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So are all MBP owners with the 8600m GT cards screwed?

How does one go about reflowing the solder of this chip?
Just apply a heat gun directly to it?

I was hoping to re-solder everything myself, but it seems that might be a difficult task, given the way the chip is mounted to the board.

Would I be able to find a new chip at a local computer parts store?
 

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Canucks4Cup said:
How does one go about reflowing the solder of this chip?
Just apply a heat gun directly to it?

I was hoping to re-solder everything myself, but it seems that might be a difficult task, given the way the chip is mounted to the board.

Would I be able to find a new chip at a local computer parts store?
Click to expand...

Frankly speaking, if you're asking how to do it, then no, you have no possibility of doing this yourself. No, you would not find a replacement chip anywhere.
 
Hey all, if you have been helped by this thread I urge you to chime in on your opinion of starting a dedicated Mac Repair thread here. If you are against the idea, or don't feel the need for a dedicated forum to repair macs, your opinion is helpful too. I am just trying to see if a lot of users think it is a decent idea or not. Please also note that I am not affiliated with Macrumors or their moderation team in any way. This is simply a users idea, and may not come to reality. Either way, your opinion would be appreciated. Simply trying to gauge interest at this point!

Thanks!
Thomas
 
I got a A1226 MBP about 18 months ago as a "good deal", it lasted a few weeks after the return date before failing. I tried baking it several times, wrapped in a blanket, upside down, playing movies for 4 hours, and it would come back to life, then fail again under normal use (office work)within a day. The best quote to repair it was CA$175 from the shop I got it at, and new logic boards on eBay are $350 and up. I learned in this thread that the new logic boards from Apple can still fail. I had given up, it was in the basement, and my wife was struggling with a really awful Lenovo Windows 8 machine, and I re-read this thread. I decided that I would do three things to try and fix it, rather than *just* heating it up again, again based on this thread:

1. Remove the logic board and heat it with a heat gun (I used aluminum foil, several layers, with a square cut out over the graphics chip, to protect the board)
2. Apply high-quality thermal compound (Arctic Silver, followed the instructions)
3. Use smcFanControl to run the fans higher and keep it cooler (minimum fan speed 4000)

So far, it's been running for several days, under heavier loads than she usually gives it (I used it as my main computer for 2 days), noticeably cooler and without problems. Not a long time, but I'm cautiously optimistic. Thanks everyone for your contributions here: it really made a difference for us.
 
PhyrePhox said:
1. Remove the logic board and heat it with a heat gun (I used aluminum foil, several layers, with a square cut out over the graphics chip, to protect the board)
Click to expand...

Approximately how long did you heat the chip? And did you aim the heat gun directly at the chip itself?
 
The repair failed on 21 September, so: the heat gun method, plus new thermal compound AND running the fans higher with smcFanControl, repaired it for almost a month.
Last week, I acquired a A1260 MBP that was completely dead, no chime at startup. The seller said the shop told him it needed a new logic board, and sold it to me for parts. I intended to use his battery and charger for my wife's and try to fix it and sell it as a working machine; but instead, I did the heat gun thing on his logic board and it started working normally. So, I dropped the SSD from my wife's machine in and got her up and running again. I think I'll be leapfrogging these two, but at least it's something. Any ideas I had of fixing up the other one and selling it are mostly gone: I can't sell it in good conscience if I can't guarantee the repairs for more than a month.
 
My 2008 MBP with the 8600m was stolen in a public library before it could fail. And as I recall that event now, actually the theft just happened a couple of weeks before the defective GPU story broke out. I guess now that MBP must really be someone else's headache.
 
MacRacer said:
5+ years of service and running strong still. I bought my first MacBook Pro June of 2008. I guess I got lucky in owning this one.
Click to expand...

Mine is from February 2008 and still running strong with a SSD upgrade. Kinda want it to die off so I can buy a new one! Maybe with a retina display too
 
MacRacer said:
Can't afford a new one. I want mine to last as long as possible.
Click to expand...

I worked the past few summers to save up knowing that it could pass out at any time and luckily it didn't. I want to buy a new one but then don't want to spend that much $ on a notebook.
 
miha said:
It worked! Screen is now again clear :)

I used my initial plan, like told above. I hope that 8600GT chip lasts until Haswell rMBP's are available ;)

I'll open now one beer..

Cheers,
-miha
Click to expand...

Ok, my MBP is dead again. Screen flickering and keyboard is not responding. After forced restart system works 5mins - few hours. According to coconut battery, my MBP's age is 77months.

No more baking, ordered new rMBP with following specs:

15-inch: 2.3GHzwith Retina display
2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
Turbo Boost up to 3.5GHz
16GB 1600MHz memory
512GB PCIe-based flash storage 1
Intel Iris Pro Graphics
NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M
with 2GB GDDR5 memory

Time to open beer - again :)

Cheers!
miha
 
miha said:
Ok, my MBP is dead again. Screen flickering and keyboard is not responding. After forced restart system works 5mins - few hours. According to coconut battery, my MBP's age is 77months.

No more baking, ordered new rMBP with following specs:

15-inch: 2.3GHzwith Retina display
2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
Turbo Boost up to 3.5GHz
16GB 1600MHz memory
512GB PCIe-based flash storage 1
Intel Iris Pro Graphics
NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M
with 2GB GDDR5 memory

Time to open beer - again :)

Cheers!
miha
Click to expand...
I got the same machine to replace my 2007 MBP you will be very happy.
BTW my 2007 MBP wi the 8600m is still working. I use it now as my test machine. The mother board was replace by Apple 3.5 years ago.
 
My march 2008 MacBook Pro still works fine. Upgraded it with 6GB RAM and one of those 1TB SSHD thingies :D Running 10.9.2 on it

I did do a noob mistake by getting a screw stuck in the DVI port when I was reassembling it quickly and being a bit careless by just sticking the case screws in any hole i seen :( :eek:


Im scared :(:(
 

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Graeme43 said:
I did do a noob mistake by getting a screw stuck in the DVI port when I was reassembling it quickly and being a bit careless by just sticking the case screws in any hole i seen :( :eek:


Im scared :(:(
Click to expand...
The same thing happened with my system when a family member insisted on doing an upgrade for me. It's a bit of an annoyance to have one screw missing from the case and to be unable to fully, securely connect an external monitor, but it ultimately didn't cause any problems. The case isn't loose with only one screw missing, you can still use external monitors/projectors (either don't screw it in or only screw in the other side), and it doesn't affect the system's operation.
 
Graeme43 said:
I did do a noob mistake by getting a screw stuck in the DVI port when I was reassembling it quickly and being a bit careless by just sticking the case screws in any hole i seen :( :eek:
Click to expand...

Hahaha, I did the same thing years ago! I wonder just how many people have made this mistake. In fairness, Apple's design makes this a very easy mistake to make.
 
Graeme43 said:
I wonder if theres an easy way to get it out with superglue :confused:
Click to expand...

If you're super careful and got it in there at the right angle, my guess is that you could hollow out the head with a drill bit.

Then again, since not being "super careful" is the exact trait that got us in this mess in the first place, I don't think I'd recommend this course of action. :D
 
Graeme43 said:
My march 2008 MacBook Pro still works fine. Upgraded it with 6GB RAM and one of those 1TB SSHD thingies :D Running 10.9.2 on it.
Click to expand...

I also have a March 2008 MBP. The logic board died an was replaced a couple weeks before my Apple Care ran out in 2012. I bought a refurbished 2012 Mac mini in 2013 because I wanted something faster for photo and video editing and Logic Pro, and also to act as a media server. I almost sold my MBP but decided to keep it as a backup, and because I like having the portability on occasion. I installed Mavericks on it. I'm glad I did, because it's still useful for lighter-duty tasks.

I've been meaning to replace the HHD with an SSD for a long time, and now prices have dropped so low that there's no reason not to. 256 GB probably is enough for my needs.

As for the RAM, I'm trying to decide whether it's worth upgrading from my current 4 GB to 6 GB. Does anyone have any before-and-after experience? I upgraded my RAM from 2 GB to 4 GB right after I bought the computer in 2008. I bought the RAM from Crucial. Would I be safe in buying a 4 GB stick from Crucial and using it with one of the existing 2 GB sticks from 2008, or would I be safer buying the 4 GB + 2 GB kit from OWC? (Crucial doesn't acknowledge that this computer unoffically supports 6 GB.)

Although I'd love to buy a new rMBP, I can't justify it financially, so I want to soup up my 2008 MBP as much as possible, and use it until it dies or is totally obsolete.
 
Ubele said:
As for the RAM, I'm trying to decide whether it's worth upgrading from my current 4 GB to 6 GB. Does anyone have any before-and-after experience? I upgraded my RAM from 2 GB to 4 GB right after I bought the computer in 2008. I bought the RAM from Crucial. Would I be safe in buying a 4 GB stick from Crucial and using it with one of the existing 2 GB sticks from 2008, or would I be safer buying the 4 GB + 2 GB kit from OWC? (Crucial doesn't acknowledge that this computer unoffically supports 6 GB.)
Click to expand...
Going from 4 GB to 6 GB made a difference for me, but it wasn't a huge one. In order to determine if it's worth it to upgrade, you'll need to monitor your RAM usage. If you don't have monitoring tools like iStat Pro, you can always use the Activity Monitor. The key thing to look at is how many "page outs" you have; if you're using OS X 10.9, look at the "Swap Used." Both of these represent data that was moved from the RAM to the hard drive because the RAM was full, but the data was still in use.

Having data make a round trip between the RAM and hard drive is a slow process. SSDs speed it up, but it's still slower than if the data were fully contained within the RAM. If you consistently have a large swap file (say, 500 MB or larger - note that the swap file resets when you reboot, but may grow and remain large until then) or many page outs, then adding more RAM will improve performance. If you're not encountering those issues then it means that the amount of RAM currently installed is sufficiently meeting your needs, and more RAM won't make an impact.

Regarding which RAM to buy, it's fine to buy another stick and replace one of your 2 GB modules. Everyone has companies that they like; I like GeIL and G.Skill, as they perform well and are cheaper than many other brands. As long as the RAM meets the system's specification (200 pin PC2-5300 667 MHz DDR2), it doesn't matter which manufacturer you buy from. The argument about buying the same model from the same manufacturer applies to enabling dual channel on the motherboard, but your two RAM sticks will be different capacities. Dual channel won't be a concern regardless.
 
Ledgem said:
Going from 4 GB to 6 GB made a difference for me, but it wasn't a huge one. In order to determine if it's worth it to upgrade, you'll need to monitor your RAM usage. If you don't have monitoring tools like iStat Pro, you can always use the Activity Monitor. The key thing to look at is how many "page outs" you have; if you're using OS X 10.9, look at the "Swap Used." Both of these represent data that was moved from the RAM to the hard drive because the RAM was full, but the data was still in use.

Having data make a round trip between the RAM and hard drive is a slow process. SSDs speed it up, but it's still slower than if the data were fully contained within the RAM. If you consistently have a large swap file (say, 500 MB or larger - note that the swap file resets when you reboot, but may grow and remain large until then) or many page outs, then adding more RAM will improve performance. If you're not encountering those issues then it means that the amount of RAM currently installed is sufficiently meeting your needs, and more RAM won't make an impact.

Regarding which RAM to buy, it's fine to buy another stick and replace one of your 2 GB modules. Everyone has companies that they like; I like GeIL and G.Skill, as they perform well and are cheaper than many other brands. As long as the RAM meets the system's specification (200 pin PC2-5300 667 MHz DDR2), it doesn't matter which manufacturer you buy from. The argument about buying the same model from the same manufacturer applies to enabling dual channel on the motherboard, but your two RAM sticks will be different capacities. Dual channel won't be a concern regardless.
Click to expand...

Thanks for explaining -- this is great information. My guess is that 4 GB of RAM is plenty for web surfing, email, writing documents in Pages, etc., but not enough for my large Aperture library, photo and video editing software, and possibly Logic Pro. Increasing the RAM to 6 GB might help a little, but a 4 GB RAM module for the 2008 MBP is $100 right now, which is expensive for what would be a net increase of 2 GB. So I'll confine the "heavy lifting" software tasks to my 2012 Mac mini, even though its living-room-nook location as a media server for our home theater system doesn't allow for the most spacious or ergonomic desk setup. Replacing the MBP's HDD with an SSD would give me more bang for the buck, though, now that SSD storage is about $0.50 per GB. Eventually, I'll get a rMBP and dedicate the mini to media-server duty.
 
iMacC2D said:
Out of curiosity, I'm aware that nVidia had a few revisions of the GeForce 8600M GT. Did nVidia at any point during the manufacturing run of the MacBook Pro begin supplying the later revision chips as standard?

Only reason I ask is that my GPU appears to be flawless and the Logic Board is a September 2008 board, less than one month before Apple announced the later Unibody models, so this board would be the very last of the 8600M GT equipped boards.
Click to expand...



I wish I could use mine without fear of killing it :( from what I have read people say its the solder holding the chip onto the board that basically can't stand the heat :confused:
 
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