iM 4,1-14,4 2011 iMac Graphics Card Upgrade

[baller status]

Can I swap the gpu heatsink from a 27" into my 21.5"? It's a mid 2011.

I'm putting a 765M in and my iMac has the two pipe heatsink. A component on the 765M hits the pipe section, so I'd rather grind material off the 3 pipe heatsink if it will swap in. My other thought was to space the gpu off the heatsink about 2.8mm using a stack of 2 copper shims, but then I'd need longer x clamp screws and I don't know the thread pitch. It may also have clearance issues with the case or the motherboard. Bending the pipes is tempting, but I think it's risky to pinch off the flow of whatever liquid is inside, or possibly break them open.

Note that in the pics I have the heatsink off to the side to show how much clearance I need. That component actually needs to go under the pipes, not beside it.

 

[nas7y]

But what about mosfets? Temp of them can cause kernel panic. Better put on the mosfets long thermal pad. I will make photo today later.

 

[baller status]

But what about mosfets? Temp of them can cause kernel panic. Better put on the mosfets long thermal pad. I will make photo today later.

Don't they butt up against the larger three pipe heat sink? At least two of them?
I thought about getting a raspberry pi kit the little heat sinks with double sided thermal tape. I'd have to cut off a large portion of the heat sink for the other two on the side.
I've also removed the disc drive because someone suggested it helps lower temps. Looks easy to put back if I ever have a need for it, but I've only ever used it once.
In the future I can swap to an SSD and make a fan duct if needed. I'm hoping that wont be necessary.

 

[nikey22]

@thinkingbrain
congrats on the install. Regarding the backlight. If I'm not mistaken, even if you use software based ways to lower the brightness, the output to the backlight is still @ 100%. I'd be interested to know if in the next few days when you use your computer, if you notice the fans spin up more often and get noiser, because the backlight will undoubtedly gets hot.

 

[thinkingbrain]

@thinkingbrain
congrats on the install. Regarding the backlight. If I'm not mistaken, even if you use software based ways to lower the brightness, the output to the backlight is still @ 100%. I'd be interested to know if in the next few days when you use your computer, if you notice the fans spin up more often and get noiser, because the backlight will undoubtedly gets hot.

In the next day i'm try to stress the machine for looking stability and temperature...
for now the temperature are very good and the fan are really quiet.
just after the first boot, whit the Nvidia gpu card, the fan spin go up to max just because i'm not attach the ODD sensor (i'm leave the dvd and use it for the ssd), and the iMac are really quiet!

 

[nas7y]

In my situation I had kernel panic 1 time when I too much put the monitor at the left upper side (when investor card is). After that - no problems.
[automerge]1577657643[/automerge]
and it's not hot. monitor a little warm. Not anything special.

 

[baller status]

So the trick to getting up close photos w/out blur is to position the camera (or phone) far away, then zoom in. Put lots of light on the subject. Position it near a window with sunlight or turn the flashlight on of several other phones. Tap the screen to focus on the important point (yours is focused on the background), and give it a second to adjust. Breathe out and hold very still.

 

[nas7y]

Thx, sorry i made it in the night and my wife sad i have 10 minutes to stop touch mac. BTW what place do you want to see in zoom?

 

[passatgt]

Btw, did you guys know that these two flaps should go over your display, below the glass? Not like this on the picture. No idea what it does, but the "correct" way is that the flaps are above the display.

 

[nas7y]

It help to reduce electrical noise emissions....
[automerge]1577663170[/automerge]
May be it kill static?

 

[highvoltage12v]

Btw, did you guys know that these two flaps should go over your display, below the glass? Not like this on the picture. No idea what it does, but the "correct" way is that the flaps are above the display.

View attachment 885487
View attachment 885488

I just get a black stick behind them and pull them forward before putting the glass back on. Side note it has been difficult to access Mac Rumors all day today.

 

[Sricca]

Does any one here know if there is a way to change either the name or icon for an EFI.Boot drive when starting iMac when pressing option key? I have multiple EFI boot drives. I would like to be able to label or icon each appropriately

 

[Kusri Hatmoyo]

Hi, I'm new member in here. I have iMac 27" 2010 and already upgraded to catalina from dosdude1. next week i planning to upgrade my radeon HD 5670 512MB to GTX 780M 4GB.
I've check all the steps, but one more thing I don't have the answer yet. My catalina is already patched with "legacy video card patch version 10". Can i use the 780M with this patch, or do I have to unpatch/reinstall the catalina? Actually I feel comfortable with high sierra but some of apps that I need for my work is only working in majove and above.

Installing macOS Catalina
The process for Catalina is similar to Mojave, above. Similarly to Mojave, you could preinstall Mojave before changing your GPU. Use dosdude1's Catalina patcher to do the install: http://dosdude1.com/catalina/
Important: Post-install patching has changed since Mojave. Patching is now automated if your SMBIOS is detected to be an unsupported machine. Currently, only the 2011 iMacs have the "Legacy Video Card Patch" disabled by default. You will want to avoid this patch (since you will using a new, compatible metal graphics card) and will need to modify a plist file if you are using a 2009/2010 iMac with a Metal compatible video card. Inside the patcher, you can go to the "Options" menu and de-select "Auto-Apply Post-Install Patches" to avoid this.

 

[highvoltage12v]

Does any one here know if there is a way to change either the name or icon for an EFI.Boot drive when starting iMac when pressing option key? I have multiple EFI boot drives. I would like to be able to label or icon each appropriately

Show hidden files on the Dosdude1 installer USB flash drive. You should be able to see the .icons file.

Then move the .Icons file to the Root of your Boot drive.

 

[NOTNlCE]

Hi, I'm new member in here. I have iMac 27" 2010 and already upgraded to catalina from dosdude1. next week i planning to upgrade my radeon HD 5670 512MB to GTX 780M 4GB.
I've check all the steps, but one more thing I don't have the answer yet. My catalina is already patched with "legacy video card patch version 10". Can i use the 780M with this patch, or do I have to unpatch/reinstall the catalina? Actually I feel comfortable with high sierra but some of apps that I need for my work is only working in majove and above.

If you applied the "Legacy Video Card Patch" already you will need to reinstall Catalina over top of your existing installation (no need to wipe it or start fresh) for the patch to be overwritten, and then re-patch, de-selecting the "Legacy Video Card Patch" option in the post-install.

Happened to me a few times, it's an easy fix as long as you still have your installation USB.

 

[Kusri Hatmoyo]

If you applied the "Legacy Video Card Patch" already you will need to reinstall Catalina over top of your existing installation (no need to wipe it or start fresh) for the patch to be overwritten, and then re-patch, de-selecting the "Legacy Video Card Patch" option in the post-install.

Happened to me a few times, it's an easy fix as long as you still have your installation USB.

thank you NOTNICE for the answer

 

[highvoltage12v]

If you applied the "Legacy Video Card Patch" already you will need to reinstall Catalina over top of your existing installation (no need to wipe it or start fresh) for the patch to be overwritten, and then re-patch, de-selecting the "Legacy Video Card Patch" option in the post-install.

Happened to me a few times, it's an easy fix as long as you still have your installation USB.

I need to purposely screw up one of my installations and overwrite Kexts from a stock install to see which ones specifically break Metal/acceleration I'm pretty sure it's the openGL.framework Would it be worth it to create a post on this?

 

[Terros]

Hello all,

Please may you help confirm where I attach the CH341 clip on my card? I assume it's the circled chip but not 100% although I do see the "dot" where pin 1 of the clip is suppose to go, on the circled chip

It's (supposedly a Dell/Alienware) 780m but had no such luck getting display so a last ditch attempt before claiming it's dead, is the clip flash.

 

[highvoltage12v]

Hello all,

Please may you help confirm where I attach the CH341 clip on my card? I assume it's the circled chip but not 100% although I do see the "dot" where pin 1 of the clip is suppose to go, on the circled chip

It's (supposedly a Dell/Alienware) 780m but had no such luck getting display so a last ditch attempt before claiming it's dead, is the clip flash.

Yes it's the chip on the lower left corner with the Die facing you. You need to read the model off the chip its usually an MXIC 25l2006e which can be flashed as a MXIC 25L2005 using Ch341a Black edition. Make sure on your clip you line the Red wire up with the Black dot indented into the ROM chip on card.

 

[Terros]

Yes it's the chip on the lower left corner with the Die facing you. You need to read the model off the chip its usually an MXIC 25l2006e which can be flashed as a MXIC 25L2005 using Ch341a Black edition. Make sure on your clip you line the Red wire up with the Black dot indented into the ROM chip on card.

Thanks for the quick response @highvoltage12v.

Got a close up of the chip, is this the chip you're talking about above? I also bought this clip > https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/CH341A-24-25-Series-EEPROM-Flash-BIOS-USB-Programmer-SOIC8-Clip-On-Board-AU/392273615465?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649#rwid

Am I all good to go and do I flash the nvidia bios through nvflash with the clip? Bit lost with what I'm actually flashing, nvflash or eeprom??

 

[highvoltage12v]

Thanks for the quick response @highvoltage12v.

Got a close up of the chip, is this the chip you're talking about above? I also bought this clip > https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/CH341A-24-25-Series-EEPROM-Flash-BIOS-USB-Programmer-SOIC8-Clip-On-Board-AU/392273615465?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649#rwid

Am I all good to go and do I flash the nvidia bios through nvflash with the clip? Bit lost with what I'm actually flashing, nvflash or eeprom??

I thought you are attempting to revive a potentially dead card which means the only way to do this is with a CLIP and CH341a. the chip is a Gigadevice gd25q0t not an MXIC. The YouTube video

has the CH341a Black Edition software/driver I'm referring too. It's also good to watch to see the proper way to attach the clip (see below) to the ch341a.

Because you are using Nick's file, it ends in .ROM The Black edition software will only accept .BIN you need to choose from the drop down to accept all files.

Also thermal pads should not be used on the Die side. You should be using k5-Pro as this stuff is more malleable than thermal paste but spreads when pressure is applied. Thermal pads may not be allowing the GPU die to make full contact with the heatsink. I attached an image of what K5 pro looks like on components.

This video shows how to assemble the clip to the programmer. The red wire is always pin 1. You can see on my phone that the CH341a has a diagram showing 25XX and a white spot in the right upper corner. This is where pin 1 goes.

 

[Terros]

Can't even get this clip to detect the 780M or 6970M chip (the light doesn't turn red either) mine looks to be connected correctly like yours and the videos

Was really hoping this "Dell" 780M would work out of the box...

 

[highvoltage12v]

Pin 1 on your chip has an arrow pointing to it on the PCB. Are you sure you are connecting all 8 pins onto the chip? I always have to get eye level with it to check. Also make sure you went into device manager and install the drivers.

If you have a red light without the clip connected and connect the clip and the light disappears then something is backwards. You can also tell by the chip on the ch341a getting hot.

 

[Terros]

Pin 1 on your chip has an arrow pointing to it on the PCB. Are you sure you are connecting all 8 pins onto the chip? I always have to get eye level with it to check. Also make sure you went into device manager and install the drivers.

If you have a red light without the clip connected and connect the clip and the light disappears then something is backwards. You can also tell by the chip on the ch341a getting hot.

Not sure if the pictures are any good.

Windows detects the USB (can also inject it into Ubuntu via VirtualBox with Flashrom), the chip is warm to touch.

Since I was getting 0 display out of the firewire TB port and to the local display, the guys here mentioned I should get the clip and flash it as I couldn't get display in Windows.

Hitting Capslock/NumLock etc with the card in wouldn't show a light on the KB almost like the machine was frozen.

Notice anything I may not be from the pictures perhaps @highvoltage12v ?

 

[highvoltage12v]

You have the one red light which is fine. The 2nd red light will come on when it it reading or writing data. From the pictures you uploaded everything looks fine. But I can't see the wires going to the top of the clip. Just make sure the red wire goes to the bottom left of the chip when viewing the MXM card/eeprom as shown in your earlier pic. When you click detect in "CH341 Programmer Black edition" do you at least see the 2nd LED blink for a second? It should then auto fill the manufacturer with 0FF (EEPROM not detected) etc or GD etc.

I should also add don't push the pins too far into the (ch341a) locking mechanism you should see a little bit of silver of the pins.

I think at least one pin isn't making contact, I can see it barely from the side which means it probably didn't retract in like the others