minion187 Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 So, I snagged a 20" iMac off craigslist for $100 on a whim. Was told it would turn on and give a flashing question mark as if it can't find anything to boot so I was hoping it was just a bad HD or corrupt OS. Turns out, the hard drive was unplugged and I was very happy. Well, then I discovered the screen is artifacting pretty bad. Looks like dead pixels all over the place, but I can tell it's not dead pixels since moving the mouse over them hides them. After a little googling of course I find out this generation iMac is apparently notorious for this {censored} and from what I can gather it's the video card on the board that's gone bad. Only replacing the logic board can fix it, which is outrageous in price from Apple and I'd imagine equally ridiculous from anywhere like Geek Squad etc. The board can be bought from various retailers for around $300 but I can't seem to find one on ebay for the life of me. What's depressing is the board for the 17" model is literally half the price. So do I have any options here other than shelling out $300 and replacing the board myself? Installation is not a problem I've already got it apart and work on laptops for a living. I've tried different RAM just to be safe, reset the PRAM, took out the CMOS battery and left it unplugged for a while etc. It seems like the OS loads, even if I boot from an install DVD...but it eventually hangs at a bizarre looking screen with a few black boxes and a line of blocks up and down the screen. The mouse moves, I can mouse over the boxes and it covers them so it's not as if it's a line in the LCD panel itself. Very weird. If anyone could point me to somewhere selling the board for cheaper that would be great too but I've googled it to death so I don't have much hope. If only the 17" board would fit it and save me $150 lol Thanks to anyone that replies, your help is appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minion187 Posted November 16, 2011 Author Share Posted November 16, 2011 Ok, so I've tracked down a motherboard finally for cheap ($70). Question i have now is: I can pick from an early 2006 iMac mobo with a core duo like mine....or a late 2006 Core 2 Duo board. Both from 20" iMacs just different CPUs. Are these boards the same just different CPU? Obviously I'd rather have the core 2 duo than the core duo but not if the newer board won't work in my slightly older iMac. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LatinMcG Posted November 16, 2011 Share Posted November 16, 2011 reflow the chip .. re solder it with a heat gun. (youtube) or check into capacitors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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