and so...nVidia screwed up *badly*

[CvP]

There have been quite a few articles/reports in past few days.
This one actually sums everything up. It is still uncertain how much *screwed up* the situation is..but everything is pointing towards a bad omen.

Nvidia G92s and G94 reportedly failing

Desktop boards this time

NVIDIA IS IN DEEP trouble over the defective parts problem, and from what we're being told, this is only the tip of the iceberg. NV still insists on stonewalling and spinning because the cost of owning up to the problem could very well sink the company.
If you haven't been following the story, the short version, up till now, is that all G84 and G86 chips are bad. Nvidia is blaming everyone under the sun, but denying they have any hand in the failures. While this may sound plausible, technical analyses by people intimately involved in the requisite semiconductor technologies tell The INQ that it is a bunch of bull: NV simply screwed up. Badly. If it was a problem with the suppliers, NV would not be paying out more than the chip cost, much less gagging OEMs: it would simply be passed along.

read full story here.

[CvP]

HOT ON THE heels of its denials that anything is wrong with the G92 and G94s comes another PCN that shows the G92s and G92b are being changed for no reason. Yup, the problems that are plaguing G84 and G86 are the same that affect seemingly all 65nm and now 55nm Nvidia parts.
This PCN is very similar to the one linked above, and the formatting is almost almost exactly the same, so we won't cover all the details, just the pertinent points. This one is much more important, it confirms that the problems are not confined to the 65nm products. Since Nvidia told us the last one was unimportant and refused to give it to us, we didn't bother asking this time, we just took notes when they were shown to us at a recent conference.
It is titled "G92 GPU Desktop Products" with a subtitle of "Change Bump Material from High Pb to Eutectic Solder", with a date of June 2008 and a number PCN0346A on it. Page 2 has the "PCN Submit Date" of June 13, 2008, " Planned Implementation Date" of July 28, 2008, and a "Proposed First Ship Date for change" of August 17, 2008. Short story here, if you have a G92 or G92b purchased before next week, you likely have a lemon. Remember, these are chip ship dates, not boards in stores.
The next few chunks, "Change Category" and others are the same, "Class 1", given to everyone under the sun, and OMGWTFBBQ. That is kind of a 'well duh' thing, and is exactly the same as the G86 part PCN.
The big one is the affected parts list. It clearly states that not only are 65nm parts bad, but 55nm ones are as well. The entire list of affected parts is as follows.

Small batch, my arse
Lets see, what do we have here? It looks like they changed the bumping material on the 55nm parts a month and a day after introduction. Yup, no reason for that at all, nothing to see here either.
The next part is a description of what we already knew and told you about on the last PCN story. To use their words, "Nvidia will transition from using high-lead solder (95%Pb/5%Sn) to eutectic solder (63%Sn/37%Pb) flip-chip bump material for the G92 product family. During the transition period Nvidia will be supplying both high-lead and eutectic bump until inventory is depleted. No other materials are being changed."
This makes complete sense, and it is followed by a picture of a modern chip with the bumps and underfill pointed out.
The reasons are the same, supply and robustness, as is the impact statement. Same very curious wording. Nothing new, just bad news.
The "Implementation and Qualification Plan" however does have some new news. It says, "Nvidia has previously qualified numerous products using eutectic solder bumps using the same bump suppliers, substrate vendors, underfill and assembly sites as this device. Qualification data is available upon request." This information backs up our previous assertions that this is quite widespread among all their 65nm and 55nm products. Qual data is available "Now," it says, and samples on July 1, 2008.
Page 4 has the same diagram, and indicates that the eutectic bumps are marked the same way as the G86 ones, with a trailing R on the lot #. Because it is etched on the die, you have no way of knowing which one you have until you take it apart, pull the heatsink, clean off the thermal paste, and read the laser-wielding chicken scratchings. Most stores won't let you do this, and NV is going to be mixing the dies up until they burn off inventory. This means you won't be safe until long after the card is irrelevant, say later in Q4.
The "Recommended Action" and contact info is the same as the G86 PCN, and the Revision history has an Initial Release date of 06/13/08. There is no blank page 5 on this one, it is just the disclaimer that was on page 6 of the last one.
While Nvidia is playing these PCNs off as nothing to worry about, they are. The fact that the defective chip problem extends to the G92 line like we said earlier is bad enough. It pretty much confirms that the problem is the same as the "Small batch of EOL laptops parts only given to HP," that they warned about in July. The bigger problem is that it affects the newer 55nm parts as well. Those were supplanted in a number of days you could almost count to on your fingers and toes if you grew up in a small town in Appalachia, never a good sign. In fact, qual samples were available before the 9800GTX+ actually launched.
It is hard to overstate how bad this is. Basically every 65nm and 55nm Nvidia part appears to be defective. It is not a question of yes or no, but how defective each line is, and what the failure rate for each one is. We are hearing of early failure rates in the teens per cent for 8800GTs and far higher for 9600GTs, so this is not a quibble over split hairs.
To make matters worse, Nvidia has a mound of unsold defective parts that they are going to bleed out into the channel along side of the (hopefully) fixed parts. As a buyer, you have no way of knowing which one you are getting, and it looks like Nvidia isn't keen on helping you figure it out either, that would cost too much.
Until Nvidia comes fully clean on this fiasco, lists all the defective parts, and orders boxes clearly marked, you can't say anything other than just avoid them. Then again, since doing the right thing would likely bankrupt them, we wouldn't hold your breath for it to happen. µ


source: INQ

[GiDDY_SOUL]

Wouldnt want Nvidia to go Bankrupt!..
Without them we wont be seeing any GPU price wars!

[Mazhar]

they wont go bankrupt, and this defective part problem is overblown...trust me when any news like this comes out the media over hypes it and makes people think the company will go bankrupt the next day

it is a sad problem though..hopefully they will get their act together soon

[CvP]

i do not think so. it is not over hyped. in fact, this news is not much
flashed as it should be. after reading the detailed (but VERY simple) explanations
(on INQ: part1, part2, part3 [MUST READ Articles]), i have no doubt that
this problem is not small enough to overlook.
however, nVidia will not suffer much but the customers will do in the long run.

[xk::v (G®immjaw)]

nvidia sucks..

[Mazhar]

i do not think so. it is not over hyped. in fact, this news is not much
flashed as it should be. after reading the detailed (but VERY simple) explanations
(on INQ: part1, part2, part3 [MUST READ Articles]), i have no doubt that
this problem is not small enough to overlook.
however, nVidia will not suffer much but the customers will do in the long run.

over hyped, as in getting bankrupt etc etc..

the defective part problem itself is true, but will only affect chips in the long run. its still a big problem though

and btw, charlie is known to hate nvidia...very much

[Tian]

ATI sucks..

[anjunabeats]

Sob e Suckz ... Pcix Kina Bad dia Xbox360 Or PS3 kina Game Khelen.. Bachben..

[coldfire7]

ATI sucks..

So u r a NVIDIA fan boy...........

[CvP]

over hyped, as in getting bankrupt etc etc..

the defective part problem itself is true, but will only affect chips in the long run. its still a big problem though

and btw, charlie is known to hate nvidia...very much

going bankrupt is over hyped in a sense that it is not going to happen.
then again, if nVidia chose to replace ALL the defective parts, they'd go
bankrupt indeed.

[Tian]

So u r a NVIDIA fan boy...........

NVIDIA is an international worldwide leader in visual computing technolgy. Thousand of critics says it. Ar apnara agree korleo NVIDIA leader, na korleo NVIDIA leader. lol:

[Tian]

Amar mone hoy ai thread-e NVIDIA shomporke jeshob kotha bola hochche ta kono POP-UP theke newa. lol:

[Mazhar]

going bankrupt is over hyped in a sense that it is not going to happen.
then again, if nVidia chose to replace ALL the defective parts, they'd go
bankrupt indeed.

hehe..true

but they will not do that, unless the defective parts are actually failing and are being sent for RMA. and by then, they will have mid and lower end cards to be sent for replacement (small die, cheaper, 55nm with the same performance). Also, not all of the cards will fail. Its still a big problem

@tian: everything about nvidia in this thread is true, and nvidia fails to earn my respect. they charged $650 for the GTX280 when they were launched. way to rip off the consumers. too bad AMD was smart to launch the HD4870 at $300, which was very near the performance of the GTX280 which was $650, and then they released the 4870X2, which destroyed the GTX280 in terms of performance. Hence the GTX280 is now less than $400

being a leader doesnt mean they are the best, it simply means they produce more graphics cards than AMD in terms of volume. what matters for the consumers is which company gives more bang for the buck, and AMD delivers on that front at the moment. AMD also has the fastest single card. thats all that matters for the consumer

[HeLL]deathknight]

Amar mone hoy ai thread-e NVIDIA shomporke jeshob kotha bola hochche ta kono POP-UP theke newa. lol:

i don't think so......

[Tian]

Cause? Just hate NVIDIA, isn't it?

[Mazhar]

why would anyone hate a company if they simply point out facts?

[Tian]

False facts. And I think it is intentional.

[coldfire7]

NVIDIA is an international worldwide leader in visual computing technolgy. Thousand of critics says it. Ar apnara agree korleo NVIDIA leader, na korleo NVIDIA leader. lol:

There was a time when NVIDIA used to rule the market.... But now a days ATi rules the market..... But NVIDIA still rules the pro market (Workstation/Render Stuff) with there product....

[Tian]

hmmm...it can be said.