mid-late 27" 2011 iMac Graphic Card Woes

[reluttr]

So I recently got my imac serviced due to a faulty graphics card. Basically what would happen is that as soon as I would boot the mac, the card would go under full load and overheat, causing major graphical problems "lines across screen, distorted images, discolored lines on boot screen, etc". Keep in mind I have never booted into windows and mostly did light work and watched youtube on the thing.

Luckily it was covered by applecare. However I was out like 120$ just to ship it back and forth...

Anyways I get the thing back, and its not even been 2 weeks and its flipping out again. Like it had been doing rather nicely, and I decided to install windows and do some casual gaming. After installing windows I notice its running a little warm right off the bat, but I had the machine on for a few hours installing windows, so I didnt think anything of it. So I install steam and "dishonored", the graphics card in the imac should be able to handle this game no prob. Well I get about 10 minutes into the game "the point where you play hide and seek with the princess" and boom... the display fudges out, grey lines all across, I reach up and touch the top corner and its searing hot.

So I panic and hold down the power button and force the machine to shut down. It is then that I google "imac running hot under windows" and discover to my horror that the fan controllers seem to NOT WORK IN WINDOWS. So I was gaming with them on the lowest setting...

Luckily the system booted OSX, I opened SMC fan and revved up the fans to max speed and let them run for a bit and cool off mac. Afterwards I left the fans on max, rebooted into windows "which retained the fan speed" and played Dishonored for a few hours without it getting super hot... Like it defiantly got warm, but nothing like the first time.

Anyways, now I am worried about the longevity of my hardware... The hard drive because I forced windows to suddenly shut down, the logicboard because its been exposed to high heat several times now, and finally the graphics card because after gaming I rebooted back into mac and revved down the fans and have noticed that the top corner is getting very hot now...like it did right before I had to send it in due to the graphics failure. I really dont want to be out another 120 bucks in shipping fees...

 

[mgartner0622]

First off, why did you even have to pay for shipping? I've never had applecare charge me for shipping...

 

[reluttr]

First off, why did you even have to pay for shipping? I've never had applecare charge me for shipping...

Because Apple told me on the phone that the 27" imac is not qualified for ship-in repair. Basically my options was to drive 150 miles to the closest apple store or I find a certified technician/repair center that takes mail in repairs and I foot the shipping costs at my expense.

I mean... I would had not minded the shipping as much, but I am quite a bit disappointed that the repair did not offer a long term fix for the problem at all. It has literally been a week since I received the imac back in the mail from the repair center.

Whats sad is that I have not really done anything all that taxing on the hardware. Literally all I have done is some rounds in Counter Strike: Global Offense, web browsing, and scanning invoices from a network printer/scanner for the family business.

My only guess is that either A. the upgraded 2gb ram graphics card for the 2011 imac has some major hardware faults... or B. the driver supplied in a update is causing the card to overwork itself.

Because I literally had no problems with overheating or crashing untill a few weeks ago... Plus the way a new card is already showing signs of failure just screams some sort of driver issue.

 

[mgartner0622]

Because Apple told me on the phone that the 27" imac is not qualified for ship-in repair. Basically my options was to drive 150 miles to the closest apple store or I find a certified technician/repair center that takes mail in repairs and I foot the shipping costs at my expense.

Ok, that right there in itself is ridiculous. I'd call AppleCare, and ask to speak to the elevated support. I would then explain your issue, and say that because it was not fixed right the first time, you would like them to send it in. I've had exceptions made before for my Cinema Display on shipping, so it's definitely possible. You're not demanding the world here, the computer should be able to be used without fear over overheating and damaging internal components, and this is what I'd tell Apple.