Trying to identify why my iMac won't boot
My problem is that when I turn it on the screen has vertical bars and midway through the startup it gives an error message and restarts and keeps doing this.
I've tried the following things:
1. PRAM and SMC resets
2. Running hardware diagnostic test which gives "4MOT/1/4000003:HDD-1345"
3. Recovering from TimeMachine backup - same symptoms
4. Took glass off and front frame, checked the LEDS - all 4 light up while it's trying to start
5. Removed the LCD and gave everything a clean with compressed air, checked that fan that sits below optical drive is turning with power on
6. Lifted heat sensor off HDD and put it back on and retaped.
I'm dreading it is the video card since that looks more involved to get at but will try that if need be rather than just throw the iMac away. I could buy an adaptor to plug my DELL monitor in, would that help to confirm whether its a video card problem?
Any suggestions of diagnostics I can do to identify the problem please? If I could fix the problem I would go ahead and replace the HDD with a SSD and upgrade RAM from 4 to 6.
Thanks for assistance you can provide.
Edit: Photo added
Edit: I followed the instructions iMac Intel 24" EMC 2267 Graphics Card Replacement and have removed the video card but no idea what to do with it now! Could I try baking it? I believe it's a NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT - G92 is it replaceable? I also took the HDD out for the heck of it but no idea how to establish whether there is a problem with it. I lack the diagnostic knowledge!
Esta é uma boa pergunta?