Apparently some previous-gen Nvidia graphics cards that shipped in "significant quantities" of notebooks are defective, built and packaged with "weak" materials that are leading to them to overheat and fail at a "higher-than-normal" rate. Enough are bad that Nvidia is taking a $150-$200 million hit on its earnings for the quarter. Do you have one of these cards?
Nvidia doesn't say which cards are affected, but it seems to be ones in the 8M series (which are now previous gen). The fix-a new driver that kicks in the cooling fans sooner, rather than later—is being distributed direct to notebook makers. So, if you've got a new Nvidia driver waiting for you from Dell or whoever made your laptop, congrats, you win! [WSJ, PC World]