Little colored squares on iMac 27"

Ok here is my report. I've had this iMac about a year and this problem just started about 3 weeks ago. The funny part is when I drag an open window over the squares they go away. If it was a GPU wouldn't the squares stay or is it in the early stages of failure?

EtreCheck version: 3.1.5 (343)

Report generated 2017-02-01 11:18:15

Download EtreCheck from https://etrecheck.com

Runtime 3:06

Performance: Good

Click the [Support] links for help with non-Apple products.

Click the [Details] links for more information about that line.

Problem: Other problem

Description:

Little colored square show up on both displays randomly

Hardware Information:ⓘ

iMac (27-inch, Mid 2010)

[Technical Specifications] - [User Guide] - [Warranty & Service]

iMac - model: iMac11,3

1 2.93 GHz Intel Core i7 (i7) CPU: 4-core

8 GB RAM Upgradeable - [Instructions]

BANK 0/DIMM0

4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

BANK 0/DIMM1

Empty

BANK 1/DIMM1

Empty

Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported

Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n

Video Information:ⓘ

ATI Radeon HD 5750 - VRAM: 1024 MB

iMac 2560 x 1440

DELL S2415H 1920 x 1080

System Software:ⓘ

OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 (15G1413) - Time since boot: about 5 days

Disk Information:ⓘ

APPLE HDD HUA722010CLA330 disk0 : (1 TB) (Rotational)

[Show SMART report]

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

El Capitan (disk0s2) / [Startup]: 500.00 GB (296.40 GB free)

Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB

Sierra (disk0s4) /Volumes/Sierra : 498.70 GB (262.61 GB free)

Recovery HD (disk0s5) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB

OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5680H ()

USB Information:ⓘ

Apple, Inc. Keyboard Hub

Apple Inc. Apple Keyboard

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Apple Inc. Built-in iSight

VIA Labs, Inc. USB2.0 Hub 3 TB

Toshiba External USB 3.0 3 TB

disk1s1 (disk1s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

iTunes (disk1s2) /Volumes/iTunes : 3.00 TB (1.05 TB free)

VIA Labs, Inc. USB2.0 Hub

American Power Conversion Back-UPS NS1080G FW:914.L2 .D USB FW:L2

Apple Card Reader

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Firewire Information:ⓘ

OWC Mercury Optical 800mbit - 800mbit max

Gatekeeper:ⓘ

Anywhere

Kernel Extensions:ⓘ

/Library/Application Support/Roxio

[not loaded] com.roxio.TDIXController (2.0 - 2016-02-06) [Support]

/System/Library/Extensions

[not loaded] com.apcupsd.driver.dummy (1.0.0d1 - 2017-01-27) [Support]

[not loaded] com.wacom.kext.pentablet (Pen Tablet 5.3.6-6 - SDK 10.9 - 2017-01-27) [Support]

System Launch Agents:ⓘ

[not loaded] 8 Apple tasks

[loaded] 151 Apple tasks

[running] 80 Apple tasks

System Launch Daemons:ⓘ

[not loaded] 42 Apple tasks

[loaded] 153 Apple tasks

[running] 96 Apple tasks

Launch Agents:ⓘ

[failed] com.adobe.ARMDCHelper.cc24aef4a1b90ed56a725c38014c95072f92651fb65e1bf9c8e43c37a2 3d420d.plist (2017-01-10) [Support]

[running] com.bjango.istatmenusagent.plist (2017-01-29) [Support]

[running] com.bjango.istatmenusnotifications.plist (2017-01-29) [Support]

[running] com.bjango.istatmenusstatus.plist (2017-01-29) [Support]

[failed] com.epson.esua.launcher.plist (2016-03-28) [Support] - /Applications/Epson Software/EPSON Software Updater.app/Contents/EPSON Software Updater Agent.app/Contents/MacOS/EPSON Software Updater Agent: Executable not found!

[running] com.rosettastone.rosettastonedaemon.plist (2016-09-10) [Support]

[running] com.wacom.pentablet.plist (2014-12-23) [Support]

Launch Daemons:ⓘ

[loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.Communicator.plist (2017-01-10) [Support]

[loaded] com.adobe.ARMDC.SMJobBlessHelper.plist (2017-01-10) [Support]

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist (2016-12-16) [Support]

[running] com.bjango.istatmenusdaemon.plist (2017-01-29) [Support]

[running] com.fitbit.galileod.plist (2015-11-09) [Support]

[loaded] com.linksys.linksysconnect.daemon.plist (2016-06-04) [Support]

[loaded] com.microsoft.autoupdate.helper.plist (2017-02-01) [Support]

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensingV2.helper.plist (2015-08-15) [Support]

[running] org.apcupsd.apcupsd.plist (2016-05-31) [Support]

User Launch Agents:ⓘ

[failed] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist (2016-02-07) [Support] - /Volumes/Yosemite 121714/Applications/Adobe Reader.app/Contents/MacOS/Updater/Adobe Reader Updater Helper.app/Contents/MacOS/Adobe Reader Updater Helper: Executable not found!

[failed] com.apple.CSConfigDotMacCert-[...]@me.com-SharedServices.Agent.plist (2016-02-05) - /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/OSServices.framewo rk/Versions/A/Support/CSConfigDotMacCert: Executable not found!

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist (2017-01-13) [Support]

[loaded] com.synology.CloudStationDrive.plist (2017-01-27)

User Login Items:ⓘ

DiskLed Application Hidden

(/Applications/DiskLed.app)

smcFanControl Application

(/Applications/smcFanControl.app)

iTunesHelper Application (2017-01-25)

(/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)

Fitbit Connect Menubar Helper Application (2016-06-26)

(/Applications/Fitbit Connect.app/Contents/MacOS/Fitbit Connect Menubar Helper.app)

apcagent Application

(/Applications/apcagent.app)

Beats Updater Application

(/Applications/Beats Updater.app)

Dropbox Application

(/Applications/Dropbox.app)

iStat Menus Application

(/Applications/iStat Menus.app)

Internet Plug-ins:ⓘ

JavaAppletPlugin: 15.0.1 - SDK 10.11 (2014-12-12) Check version

FlashPlayer-10.6: 24.0.0.194 - SDK 10.9 (2017-01-10) [Support]

QuickTime Plugin: 7.7.3 (2017-01-27)

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: 15.023.20053 - SDK 10.11 (2017-01-10) [Support]

AdobePDFViewer: 15.023.20053 - SDK 10.11 (2017-01-10) [Support]

Flash Player: 24.0.0.194 - SDK 10.9 (2017-01-10) [Support]

Default Browser: 601 - SDK 10.11 (2016-08-07)

Silverlight: 5.1.50901.0 - SDK 10.6 (2017-01-27) [Support]

VLC Plugin: 2.2.2 (2016-05-06) [Support]

iPhotoPhotocast: 7.0 (2016-02-06)

Safari Extensions:ⓘ

OneNote Web Clipper - Microsoft Corporation - https://www.onenote.com/clipper (2017-01-10)

FastestTube - Kwizzu - http://fastesttube.kwizzu.com/ (2016-04-03)

Reload Button - John Siracusa - http://siracusafamily.org/safari/extensions/ (2016-02-06)

Pin It Button - Pinterest, Inc. - http://www.pinterest.com/ (2016-02-06)

3rd Party Preference Panes:ⓘ

Flash Player (2016-12-16) [Support]

PenTablet (2016-08-22) [Support]

WDQuickView (2016-03-24) [Support]

Time Machine:ⓘ

Skip System Files: NO

Mobile backups: OFF

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

El Capitan: Disk size: 500.00 GB Disk used: 203.60 GB

Destinations:

TimeMachineBackup [Network]

Total size: 2.98 TB

Total number of backups: 77

Oldest backup: 6/4/16, 19:40

Last backup: 2/1/17, 11:06

Size of backup disk: Excellent

Backup size 2.98 TB > (Disk size 500.00 GB X 3)

Top Processes by CPU:ⓘ

3% WindowServer

2% iStat Menus Status

1% fontd

1% Fitbit Connect Menubar Helper

0% kernel_task

Top Processes by Memory:ⓘ

802 MB kernel_task

475 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent(2)

279 MB Safari

172 MB mdworker(8)

106 MB mds_stores

Virtual Memory Information:ⓘ

4.89 GB Available RAM

2.69 GB Free RAM

3.11 GB Used RAM

2.21 GB Cached files

491 MB Swap Used

Ok some updates. I installed istat menus on my system and my GPU die is at 113F and the heatsink is at 108F. I have the fans turned up. That is about where the temp seems to stabilized at. Problems still exists. Booted to safe mode for a few hours and problem didn't resurface. This morning reloaded my El Capitan partition and no other software. Let system sit for a bit ( about 4 hours, ran errands and came back) Just started Safari and problem came back on all displays as before. So I shut down and booted up on my Sierra Partition. Loaded istat again and set the fans to max. The temps are about the same on GPU and been using the system for about an hour to work on a spreadsheet and do some surfing with my email open and such. So far no little squares. Could this be a heat related issue. I purchased this iMac about a year ago "refurbished". Any further thoughts? I will keep this thread updated as it progresses. I'm trying to hold off replacing the video card if at all possible.

I really can't afford to replace it right now. I might look into that. I know I want to upgrade the bluetooth board and maybe install a SSD so I just might get all the parts together and do it myself.

I love that site. Before I got this 27" iMac I had a mid-2007 20" iMac that I got new. I think I might shop around and pickup a new display panel for it as it is really dim and dingy with faint vertical lines compared to this 27". I will probably put that one on my wife's desk for home budget and stuff.

Update to this issue. I have been running on Sierra for about a day. The issue is now every so ofter the menu bar goes corrupt and you can't read anything or any of the pull down menus of whatever app is open on both displays. Other than that the rest of the display on both monitors is fine. The only way to clear it is with a reboot. Not really sure what is going on with it. I might try to load something else on El Capitan partition maybe Yosemite or Mountain Lion. I didn't really like Mavericks, it seemed too buggy for my liking. What has me puzzled is that under El Capitan I get the squares and it happens rather quickly, under Sierra it's the menu bar thing that happens once in a while. I would think that the symptoms would be the same under both versions.

Ok here we go for update. I posted a kernel panic report and was told it was Trend Micro causing it. However one user stated that it was the graphics card failing. This past weekend I reloaded the original OS that came with this machine and upgraded to each OS until I got to Sierra. Everything seemed fine. Installed iWork and Office and like I said everything was working good until yesterday. I got those little squares again. I did a screenshot and they don't show up on the affected displays nor do they show up on a good working unit (iPad). I will have to work at shrinking the picture size and try to post it.

Update after 10 days. Well I haven't seen the little squares again since reloading as I described in my last post. Keeping my fingers crossed. My next upgrades will most likely be more RAM, New Bluetooth card to bring it up to 4.0 and possibly a SSD drive.

The Dell is connected via Display Port