Replacing Logicboard -- should I do it?

[Boogsephine]

In reference a post I made in the iMac section about the logicboard in a 24" iMac going bad, I did a little research with replacing it and having it installed. Below is a link to the entire thread where I tried to post up the kernel panic logs and get everything working.

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1518734

Long story short -- I have a mid-2007 24" iMac (MA878LL/A) I bought for $50 from my boss. Kernel panic screen comes up every few minutes when I get it on. I tried swapping the memory out and mixing it up with some of the old memory he had, didn't help. Threw in a 400GB sATA drive I had in my dresser, couldn't make it through the OS X installer without KP. Ran the AHT and it came back with no errors.

Since I'm almost positive it IS the logicboard and when my boss had it tested, a local authorized Apple repair / seller store said it was the logicboard (this was December 2011).

I found some used and refurbished logicboards on eBay for roughly $150 - $200. The local store wants $90/hr for labor and it'll be between 1.5 and 2 hours. I replaced the hard drive by myself but don't know if I have the skill or patience to do the entire logicboard.

So $50 for the iMac, $175 (round up) for the logicboard and $180 (2 hr max) for the install = $405 total.

I think throwing in a SSD in it after the repair, if I do, would make it a pretty quick computer for basic use. It already has 4GB of RAM installed as well.

What would you do if you were in my shoes?

[martinm0]

I don't think I'd do it. For $400 dollars you should be able to find a more recent iMac used that will be faster and working. To revive this current one just seems cruel.

However, I'm sure you must have some friends or other forum folks here that could change the board for much less. But again, I think any money spent is a waste and should be put towards something else depending on your computer needs.

Update: I just looked online and I guess these do still go for $400+ used. I'm still of the opinion that you shouldn't put any real money into it.

[Boogsephine]

Originally Posted by martinm0

I don't think I'd do it. For $400 dollars you should be able to find a more recent iMac used that will be faster and working. To revive this current one just seems cruel.

However, I'm sure you must have some friends or other forum folks here that could change the board for much less. But again, I think any money spent is a waste and should be put towards something else depending on your computer needs.

Update: I just looked online and I guess these do still go for $400+ used. I'm still of the opinion that you shouldn't put any real money into it.

They still sell for $400+ like you saw but I wouldn't be making that much money after the money invested so I completely see where you're coming from. I wish there was a section on here for each region. I'd gladly pay someone a little money to swap the board out or give them a nice case of beer.