broke my imac. !!! need help deciding,

[iamuurme]

so the other day i was surfing the net and then the smoke came out of my imac and the screen went off. it never turn on again. so i took it to apple they had a looked at it which cause my money, by the way i live in thailand so it cost me 1600 bath to open it up and take a look. the total cost came 9600 bath. which is totally expensive to fix a graphic card that got burned.
1. why does apple charge so much since the graphic card is cheap?
2. can i fix it my self, if so i need instruction?
3. should i build my own PC and use a hackintosh, i need instruction?
i decided that i wont fix it with apple since they over charge me . apple really disappointe me . treating customer like this. any suggestion!
?

 

[old-wiz]

I don't know what your currency amounts translate to in U.S. dollars, but..
It's hard to tell from a description if it is really the graphics chip that is the problem; it could well be the logic board, which is usually an expensive replacement. While it might be just the graphics chip, it's very hard to replace it and the techs usually just replace the entire logic board.

 

[Queso]

Agreed. It sounds as if the graphics chip in your model is integrated onto the main logic board (motherboard), which is the case for most iMac models. In which case they are charging you for the full board replacement rather than just a chip. €230 or thereabouts is typical for that repair, which is what 9600 Baht roughly comes to.

Fixing it yourself is easy enough providing you have the experience and tools, but getting hold of the replacement parts is sometimes tricky and may work out just as expensive as having someone else do the repair.

I think it's best to either get Apple to replace the board or take your other option and build your own replacement. Google "Hackintosh" for more information. There are plenty of online guides.