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Penryn Macbook Pro with 8600m: What are the chances of it failing?

gdourado

gdourado

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 22, 2010
468
66
Hello,

I have the oportunity to buy a 2008 MBP.
It has sweet specs and a good price. But it also has the 8600m GPU, which from what I read on the web is prone to failure...
Is the situation of that chip really that bad? What are the chances of me buying the laptoo and have it die on me a week or two later?

Cheers!
 
I had that MBP and the 8600 did fail for me. Apple replaced the whole computer with a 2011 (I was just a few months shy of Apple Care running out).

As far as the failing, I think Apple still covers it even if it's out of warranty, so you'll be safe.

How much are you getting it for? I would recommend looking into refurbished 2011/2012 non-Retina MBP's at Apple.com.

The Penryn is a fairly old architecture by today's standards, not to say you can't get work done, even if you pop in an SSD and max out the RAM (I believe it's 8GB). I would cough up a few more and get a refurb 2011/2012 MBP, at least you have 1 year of Apple Care.
 
Prizepoint..

Since its common that the chip fails after a certain amount of time, there are companies on ebay that have specialized on repair of this chip. Its around 179 bucks for a full repair here in Germany. So there are options around that work as a fallback solution.
 
The problem with the chip soldering was that heat up and cool down cycles eventually wore it down. So the if you not use(d) the notebook much or when you do turn it on and leave it at a around a constant heat level it might last quite long. Often standby or repeatedly starting GPU demanding games and than letting it cool again and again that is what hurts it.
It is a wear thing and thus I would be careful about buying one that is old. Afaik Apple extended the warranty but not indefinitely. I think it is 5 years now so it might be up already. I woud get a different one.
 
gdourado said:
I have the oportunity to buy a 2008 MBP.
It has sweet specs and a good price. But it also has the 8600m GPU, which from what I read on the web is prone to failure...
Is the situation of that chip really that bad? What are the chances of me buying the laptoo and have it die on me a week or two later?
Click to expand...
I have a dead 17" Mid-2009 MBP with some upgrades here (≈ 3000 US$, GPU: 9600M GT), and the GPU has the same problem as the 8600M. Do not buy a MacBook (Pro) with a 8600M or 9600M GT! See also:
http://www.google.com/search?num=30&safe=off&q=macbook+pro+9600m+gt+failure
 
I have the MBPro with that specific GPU. I would've sold it by December 7 but the screen developed a vertical line.

If I can get at least two more years worth of work out of it then great.
 
I had that same MBP model for years without problems, and finally retired it, and gave it to my kids to play games on. They play 3d games on it at least 4 hours a day every day for the past 18 months, without issue. I would say if it has lasted this long, the chance of it going out really soon are low. However, it is an older machine, so i don't expect it will have a particularly long life. These machines go for around $600 -$800 on ebay. Good luck.
 
gdourado said:
Hello,

I have the oportunity to buy a 2008 MBP.
It has sweet specs and a good price. But it also has the 8600m GPU, which from what I read on the web is prone to failure...
Is the situation of that chip really that bad? What are the chances of me buying the laptoo and have it die on me a week or two later?

Cheers!
Click to expand...
100%. I'm dead serious too.
 
I would avoid the 8600M. My late 2007 MBP died a few years in. Someone reported in another thread here that the extended warranty program ended recently and Apple gave him a hard time about fixing his machine. I think he got it done only because he had initially brought the machine in a few days before the end of the program.
 
KevinC867 said:
I would avoid the 8600M. My late 2007 MBP died a few years in. Someone reported in another thread here that the extended warranty program ended recently and Apple gave him a hard time about fixing his machine. I think he got it done only because he had initially brought the machine in a few days before the end of the program.
Click to expand...
Yes, the program is over. http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377

I agree that avoiding these computers is a good idea.
 
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