Can I upgrade my MacBook Pro logic board?

Hello trappinin203 and welcome to Apple Support Communities,

So here's my standard response to a liquid spill/water event:

"Whenever a liquid spill occurs the first thing that has to happen is the laptop should be shut down immediately. All power must be removed as soon as possible. It is especially important that the battery be disconnected and removed.

All affected parts must be removed from the laptop. No attempt should be made to start/restart the computer since this could potentially damage the logic board beyond all repair.

Then all affected parts would be washed in deionized water and blown dry with compressed air. (In a water spill the deionized water is probably not as critical. Depends on the mineral content of the water.).

This is especially true of the large chips on the logic board. Liquid can wick under them and cause havoc for weeks if not months after the incident.

The logic board should be placed in a drying/dehumidifing oven for at least two days. Longer depending on the spill.

The keyboard is a separate matter."

I can go into the keyboard issue if you like.

"Fortunately everything works except for the graphics card displaying video on the display"

Again, "No attempt should be made to start/restart the computer since this could potentially damage the logic board beyond all repair."

" except for the graphics card displaying video"

There is actually no separate graphics card. If you're lucky this will be the only issue. If not more issues will pop up.

"there are minor keyboard glitches."

These are likely to increase as you use the MBP. Water wicks between the membranes of the keyboard array and will cause problems for months in the future. Again if you're lucky the current problems will be the only ones you have. If not others will pop up and get worse.

" So my question is am I stuck with replacing the same model logic board or can I switch it with a later model?"

In general you must replace with the same board.

In your model year, Mid 2010 17", I only see two Logic Boards:

661-5472 - 2.53 GHz

and:

661-5526 - 2.66 GHz

So you already have the fastest board for that model year.

spudnuty wrote:

In your model year, Mid 2010 17", I only see two Logic Boards:

661-5472 - 2.53 GHz

and:

661-5526 - 2.66 GHz

So you already have the fastest board for that model year.

There was a 2.8 GHz CPU option made later after the initial introduction date for that particular model identifier..

Ciao.

Thanks for that ORGELTHORPE,

Wasn't aware of that and I have no stock numbers or information on that particular board to know if it's compatible w/ the OP's model.

When I said:

" I only see two Logic Board"

I should have said:

" I only see two Logic Boards that would be compatible with your year."

I know that to be accurate because when I bought my 2010 17" MBP the 2.66 CPU was the fastest offered. About a month later the 2.8 CPU was added. Naturally I uttered some expletives when I saw that.

I do not take issue with your response because I assume that it was based on the best information that you have available. Clearly this is not a case where any potential harm could occur from the provided information.

Ciao.

In my response I have no documentation of the 2.8 GHz logic board being compatible. Didn't know about it anyway so now way of knowing if it can be swapped into the OPs computer.

Actually with the rain shower, swapping logic boards would seem to be the least of his problems.

"That 2.8Ghz sounds nice, is the same graphics card in there?"

Dunno, ORGELTHORPE?

If you're playing a lot of games why aren't you on a Windows machine?

"They replaced the display and everything "

Uhh why did they replace the display?

"but shortly after figured out that it was the logic board."

Well, duhhh! That would have been the first thing I would do.

"So I took it home and hooked it up to my Cinema Display and it works this way."

Whaaat? They didn't replace your logic board, originally?

Did they charge you for the "display and everything"?

What exactly happened?

spudnuty wrote:

"That 2.8Ghz sounds nice, is the same graphics card in there?"

Dunno, ORGELTHORPE?

I would think so. All versions of a given model identifier have the same GPU configuration installed and I have no reason to believe that this would be an exception. I do not have any hard evidence to back up my assertion.

Ciao.

" Fortunately everything works except for the graphics card displaying video on the display"

We actually don't know that for sure. Since the whole computer got wet it's not clear whether your display was also damaged.

Since you can run an external display from it then the graphics chip is fine.

That would point to an inverter LVDS (video cable) problem. So changing the logic board might not solve your problem.

Standard repair procedure would be to attach a known good display to you logic board. If that works you'd replace the display rather than the logic board.

If it didn't work you'd replace the logic board and then see if it works with the known good display. If that worked you'd try to connect the internal display and see if that works. If not then replace the display also.

OBLETHORPE gave you an upgraded logic board option but I have not seen documentation that that would work.

"In your model year, Mid 2010 17", I only see two Logic Boards:

661-5472 - 2.53 GHz

and:

661-5526 - 2.66 GHz

So you already have the fastest board for that model year."

Even with the upgraded board the speed difference would be slight compared to an upgrade to an SSD.