Restart loop during boot up

Hello:

I recently purchased a used early 2011 17" MacBook Pro. I transferred the hard drive from my mid 2009 17" MacBook Pro running OS 10.11.6.

Upon start up, the progress bar would advance about 2/3 through, the screen would turn gray, and it would then shut down and start over, repeating the processes.

After a couple of weeks, I tried an old hard drive running 10.6.3. Surprisingly, the computer started normally. I then re-tried the hard drive from my 2009, and it also booted normally three times, While using the 2011 after the third restart, things seemed normal, then, during a YouTube video, the screen went bright blue. Upon restart, it was back to the loop. I placed the old drive, and got a repeated 3-beep sound. As I swap back and forth, the newer drive continues to be stuck in the restart loop, and the older drive a three-beep pattern. I have zapped PRAM, reset SMC, removed and replaced the battery while holding the power button, etc.

Could this be related to the infamous graphics card issue? If so, can that be replaced without swapping the entire logic board?

Thanks.

Bill