by , 4:25 PM EDT, August 8th, 2008

The NVIDIA G84 and G86 graphics chips are being investigated as the cause for some HP and Dell computer failures, according to The Inquirer on Friday. Apple MacBook Pros also appear to have the problem based on the Apple discussion forum.

The problem manifests itself at bootup when the MacBook Pro screen goes blank.

NVIDIA has denied that there is a problem, but the Inquirer claims to have sources that say all the parts are bad and suffer from a defect in a substrate material when going through the power up/power down heating and cooling cycle. Because desktops and notebooks go through different cycles, with desktops tending to remain on, the problem has affected different computers at different times.

The Inquirer has labeled the problem a cover up and will eventually cost NVIDA big bucks, perhaps US$200M.

According to Jason O'Grady and David Morgenstern at their Apple Core blog, Apple has not acknowledged the problem yet either.

The Apple Core bloggers point to the Apple Discussion Forum that's buzzing with the issue.