mid 2011 27" iMac - dying GPU

[thomasbp]

Hi all

I have an iMac from mid 2011, 27" i7 with the 2GB GDDR 5 AMD 6970m card.
And im getting some black screens, with vertical 1pt. red lines, when i then reboot i get Grey or mostly Blue screens.

I have tried this:

1. Boot into Single-User mode
   
   
2. Execute the following commands:
   
   /sbin/fsck -fy /
   /sbin/mount -uw /
   mkdir /Disabled_System_Library_Extensions
   cd /Disabled_System_Library_Extensions
   mv /System/Library/Extensions/ATI* .
   mv /System/Library/Extensions/AMD* .
   touch /System/Library/Extensions
   exit

Then I can start it up for 30-45 sec. then i get the black screen again..

I have looked in alot of thread's about upgrading GPU's and can see i need a MXM 3 A/B card and with UEFI support... but then im loost.... (I know how to open and install a GPU in my iMac.. but need help to select and compatible one)

Can someone plz. tell me what upgrade GPU card I can use in my iMac and maybe from an EU seller like amazone DE/UK, or a trusted seller that can ship to EU...

Will this nVidia GTX 965m fit ?? https://www.amazon.com/Nvidia-GeFor...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=TNQ4AAFMC0JWHTPKEEA6

 

[sreckomi]

Yep.. same problem here.
I have the 1GB card and had troubles with it two years ago. apple didn't want to exchange the graphics card. Instead they told me to reset my iMac and install the os from the scratch.
The iMac worked fine till a week ago. Now that the exchange program is over, I complained and have another appointment at the Apple Store on Monday..
I came over a lot of mid 2011 iMacs that died in the past few weeks. eBay is full of them..
I'll keep you updated.

 

[Rustus Maximus]

Yep.. same problem here.
I have the 1GB card and had troubles with it two years ago. apple didn't want to exchange the graphics card. Instead they told me to reset my iMac and install the os from the scratch.
The iMac worked fine till a week ago. Now that the exchange program is over, I complained and have another appointment at the Apple Store on Monday..
I came over a lot of mid 2011 iMacs that died in the past few weeks. eBay is full of them..
I'll keep you updated.

Hi sreckomi, any update on your experience with this at the Apple store? We've got a couple of 2011 iMac rigs that are beginning to exhibit this issue. Seems odd that Apple would acknowledge this issue then refuse to honor repairs regardless of the timing.

I would imagine that unless the issue specifically comes up most iMac owners were unaware it even existed. this should have been communicated more thoroughly especially to those iMac owners who were enrolled in Applecare. Apple should simply replace every 2011 iMac AMD card in the affected ranges no questions asked and learn from the experience as to why AMD blows.

 

[ahostmadsen]

Hi sreckomi, any update on your experience with this at the Apple store? We've got a couple of 2011 iMac rigs that are beginning to exhibit this issue. Seems odd that Apple would acknowledge this issue then refuse to honor repairs regardless of the timing.

I would imagine that unless the issue specifically comes up most iMac owners were unaware it even existed. this should have been communicated more thoroughly especially to those iMac owners who were enrolled in Applecare. Apple should simply replace every 2011 iMac AMD card in the affected ranges no questions asked and learn from the experience as to why AMD blows.

Yes, yes, yes! My Mid 2011 iMac died at the end of last year. Apple diagnosed it to a video card issue -- $800 for repair, which I think is not worth it. Then I find out this is a known issue to Apple with a slightly extended warranty -- but not enough to cover computers failing now.

Perhaps we are starting to see an avalanche of 2011 iMacs breaking now; at least I see many posts about it. If that's the case, perhaps Apple should do more than the slightly extended warranty they have provided. Sometimes 5 year old computers break. But if most break, there is a systematic issue.
[doublepost=1487117988][/doublepost]Perhaps they could give a few hundred dollars credit towards buying a new iMac!

 

[fusionid]

take out the video card and cook it in the oven. Fixed mine.

I had a failling iMac for more than a year. Very painful since it would pop up sporadically but usually after screen had been on for a while (ie working on something important). My imac never comfirned issue with apple specific test. I even had an apple employee tell me. Bring it back later, it is common to see iMacs pass the test to then fail later and require card replacement.

He even told me to run it non stop to break the card for good as this will likely prompt replacement. Well not a ****ing chance. The card kept on chugging along making the computer useless. Until I cooked the card. Works perfect again.

 

[tubeexperience]

https://www.ifixit.com/Story/18646/Successful_iMac_Upgrade_to_GTX_880M

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/2011-imac-graphics-card-upgrade.1596614/

 

[nrajack]

Hi sreckomi, any update on your experience with this at the Apple store? We've got a couple of 2011 iMac rigs that are beginning to exhibit this issue. Seems odd that Apple would acknowledge this issue then refuse to honor repairs regardless of the timing.

I would imagine that unless the issue specifically comes up most iMac owners were unaware it even existed. this should have been communicated more thoroughly especially to those iMac owners who were enrolled in Applecare. Apple should simply replace every 2011 iMac AMD card in the affected ranges no questions asked and learn from the experience as to why AMD blows.

You'll get no argument from me. I never got any kind of email from Apple about this. Mine is/was a refurb purchased from the Apple online store back in 2012. It did come with what I think it was a year of AppleCare. To find that this is a known issue sucks. I'm on the fence if I want to get it fixed or not; have looked over a couple of sites that show how to do the replacement but it looks like brain surgery and nothing like the relative simplicity of changing out the system or optical drives. Got a mid 2010 MacPro cheesegrater from OWC coming to use (I do a LOT of audio recording with the machine).