Logic board or graphics card? MBP issue

After 4 years something has finally hit the fan with my MBP. Earlier this week I was working in lightroom when the screen froze and a bunch of blockes appeared. I did a hard shut down, rebooted the computer and everything was working fine. Unfortunately I didn't take pictures from that incident, these blocks that appeared were similar to the ones in my attachments.

Fast forward to last night. Same thing happened while working in LR. I turned the computer off and rebooted it. To my surprise the blocks were still there when I turned on the computer. Needless to say I kept the computer off over night thinking it would help. I was wrong and it seems like some permanent damage has been done. Overheating possibly? I've noticed it's been running hot recently.

I've ruled out the HD so I'm thinking my mother board or video card is fried. FWIW it's a 2.16ghz, intel core 2 duo prosessor
Hopefully someone can send me in the right direction with this.

Looks like a GPU failure.
Is it the famous 8600 video card in the MBP by any chance?

No it has a X1600

Is the video card part of the logicboard?

It's integrated into the mobo.
Failing ATI X1600 in Apple MacBook Pro Petition
Found a petition you could sign.

And the cost to fix it is going to be the cost of a new machine + a new machine will be must faster.

Although it looks like if you wanted to risk it, you could pull the heatsink off, and apply thermal paste and try that.

Thanks for that petition. Not sure where that will go but it's worth a shot.

So because the two are integrated with one another, does that mean its impossible to change out the GPU without replacing the whole motherboard? I've looked up the video card and all I'm getting is the motherboard with laughable prices.

Isn't it too late to apply thermal paste? Sounds more like a preventive measure rather then a fix considering these boxes show up as soon as I turn on the computer. I get the turning wheel before it proceeds to the login screen and then it freezes right before the log in screen.

user000 said:

Thanks for that petition. Not sure where that will go but it's worth a shot.

So because the two are integrated with one another, does that mean its impossible to change out the GPU without replacing the whole motherboard? I've looked up the video card and all I'm getting is the motherboard with laughable prices.

Isn't it too late to apply thermal paste? Sounds more like a preventive measure rather then a fix considering these boxes show up as soon as I turn on the computer. I get the turning wheel before it proceeds to the login screen and then it freezes right before the log in screen.

Click to expand...

Well the GPU is soldered onto the mobo, so you can't change it. What I have been reading is the heatsink might not be pushing all the way down on it so it's not making full contact. So you could try some thermal paste (if you feel comfortable) or messing with the heatsink.

Yea, the prices of the mobos are basically the price of a new MB lol.

Are you saying the blocks on my screen are from the heatsink no properly connecting with the GPU? I mean they show up as soon as I turn on the computer. I will have a look at it when I get a chance.

Nevermind that. I see what you mean after finding this page How I repaired a MacBook Pro Logic Board - opinion, technology, culture, politics - themainframe.ca

I wasn't even aware this was such a common problem. I will definitely make an attempt at this.
Thanks for all the help.

Update...

I followed through with the instructions in the link I posted above or follow this (How I repaired a MacBook Pro Logic Board - opinion, technology, culture, politics - themainframe.ca). After reading those instructions and watching the videos and reseaching reflowing, if I screwed up I'd have to get a new logic board or new computer either way so I didn't have much to lose going though with this.

Some notes on the link

First make sure you have a T6 torx bit along with an aerosol duster. I lost a lot of time driving around because of these two things. The Radio Shack down the street didn't have a T6 torx surprisingly yet I found one in Lowes
The aerosol duster...well I didn't even think about it until I pulled the Logic Board out. You'd be surprised by the amount of crap in your computer after 4 years.

The Logic Board removal should take you about 15 minutes. Just make sure to remove the fans first, its a bit easier to pull the board out with the fans out. They are attached to the cooling tube by tape. Don't cut it down the center, you will be reusing it so peel the portion off that is attached to the cooling tube.

This is where you need the duster and more time lost for me. The cooling tubes on my MBP were filled with dust between the fan and the tube. About 2/3 of the tube opening was covered with dust allowing only 1/3 of the required airflow. Now I'm not surprised why it was running so hot. I always thought it had something to do with the ram when I made the change from 2gb to 3gb.

Make sure you have a timer when reflowing and practice on solder wire first. I timed myself using solder wire and then proceeded to pre heated my logic board that was warped in aluminum foil. Don't want to warp it.

So my MBP is working running better then ever (knock on wood) and in the end I spent around $25. Much better then spending $500-$1000 on a new logic board or purchasing a new computer(I woudn't mind that but unfortunately I have other expenses at the moment)

Huge thanks to s2odin and who ever made that website.

Awesome man, glad to hear you got everything sorted.