You are right Side_Step_Society. Thanks for the more accurate info. I'd like to think Apple has realized an extra BGA for GPU might not be worth the risk.
EEaudio88, you are also right. It isn't the RAM or HDD, I tried swapping those. You can see my pain filled thread here with pictures of snow like you said. I was using another computer to keep doing disk repairs and had another disk with OS X installed that I'd cyclically swap. The problems recur, and also seem to corrupt the disk. This wasn't a problem I could fix myself with different RAM and HDDs. On the first repair the Depot Repair put 4GB RAM back in. And I never used any other RAM on the 2nd replaced logic board. That one destroyed itself within a day. If I were to guess something external to the board, I'd think power supply or case. However, the case looks very well designed. Someone on the MBP 2011 Facebook page guessed LCD cable. These are all things better to be made Apple's problem by taking it to an Apple Store Genius. Re: i7 MBP 8.2 AMD 6750M 2011 Crashes, Red Horizontal Lines, won't boots
After 3 logic boards from depot repair, my MBP 2011 has been working for a year with 16GB RAM, 500GB SSD, and new power supply I bought a year ago. Just got a new battery last week.
I hope you backed up. The crashes and heat can't be good for disks. You will probably have to use the Disk Utility to repair the disk. If the $310 depot repair seems better about now, take it to the AS genius. A cheaper MB Air to keep you working might be cheaper than a therapist. Good luck!
