Anyone know much about iMac parts?

[Kevsgreat]

I'm looking for a iMac 512MB GeForce 8800 GS graphics card, any ideas where I can get one for less than the £190 on eBay?

Picked up a cheap 2008 iMac with a fault but it needs this part replacing.

[tiptoad]

Funnily enough, I'm getting the same model iMac off my sister next week, with the same fault. When she looked on the internet for ways to fix it, the general consensus was that the graphics card is part of the motherboard and can't be replaced. So she bought another Mac and was going to throw this one out.

I've discovered that the early 2008 models are a rare exception, and the graphics card is plugged into the motherboard. The Apple genius bar said they can replace it with a new one for £110 + vat.

Are you thinking of replacing yours yourself? If so, is it easy? I've done hard and optical drives before, so I fancy giving this a go myself.

[Sleepy]

For how to do it lads, youtube, always good to see it done rather than just look at pics.

http://www.youtube.com/results?searc...1985l8.10l18l0

[tiptoad]

Originally Posted by Sleepy

For how to do it lads, youtube, always good to see it done rather than just look at pics.

http://www.youtube.com/results?searc...1985l8.10l18l0

Cheers mate, I'll have a look through that lot later. I've carried out some fairly major surgery on Macs before just using pictures off the internet, so this should be more fun watching someone else do it first.

[Kevsgreat]

Originally Posted by tiptoad

Funnily enough, I'm getting the same model iMac off my sister next week, with the same fault. When she looked on the internet for ways to fix it, the general consensus was that the graphics card is part of the motherboard and can't be replaced. So she bought another Mac and was going to throw this one out.

I've discovered that the early 2008 models are a rare exception, and the graphics card is plugged into the motherboard. The Apple genius bar said they can replace it with a new one for £110 + vat.

Are you thinking of replacing yours yourself? If so, is it easy? I've done hard and optical drives before, so I fancy giving this a go myself.

I was thinking of doing it myself yeah, looks like a complete pain from the guides I've found online, you have to take everything apart from the screen working backwards because the card is right at the back behind the logic board. Most say it's fiddly rather than complicated though, I've not done much other than replacing the odd part in my PC here and there but I reckon I could do it.

Saying that, does that price from the folk at Apple include a new card? If so I might just do that, prices for spares are pretty high, at least twice that amount.

[tiptoad]

The price from the genius bar in Newcastle includes the graphics card. I don't know what kind of card, I'm just interested in a bog standard one to get the mac working again. I was told I could probably pick one up from ebay for about thirty quid, which is why I was tempted to do the job myself.

The lad at the genius bar hasn't seen the mac, the price was based on the assumption that it is a dodgy card causing the problem (no doubt about that), and that it was a straightforward switch. I think I'll probably leave it to the experts, but if you decide to have a go the please let me know how you get on.

[Kevsgreat]

Originally Posted by tiptoad

The price from the genius bar in Newcastle includes the graphics card. I don't know what kind of card, I'm just interested in a bog standard one to get the mac working again. I was told I could probably pick one up from ebay for about thirty quid, which is why I was tempted to do the job myself.

The lad at the genius bar hasn't seen the mac, the price was based on the assumption that it is a dodgy card causing the problem (no doubt about that), and that it was a straightforward switch. I think I'll probably leave it to the experts, but if you decide to have a go the please let me know how you get on.

£30 wouldn't be too bad, but I haven't seen any for sale online for less than £190, and that was a refurbished card from Hong Kong.

I've booked to take it to the fuckers at the Eldon Square Apple shop anyway, if I can get it fixed for that price I think I'll go for that. I'll let you know how I get on.

[tiptoad]

Originally Posted by Kevsgreat

£30 wouldn't be too bad, but I haven't seen any for sale online for less than £190, and that was a refurbished card from Hong Kong.

I've booked to take it to the fuckers at the Eldon Square Apple shop anyway, if I can get it fixed for that price I think I'll go for that. I'll let you know how I get on.

Cheers mate. I was in John Lewis today and asked if they're easy to repair (I thought I'd get a more honest answer than from the Apple store) and they said they're not. You need to remove the screen first, and to do this you need a pair of massive suction grips. Apparently is doesn't get much easier after this.

I haven't looked for a price for a replacement card online, £30-ish is just what I was told by someone who supposedly knows these things. £190 does sound a bit over the top mind.

But I'd appreciate it if you could get back to me with what they said at the Apple store, because the mac I'm getting is currently in London and I won't bother lugging it up here on the train if it's too pricey to fix.

[Hetzkes Ballet Teacher]

Originally Posted by tiptoad

The price from the genius bar in Newcastle includes the graphics card. I don't know what kind of card, I'm just interested in a bog standard one to get the mac working again. I was told I could probably pick one up from ebay for about thirty quid, which is why I was tempted to do the job myself.

The lad at the genius bar hasn't seen the mac, the price was based on the assumption that it is a dodgy card causing the problem (no doubt about that), and that it was a straightforward switch. I think I'll probably leave it to the experts, but if you decide to have a go the please let me know how you get on.

Sorry, cracks me up every time.

[Kevsgreat]

Originally Posted by tiptoad

Cheers mate. I was in John Lewis today and asked if they're easy to repair (I thought I'd get a more honest answer than from the Apple store) and they said they're not. You need to remove the screen first, and to do this you need a pair of massive suction grips. Apparently is doesn't get much easier after this.

I haven't looked for a price for a replacement card online, £30-ish is just what I was told by someone who supposedly knows these things. £190 does sound a bit over the top mind.

But I'd appreciate it if you could get back to me with what they said at the Apple store, because the mac I'm getting is currently in London and I won't bother lugging it up here on the train if it's too pricey to fix.

I've seen Mac Pro cards for fairly cheap, they just look like PC ones but they'll not fit in an iMac. If you do get hold of one for £30 you'll have to share your knowledge!

Mine is currently in London too, with my Mam. Got it off eBay so she picked it up for me, bless her. It's only just over a tenner to have it sent up next day delivery with Parcel2Go (my Mam's calculations are that it weighs 14kg and the dimensions are 68l x 25w x 61h). If it can't be fixed I'll probably just slap it back on eBay for spares.

I'll be sure to let you know how I get on.