Well, I am having to look at "my" options Apple has afforded me. From all I can piece together in all my conversations with Apple Tech Support (and Engineering) the past 7 weeks, at no point have they indicated to me that they think these issues have anything to do with the GPU (or even drivers for that matter). Every time I bring focus on that possible correlation (every phone call), they seem to reject it saying "if it were that widespread specifically to the w5700x equipped 7,1, we would be hearing more about it". They have no interest to reviewing the threads I mentioned on this forum like the poll I posted where 1/3 of the respondents with my config are seeing similar symptoms.
Since we have exhausted many of the Apple-directed software-based remedies (removing extensions, booting into Safe Mode, creating a new boot volume, reinstalling the OS, removing/reinstalling certain apps, etc.), the "only" option they finally focused on was the "Logic Board"? Yesterday, that was what they were convinced was my issue (not the GPU or drivers) - they simply did not want to try replacing just the GPU (or the entire machine for that matter). I was not keen on the idea of taking the 7,1 in to an Apple Store and having some kid attempt to replace the logic board and in all probability create more grief than I already have. If I were seeing or hearing about other 7,1 owners with other GPUs experiencing these issues I might agree that it could be logic board related, but I have not seen those reports. It just seems from my research that it is concentrated to the 5700 GPU. I also am seeing lots of posts now where people with the 5700 in iMacs, etc. are reporting various screen issues and the like - that leads me to imagine it is more of a driver issue than a hardware issue alone across the line-up?
If their only offer on the table is a choice between replacing the logic board and a new machine, I would prefer the second option (I doubt that I would even agree to the first option). If they agree to replace the machine and it does not fix the problems, then I am left with two options: (1) try to sell the replacement and cut my losses (maybe find someone that just runs FCP) or (2) come up with a couple thousand more dollars for a better GPU (and gamble some more money) to make the machine useable. Of course there is always the 3rd option of litigation, but that will not save my business in time. The reason I say those are my only two options is because based on everything Apple has told me and all the many diagnostic reports I have submitted to engineering, I am not convinced that Apple even sees the w5700x implementation as a problem at all. The only feedback I get is that the driver issue was fixed weeks ago.
