Has my GPU died?? Urgent Repair Question!!

Hey everybody, today the screen on my 17inch 2.4ghz Macbook pro went dead while I was using it. I then attempted to plug it in to an external monitor which also displayed no output. I know that the computer is on and it seems to be functioning properly except for no video output (I was able to play a song off iTunes after clicking around for a bit...I know...I've got skills) My first thought was that the video card had died, so I did some checking online and discovered that my particular Macbook is one of the ones with the faulty Nvidia GPU in it which is more prone to failure than normal ones and that Apple will fix this problem for free so I took it in to my local apple store to see what their opinion was.

Now comes the bad part: I spoke to a genius rep and he took it to the back to do some tests and returned with my mac 10 minutes later and said that it wasn't the video card because he could "see a screen flicker" when he turned it on. I asked him to show me and he proceeds to show me what is in fact not a screen flicker but simply the backlight of the LCD screen turning on....
He then said that I'd have to pay $325 for them to send it to their repair place in Texas (I'm in Georgia) for them to fix whatever the problem is.
I didn't quite trust him and was especially skeptical after he said the backlight turning on was a "screen flicker" so I decided to come on here and to ask you all for advice before proceeding.
What do you all think the problem might be and is there any way for me to actually test and see if it is the GPU or not?
I'm an audio engineer and do all my editing on this laptop so I really need to get it fixed asap so any thoughts or recommendations would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance!

Anybody got any ideas?

I agree with your opinion regarding a defective GPU. Take it back to the Apple store and ask to speak with the service manager or store manager. Be polite but be firm - and be sure to mention the fact that your machine is covered under an extended warranty by Apple.

The fact that the backlight is working has nothing whatsoever to do with the GPU. Let us know how it goes...

Regards.

chscag said:

I agree with your opinion regarding a defective GPU. Take it back to the Apple store and ask to speak with the service manager or store manager. Be polite but be firm - and be sure to mention the fact that your machine is covered under an extended warranty by Apple.

The fact that the backlight is working has nothing whatsoever to do with the GPU. Let us know how it goes...

Regards.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply! That's exactly what I'll do. I think I have a little more knowledge on the topic now (especially about the symptoms of a defective GPU) that I can present them with and hopefully that'll resolve the problem.
I'll let you all know what happens!
Thanks!