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iM 4,1-14,4 2011 iMac Graphics Card Upgrade
- Thread starter MichaelDT
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great to hear another iMac has been revived from the death
.things can only get better in the future, since the prototype nvidia rom has been dumped here..
Have fun with your iMac
I would btw suggest using MacOS/Linux with flashrom with the CH341A, I myself and read from others have too many problems with windows drivers ****..
Not using Windows is in my opinion the best here..
Ah... yes... i found a picture on ifixit. The GPU on the 2009 21.5" Model is soldered on the logicboard.
So i have to go for a 2010 21,5" Model.
So i have to go for a 2010 21,5" Model.
this would then only be for core 2 duo models, A1311 ?
core i models, use an MXM slot..
but for 09 models, I would say just stick with corei models, and you will be fine I would say..
Seems like Early 08/09 A1224/A1225 does also have an MXM slot, but then it's MXM2 I think, and also not compatible that easily with gpu upgrades.
But I think this has been posted here before, that these older iMac's won't work with GPU upgrades.
correct me if I'm wrong of course..
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The 21,5" 2009 is only Core2Duo. Only the 27" were also available as Core-i
The 20" and 24" from 2008 uses an MXM 2 slot indeed. I also had one of those there some time ago.
The 20" and 24" from 2008 uses an MXM 2 slot indeed. I also had one of those there some time ago.
Hmmm... i'm just reading more on iFixit and it seems the GPU on the 21.5" 2010 Model also is on the other side. According to the ifixit-manual i still have to remove the logicboard.
www.ifixit.com
But on the 27" Model the manual does it without the removing of the Logicboard.
www.ifixit.com
Both have the screws on the same side. Does someone has some more information about the 2010 and done this without removing the Logicboard?
iMac Intel 21.5" EMC 2389 GPU Card Replacement
Use this guide to replace the GPU card.
www.ifixit.com
But on the 27" Model the manual does it without the removing of the Logicboard.
iMac Intel 27" (Late 2009 or Mid 2010) Graphics Card Replacement
If you are using the iMac 27" late 2009 or 2010 model for games, you might want to upgrade your graphics card to the 6 series of the last 2011 model.
www.ifixit.com
Both have the screws on the same side. Does someone has some more information about the 2010 and done this without removing the Logicboard?
Hmmm... i'm just reading more on iFixit and it seems the GPU on the 21.5" 2010 Model also is on the other side. According to the ifixit-manual i still have to remove the logicboard.
iMac Intel 21.5" EMC 2389 GPU Card Replacement
Use this guide to replace the GPU card.
But on the 27" Model the manual does it without the removing of the Logicboard.
iMac Intel 27" (Late 2009 or Mid 2010) Graphics Card Replacement
If you are using the iMac 27" late 2009 or 2010 model for games, you might want to upgrade your graphics card to the 6 series of the last 2011 model.
Both have the screws on the same side. Does someone has some more information about the 2010 and done this without removing the Logicboard?
The layout is same for a 2010 as for the 2011, gpu is on the other side, you need to remove the logic board to access it. You could do this
WTF.... well that is an option.....
But according to the manual on ifixit for the 27" they remove the GPU without removing the logicboard.
But according to the manual on ifixit for the 27" they remove the GPU without removing the logicboard.
that is not the proper way.
Also that ifixit manuall is not an official one.
See my previous posted imac technicial guide, posted few pages back.
You must remove the logic board, in order to do it properly.
or do it like passatgt, the hard way
[automerge]1570446126[/automerge]
The layout is same for a 2010 as for the 2011, gpu is on the other side, you need to remove the logic board to access it. You could do this
View attachment 867321
nice did not know you where this guy, who has done this mod..
Are you the one who also made this mod on a youtube video a while back.. ?
that is not the proper way.
Also that ifixit manuall is not an official one.
See my previous posted imac technicial guide, posted few pages back.
You must remove the logic board, in order to do it properly.
or do it like passatgt, the hard way
[automerge]1570446126[/automerge]
nice did not know you where this guy, who has done this mod..
Are you the one who also made this mod on a youtube video a while back.. ?
No, sorry, i just saved this image a while ago, its not me
Hmmmm this would indeed make it much more easier. Do not even have to remove the Display. Just the card in the back of the iMac.
Wow ... so much progress in this thread. The last two days I was busy see the latest news
Just a short question, can the great bootscreen fix from Nick also be applied a K1000M?
From here I would understand, this won't work.
But here it says that the bios can be flashed - or is this just to get the card working at all (without bootscreen)?
(Sorry if this has been clarified somewhere already ...)
Just a short question, can the great bootscreen fix from Nick also be applied a K1000M?
From here I would understand, this won't work.
But here it says that the bios can be flashed - or is this just to get the card working at all (without bootscreen)?
(Sorry if this has been clarified somewhere already ...)
Wow ... so much progress in this thread. The last two days I was busy see the latest news
Just a short question, can the great bootscreen fix from Nick also be applied a K1000M?
From here I would understand, this won't work.
But here it says that the bios can be flashed - or is this just to get the card working at all (without bootscreen)?
(Sorry if this has been clarified somewhere already ...)
Currently There is no bootscreen mod available for the Quadro K1000M.
Only for GTX765/770/780m Nvidia cards, made available by Nick !
Perhaps this can change someday..
Also Im not sure if the K1000M will work at all, as far as I know users have reported Dell Nvidia Quadro K2000M/K1100M worked..
Of course all still without a bootscreen.
I would suggest you only use these smaller MXM-A cards in a 21,5" iMac, if you have a 27" iMac use the supported beter MXM-B GTX cards..
Attachments
If you are looking for performance and a proper upgrade path for your GPU, I would agree with this. However, I can certainly confirm that the smaller MXM-A cards work perfectly fine in the 27" iMac if you are looking for a cheaper/budget solution. Over the weekend I was able to install a Quadro K1100M GPU in one of my 27" 2011 iMacs. Had to drill out the X-clamp rivets as expected (shaving down the original X-clamp had some odd overlap with back resistors and I did not think this would be good) but no grinding of the heatsink as required with many of the larger cards.
I can confirm the K1100M is working in the 27" 2011. But someone told me he has 2 cards who dont work. So he will send me his cards and i try to flash those with the vBios of mine.
Likely the issue I experienced. Turns out there are TWO Dell VBIOS for the K1100M. I had to flash 80.07.CC.00.04 which is the version on your card. Thanks again for the postings, saved me some hassle!
I would still prefer a GTX card inside a 27", only if it was for the EFI mod from Nick !
Yes of course MXM-A and B work in both models, that is correct.
As for using a 21,5" iMac, I would still recommend smaller cards, due too limiti space inside the iMac, power draw and possibily heat production..
These 21,5" iMac's where not made for these bigger power hungry cards to begin with, but yes they can work with it as we have seen...
I'd also be interested to know if you get Windows boot-screens? They should work but I expect you will see a message about "No valid MXM Structure found".
Are they native DP screens or are you using adapters? A dump from that prototype 27" would be great!
Will try and get Windoze installed on it later this evening.
One was a DP—>HDMI adapter
The second screen was native DP
Wrong, I had a Late 2009 21.5". It had the Radeon HD 4670 card which was an MXM. These iMacs do use the Nvidia chipset with the integrated 9400M though. So make sure to get one that has the Radeon.
Hmmm... i'm just reading more on iFixit and it seems the GPU on the 21.5" 2010 Model also is on the other side. According to the ifixit-manual i still have to remove the logicboard.
iMac Intel 21.5" EMC 2389 GPU Card Replacement
Use this guide to replace the GPU card.
But on the 27" Model the manual does it without the removing of the Logicboard.
iMac Intel 27" (Late 2009 or Mid 2010) Graphics Card Replacement
If you are using the iMac 27" late 2009 or 2010 model for games, you might want to upgrade your graphics card to the 6 series of the last 2011 model.
Both have the screws on the same side. Does someone has some more information about the 2010 and done this without removing the Logicboard?
EDIT: For 27" only - sorry...
From my point of view it is possible to remove the GPU without removing the Logicboard. But the removal of the GPU sensor connector is a little bit tricky and to attach the connector back you will need some kind of a pair of tweezers.
BR
Lars
Windows in legacy mode shows nothing on either the internal display or external either during or after boot. Zilch
![Nick [D]vB](/data/avatars/m/1132/1132239.jpg?1552018909){kind=avatar}
Great, thanks for testing it. Now I’ve had more time to look at the vbios that makes sense. At first glance I assumed I’d just misunderstood how things work (normally a safe assumption!) so knowing it doesn’t actually work is a good thing, for me at least. The sad truth is this vBIOS was obviously from a very early prototype, it seems they’ve done just enough to get the internal screen working in MacOS, and nothing more.
EDIT: Does installing the display driver in Windows get the internal screen working ?
Still not sure how the prototype has a working DP when they're both broken on the 27" ??
The silver lining is that brightness control works, now we just need to understand why. My usual strategy would be to try and break it! I could send you a few different patched vbios to test some theories. There is a good chance we can get one DP output working, and there’s no risk of bricking the card, luckily they used a normal eeprom package instead of DFN so you can just recover it with the clip. Flashing it in windows would be easier if you can set up remote access first (Teamviewer). Thanks for everything you’ve done so far, let me know if you have time for some more tests.
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