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So… I bought a 2011 MacBook Pro on eBay that said the logic board was failed based on advice from a buddy. I’m a novice, so please forgive me. I did the typical “put logic board in the oven” trick. I put a new SSD in it too. After a bunch of messing around, I was able to format the drive and install High Sierra using a bootable USB file I found from my windows. Everything ended up working out great and I was set! Keep in mind, I’m not a computer fixer, so this was a huge win for me! I went to open a program and the laptop started to just continually restart. I call my buddy and he says, yea the fix didn’t take. Go buy a heat gun and heat the GpU up. Long story short, I did, and I heated it up so much that components (resistors or diodes, I don’t know????) on the other side of the logic board fell off. I’m dumb, I get it. I have a great running laptop that just needs a working logic board/GpU. Every search I find wants like $450 for a new logic board, and it’s a 2011 MacBook, I already have enough money in. What is my best option to get this laptop up and running for an affordable rate. I’m willing to spend a few bucks, but not $450. Please help!
Since your logic board is probably far beyond repair and a used one is too expensive for your budget, the only alternative I see here is settling for a cheaper logic board. A dual core board, i5 2,4 or 2,53ghz or i7 2,66 is definitely cheaper than the quad and it fits your machine. Unless you need the Mac for demanding work tasks, it might be an interesting alternative.
You are in a pickle here ;-{ Frankly, you can use a lower end 2011 logic board than the premium board like this one: MacBook Pro 15" Unibody (Early 2011) 2.0 GHz Logic Board Vs the most expensive which offers the best performance: MacBook Pro 15" Unibody (Early 2011) 2.3 GHz Logic Board While you could use the 2010 model boards their performance is less than what the 2011 models offer.
