Q: Video card
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May 7, 2016 8:41 AMby den.thed,I can not help you hunt for one by part # without knowing exactly which iMac model you have...?
Identify the model of your iMac - Apple Support
Most of the following parts suppliers have a pretty good selection of either new, used and refurbished parts.
http://www.macpartsonline.com/
https://www.macpartsdepot.com/
http://www.powerbookmedic.com/
http://www.applecomponents.com/?p=all_items&last_cmp=0087&last_cat=&s=Search..
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May 7, 2016 8:56 AMby Allan Jones,The other reason that the sub-model is important is that some iMacs have removable video hardware and others have their video hardware integral with and soldered to the logic board. Those cannot be changed without a complete new logic board.
to find your iMac variant, please enter your serial number ito this Apple support page:
https://checkcoverage.apple.com
that should return something like this:
in that example, the important part for this discussion is within the parentheses. If the Apple site does not work for your number, you can find a similar function on this site:
http://www.everymac.com/ultimate-mac-lookup/
27-inch iMacs that have a removable video card do not use the same pattern of card as tower computers. The card is made to fit ONLY an iMac. Here is a rough idea of what they look like (example is from a 2011 iMac:
[image from iFixit.com]
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May 7, 2016 11:47 AMby Allan Jones,That will be fine. Once we know the exact sub-model we can show you illustrated instructions in case you need help in deciding to have the shop fix it, fix it yourself, or let it go. The shop labor charges could be rather high as replacing the vid card (if it has one) requires quite a bit of take-apart including some small and delicate connectors.
As a fellow 27-inch iMac owner (the model in the example I posted earlier) I'm curious--what symptoms did your computer present when it was decided the video card required replacement?
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May 7, 2016 1:42 PMby lindafromhighlands,The first hint I got that something was wrong was when a bright light zipped across the bottom of the screen right to left two or three times. A day or so later it did it again and then the computer froze. I rebooted it and it worked for a few hours then it did the same thing. I rebooted it but this time the screen was filled with multi colored boxes - I shut it down. The repair person didn't seem to understand my description or so it seemed - I often times think some of those Apple techs are a bit rude! They gave me a price of $157 for labor to replace the video card which was quite a bit less than a new 27". I have found another Mac repair person in Asheville and reading his reviews have hope he might be willing to do the repair if I can find the card.
