Everything 3D artifacts and crashes on my Macbook Pro

[heynow85]

I have a Gen1 2006 Macbook Pro and everytime I try to run 3D applications, I see artifacts (usually in the form of horizontal lines) or my computer just freezes entirely.

However, when it comes to 2D apps, everything is just fine.

I'm backing up my system more and more nowadays, but is it possible for the video card to continue to run well so long as I don't force 3D apps onto it?

I'd like to keep this laptop for a while longer since it still does everything I need it to do.

 

[Emulex]

ask them to replace the logic board free - is it the model with the faulty nvidia card? i had my logic board replaced on my old 2009 macbook pro free. they upgraded my 17" to matte for free and replaced the top and bottom case since it was dented. all free.

 

[Bryf50]

Wiki tells me that the 2006 MBP has a Mobility Radeon x1600. This means that you wouldn't be covered by the Nvidia recall from a few years back. My guess is the GPU is dieing or quickly overheating. Looks like it might be time to get a new laptop.

 

[heynow85]

Wiki tells me that the 2006 MBP has a Mobility Radeon x1600. This means that you wouldn't be covered by the Nvidia recall from a few years back. My guess is the GPU is dieing or quickly overheating. Looks like it might be time to get a new laptop.

Yeah, I am way out of warranty and I never purchased Apple Care.

I really don't take my laptop anywhere nowadays, so if I'm upgrading, I'll be building a new desktop from scratch. Perhaps I'll wait until Ivy Bridge and the AMD 7000 series.

I'm in no immediate rush.

 

[TheStu]

If you are feeling brave you could crack it open and see if the vents are clogged up, and maybe re-apply the thermal paste. Apple was especially bad about that with the early MBPs.

Install iStat to check the temps of the GPU see if it is spiking.

 

[heynow85]

If you are feeling brave you could crack it open and see if the vents are clogged up, and maybe re-apply the thermal paste. Apple was especially bad about that with the early MBPs.

Install iStat to check the temps of the GPU see if it is spiking.

I actually did open it up and did a full dusting and reapplied the thermal grease (which was completely dried up). Still, I have the same issues with the video, and I don't think it's temperature related.

 

[vbuggy]

The X1600 is probably toast - I had similar issues (among many, many, other problems) on some of my 2006 Crapbooks - at least in my case while they were under warranty. I assume you're not a heavy user, since this should have happened long ago if it's a regular-use machine.

Feel like some DIY repair? There are logic boards for that generation floating about out there. The pre-unibodies are slightly harder to crack open but not impossible. iFixit has instructions too.