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Released October 24, 2011 / 2.2, 2.4, or 2.5 GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7 Processor

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Faulty graphics chip, MacBook Pro 2011

Hi everybody : )

So my MacBook Pro 15" 2011 is still working but only in slow motion...

A friend of mine said it's the logic board and another one said its only the graphics chip. Is it possible to fix/replace such a chip ?

The battery broke at the same time btw.

The last digits of the S/N is: DRJC

Thanks in advance.

Answered! View the answer I have this problem too

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MacBook Pro "Core i7" 2.0 15" Early 2011 2.0 GHz Core i7 (I7-2635QM)

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Don't think your problem is the graphics chip or a logic board issue. If it was you would have a more definitive problem.

First I would do the basics here:

  • Make sure you have a backup of your stuff before proceeding. Using the recovery CD the system came with or a bootable external HD or thumb drive run Apples' Disk Utility program to make sure the disk is in good health. If the disk was more than 3/4 full I would run a defrag app like Drive Genius (others will work as well here) to clean things up. I would also clear off some space as a 500MB drive might be on the tight side as the OS needs some space. You may need to look at getting a new HD here.
  • Install a temperature monitoring app like Temperature Gauge which you can download from the app store (others will work as well here). See if the system is running hot. If it is then it may need a good cleaning and re-freshing the thermal paste on the CPU & GPU chips.
  • Make sure you have a good anti-virus app running and have the latest definition files for it. Run a full sweep on the HD and if you find anything check your external HD & thumb drives.
  • Make sure you have the latest OS & App updates running on the system. Then using Activity Monitor make sure nothing is hogging the CPU for cycles use google to ID any processes you can't ID. make sure you know what it is before you kill the process.
  • Think about putting more RAM into he system 4GB is on the light side for Lion & Mountain Lion think about 8GB or if you can swing it go with 16GB. In any case make sure to check your Firmware EFI & SMC firmware updates for Intel-based Macs

I think you'll find during this process your problem will disappear.

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Does the computer work "faster" or more smoothly when plugged in? Does the computer still work slowly if you remove or unplug the battery? Apple has built in a "feature" that under-clocks the CPU in the event of a power anomaly (i.e. your blown battery) or faulty charger. If the computer works fine when the battery is removed and/or when the charger is plugged in, there is a fix. I'll wait to hear back before suggesting it, as I don't want to confuse you if that's not a solution.

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Thank you very much for your answers, I will try the no battery solution first and let you know. Best Regards.

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Disconnect the hard drive cable and boot from your system installation DVD. If your speed is restored, replace the hard drive cable.

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