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MacBook Pro 17-inch, Early 2011 Video Card Failing

I have a 17" MacBook Pro early 2011 running macOS High Sierra version 10.13 and every so often screen will flicker, go blank and then reboot with lines across the screen, fail to fully boot and restart over and over again. After at least 8 or 9 tries it'll boot up, I'll log in and sometimes it'll last me a whole day but now the problem is getting worse, within 3-4 hours it'll fail again.


My laptop is obviously out of warranty and I participated in the recall in September 2015 and had my video graphics card replaced at the Genius Bar. Below is the current graphics card in my laptop.


AMD Radeon HD 6750M 1 GB Intel HD Graphics 3000 512 MB


I'm having trouble finding this card and not sure what comparable graphics card is out there to purchase that'll fit my early 2011 MacBook Pro. I'm even ok using more current video cards, preferably better, at a reasonable price.


Any suggestions?

MacBook Pro (17-inch Early 2011), macOS High Sierra (10.13)

Posted on Oct 24, 2017 7:16 AM

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Posted on Oct 24, 2017 7:47 AM

Hi,

The GPU is soldered onto the logic board, so your logic board was replaced. That's what would need replacing again, unless the following works:


Install gfxCardStatus (https://github.com/steveschow/gfxCardStatus/releases) and set it to "i" (integrated graphics only). It will allow your MBP to run on integrated graphics only, bypassing the discrete/dedicated GPU which has the issues. This may allow your MBP to run normally, although it will have reduced graphics performance when performing demanding graphics tasks. The alternative is replacing the logic board, which is not cost effective on a machine that old, unless gfx does not resolve the issue and you really want to keep this MBP.

5 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Oct 24, 2017 7:47 AM in response to SamuraiUFC

Hi,

The GPU is soldered onto the logic board, so your logic board was replaced. That's what would need replacing again, unless the following works:


Install gfxCardStatus (https://github.com/steveschow/gfxCardStatus/releases) and set it to "i" (integrated graphics only). It will allow your MBP to run on integrated graphics only, bypassing the discrete/dedicated GPU which has the issues. This may allow your MBP to run normally, although it will have reduced graphics performance when performing demanding graphics tasks. The alternative is replacing the logic board, which is not cost effective on a machine that old, unless gfx does not resolve the issue and you really want to keep this MBP.

MacBook Pro 17-inch, Early 2011 Video Card Failing

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