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Mid 2007 iMac graphics failing?

A

ajo

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 28, 2006
686
24
My 24" Mid 2007 iMac has lasted me well but I think the graphics card may be failing somehow. There has been small errors now and again but it is happening a lot not especially when I try to use MainStage 2. Anything I can try or test to fix this?

Its mostly locking up, and giving me black/distorted sections of the screen.

Thanks
 
What graphics card does it have in it? What version of Mac OS X is it running? Could you explain the locking up in more detail?
 
Intell said:
What graphics card does it have in it? What version of Mac OS X is it running? Could you explain the locking up in more detail?
Click to expand...

ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro 256 MB running Mountain Lion

As I am typing this Safari is being covered with Black and RGB distortion.
 
If you take a screenshot, does the distortion show up on it where if physically appears on the screen?
 
Sounds like a Graphics card problem, thats an old machine. I would take it to an apple store and get a quote of how much it will cost to replace the GPU. I guess it will be expensive though.
 
nagareru said:
Sounds like a Graphics card problem, thats an old machine. I would take it to an apple store and get a quote of how much it will cost to replace the GPU. I guess it will be expensive though.
Click to expand...

~$250-$450. The card alone is about $175 on eBay for the lesser ATI 2400.
 
I had similar problems with my early 2008 iMac. I was getting green patterns then pink ones on the screen. Taking it into the Apple store, the problem was diagnosed as being down to the graphics card, so I got that replaced.

A couple of months later, the screen just went black, although the machine was still running. The Apple store tried replacing the graphics card, cables and then the screen, none of which worked. They said the next step was to replace the logic board, but that it would cost £600. I decided that was money I could put towards a new machine, so I'm just waiting on the new iMac orders opening up.

V frustrating to be without a computer for nearly four months!
 
Simonmiller said:
A couple of months later, the screen just went black, although the machine was still running. The Apple store tried replacing the graphics card, cables and then the screen, none of which worked. They said the next step was to replace the logic board, but that it would cost £600. I decided that was money I could put towards a new machine, so I'm just waiting on the new iMac orders opening up.
Click to expand...

This problem doesn't sound like a hardware problem. There is a software bug in 10.6.7 through 10.8.2 that causes problems with the GPU. The black screen is one if the symptoms of it. Does the screen still work if you boot it up from the reinstallation disc, the Leopard retail disc, or the Snow Leopard retail disc?
 
Intell said:
This problem doesn't sound like a hardware problem. There is a software bug in 10.6.7 through 10.8.2 that causes problems with the GPU. The black screen is one if the symptoms of it. Does the screen still work if you boot it up from the reinstallation disc, the Leopard retail disc, or the Snow Leopard retail disc?
Click to expand...

Hmm. To be honest I'm not sure I tried booting up from disc. Annoyingy I got the Apple store to remove the hard drive before they gave it back to me as I'll need to wipe it before I send it off for recycling. I might have a look and see how easy it is to put the hard drive back in and give it a go. Thanks!

Although I'm pretty sure the Apple store would have tried this actually?
 
Last edited:
Don't send it off to recycling. It may be 5 years old, but you can still get a few hundred pounds out of it or a few more years of usability. Even by parting it out, you could still make a nice sum.
 
Intell said:
Don't send it off to recycling. It may be 5 years old, but you can still get a few hundred pounds out of it or a few more years of usability. Even by parting it out, you could still make a nice sum.
Click to expand...

Thanks Intell, sound advice!

Do you think it's worth the hassle of trying to put the hard drive back in to try booting from the OS disc? I think the store probably would have tried that.
 
You don't need to have a hard drive in it to boot from disc. Just put in a disc with the iMac being on and it should boot from it without a problem.
 
I just had a graphics card replaced on a 2008 iMac at the apple store:

$131 for graphics card
$39 labor
 
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