My iMac graphics card fail?

Question

Level 2

238 points

My iMac graphics card fail?

ok last week my iMac 27 inch quad core late 2009 graphics card fail it's all pixelated and with square artifacts took itnto the Apple Store near my home in Spain and they told me that a iMac that is older than 5 years with graphics problem they cannot touch to repair it so looking on the net I found this card that looks very similar to my 4850 ati Radeon card only that it has 512 megs of ram instead of what the 5750 which has a gig of video ram. Can I put this card in my late 2009 iMac

http://www.ebay.es/itm/Genuine-Apple-iMac-27-A1312-ATI-Radeon-Video-Card-HD5750- MC511LL-A-109-B97157-0-/272070941812?has…

I am sketchy about eBay because of many bad experiences of people but since I live in Spain and the graphics is in the USA I don't want to be on a hassle back and fourth fight with the seller I want to know if it is possible to put this card on a late 2009 iMac will it fit and since apple is not so kind to advise me about this and of coarse if I buy it apple is not willing to put in my machine

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.1), 27 inch quad core i7 late 2009

Posted on Dec 14, 2015 11:07 PM

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Answer 1

Dec 26, 2015 4:15 PM in response to Switch900

I Started to have the same issue. You be able to login in safe mode - hold shift during restart.

It is not a hardware issue, other people is having the same problem. This lookslikeN issue with osc drivers.

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Answer 2

Switch900 Author

Level 2

238 points

Dec 26, 2015 6:33 PM in response to AlexCosta

I Have done the holding shift key nothing no solution

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Answer 3

Dec 27, 2015 4:42 AM in response to Switch900

I'm sorry to hear that. At least I'm able to boot in safe mode for now.

As it turns out it is a hardware issue apparently caused when I was running many apps ( chrome with video and other video apps) in the El Capitan.

Many any other people reporting same issue recently. I'm trying to find a place to replace my ATI Radeon 4850 in London.

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Answer 4

Switch900 Author

Level 2

238 points

Dec 27, 2015 11:01 PM in response to AlexCosta

All I could say good luck in finding this card in a normal repair shop, ever since I upgraded to el capitan the whole screen thing went crazy I even invested in Two SSD 1 terabyte and put it in a RAID 0 and my machine was like a new computer. Just one month after I made this investment upgrade the iMac on my own with these two SSD and believe me everything was working amazing till the screen started to glitch but this glitch was happening rarely before I did the upgraded SSD drives. For some how I think apple does this intentionally and plus the iMac design enclosure is a big fail these machine run very very hot not good for GPU and CPU chips, why because the heat tend to fry the components, out of all the Mac computer line the Mac Pro is the only machine worth getting if you want to put the same amount of money investment on a iMac max out I recommend getting the mac pro basic quad core. You are better off with this investment than the iMac, macbook pro, mac mini etc etc...

I am going to buy a mac pro and it will be the machine for many years to last I am expecting more than 6 years than my iMac late 2009 which was serving me well till this graphic card problem. Oh and by the way do not do re balling that won't work believe me you would hear re balling the chips no way it won't work .

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Answer 5

Switch900 Author

Level 2

238 points

Dec 29, 2015 10:57 AM in response to AlexCosta

this video explain it all about GPU and the quality of machine they are making and why heat is not a good friend of GPU and CPU

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Answer 6

Dec 29, 2015 6:28 AM in response to Switch900

Sorry to hear it didn't work for you. Today I have removed my ATI Radeon HD 4850 and baked it as you can see on may reports over the internet.

All is working fine again for me - probably just a small issue on the soldering that was fixed with heat.

You probably have your board dead if you can't login in safe mode and the refluxing didn't work for you.

Best of luck.

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Answer 7

Switch900 Author

Level 2

238 points

Dec 29, 2015 10:33 AM in response to AlexCosta

yes I can log into safe mode but still there are these four parallel pixel blocks which run on both sides of the iMac and the resr of the screen is viewable but still you cannot do anything because the drivers are not loaded.

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Answer 8

Dec 29, 2015 12:12 PM in response to Switch900

If I were you I'd try to bake the graphics card, there's a lot of people doing this and it worked perfectly for me.

All you need is: suction cups (I used the one from my GPS), T10 and T9 Torx Security screwdriver and Artic Cooling MX-4 Thermal Compound. If your board is not dead it's likely that the iMac heating and cooling broke the solder and reflowing it will fix the issue.

I tried few places in London and people are changing around £180 and they would probably do something similar I did at home.

This link has a nice guide in how to replace the GPU: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+27-Inch+EMC+2309+or+2374+Graphics+Card+R eplacement/9553

It's a bit of a pain to remove the components and you'll need to be careful but it can be easily done.

I left in the oven at 195 Celsius (385 F) for about 8 minutes and then I left in the open oven for another 20 minutes to cool it down.

It took me a couple of hours the whole process but now all is working fine.

Let me know if you want more details.

All the best.

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Answer 9

Switch900 Author

Level 2

238 points

Jan 21, 2016 7:16 PM in response to AlexCosta

no worries I changed my computer so now I bought the mac pro late 2013 hopefully this won't break down like my late 2009 iMac 27 inch.

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Answer 10

c41

Level 1

4 points

May 12, 2016 3:35 PM in response to AlexCosta

AlexCosta wrote:

It took me a couple of hours the whole process but now all is working fine.

I have the same issue now. How is your iMac going now? Still working?

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Answer 11

Switch900 Author

Level 2

238 points

May 12, 2016 10:59 PM in response to c41

I don't have an iMac anymore I put that old 27 inch late model 2009 into the recycling program and bought me a mac pro late 2013 which is working awesomely....

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Answer 12

bbasra

Level 1

14 points

Jul 27, 2016 2:03 AM in response to Switch900

Hi,

I've started to experience the same issue and don't really want to scrap the iMac.

I've been quoted around £220 to repair it. they said it's a common problem and shall be replacing the GPU.

Not sure if i believe them and try it myself but scared of breaking it even more.

thanks.

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Answer 13

Switch900 Author

Level 2

238 points

Jul 27, 2016 2:07 PM in response to bbasra

Where did you find this repair store, and will they be putting the same graphics card. If they will charge you 220 pounds make sure they are putting the right graphics card and also since its a 512 meg video ram they are some compatibility with the graphics card that is from the 2010 I think which has 1 gig of video ram.... All I know is that I won't buy another iMac in my entire life after what I experience with it and plus its a computer that uses mobile components the Mac pro is a much better choice.... If you use Final cut pro x and software that uses now the GPU it will heat up to a point that it will break down over a couple of years.... I think also that the design of the iMac is a poor ventilated design. I went and took a bank credit and bought me the basic low end mac pro late 2013 and I have am very happy with the product.

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