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What to do with a $3000 Paperweight?

H

hank.collins

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 5, 2016
2
0
Hello I have had a iMac 27", Mid 2011 sitting on the floor in the box it came in for the past four months. It has the dreaded 6970 gpu. Because it is 5 years old it does not qualify for Apple's free factory replacement. Apple service here in the Philippines says the entire Motherboard must be replaced, at a cost almost exactly 1/3 what it cost me to purchase it new. I am desperate.. Can someone please advise me what I can do? Does this sound right to you? The whole board must be replaced. Or, do I have another option?

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.
Hank (N1RLT - QTH Cebu, Philippines)
 
I'm sorry I can't be of more help. I'm not sure if your machine has a MXM slot or if the GPU is soldered to the board.

Do you have access to sites like eBay and iFixIt?

If so you could buy a new logic board from eBay and the parts to open your machine from iFixIt and follow their guide to repair your machine yourself.
 
Ive got 2 mid 2011 27 iMacs and both had their Video cards go out within a year of each other (out of warranty). The first I actually found a guy on eBay that would repair iMac video cards, i sent it in for 99 bucks and he fixed it. Then I found a video on repairing an iMac video card using an oven or propane torch.

I guess you end up reflowing the soldering on the video board to fix the issue. Both video cards have been working for almost a year without problems after the fix.

I cant say this will work for you but the mid 2011 and older iMacs are a lot easier to get into than the newer ones. Just do a google search on imac video card, reflow soldering and see what you get.
 
When my 2011 imac goes bust, I am going to mod it as an external monitor, by keeping the panel and changing the electronics.
 
We have a gigantic thread on choosing a new graphic card for that model.

Just buy a new on eBay, and replace it. If it is the dreaded GPU issue, you dont need a new motherboard.
 
I would not be comfortable spending 1000$ in a replacement logic board which is not guaranteed not to break.

If you are not tied down to apple ecosystem, you could do what I told you. Mod the panel to a decent monitor and with the 1000$ build a decent windows pc.

That way you can have a great monitor, great panel, great looks and a decent modern computer. What you won't have is MacOS.
 
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