Display / Graphics Problems iMac

DubTony

Hi guys,

You'll see the problem I have from the pics below. The 2 desktop screenshots are extreme and I'll usually get by if I restart the computer. Unfortunately, as time goes by, the time it takes for the display to start acting up becomes less and less. Sometimes I'm faced with a black screen (fixed by dragging the cursor from corner to corner). The problem exacerbates when there are websites using Flash. Youtube is a nightmare. I downloaded a Flash blocker, and while it helps to an degree, if I have to run Flash there's not a lot I can do (the kids play a few online Flash games).
Sometimes the computer simply freezes completely, nothing works at all. A few mouse clicks or key commands will kick in after the thing gets going again. This usually happens when Flash is running, but it has happened when using iPhoto (11) and games loaded onto the computer.
I have Facetime loaded, and thinking this may be causing a problem, I turned it off, but the problem still exists.
I'm assuming it's a hardware problem.
Some details are below.
Can anyone help?
Thanks

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Greentree_uk

your GPU needs replacing. a fairly common issue on that model of imac.

DubTony

Cheers Greentree. It's what I suspected (but lived in hope :rolleyes:).

Willbbz

I used to get the odd black line going across the screen when playing games or using flash.

"Fixed" it though by installing smcFanControl. Put the fans up pretty high and they've been that way since I've installed it and it's fixed the problem (Also it has stopped my iMac from restarting randomly which was another problem)

Hope it works for you if you want to try it

DubTony

Thanks willbbz, I just read about that this evening and downloaded it. Looking at the prices of GPUs, and the work involved in replacing one, it's not going to be fixed any day soon. smcfancontrol could be a good stopgap. Cheers