[usertrjx]

Also have a 17 in. 2011 mbp, There is a workaround to get it working with the on board video bypassing the failing video card, but it doesn't seem like a long term fix.

[mcv]

Sounds interesting. Do you have a link where this is explained?

A friend claims I can temporarily fix my video card by 'baking' it, whatever that is.

[usertrjx]

https://gist.github.com/cdleon/ae1542279598fe80f527400cc354a...

is a pretty good exlanation.