Soooooo unstable...

[tominated]

I should have posted this 6 months ago, but my early 2006 Intel iMac has beeen really untable. It frequently locks up (especially when it comes to core animation effects like stacks and spaces) and will display these weird lines on screen every now and then (most days). I have the 2ghz 20" model, with 128mb ati x1600 graphics.

I really don't want to go back to tiger, or re-install mac os (i love spaces, stacks, etc. too much!), so is there anything I should try

 

[TheCreator]

Sounds more like a hardware issue to me.... video card maybe... did you do a fresh install of leopard?

 

[tominated]

Sounds more like a hardware issue to me.... video card maybe... did you do a fresh install of leopard?

no, i did the update. I had a feeling it might be the gfx card, and tried to get it a bit cooler with smcfancontrol, but it still showed the artifacts. BTW: it's heaps worse when playing games. UT2k4 goes all weird with funny shapes protruding into the centre of the screen, halo going funny colours then locking up the whole system, half life 2 (crossover) going all finnny colours and locking up (only sometimes with this), etc.

 

[D4F]

Sounds like it's overheating.
Take it to the Genius bar and tell them to clean it.
Or pick a strong vacuum and try to get all that dirt from the vents.

 

[myuserid08]

Before you spend silly money do a fresh leopard install, backup your data first.

 

[ColinEC]

I have the same computer as you (except I have 256MB VRAM instead of 128MB), and from time to time my iMac's GPU diode goes up to 160 degrees.

It can make the iMac's case very hot, especially the screen - it can sometimes hurt to touch the computer.

My CPU and HD Bay have also gone into the habit of getting very hot, this causes the fans to start whining.

I've reinstalled Leopard, formatted my computer, reset the PRAM, etc. It still gets really hot.

Could these earlier iMacs possibly have a cooling issue, or maybe they just need cleaning?

 

[tominated]

Sounds like it's overheating.
Take it to the Genius bar and tell them to clean it.
Or pick a strong vacuum and try to get all that dirt from the vents.

no genius bars here in australia. plus, vacuum cleaners make static, which i would rather stay away from the inside of a pc.

I have the same computer as you (except I have 256MB VRAM instead of 128MB), and from time to time my iMac's GPU diode goes up to 160 degrees.

It can make the iMac's case very hot, especially the screen - it can sometimes hurt to touch the computer.

My CPU and HD Bay have also gone into the habit of getting very hot, this causes the fans to start whining.

I've reinstalled Leopard, formatted my computer, reset the PRAM, etc. It still gets really hot.

Could these earlier iMacs possibly have a cooling issue, or maybe they just need cleaning?

wow, it doesn't get that hot for me. i'll see if i can fit in taking in my mac to some repair shop with school.