2011 iMac CPU,GPU,Ram upgrade Plans

[kennyap]

Details of the upgrade

Ok, here are more details regarding the Upgrade:


2011 iMac 27” Upgrade

Starting Config:
Core i5-2500S (2.7ghz ) Processor
Radeon HD 6770 (512mb)
16gb 1333mhz RAM

Upgraded Config:
Core i7-2700K (3.5ghz ) Processor
Radeon HD 6970 (2gb)
32gb 1333mhz RAM

Component Purchases:
1. RAM Memory from www.macsales.com : OWC1333DDR3S32S, 32.0GB (8GB x 4) 317.99 (kit)
2. Processor from www.tigerdirect.com : Intel Core i7-2700K item#: I69-2700K $304
3. Graphics Card from www.dvwarehouse.com : AMD Radeon HD 6970M 2GB for iMac 27" Mid 2011 661-5969 - NEW (661-5969) $588

Materials I used:

1) www.macsales.com
OWC Internal SSD DIY Kit
For All Apple 27" iMac 2011 Models
SKU: OWCDIYIM27SSD11 $44.99
Note: This Kit includes all tools necessary besides the medium-head Phillips screwdriver for taking off the CPU & GPU heatsinks, and the small Phillips for changing out the RAM.

2) www.tigerdirect.com
-Cooler Master Thermal Compound Item#: C283-1147 $7.99
(This is for putting on the new CPU before you re-attach the Heatsink)
-StarTech.com ESD Anti Static Wrist Strap Item#: YYI1-CH4525 $9.89

3) Soft Packing Material (foam-like sheets) that I got from an HP Workstation computer box. I used this to place the motherboard and components on.

Videos / Walkthroughs
1. OWC SSD Drive install to 2011 iMac Video Walkthrough. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03Lg4IgJd04
The above video took me to where I had a few wires left to disconnect before I could remove the Motherboard:
Several wires in the lower right and lower left corners, and drive connectors & main power connector at top, backside (you have to pull the MB slightly toward you to reach in and disconnect them). After this I could swivel and ease the MB out completely to get to the CPU & GPU.

2. TECH REPUBLIC 2011 iMac Teardown
http://www.techrepublic.com/photos/cracking-open-the-27-apple-imac-2011/6237041?seq=138
this Teardown contains 138 photos of the 2011 iMac disassembly. It gave me a peek at the CPU and GPU so I knew what to expect before getting there. Both Heaksinks need to be removed; CPU needs to then be replaced (use Thermal Grease on new CPU before replacing Heatsink). GPU is one piece total and so is more simple (no Thermal Grease required). Take time disassembling so you know how to put the new ones on.

NOTE: the Heatsinks on both CPU & GPU have the same medium-head Phillips screws holding them on (4 on each Heatsink). They are easy enough to remove, but to get the Heatsinks back on, you have to hold your finger on the little screw on the other side of MB or else the big screw will just keep turning (not tighten). In other words, each of these big Phillips screws tighten by somehow screwing into a smaller screw, the head of which is on the opposite side of MB.

TIP: when everything is done and you’re putting the MB back in, before you put the MB screws in, look at the RAM ports at bottom and make sure they are lined up. Mine weren’t and I had to take my screen back off, unscrew and realign the MB to get it right.

TIP: Lastly, make sure all wires are connected to motherboard before replacing screen. All wire connectors in same area are different sizes, so there's no danger of connecting a wire incorrectly. All wire connectors should be occupied with a wire, except for one connector at middle, top facing the iMac screen. Sorry I didn't note the connector's label, but I'm sure this connector was unoccupied from the start.

That's it.

 

[Rupert91]

iMac 21.5 mid 2011

Any components upgradable on the entry level iMac 21.5?
By the looks of it, only the cpu to 2.7?

 

[kennyap]

Any components upgradable on the entry level iMac 21.5?
By the looks of it, only the cpu to 2.7?

I'm sorry I can't help, I haven't looked into it. But I'm sure you can find out by googling '2011 iMac 21" gpu upgrade' , ect. Maybe someone else will post a reply also.

 

[iMikeT]

Good job on this.

My only question is why didn't you get the upgrades directly from Apple at the point of sale in the first place? I mean, with the cost of the parts and the time it took you, you're in the hole at this point compared to ordering a BTO iMac directly from Apple.

You definitely maxed out your iMac compared to what I have (3.4GHz i7, 16GB RAM, 2GB 6970M, 1TB HDD) and I'm sure that it screams. But was spending the $1,300+ and the time worth it?

Nevertheless, glad it all worked out for you.

 

[kennyap]

Good job on this.

My only question is why didn't you get the upgrades directly from Apple at the point of sale in the first place? I mean, with the cost of the parts and the time it took you, you're in the hole at this point compared to ordering a BTO iMac directly from Apple.

You definitely maxed out your iMac compared to what I have (3.4GHz i7, 16GB RAM, 2GB 6970M, 1TB HDD) and I'm sure that it screams. But was spending the $1,300+ and the time worth it?

Nevertheless, glad it all worked out for you.

The time it took was not an issue as I really enjoyed doing this myself. The price of my upgraded iMac actually works out to be less because I live in the Cayman Islands where a fully loaded iMac would cost me US$ 4,200.00 - my iMac was originally purchased from Honduras for US$2,400.00 -- I take into account the 3.5ghz cpu and 32gb ram, the gratification of successfully doing it myself and I feel it was worth it. If the upgrade had not been successful it would be a different story. But I'm very pleased with the whole thing.
Note: Cayman Islands price: there's a Government Duty (fee) of 25% of [first cost+ freight], add to that the freight and the store's markup.
Honduras price: not sure how they do it, my wife purchased this to surprise me -- wish I'd known, would've gotten the fully-loaded one.
Cheers,
Kenny

 

[meaty]

i just got the base model 2011 21.5" imac for $800. does this one have the i5 2500 sandy bridge? and if not would it be worth it to upgrade to that because i can get one for 100bux

 

[kennyap]

i just got the base model 2011 21.5" imac for $800. does this one have the i5 2500 sandy bridge? and if not would it be worth it to upgrade to that because i can get one for 100bux

Post a screenshot of your "About this Mac, More Info" so we can see what you have. To take the screenshot, use Preview (From Selection), and save as .pdf, for best results. Let me know if you need more details on how to do this.

 

[wheth4400]

Kennyap,

I have upgraded my iMac 2011 as well like you have but I was curious as to if you were having issues installing mountain lion. I can't figure out my issue but am starting to wonder if it is becuase I have an "unsupported" cpu.

Thanks!

 

[kennyap]

Kennyap,

I have upgraded my iMac 2011 as well like you have but I was curious as to if you were having issues installing mountain lion. I can't figure out my issue but am starting to wonder if it is becuase I have an "unsupported" cpu.

Thanks!

wheth4400:

Yeah, I just can't get it installed either. After trying for 2 days now, I've come to the same conclusion as you. I reverted back to one of my Lion installs for now, but plan to give this "Unibeast" Mountain Lion installer from Macbreaker.com a try sometime this week (link below).
http://www.macbreaker.com/2012/07/install-mountain-lion-unibeast.html

Kenny

 

[wheth4400]

Yea I put my old CPU back in and it installed fine, I plan here in the near future to try booting the install with the 2600k but for now I am enjoying my working system lol.

 

[kennyap]

Yea I put my old CPU back in and it installed fine, I plan here in the near future to try booting the install with the 2600k but for now I am enjoying my working system lol.

Though I'm not an authority on the issue, I would bet the new processor will boot fine with ML since it's already installed. Which exact processor had you upgraded your machine to?

 

[wheth4400]

Though I'm not an authority on the issue, I would bet the new processor will boot fine with ML since it's already installed. Which exact processor had you upgraded your machine to?

I do believe you might be right. I have the 2600K, from my understanding though, despite the fact that the 2600K and the 2600 are nearly identical processors, the 2600 should work for the install. Therefore, if ML doesn't boot when I swap these back out here in a few hours, I will be ordering one of those.

 

[wheth4400]

Well, I swapped the CPU back. ML booted great then I shut the system down to button back up the machine. When I turned it back on I was experiencing the exact same issue as before with ML. At this point it seems that there is some type of hardware check that didn't exist before that locks the system down. Seems messed up if you ask me. I guess at this point I will have to try a plain 2600 as I think that is what apple uses in their I7 BTO's iMacs.

 

[kennyap]

Well, I swapped the CPU back. ML booted great then I shut the system down to button back up the machine. When I turned it back on I was experiencing the exact same issue as before with ML. At this point it seems that there is some type of hardware check that didn't exist before that locks the system down. Seems messed up if you ask me. I guess at this point I will have to try a plain 2600 as I think that is what apple uses in their I7 BTO's iMacs.

That sucks, sorry to hear that. I'll try installing ML with the Unibeast installer in the next couple of days. If it works on Hackintosh pc's (and it's also Apple hardware compatible), then I'm thinking it should help with this cpu compatibility issue. I'll let you know how it goes after.

 

[wheth4400]

That sucks, sorry to hear that. I'll try installing ML with the Unibeast installer in the next couple of days. If it works on Hackintosh pc's (and it's also Apple hardware compatible), then I'm thinking it should help with this cpu compatibility issue. I'll let you know how it goes after.

I tried tonymac's unibeat 1.5 already and I couldn't get it to boot. Remember that unibeast emulated the EFI, so if you already have EFI then it probably isn't going to work. I have posted on tonymac's forums asking about a way to deal with this apparent hardware restriction. Hopefully the community over there will be able to come up with a solution before I pull the trigger on another proc lol.

 

[kennyap]

I tried tonymac's unibeat 1.5 already and I couldn't get it to boot. Remember that unibeast emulated the EFI, so if you already have EFI then it probably isn't going to work. I have posted on tonymac's forums asking about a way to deal with this apparent hardware restriction. Hopefully the community over there will be able to come up with a solution before I pull the trigger on another proc lol.

Hi wheth4400:

I wonder if in a clean install of ML, wouldn't Unibeast's installer create the EFI? I agree Unibeast's EFI would have to be in place for booting and updates. Not sure how Unibeast works here, but I'll let you know my outcome after I give it a whirl.

 

[wheth4400]

I gave unibeast a try today and I couldn't get it to boot from the USB disk. Maybe you will have better luck. I ordered my plain 2600 today, that should be here by end of the week. I will post my results with that as well.

 

[kennyap]

I gave unibeast a try today and I couldn't get it to boot from the USB disk. Maybe you will have better luck. I ordered my plain 2600 today, that should be here by end of the week. I will post my results with that as well.

I just tried to boot from a USB Unibeast ML Install and no dice. My machine automatically restarted to my target Lion installation.
I'm in no rush to get ML on my iMac since I have 3 other macs in my house already running it. My thought is it should happen in the future when they increase ML compatibility to include greater range of hardware (updates or iMac refresh).
I will keep looking for a work-around in the meantime. Good luck to you in your efforts.

 

[wheth4400]

I just tried to boot from a USB Unibeast ML Install and no dice. My machine automatically restarted to my target Lion installation.
I'm in no rush to get ML on my iMac since I have 3 other macs in my house already running it. My thought is it should happen in the future when they increase ML compatibility to include greater range of hardware (updates or iMac refresh).
I will keep looking for a work-around in the meantime. Good luck to you in your efforts.

The plain 2600 came in yesterday and works like a charm. I do believe there is some kind of hardware check that goes on during the post for ML. The bad news in that while I was putting the iMac back together I broke my LVDS display port cable..... Now the iMac is at Apple getting repaired out of warranty....

 

[kennyap]

The plain 2600 came in yesterday and works like a charm. I do believe there is some kind of hardware check that goes on during the post for ML. The bad news in that while I was putting the iMac back together I broke my LVDS display port cable..... Now the iMac is at Apple getting repaired out of warranty....

Sorry to hear about the cable. How much is that repair costing you?
I've done more searching on a workaround for my i-2700k without any success. It looks to me like ML doesn't like the unlocked cpu versions, as even the i-3770's appear to work fine. I don't mind running Lion for now. After the next os x release I'll think about putting in an unlocked cpu.

 

[R.OG]

I just installed a 2700k and ran into the same issues with mountain lion. I wish i read this thread before i proceded with the upgrade.

 

[Kirixis]

Questions!

-Can I take a 2010 iMac and do the same?

-What if I use Ivy Bridge CPUs?

-How does it do in bootcamp?

 

[kennyap]

-Can I take a 2010 iMac and do the same?

-What if I use Ivy Bridge CPUs?

-How does it do in bootcamp?

There is more info available on upgrading 2009 iMacs than 2010 models unfortunately. Keep searching and let us know if you find any successful 2010 iMac upgrade accounts.
RE: Ivy Bridge upgrade: this has not been completely successful even for 2011 iMacs. Though it can be done, those who have successfully upgraded 2011 iMacs report continued compatibility issues with installing programs, updates & OS X upgrades.
RE: Core i7-2700k (3.5ghz) upgrade: I have had absolutely no problems in any area with this processor, except I cannot upgrade from OS X Lion to OS X Mountain Lion.
Good Luck,

 

[heystevephan]

thanks for this! I was planning to do the exact same (except just for the video card) its nice to know its possible. Awesome work mann!!!

 

[rabidz7]

I would like to see some of the details

RE: My Upgrade Details, and a word of Caution:

If anyone would like me to post more details of how I did the upgrade, I can list all the materials I used, the Video and the Teardown I worked from, and some insights that will be helpful throughout the process. Just let me know.

Warning: I haven't mentioned any warning regarding the possibility of voiding Apple's Warranty, because I assume every owner is well aware of this. Working on the inside of iMacs is much more difficult than what I was used to with PC's because there is almost no room to work. I've never had a problem myself with damaging anything, but be aware Mac's more intricate design makes it more difficult. Just so you're aware of this.

Cheers,
Kenny

I would like to see the details about the upgrade please send them to me.