GeForce 310 M problem??

[daftdoug]

Have read on the this, and the Nvidia forum that the graphics card in my Vaio, the Nvidia GeForce 310 M is a 'low end' chip.

The problem I'm having with my laptop is this...........

Often, when I try and play a few various of games on Facebook, I often hear a momentary 'buzz' (like when live electric cables 'short out'). this lasts no more than two seconds, and more often than not,  usually less than that amount of time. At the same time as the 'buzz' occurs, the graphics on screen freeze for the same length of time that the noise sounds. I must add that, the 'buzz' sounds a lot more pronounced through earphones.

Debenhams (where I bought the machine from, and whom refuse to give me a refund-even with trading standards on the case) claim that this chip is not designed for game play, which is fair enough, to an extent, but the fault also occurs when I try and play Oblivion, a seven year old game with minimum graphics stats of less than the 310M chip provides.

Not only this, but I also have the same fault happening when I watch live music dvd's (I have tried several dvd's, and they all play without problem in my desktop, so this means that the discs are okay).

A mate of mine who builds pc's as a hobby reckons the chip could be heating up, and is 'shutting itself down' to prevent prolonged damage to the pc, but surely, even the most basic of machines should, at the very least, be able to play a dvd without trouble??

The machine (Sony Vaio S13V9E/B) is still under warranty, so any ideas/suggestions as to what course(s) of action, if any, I should  now take?

Message was edited by: daftdoug

Message was edited by: daftdoug 20 minutes after posting the above, I have decided to listen to a new audio cd, and the problem just occurred whislt the second track was playing, and it's now done it three times so far, during the third song! So, is it a graphics problem, or something else entirely??

[Blencogo]

It could be a few things: -

• Are the games online games?  How fast is your internet connection?
  
• Is your CD/DVD drive running in Ultra DMA mode? - Direct Memory Access allows cd/dvd/HDD data tobe accessed more quickly without everything being pushed through the processor. Check in Device Manager -> IDE/ATAPI Controllers -> Look in the Advanced Settings for the Channels and check your CD/DVD Drive is running Ultra DMA Mode.
  
• There may be a screed LCD or an Inverter problem.
• There could be a motherboard or wiring poor contact.
• It could be the Graphics chip but this would be low down on my list.

As your Vaio is still within waranty, the way forward is to talk to Vaio Support direct - with a particular emphasis on the CD/DVD Playback problem - as it seems that your Vaio needs inspection by an engineer.  Intermittent faults are always difficult to find but as you say these problems are becoming more common, it should be easier to diagnose the problem.

[daftdoug]

Thanx for the reply. Am not sure exactly where to start, so please bear with me as I attempt to add to the ongoing saga.

The laptop I'm now having problems with is a replacement for the original one that I bought back in January. IT had the fault on, and after almost four months of arguing back and forth with the seller (Debenhams), they eventually sent me a direct replacement, in May.

Upon switching the replacement on, I found that it too had the very same fault. So, not wanting to deal with the rubbish 'service' I was getting from Debenhams, I got in touch with Sony. They collected the machine, cleaned the fan, and replaced the hard drive, and sent it back to me. the original fault was still present. So, I decided again to try for a refund from Debenhams. Since may, I have refrained from using the laptop, in case that would go against me in any refund/replacement claim I may end up persuing.

I have had Trading Standards dealing on my behalf in trying to obtain a refund, and the latest advice they give me (received by them, from Debenhams) is to contact Sony re getting the machine checked again. So, earlier today, after I got home from work, I decided to charge the battery up before contacting Sony to coolect it.

Like I say in the addition to my original post, i deced that I'd listen to a new cd i'd just bought, so put it in the drive of the laptop. As I haven't been using the machine, this was the very first audio cd that I'd ever placed in the drive. Windows Media player opened up, and the music started to play. All was well until half way through the second track, when the original fault-the buzz (which up until that moment, I'd assume to be a 'graphics only problem') occurred several times during the next three songs.

Like I said in my original post, my mate wonders if it's a problem with overheating, rather than the actual graphics chip being at fault?

I have switched the laptop off a while ago, so will check later in device manager to see if it running in Ultra DMA mode.

I doubt if there will be a problem with the cd drive though, because the fault also showed up when no disc was in there-ie, when playing online games on Facebook-sorry, I can't tell you what speed the internet connection was, because I was away from home, in a hotel when the fault showed during the game play.

Thanks for replying, and for the possible help you may give me.