AMD: Nvidia/MacBook Debacle May Hurt Industry

Could the Nvidia/MacBook Pro heat issues mean problems for the rest of the graphics industry?

Recently, reports came out that some new unibody 17-inch MacBook Pro laptops form Apple are experiencing heat issues, specifically with its Nvidia GeForce 9600M graphics card. Purple and green artifacts pop up on the screen, evidence that the discrete GPU is not receiving proper cooling.

According to CNET, AMD's Stan Ossias is worried about this newest Nvidia debacle. "In the case of Apple's product," said AMD's director of mobile graphics marketing, "I don't know what happened with Nvidia's GPU but we'd like to avoid having the negative aspects taint the entire industry."

Ossias also inferred that Apple may have made a mistake in choosing the 9600M for its notebooks. "Somebody may choose a GPU that doesn't necessarily have the best operating characteristics or doesn't deliver the optimal power consumption in all operating ranges," said Ossias. Whether or not Ossias is right, this kind of statement, coming from the upper management of a rival, should always be taken with a grain of salt. "I don't think Apple does a bad job of this in general. They are extremely meticulous generally." Ossias continued, "A product decision is made (where) maybe there is more emphasis put on performance characteristics than on another characteristic. Again, that's another choice that can be made," Ossias said.

This isn't the first time Nvidia has seen problems with its mobile graphics offerings. Last year, the company came under heavy scrutiny after several of its models experienced heat-related issues, stemming from improper soldering. While this newest round of issues may be related to fan control and not soldering, other graphics companies are worried that this seemingly continuous stream of GPU problems could spell bad news for the GPU industry overall.

As for Nvidia's previous faulty GPU's, Ossias said AMD/ATI had to assure its own customers repeatedly that its offerings were not subject to the same sort of issues. This kind of damage control is likely the source of AMDs concern. As for Ossias's current stance on the matter, it's hard to believe that Nvidia's problems could be anything but good news for AMD. Any major customer (in terms of computer manufacturers), expressing concerns over AMD's offerings because Nvidia is having problems with a discrete GPU is a hard story to swallow.

  • curnel_D
    " Any major customer (in terms of computer manufacturers), expressing concerns over AMD's offerings because Nvidia is having problems with a discrete GPU is a hard story to swallow. "

    I think you're missing the point here. (I'm not suprised)

    When Nvidia's products keep failing, ATI has to spend time and resources showing it's manufaturing partners that they've invested research into preventing this from happening in any of their products.
    Reply
  • pcbuilder1010
    Desperate PR spin from a desperate company…

    Moody's warns that AMD is in danger of defaulting on its debt

    http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/2217150/


    Reply
  • deltatux
    Just because of these debacles, I've withdrawn all NVIDIA cards as an upgrade option from all my desktops. They now are all ATi cards.
    Reply
  • Come one... how asked AMD of any opinion on this. Are you guys from Tom's getting mony from AMD. Is a bad story no subject no sens... seems like a comercial.
    Reply
  • Fadamor
    deltatuxJust because of these debacles, I've withdrawn all NVIDIA cards as an upgrade option from all my desktops. They now are all ATi cards.LOL that makes PERFECT sense! "There are problems with an on-board mobile graphics processor, so I'm banning all desktop cards from the same company - even though everything about them is different". Way to further the hysteria. I applaud you for your illogical thinking.
    Reply
  • tayb
    Maybe if the MacBook Pro had some vents on the bottom of the device and the only fan didn't blow directly into the display there wouldn't be a cooling problem.

    AMD has a concern and a valid one. Every time Nvidia screws up AMD has to take extra tie to reassure its customers that their mobile GPU's aren't piles of crap like Nvidia's are.
    Reply
  • gm0n3y
    MithosCome one... how asked AMD of any opinion on this. Are you guys from Tom's getting mony from AMD. Is a bad story no subject no sens... seems like a comercial.
    I understand that you probably have ESL, but I had to vote you down because your comment hurt my brain to read.
    Reply
  • KITH
    I imagine any cooling issues are because of apple design of the case. Their laptops just run hot.
    Reply
  • Apples laptops have always had overheating issues due to poorly engineered heatsink & fan designs. The 13 macbook had this issue. And anyone who's had a macbook pro on for any length can tell you how hot that got. It's really poorly designed emphasizing cosmetic appearance.
    Reply
  • zerapio
    Yup, Mac Book Pros run very hot. It also doesn't help that NVIDIA's chip outputs a lot of heat too. That's the price NVIDIA pays for cramming all those gates to get better performance.
    Reply