote:



"Larry" replied:







Timothy Daniels wrote:







What would cause an M1330 laptop with an nVidia GeForce 8400M







GS graphic card and a Corsair SSD (which was about a month old)















to just suddenly quit with a black screen and no power?















The M1330 laptop sat on a wire grid for cooling, and was running







Win7 on the SSD. I had about a dozen browser tabs open, and the







fan was running audibly (indicating warmth). The palm rest was







considerably cooler with the SSD, and the fan was not as noisy







as it used to be with the 2.5" hard drive, so I wasn't concerned about







overheating.































Then there was a "tick" and the screen bent black. Pressing the power







button got nothing. After a couple hours of cool-down, still nothing.







The battery is 4 years old, but I always run the laptop on a power adaptor -







which continues to supply voltage. Nothing rouses the laptop, can't







get it to POST.















What could have happened?















*TimDaniels*















When that happened with my XPS M1530 it was the motherboard. However







it did not occur while it was running but failed to start up. No power.















Mine was running way too hot for quite a while before the failure.















I had been watching Youtube for an hour before opening the dozen







browser tabs, so there was probably a period of "high" heat, although







the fan was not at full speed.















Dell Out-of-Warranty Repair department quotes the price of a new







non-discrete graphics chip motherboard as $480 without CPU. The







"service kit" (small parts, daughterboard, thermal paste, etc.) would be







another $405. An on-site technician's labor would cost $180. IOW, if







I were to swap the mb myself, it would cost $480 plus tax and shipping.







I may just salvage the SSD and move on to a brand without the thermal







design problems.















*TimDaniels*







The fellow that dell sent to replace my motherboard thought that the thermal paste was at fault. After the motherboard replacement both the cpu and gpu in the M1530 does run cooler.







I wouldn't think watching youtube videos would cause overheating unless the thermal paste is bad like mine was.







I sometimes run music videos on youtube in the background while writing.. Right now the cpu is 48 degrees C and the gpu is 52 degrees C and I have two browsers and 15 tabs open. But the temps tend to jump around a lot, but never as hot as with the old motherboard. I monitor the temps with i8kfan.







Idk, for $480 I might repair mine. But then I still have an old and slow machine running Vista. On the other hand you have a quality machine that you could not replace for $480. Its personal preference I guess.







Consider also that you might experience heating problems with a new one, especially with the 8 core machines.







This machine of mine is going on six years now. LOL.



Per my earlier post, if you still have a working laptop with an nVidia chip in it, run (DO NOT WALK!) to get the MSI Afterburner. Install it, and set the speeds to the slowest possible.



http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/download.htm



nVidia graphics chips have been chronic overheating for a number of years.. I have replaced a number of failed nVidia graphics cards in desktops after they began displaying strange artifacts on screen. It does not help that nVidia licenses its card design to almost any manufacturer and that the cooling fans are often substandard.



Yes, there was a class action lawsuit against nVidia for its failed graphics in Dell, HP, and Apple laptops. You did not hear about it? That's because the suit was not publicized in the press and you had 90 days from settlement to file a claim. Whoever does the hardware design for Dell's laptops, they are generally pretty good. It's just that the choice of nVidia is godawful. This will not change. Only three mainstream graphics chip companies remain: AMD (they bought ATI), nVidia, and Intel. nVidia will continue to have undeserved design wins.



Your best bet for survival with a nVidia chip laptop is to UNDERCLOCK the graphics. No absolute promises, but better odds, anyway... Ben Myers

Hi Ben, I assume you are speaking to both of us.

My M1530, a later purchase, did not fall in the group or batch listed for the class action suit or for a replacement, but the mb was in warranty when it failed. Lucky for me I took out a four year warranty and the mb failed shortly after three years. So a three warranty would have missed that. (BTW that is a second Dell laptop that failed on me one month after three years!)

I am not sure how that cut off date was established so it did not cover all of the same products.

I did follow up on your recommendation for MSI afterburner. Its loaded on my M1530 and I am checking it out. I have underclocked the graphics as you recommended. It is showing a improvement in temperature but too soon to tell if it was a significant improvement.

Larry

"Larry" addes:
Timothy Daniels wrote:
"Larry" replied:
Timothy Daniels wrote:
What would cause an M1330 laptop with an nVidia GeForce 8400M
GS graphic card and a Corsair SSD (which was about a month old)
to just suddenly quit with a black screen and no power?

The M1330 laptop sat on a wire grid for cooling, and was running
Win7 on the SSD. I had about a dozen browser tabs open, and the
fan was running audibly (indicating warmth). The palm rest was
considerably cooler with the SSD, and the fan was not as noisy
as it used to be with the 2.5" hard drive, so I wasn't concerned about
overheating.

Then there was a "tick" and the screen bent black. Pressing the power
button got nothing. After a couple hours of cool-down, still nothing.
The battery is 4 years old, but I always run the laptop on a power adaptor -
which continues to supply voltage. Nothing rouses the laptop, can't
get it to POST.

What could have happened?

*TimDaniels*

When that happened with my XPS M1530 it was the motherboard. However
it did not occur while it was running but failed to start up. No power.

Mine was running way too hot for quite a while before the failure.



I had been watching Youtube for an hour before opening the dozen
browser tabs, so there was probably a period of "high" heat, although
the fan was not at full speed.

Dell Out-of-Warranty Repair department quotes the price of a new
non-discrete graphics chip motherboard as $480 without CPU. The
"service kit" (small parts, daughterboard, thermal paste, etc.) would be
another $405. An on-site technician's labor would cost $180. IOW, if
I were to swap the mb myself, it would cost $480 plus tax and shipping.
I may just salvage the SSD and move on to a brand without the thermal
design problems.

*TimDaniels*

The fellow that dell sent to replace my motherboard thought that the thermal
paste was at fault. After the motherboard replacement both the cpu and gpu
in the M1530 does run cooler.

I wouldn't think watching youtube videos would cause overheating unless
the thermal paste is bad like mine was.

I sometimes run music videos on youtube in the background while writing.
Right now the cpu is 48 degrees C and the gpu is 52 degrees C and I have
two browsers and 15 tabs open. But the temps tend to jump around a lot,
but never as hot as with the old motherboard. I monitor the temps with i8kfan.

Idk, for $480 I might repair mine. But then I still have an old and slow machine
running Vista. On the other hand you have a quality machine that you could
not replace for $480. Its personal preference I guess.

Consider also that you might experience heating problems with a new one,
especially with the 8 core machines.

This machine of mine is going on six years now. LOL.


I have 64-bit Windows 7 Pro installed on the SSD, and it's dual-booted with
64-bit Ubuntu 13.04, and it ran fine. This thermal failure of the nVidia chip
happened before while the laptop was under warranty. After the technician
installed a new motherboard, it ran fine - until now. If I go with a new mobo,
it will NOT be the one with the discrete nVidia chip, it will be the one with the
Intel integrated graphics.

*TimDaniels*

"Ben Myers" pointed out:
Per my earlier post, if you still have a working laptop with an nVidia chip in it,
run (DO NOT WALK!) to get the MSI Afterburner. Install it, and set the speeds
to the slowest possible.

http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/download.htm

nVidia graphics chips have been chronic overheating for a number of years.
I have replaced a number of failed nVidia graphics cards in desktops after they
began displaying strange artifacts on screen. It does not help that nVidia licenses
its card design to almost any manufacturer and that the cooling fans are often
substandard.

Yes, there was a class action lawsuit against nVidia for its failed graphics in Dell,
HP, and Apple laptops. You did not hear about it? That's because the suit was
not publicized in the press and you had 90 days from settlement to file a claim.
Whoever does the hardware design for Dell's laptops, they are generally pretty
good. It's just that the choice of nVidia is godawful. This will not change. Only
three mainstream graphics chip companies remain: AMD (they bought ATI), nVidia,
and Intel. nVidia will continue to have undeserved design wins.

Your best bet for survival with a nVidia chip laptop is to UNDERCLOCK the graphics.
No absolute promises, but better odds, anyway... Ben Myers


That sounds like good advice, but I'm past that stage - the nVidia chip is caput,
and if I choose to repair the laptop, I'll need a new mobo. Sooo, in your experience,
Ben, does the Intel integrated graphics performance good enough to watch Youtube,
do video conferencing, display Visual Studio and SQL Server diagrams? That is the
most demand that I'd put on graphics since I don't play any video games at all.

*TimDaniels*

On Wednesday, July 10, 2013 8:41:33 PM UTC-4, Timothy Daniels wrote:
"Ben Myers" pointed out:

Per my earlier post, if you still have a working laptop with an nVidia chip in it,

run (DO NOT WALK!) to get the MSI Afterburner. Install it, and set the speeds

to the slowest possible.



http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/download.htm



nVidia graphics chips have been chronic overheating for a number of years.

I have replaced a number of failed nVidia graphics cards in desktops after they

began displaying strange artifacts on screen. It does not help that nVidia licenses

its card design to almost any manufacturer and that the cooling fans are often

substandard.



Yes, there was a class action lawsuit against nVidia for its failed graphics in Dell,

HP, and Apple laptops. You did not hear about it? That's because the suit was

not publicized in the press and you had 90 days from settlement to file a claim.

Whoever does the hardware design for Dell's laptops, they are generally pretty

good. It's just that the choice of nVidia is godawful. This will not change. Only

three mainstream graphics chip companies remain: AMD (they bought ATI), nVidia,

and Intel. nVidia will continue to have undeserved design wins.



Your best bet for survival with a nVidia chip laptop is to UNDERCLOCK the graphics.

No absolute promises, but better odds, anyway... Ben Myers





That sounds like good advice, but I'm past that stage - the nVidia chip is caput,

and if I choose to repair the laptop, I'll need a new mobo. Sooo, in your experience,

Ben, does the Intel integrated graphics performance good enough to watch Youtube,

do video conferencing, display Visual Studio and SQL Server diagrams? That is the

most demand that I'd put on graphics since I don't play any video games at all.



*TimDaniels*

Intel's integrated graphics performance is good enough for most non-gaming activities. I keep wanting to pry my wife's old single core Thinkpad T43 from her hands and replace it with something more modern. She resists, watches YouTube, movies, etc, and the T43 graphics are anything but advanced and lightning quick. The modern Intel graphics are really just fine for most of us... Ben Myers