Is my graphics card dying?

[T Coma]

Here are the general specs on my up-until-now problem free iMac:

It has served me well for lo these many years, across the spectrum of work and entertainment with only software hiccups along the way, but I'm wondering if the GPU is starting to go. I've been getting these odd patches of squares in a grid blinking all over the screen in apparently random spots. The blinking squares have so far proven impossible to screenshot, but now I'm getting some static corruption too. This is a cropped area from the very bottom of the screen (icons for scale):

They appear seemingly randomly; AFAIK there isn't a particular event or operation that causes them to appear. This only started happening within the last couple months, but it is getting more frequent lately, and most recently some will just remain on screen - they used to only blink.

 

[Fishrrman]

After 11 years, perhaps it's time to start shopping for a replacement...

 

[rpmurray]

Yes, it's dying. The 2011 iMacs are known for failures of the AMD graphics chips in the video cards.

 

[kpluck]

I agree it is probably dying, although you might try downloading a fan control app and cranking up the fans full blast to see if that helps at all.

-kp

 

[zarmanto]

I strongly recommend performing a backup of anything that's important to you as soon as you can. When my 2006 iMac started doing something similar, back around 2012 or so, it got progressively worse over a few weeks and then ceased to function -- and I don't just mean the video card stopped displaying video: the Mac stopped booting up entirely. Fortunately, my Time Capsule came to the rescue.

(The 2012 iMac that replaced it is still humming along in my basement, where the kids use it for occasional video games... but given your comment, I suppose I'll have to look into taking my own advice and refreshing the backup for that Mac soon, just in case.)

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

When it finally fails, consider heating it up in the oven. That gave me almost 3 years more on my 2011 GPU.

 

[zarmanto]

When it finally fails, consider heating it up in the oven. That gave me almost 3 years more on my 2011 GPU.

?​

That very much sounds like it needs a bit more detail in the instructions...

 

[T Coma]

So the artifacts or whatever you call those graphics anomalies disappeared the next day and haven’t returned - yet. They do show up sporadically.

But of course backup is important. I use Time Machine, CCC, and Backblaze, plus an extra copy of my photos on OneDrive. I think I’m covered.

As far as cooking a card in the oven, I know I’ve done that before, but can’t remember what for… Xbox or a TV or maybe something from a car? Man, i wish I could back up MY internal drive as easily as the Mac…

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

?​

That very much sounds like it needs a bit more detail in the instructions...

It is a pretty common procedure by now, for failed GPUs.. It is called a reflow.

Take it out, clean off all thermal paste, put it in the oven at 200°C for 10 minutes, cool down, back in the machine with fresh thermal paste. Game on! (In most cases) You got nothing to loose by trying..

 

[PBG4 Dude]

So the artifacts or whatever you call those graphics anomalies disappeared the next day and haven’t returned - yet. They do show up sporadically.

But of course backup is important. I use Time Machine, CCC, and Backblaze, plus an extra copy of my photos on OneDrive. I think I’m covered.

As far as cooking a card in the oven, I know I’ve done that before, but can’t remember what for… Xbox or a TV or maybe something from a car? Man, i wish I could back up MY internal drive as easily as the Mac…

I remember people wrappping their Xbox 360s in a bath towel to block fan vents, then powering it up for a while to get the GPU to work again after suffering RRoD. Sounds similar to baking in an oven.

 

[PowerPCFan]

So the artifacts or whatever you call those graphics anomalies disappeared the next day and haven’t returned - yet. They do show up sporadically.

But of course backup is important. I use Time Machine, CCC, and Backblaze, plus an extra copy of my photos on OneDrive. I think I’m covered.

As far as cooking a card in the oven, I know I’ve done that before, but can’t remember what for… Xbox or a TV or maybe something from a car? Man, i wish I could back up MY internal drive as easily as the Mac…

Yes, they are called artifacts. Those 11-year old GPUs are prone to failure, but it could be overheating. Just do a Time Machine backup first if you try putting GPU in the oven. Try an external display, the display ribbon cable could possibly be broken.

 

[The_Croupier]

If you have a heat gun use that instead of the oven.