ZimmerGamer69

Q: iMac VGA Failing??

Hi

 

New to the iMac world so looking for some guidance for a newby.

 

I have bought (eBay my bad) a second hand iMac 21.5" Mid 2010 3.06ghz I3 with the 256mb ATI 4670 256mb graphics card (£300).

 

All was well for a couple of days but then I noticed that the graphics became pixelated and the menu bar kept glitching out. After searching the web all pointed to a VGA failure. Of course the first thing I did as a newby was to remove the glass and screen to give the iMac a good internal clean (might help) but no success.

 

I approached a local Apple specialist who advised me that it could be solved by an OS reinstall. I received a call that the OS install was successful (yippee) but after an hour he called me to give the bad news that after further tests the VGA card was indeed beginning to fail and my purchase was all but a paperweight.

 

Whilst collecting the "faulty" iMac the dealer offered me £80 for the old machine in part X for a refurbished i5 2011 which comes with a 60 day warranty. After a quick toilet break to check how much i3's go for as spares I declined the £80 offer but did purchase the i5 with a 60 day no quibble return policy as long as the box hasn't been opened.

 

On return home I sent a message to the seller of the i3 to inform him that the iMac was a dud and wasn't happy and I was surprised that he offered me a £150 refund if I could send him a video of the iMac "glitching out"

 

Confident I could do this i plugged in the i3 with my iPad at the ready to record. Boot up no problem, open a few windows no problem, search the web and install software to stress test iMac no problem. Open 3 windows with youtube video's playing and a window with Netflix playing and a window with iTunes playing a purchased movie all in HD, no problem. Nothing I could try could make the i3 crash.

 

After all the rambling above the question- After 3 days of use (no issues) is there anything wrong with my iMac?  Can an iMac heal itself heal (which would be impressive) is there any suggestion's that you Ladies and Gentlemen could give me before I either return the i5 or decline the £150 refund.

 

Sorry to go on but it's just the way God made me.

 

Zimmer

 

Post typed on the i3 whist facetiming and listening to ELO feeling confused.

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6)

Posted on Aug 28, 2016 1:31 PM