abelliveau
Level 1 (9 points)

Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

I have an early 2011 MacBook Pro (2.2 GHz Intel Core i7, 8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 memory) running OS 10.8.2.  It has two graphics components: an AMD Radeon HD 6750M and a built-in Intel HD Graphics 3000. Since I've had the computer, the screen would get a blue tint when the computer switched between them.

 

However, as of two days ago, the problem has become substantially more severe.  The computer was working fine, when all of a suddent the screen when completely blue.  I had to force restart the computer.  Since then, the screen has gone awry on numerous occassions - each time necessitating a hard reset.

 

I installed gfxCardStatus, and have discovered that the computer runs fine using the integrated card, but as soon as I switch to the discrete card - the screen goes .

 

I am just wondering what my options are (any input on any of these would be appreciated!):

 

1) Replace the logic board.  Would this necessarily fix the issue?

 

2) Is there any way to "fix" the graphics card? 

 

3) Keep using gfxCardStatus and only use the integrated graphics card.  This is definitely the easiest/cheapest option, but to have such a computer and not be able to use the graphics card seems like a real shame.

 

4) Is there any other alternative?

 


MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2), 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7, 8 GB memory

Posted on Feb 1, 2013 4:45 PM

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abelliveau

Q: 2011 MacBook Pro and Discrete Graphics Card

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  • by obwianMacobi,

    obwianMacobi obwianMacobi Oct 5, 2014 3:55 AM in response to Russy47
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 5, 2014 3:55 AM in response to Russy47

    Yeah I'd be interested in details thanks - if you PM me. Not prepared to pay Apple £435 for a shoddy job.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Oct 5, 2014 3:58 AM in response to obwianMacobi
    Level 9 (51,497 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 5, 2014 3:58 AM in response to obwianMacobi

    There is no PM function on this board.

  • by obwianMacobi,

    obwianMacobi obwianMacobi Oct 5, 2014 4:02 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 5, 2014 4:02 AM in response to Csound1

    Thanks - just realised that!

  • by Russy47,

    Russy47 Russy47 Oct 5, 2014 4:02 AM in response to GavMackem
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 5, 2014 4:02 AM in response to GavMackem

    Gav – and others; will having an SSD in my MBP help with heat issues on the GPU. Or is the GPU heat a completely separate issue?

     

    Also I agree on the UK 6 year sale of goods act. It can come good. Especially if you press the issue and threaten small claims. But obviously you'll need receipts!

     

    Several years ago I helped a friend with an HP laptop that had pretty much the same solder GPU issues. I think I dealed with PC World as the retailer is responsible in the UK. Essentially I stated the inherent defect and threatened court action. I was compensated financially to the cost of the repair.

     

    This isn't isolated to MBP 2011s. Many other brands have the same solder defect issues.

  • by Russy47,

    Russy47 Russy47 Oct 5, 2014 4:08 AM in response to obwianMacobi
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 5, 2014 4:08 AM in response to obwianMacobi

    Hi mate. your email is still set to private. But yes as theres no PM here so the details you need are for vaiorefurbs. just google it. Real nice chap called Chris from Cumbria runs the company. Just tell him Russ recommended you go to him. He's quick as heck! Turned it around in a 2 days. You can pay for the service through ebay so you're protected. And if it can't be fixed your refunded. Cheers. Russ – If you also read through the posts there seem to be some other UK chaps here who could also help.

  • by Ryan of England,

    Ryan of England Ryan of England Oct 5, 2014 4:15 AM in response to abelliveau
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 5, 2014 4:15 AM in response to abelliveau

    Extremely unhappy with this issue. Thousands reporting it and yet still, still Apple are ignorant and shed no light on how this will be solved.

     

    I spent a long time trying to save for my 17" MBP - and feel conned by their faulty machine and lack of understanding. I've been passed around by Apple staff and have had enough. I'm glad others are striving to make Apple listen. My machine now no longer works at all and I have been forced to move onto other means to be able to carry on fulfilling my career in graphic design.

  • by Russy47,

    Russy47 Russy47 Oct 5, 2014 4:34 AM in response to Ryan of England
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 5, 2014 4:34 AM in response to Ryan of England

    Im a designer too - makes it worse that it messes with your work!

    I mentioned above this chap in Cumbria if you want a decent repair that will last longer (hopefully) than an Apple logic board swap.

    Google vaiorefurbs.

  • by obwianMacobi,

    obwianMacobi obwianMacobi Oct 5, 2014 4:39 AM in response to Russy47
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 5, 2014 4:39 AM in response to Russy47

    OK thanks for the info - I'm stuck to using a Generation 1 iPad, which crashes every time I click on a link, so I had problems trying to configure my preferences! - At least it's more reliable than my MacBook Pro though!

  • by Taro1,

    Taro1 Taro1 Oct 5, 2014 7:56 AM in response to abelliveau
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 5, 2014 7:56 AM in response to abelliveau

    Well it looks like I got lucky. Took the laptop in, told them what I thought the problem was and asked if this was a known issue and if there's anything they could do. Apparently some MBP do have an issue and its a specific serial number. Their system was down so they couldn't check the exact model so decided to do the fix for free. Should have it back in a couple of weeks.

  • by Network 23,

    Network 23 Network 23 Oct 5, 2014 10:36 AM in response to Russy47
    Level 6 (12,050 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 5, 2014 10:36 AM in response to Russy47

    Russy47 wrote:

     

    Gav – and others; will having an SSD in my MBP help with heat issues on the GPU. Or is the GPU heat a completely separate issue?

    It didn't help me...my GPU started failing after I upgraded my hard drive to an SSD.

     

    If anything worsened GPU heat in my case, it was probably using GPU-driven apps while being connected to a 27-inch external at full resolution. The GPU still shouldn't fail though, it's supposed to handle that.

     

    The only thing that prevented the problem for me was using gfxcardstatus to force integrated graphics only. I paid Apple to fix it but judging from these reports it could fail again and if so I hope it does during the 90-day repair warranty.

  • by _bas_,

    _bas_ _bas_ Oct 5, 2014 12:58 PM in response to abelliveau
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 5, 2014 12:58 PM in response to abelliveau

    Hi, here to report that my early 2011 mbp's amd gpu is also failing... Mine's got the radeon 6490m. Only moving the kernel extensions can get it into a somewhat working state , without decent graphics though.

  • by karanpatidar,

    karanpatidar karanpatidar Oct 5, 2014 1:16 PM in response to abelliveau
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 5, 2014 1:16 PM in response to abelliveau

    From long time I was experiencing issue with my 15" MacBook pro (late 2011). My MacBook pro use to get restart just after using graphics heavy software. Even on playing candy crush on my Mac.

    But recently problem becomes sevior as I am getting screen shifted to left side with red and blue electronic line after few mins of usage

    On Googling it seems common problem in macs with AMD graphics.

    Apple should do something instead of giving resetting pram/vram as solution.

     

    https://www.change.org/p/timothy-d-cook-replace-or-fix-all-2011-macbook-pro-with -graphics-failure

  • by bob1144,

    bob1144 bob1144 Oct 5, 2014 1:58 PM in response to abelliveau
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 5, 2014 1:58 PM in response to abelliveau

    Hello

     

    Just bought a second hand early 2011 MacBook Pro 15". It appears to be ok, I've looked through the thread but can't see an obvious answer, through people's experiences are there any preventive measures that can be taken to avoid this issue occurring please?

     

    Thanks.

  • by Gapulus,

    Gapulus Gapulus Oct 5, 2014 2:12 PM in response to bob1144
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 5, 2014 2:12 PM in response to bob1144

    the best way really is to download 'gfxcardstatus' and use 'integrated only' setting as often as possible and also download 'smcfancontrol' and have ur fans as high a a setting as possible while doing anything intensive. Both programs r brilliant and easy to find if u google them

  • by asgcoelho,

    asgcoelho asgcoelho Oct 5, 2014 3:32 PM in response to abelliveau
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 5, 2014 3:32 PM in response to abelliveau

    Exactly the same thing here (early 2011 17' MBP, 16Gb RAM, 1Tb Samsung 840 Evo SSD, OSX 10.9.5).

    Surprisingly this post solved my problem: Re: 10.8.3 Colorsync profile goes wonky on dedicated GPU on MBP. After clearing all my user caches, things got back to "normal". Let's see for how long.

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