Early 2011 17" Macbook Pro, White Screen after bootable USB, also Internet Recovery

Hi Guys,

I have a 2011 17" MBP that I just swapped out the hard drive on (to an SSD) and my Bootable USB keeps going to a white screen after Apple Loading Bar loads up all the way, and then it just sits there. I'm not really sure what else I can try next. I reset SMC, PRAM, VRAM, tried to boot to internet recovery (does the same thing, except once it gets to the white screen the fans ramp up full blast and the computer gets hot as well), etc. I know these models have graphics card issues but I'm not seeing any weird graphical glitches, just the booting to the white screen. Any thoughts on this and next steps I can take? So far I have tried an El Capitan & High Sierra bootable usb install - same issues. I have heard that the firmware may possibly be out of date which could be causing this issue when trying to install El Capitan or High Sierra. I believe this machine originally shipped with Mountain Lion, which I will try next but it is strange that even internet recovery isn't working. Thanks in advance for the help!