Q: Stripped screen on startup, logic board?

I Have a 2008 Macbook Pro. When I press the power button i hear the chime and then the screen shows black and white stripes. The screen will stay like this for about 20-30 seconds and then cycle itself off and back on with the same result. This cycling then continues to no end.

I'm suspecting this is the logic board but wanted to get everyone's opinion before taking on the repair.

Any input is greatly appreciated and I have attached a picture of the screen below.

MacBook Pro

Posted on Sep 30, 2016 3:26 PM

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Q: Stripped screen on startup, logic board?

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by kaz-k,

kaz-k Sep 30, 2016 3:34 PM in response to gonda12
Level 5 (5,975 points)

Desktops

Sep 30, 2016 3:34 PM in response to gonda12

Resetting SMC as well as NVRAM could solve the problem, though I suspect it's a hardware issue.
Reset the System Management Controller (SMC) on your Mac - Apple Support
How to Reset NVRAM on your Mac - Apple Support
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by gonda12,

gonda12 Sep 30, 2016 4:05 PM in response to kaz-k
Level 1 (4 points)

Notebooks

Sep 30, 2016 4:05 PM in response to kaz-k

Sorry, should have mentioned earlier that I have already tried to reset the SMC and NVRAM.
The hard drive is also new and working perfectly (tested on another machine).
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by OGELTHORPE,

OGELTHORPE Sep 30, 2016 4:10 PM in response to gonda12
Level 9 (52,781 points)

Mac OS X

Sep 30, 2016 4:10 PM in response to gonda12

You could connect it to a monitor and see if it duplicates the MBP display or shows a good image. The former would be a GPU problem, the latter a display or display connection issue.

Ciao.
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by kaz-k,

kaz-k Sep 30, 2016 4:15 PM in response to gonda12
Level 5 (5,975 points)

Desktops

Sep 30, 2016 4:15 PM in response to gonda12

Then you'd better make Genius Bar appointment to show them your screen.
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by Grant Bennet-Alder,

Grant Bennet-Alder Sep 30, 2016 4:19 PM in response to gonda12
Level 9 (61,390 points)

Desktops

Sep 30, 2016 4:19 PM in response to gonda12

Historically, stripes on the screen at Startup have often been a symptom of RAM Problems. But that is not likely in this case, the Mac Pro 15-in 2008 model:

NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics processor with 256 MB of GDDR3 SDRAM

In this case, the problem is more likely to be caused by the 256MB of fast display RAM. Fixing that would require a motherboard replacement, as the RAM is not socketed. This model does not have dual graphics or any other mechanism that share main memory with the display.
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Q: Stripped screen on startup, logic board?

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by kaz-k,

by gonda12,

by OGELTHORPE,

by kaz-k,

by Grant Bennet-Alder,

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