Mid2011 Lines and will not boot all the way.....Replace?

[a84c72]

I've read through a few threads, but I am clueless. mostly, on graphic cards. My son has a mid 2011 iMac. Recently, it started displaying thick vertical black and white lines. The sucker will not even boot up now. It will get to the loading screen (with the Apple logo) and will load maybe half way, but it stops. During this time, the stripes750 turn into weird triangle type of things. It boots into recovery. Disc seemed to check fine. Thankfully, he does have a backup he can use once he can get this thing up and running again.

I am guessing it is the graphics card, but would that prevent a full restart? My daughter has the same computer. It appears the graphics are AMD Radeon HD 6750. Can this be replaced or is it dedicated? It appears this one is no longer in existence (unless purchased used). Is there a replacement that would work in that machine? I can replace many things on a PC (I used to do Windows)....a graphics card is out of my league on this one! Thanks in advance!

 

[passatgt]

99% its the GPU. Check this thread out for replacing the GPU. Its not that complicated, you just need to find a compatible card: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/2011-imac-graphics-card-upgrade.1596614

 

[PBG4 Dude]

Sure sounds like a GPU failure.

 

[mdgm]

If you are going to all the trouble of putting a replacement GPU in be sure to replace the HDD with an SSD at the same time if you haven't already done this. An SSD alone will make the machine feel a lot newer with much faster boot times, apps launching much faster etc. A newer more powerful GPU will also help make the machine feel a lot newer if you have a graphics intensive workflow. With a 3rd party GPU you'd need to use Macs Fan Control anyway so no need to get a Thermal Sensor Cable for the SSD.

Some work has been done on getting Big Sur and Monterey running on these old iMacs when the stock GPU is replaced with a Metal capable GPU. The efforts to run Monterey are obviously in their early stages but running Big Sur has been worked on for a long time now.

You may wish to replace the Bluetooth/Wifi card in the 2011 iMac as well with one that is natively supported in Big Sur and Monterey.

With Monterey dropping support for Nvidia Graphics Cards the AMD ones though harder to find are the best choice if you wish to run Monterey (and possibly later Mac OS depending on what the requirements are for those in the future, which Macs it still natively supports etc.) on the machine. If you are happy with older Mac OS then the Nvidia ones in the thread @passatgt linked to can still be a good choice.

 

[a84c72]

Thank you so much! I will go through the big thread that was linked, though, I am not savvy on that..LOL I think replacing the harddrive would be beneficial, as well. The last thing we need is for that to go out, but can he put his backup on a new drive that isn't the same type? I know I nearly went nuts on Apple when I discovered I could no longer just toss my image onto my machine!!!!! What a PITA to have to drag and drop and whatever else that is required for it. I just want to plug the thing in and move it from one drive to another. Guess that's not so easy now? Thank goodness I didn't end up having to do that (I have a 2020 MBP running Big Sur)..... I wanted to reach through my phone and ring someone's neck at Apple. First we get this USB stuff that I HAVE to have an adapter to be able to plug in HDDs, etc. Now I can't just toss my backup on the machine and call it good? LOL OK..another topic for another time! Thanks for the help!

 

[mdgm]

You can clone one drive to another (can be e.g. from a HDD to a SSD) using SuperDuper (has some free functionality) or Carbon Copy Cloner (has a free trial). Alternatively you can restore data from backups if you have those.

 

[Fishrrman]

Sounds like a graphics failure.

You must now decide whether you want to pay $$$ to fix a 10-year-old computer, or start shopping for a replacement.

I would "start looking".

As others have mentioned above, you -might- be able to get the data off the internal drive.

Question:
Will it boot into "safe mode" (hold down shift key CONTINUOUSLY when you press the power-on button) ???

 

[a84c72]

We cannot afford to buy a new computer for him. He wants a new Windows machine for gaming and I told him he better get a job and start saving money....and learn how to maintain that registry mess. LOL Of course, I haven't touched Windows in 10 years but I went Mac for a reason...no windows registry and not much in the way of virus activity/spyware..... (at least not nearly as much as Windows has/had?).

He has the harddrive backed up on an external so that is the good part. Now,Michigan State Univ Surplus store has a 2009 iMac for 250. They have a few 2011s for parts only, but they haven't been tested.....those are 125.