iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011) AMD Radeon HD 6970M 1GB card revived... by baking!

Hi Nice job! I am planning of baking my gpu this weekend but I dont have those "thermal pads" do you know if they are required? or can I just use artic silver on the memory chips?

Sorry for the delay- just saw your comment. I think the thermal pads are the way to go- if you try using paste on the memory chips, there *most likely* will be a gap between the heatsink and the surface of the chips. You should be able to find thermal pads in bulk on eBay, or elsewhere online. Be sure to get ones that are as thick as the ones currently being used.

Hey great job! I had just ordered a used gpu off eBay but now I'm going to try baking my old one. It got to the point where the computer would even boot all the way. About the SSD upgrade. Since you have installed the SSD have you noticed your gpu temps higher on average? I'm just wondering about this since the SSD is going under the cd drive. It seems like it would block the path of airflow from the fan below to the heartsink for the gpu? Thanks!

Hi, Sebastian. I read your fix with a lot of interest. I have a mid-2011 27" that's exhibiting the same issues. I see your feedback about using the same size thermal pads; was that pad thickness? Are things still holding up well?

Thank you for this write up. I followed these steps and have a working GPU again. The Apple Store's quote was right at $650. I talked to 2 Apple Service Providers in the Dallas area and their quotes were even higher.

I was about to buy a replacement off eBay and install it myself when I came across this article. The system's been humming along ever since.

Wanting to keep an eye on the GPU's temp I installed iStat Menus. Then I searched around a bit to find what the optimal temps were during low use and high stress. I wasn't able to track down what it ought to be running at.

My numbers: Normal use it's running around 130°. Running Cinebench's OpenGL test it gets up to around 175°.

This seems high to me, but not sure. Thoughts? If this is running too hot, what can be done about it?

Matt

Hi Sebastian,

I have the same issue on the very same iMac model and I want to try out your solution, which is both inventive and elegant at the same time :-)

Before I embark in this endeavour, I would like to ask you: did you use both thermal paste and thermal pads?

Do you remember how thick the thermal pads were?

I find on ebay/amazon/local shops several sizes and I can't figure out which one would be better suited (and looking at the video card doesn't really help, as they're pretty rough)

Hi, I baked my graphics card and it powered up and ran fine until had it on full screen watching a youtube video. The graphics card gave out again, but my question is, do you think it's the heatsink that could be causing this graphics card to fail? I also would like to know if any of the fans work? I never hear them even in the slightest?

Pls advise

Hi, Few months ago I baked my graphics card following all the steeps and it works. I couldn't really believe it, the imac was literally back on business, my only concern was when I tested the graphic card on games. The games aren't running smoothly as before, looks like when I'm playing the game freeze then continues and it's really annoying. I don't know if anyone here tested this into simulation games and if there is any possible solution knowing the card is already faulty.

Seb.

thanks for sharing this, works great for me to:)

the only problem i have is the fans that working non stop:(

I'll be damned, it worked. Thank you for saving me almost $400!

Thank you for this article, it gave me the courage to try it with my mid-2011 iMac that died this summer due to the 2G video card failing. A replacement video card from eBay was running $600-800, so that was a non-starter. Sure enough, 10 minutes at 400F brought it back to life and I’ve been using it for the past 6 weeks, running just fine! Two thumbs up! My only cost (besides the better part of a Sunday afternoon) was an “open an iMac” toolkit from Amazon.

I came across this post and at first thought that it sounded a bit “out there”! I brought the iMac to the Apple Store this week to have a free diagnostic test done. I was informed that the video card needed to be replaced. With labor, the bill would have come to $937.00 (CDN)! Well, my buddy and I tried your fix on my iMac last night. to my utter joy and amazement, it works!! There truly are no words to express my gratitude!! Thank you! Thank you!

iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011) AMD Radeon HD 6970M 1GB Burned on Micro Oven

Hi, I tried to heat Graphics Card on Micro Oven upto 200 degree celsius. Within few seconds some cracker sound occurred and then some capacitor is burned on Graphics card. I don’t know what is happened inside oven. I totally loss my Graphics Card.

Is it safest method to heat Graphics card on Oven?

I just baked my iMac 27 Radeon M6770 512 yesterday. It is now at 24 hours and working flawlessly. I am very happy to have run across this thread! Assembly is not hard, re-sembly was the challenge. Anyone trying this use a little scotch tape to gather and control any wires/connectors that might fall down under the logic board when re-installing it. It will save many frustrations and get you up and running much faster!

Can’t believe it. It worked. I got my iMac back!

Some things I would point out that are not noted on here or you may miss.

On the video card is a sliver of foam that goes around some of the chips. The foam is not stuck to the board. It is stuck to a sticker that you can put a micro screwdriver under and pull up to re-use. I actually ruined and put my back together without it and it seems ok so far.

It is hard to see in the pictures but the card is suspended in air during baking. I did it by crumpling foil up into small squares and cut some slits into one side then slid the edges of the corners of the boards into them. That way the card sits level and is not resting on the tray while cooking.

I used the pads and thermal paste. Take a picture of where the old thermal pads were before you clean them off. I got some nice blue ones on Amazon. The 15mm x 20mm x1mm thick were perfect. They come in a sheet with plastic on both sides. Cut to size, peel one side and apply, peel the other and trim with razor.

I fixed mine today, GREAT. Don’t forget to position USB ports in the back. First time I could’t plug the USB, so I had to correct the position of motherboard. Just put the usb plug before torque those screws on MB.

Hi iFixIt!

I know this might be defeating the purpose of the site, but I am mechanically disabled, and for that matter, I’m actually disabled, C-7 quadriplegia. So my fingers don’t work great, constantly dropping screws etc. Does anyone live in/near New York City who has used this technique to fix their machine? I would be willing to work some sort of deal to hire you to help me fix my ailing machine.

Warmly,

When my 2011 Mac failed and eventually got diagnosed with “video card failed - vintage equipment - cannot be repaired” by a trusted service provider I started looking for a used video card. As a trained engineer, I must admit I was more than sceptical when I came across this “baking” fix but being faced with the choice of either binning a 2000€+ iMac and attempting a quick fix, I thought “what the heck”. So I ordered myself a 8,5€ tube of Arctic Silver paste and started to disassemble my iMac. After careful reassembly I powered up the Mac and SHAZAM ! … works like a charm. As I had everything taken out anyway, I used the opportunity to replace the thermal paste on the CPU as well, by the way.

Now, be aware that taking out the MB and reassembling an iMac is not for the faint-hearted. It does require some skill and patience (and a decent of tools, which you can get from iFixit or OWC) but in the end, it’s just one step up from swapping the HDD for an SSD, which you should do in any case !

+1 from me also. Baked the AMD video card @ 200 C fan forced for 11 mins & revived the GPU.

Thanks so much.

Cameron

Baked 2 AMD cards for my 2011 27” Imac A1312 and it worked like a charm.

Had to remove the logic board before I could remove the gpu so that was the most tricky part (lots of little connectors) , but baking at 200 degrees cel for 9 minutes, did the trick for me too!

My iMac died on me a year ago and I’ve been meaning to do the card baking trick for months now. I finally found some time to give it a try and now my system is working again!

Unfortunately the fan seems to kick into high gear once I start doing any tasks, even just browsing safari. I’m wondering if it’s my fault for not applying new thermal past to the areas around the chip (I used the silver paste on the chip itself). I also dropped a tiny piece of masking tape inside the machine that I couldn’t find for the life of me, so I’m worried that sucker is doing some damage.

Anyway, I am happy the thing turns on at all and is usable.

Hi

I baked my graphic card more than 4 times. unfortunately in my case, it does not works more than 2 or 3 weeks. GPU die is less than 60C and nothing wrong. I dont know what is wrong with that, any idea?

Awesome! I’ve read about this fix and was hesitant to try it, but picked up some thermal paste and followed instructions. It’s really not that hard if you have the proper tools. Take a photo before you start to locate cables and screws, and take your time. I baked mine at 400 for 10 minutes and reassembled. Good to go. Thanks Sebastian.

Worked like a charm! I went to the Apple store to get mine tested and they wanted $550 to replace the graphics card. I started searching for used graphics cards and luckily stumbled across this post. I baked mine at 395º for 15 min. It has been running fine for the past month and a half. Thanks Sebastian for sharing this wild idea….my Facebook friends were in awe.

Revived a co-workers 27-inch 2011 iMac last Friday. I’m skeptical how much longer it will run for and warned the owners it could fail again at any time. I also recommended that they run the fans at a higher rate to keep the machine cooler. I don’t have any experience using this utility, but its free so I recommended it:

++https://www.crystalidea.com/macs-fan-con...

Will try to report back if I hear more of this machine’s plight.

I did it. it works. I’ll keep the Macs Fans app active, but I plan on selling the iMac to help finance a Hackintosh.

Thanks for this guide. I was able to revive a 27’’ iMac.

210 ‘C for 20 minutes did the trick.

Hopefuly this won’t change. I keep my fingers crossed.

Same here, thanks a lot! Reassembled the GPU board on the cooler with 1mm pads on the memory chips and a little good cooling paste on the GPU. Hope this will last for some time!

I can’t believe y’all are just throwing your GPUs into the oven. More so that it’s ACTUALLY WORKING for a SIGNIFICANT amount of people. Maybe baking electronics should be used more mainstream as a fix for other defects?