Quanta vs AMD, case: GPUs couldnt take the heat?

[Madcatatlas]

First source: http://www.businessweek.com/news/20...md-over-chips-for-nec-notebook-computers.html

Source with link to first source, and also the source which this topic bases its points on:
sources: http://www.infoworld.com/d/computer-hardware/report-quanta-sues-amd-over-faulty-chips-183211

The main points are as follows:

1) Quanta has accused AMD and its ATI Technologies subsidiary of selling chips that could not tolerate some heat levels, making the chips unfit for use in some NEC laptops manufactured by Quanta, according to a news report by Bloomberg. The faulty chips caused the NEC laptops to malfunction, the suit claims.

A court clerk at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California confirmed that Quanta filed suit against AMD, and that the case has been assigned to Magistrate Judge Howard Lloyd in the San Jose courthouse

2) AMD spokesman Michael Silverman said the company has not been served with the complaint yet, but added that the allegations were without merit.

"AMD is aware of no other customer reports of the alleged issues with the AMD chip that Quanta used, which AMD no longer sells," Silverman said in an email.
"Quanta has itself acknowledged to AMD that it used the identical chip in large volumes in a different computer platform that it manufactured for NEC without such issues," Silverman said.

The bottomline is at the moment: We know the general argument of the suit. But not the details.

a: Are we talking about graphic prosessors? made with passiv cooling in mind? Or with a fan cooling heatpipes as is usual in laptops? Powerful ones like desktop "equivalents" (think M versions of 480, 5870) or weak ones that are used for laptops or integrated in OEM "designs"?

b: Which models of Nec laptops with these graphic prosessors in them have had issues with heat? Which have not? the case in point being the design of the laptops, heatpipes, exaust vents etc etc.



Feel free to post your opinions and if possible, stuff to back up arguments made one way or the other.

Dupe
-ViRGE

 

[Arkadrel]

Its "the ATI RS600ME integrated graphics chip", thats supposedly the root of the issue.


So this is from before AMD bought ATI.... long before.

If you wanted, I think you could probably google your way to find out which models used it.
Maybe at some point, the laptop model with the issue will be revealed.

Whats weird is that this chip, was used by alot of laptops apperntly, but only 1 lineup from 1 of the OEM's has this issue. That aleast hints towards it being a design issue.

Who is the one at fault?

ATI for exagerating specifications of heat tolerance levels?
Quanta for being cheap on cooling solution?

Time will tell.

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

The unfortunate aspect of this, from our enthusiast perspective, is that cash-strapped AMD will have to shell out $$ in legal fees and a settlement amount, I doubt they'll go to trial.

 

[Arkadrel]

I think they should go to trial.....

its unfair to have to settle, even if you think your right, just because you cant afford to hire lawyers.

Thats like a legal way to hold someone at gun point for money, its wrong.

If AMD thinks there is no case, they should file for a counter-sue of Quanta.
(gotta find someway to scrape together some $$$ for lawyers though)

Lawyers would probably wage risk of loseing, vs cost of paying people off....
and recammend the payoff, even if there was no merit it, and very little chance of loseing.
Guess it depends on how much Quanta is trying to shake AMD for.