Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card
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Dec 25, 2014 1:37 PMby D3us,Sorry, never done before.
Doubt it will work.
Unless the one without and with nVidia are the same pcb, with same components on it except the nVidia chip, it would only be a matter of placing it.
What about the cooling system?
Without any of that info, better go for one with nVidia GPU on it.
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Dec 25, 2014 5:46 PMby rdbrwn,Some guy changed 6750 (2.2 early2011) with 6770and it worked. I think also BGArepairs was offering this solution awhile ago.
He also said resoldering VRAM is important, or at least removing epoxy around VRAM before reballing GPU.
And just to make things clear... There is no such thing as repair by just reballing or reflow. The only repir is changing GPU (lead solder suggested)
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Dec 25, 2014 6:23 PMby D3us,rdbrwn wrote:
And just to make things clear... There is no such thing as repair by just reballing or reflow. The only repir is changing GPU (lead solder suggested)
Different people, different opinions.
Fix what the problem is, if it is the solder, fix the solder.
If It is the chip, replace with a new chip.
On these, imo the GPU itself is not the problem.
You suggest to change GPU with lead solder.
If you buy a "new" chip with leadd solder balls it's NOT NEW but refurbished.
If it's a new chip it has lead free solder balls.
Have to reball that new chip yourself with lead solder balls.
You can just as well reball the lifted GPU and reball it.
Same result, refurbished.
If you reball a lead free with lead you'r in fact doing a "refurbish" too.
For the record, I'm not saying or have never said replacing a chip is a bad repair. Au contraire, but not allways needed.
If someone understanding the process and knowing what to do has good results with a certain techinque...
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Dec 25, 2014 8:27 PMby Dank13,700 pages of people with the same problem and apple still ignores this issue? When are they going to admit there is problem with this model? I got a $1800 bill to fix mine but I'm not spending this much money on a 4 year old computer.
cmon Apple open your eyes and give us a better solution...
cheers,
dan
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Dec 26, 2014 1:26 AMby kayazuki,Hi cedgen,
To get a picture of a very probably cause, read the longest post on page 701 of this thread..
An additional probable cause is plain fatigue of the connections due to thermal expansion = stress until something breaks.
I am still wondering though, how the first boards could last 2 years for instance, while the replacement boards break down so much faster..?
If Yosemite is really making much heavier use of the GPU, then it would explain a lot of things. Then the long post on page 701 can still be the real cause and Yosemite just functions as an accelerated catalyst then..
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Dec 26, 2014 1:51 AMby kayazuki,Oh, but I mentioned Yosemite also because if you read lots of posts here, you'll find that many users report that problems started occurring soon after they installed Yosemite. But lots of users that never installed Yosemite also report similar problems, which makes it look like some machines might have lasted a bit longer if they would have kept running on Mavericks, but would have broken down later on anyway, just Yosemite got the job done a bit faster.
To get a picture about the incomplete flowing/soldering of the balls during production, check the top image on this page: http://www.ko-ki.co.jp/en/memo/memo_10.html
After checking my post on page 701, you could also check this page to get a more complete idea about the bad side of using lead free solder: http://product.tdk.com/en/techjournal/archives/vol05_mlcc/contents06.html
the biggest question now really is: Are the reported problems because of initial "head-in-pillow" solder quality, or due to breaks solely due to the occuring stress? Or a mixture of both? When you look at this from a mechanical point of view: If you have approx 800 100% GOOD solderen tin joints (which are also really strong joints), then you have a LOT of strength to resist the thermal expansion theoretically.....
I had D3us perform a reflow on my GPU. A good reflow simply means all lead balls are 100% molten again, to change any broken connection or head-in-pillow connection into a fully soldered connection. It's working like a charm now and I placed the day of the fix in my calendar, so i can keep track how long it will last. If it would ever break again, i would probably have him perform reballing with leaded balls.
But for now, my original GPU which had completely "died" on my, is now actually performing completely ok.
I'm writing a message now to the General Manager of Apple Benelux in The Netherlands, with a CC to the Head of the Technical department of Apple Benelux, let's see if I can accomplish anything at all....
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Dec 26, 2014 2:22 AMby devarshi108,It makes one wonder why Apple doesn't simply reflow all of their logicboard/gpu replacements. Do write to them. At least then this community can say that "we told you" - and please keep copies in case lawyers filing lawsuits come a'calling. Same for any others who have told Apple what the problem is.
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Dec 26, 2014 2:45 AMby akamyself,eezacque wrote:
devarshi108 wrote:
It makes one wonder why Apple doesn't simply reflow all of their logicboard/gpu replacements.
They do, as it is the fastest and cheapest solution for Apple...
how do you know what Apple does when they swap logic boards?
they are as silent as can be about what they are doing when 'repairing' parts, they don't even admit putting refurbished LB in these computers.
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Dec 26, 2014 3:26 AMby eezacque,akamyself wrote:
eezacque wrote:
devarshi108 wrote:
It makes one wonder why Apple doesn't simply reflow all of their logicboard/gpu replacements.
They do, as it is the fastest and cheapest solution for Apple...
how do you know what Apple does when they swap logic boards?
they are as silent as can be about what they are doing when 'repairing' parts, they don't even admit putting refurbished LB in these computers.
I spent hours talking and chatting to Apple support engineers, and every now and then they leak information on how things are handled by Apple.
