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

[Ausdauersportler]

Maxwell based GPUs like your 860M will not work. Apple has already said that it is unwilling to support Maxwell, Pascal and Turing GPUs. They don't have webdrivers for them and their firmware engineers certainly don't have intentions of developing the necessary EFI UGA display drivers that we would need.

Instead they are focusing on AMD as its dedicated graphics card provider.

The 860m is listed on page one as working one. There are Kepler versions of this card.

 

[hawktrainer]

Reseat verical sync cable, and check all display connections again..

And does it also flicker on external display.. ?
You can test external display withouth the internal imac display connected..

The external display isn't receiving a signal from the the imac at all. I'm using a mini-display port cable plugged into the imac thunderbolt port. I ordered an actual thunderbolt to hdmi adapter so I will try that too, just in case. I re-seated all the display cables very well and it still has a black internal display with the original gpu card reinstalled. The logic board seems to see that the gpu and internal display are connected, according to the diagnostic lights, but the screen is totally black now.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

The external display isn't receiving a signal from the the imac at all. I'm using a mini-display port cable plugged into the imac thunderbolt port. I ordered an actual thunderbolt to hdmi adapter so I will try that too, just in case. I re-seated all the display cables very well and it still has a black internal display with the original gpu card reinstalled. The logic board seems to see that the gpu and internal display are connected, according to the diagnostic lights, but the screen is totally black now.

Search the web for the Apple Technician Guide iMac mid 2011, download and follow the steps in the section „no video“ from page 45ff.
There are different guides for the 21 and 27, I used the 27 here to read.
Happy hunting 😎

 

[FlorisVN]

The external display isn't receiving a signal from the the imac at all. I'm using a mini-display port cable plugged into the imac thunderbolt port. I ordered an actual thunderbolt to hdmi adapter so I will try that too, just in case. I re-seated all the display cables very well and it still has a black internal display with the original gpu card reinstalled. The logic board seems to see that the gpu and internal display are connected, according to the diagnostic lights, but the screen is totally black now.

ok,
Remember usually only one display output works !
Most of the time, the one near the other ports..

 

[andripandi]

You are asking why a "baked" original apple card stops in the middle of the boot process working with your internal display? I do not get it

I've already baked my card multiple times without any issues
If the card has any trouble I suppose the monitor will be always black. Am I right?
The fact I see the apple logo with the preloader could be a fact that something software as gone wrong?

Maxwell based GPUs like your 860M will not work. Apple has already said that it is unwilling to support Maxwell, Pascal and Turing GPUs. They don't have webdrivers for them and their firmware engineers certainly don't have intentions of developing the necessary EFI UGA display drivers that we would need.

Instead they are focusing on AMD as its dedicated graphics card provider.

In the first post, the 860M is listed as card that would work fine.
I'm guessing if the fact I can use only the external monitor is related with the card not flashed yet.
Could be only a vbios/driver problem?

Thanks!

 

[Ausdauersportler]

I've already baked my card multiple times without any issues
If the card has any trouble I suppose the monitor will be always black. Am I right?
The fact I see the apple logo with the preloader could be a fact that something software as gone wrong?

In the first post, the 860M is listed as card that would work fine.
I'm guessing if the fact I can use only the external monitor is related with the card not flashed yet.
Could be only a vbios/driver problem?

Thanks!

No, the picture you get from dead cards have a great variety: "grey only", "boot stuck in the middle", "white screen", "pink or green vertical stripes" and probably many more. The most people gave up this baking thing because it buys you time, only. It does not fix the root cause.

The original Apple Card may be dead, the software may stick in an update process and yes, you should flash the BIOS of the 860m. This may be the reason for getting no display. I do not own a 860M, but I read through the post of this thread containing the string "860M" Probably you should do the same.

 

[andripandi]

No, the picture you get from dead cards have a great variety: "grey only", "boot stuck in the middle", "white screen", "pink or green vertical stripes" and probably many more. The most people gave up this baking thing because it buys you time, only. It does not fix the root cause.

The original Apple Card may be dead, the software may stick in an update process and yes, you should flash the BIOS of the 860m. This may be the reason for getting no display. I do not own a 860M, but I read through the post of this thread containing the string "860M" Probably you should do the same.

Thank you for your reply!
Just wondering, if my Apple card is dead I assume there is no external input. But it does!
If I plug my external monitor I can use the iMac

I've already searched the string 860M in this thread but I can't find nobody with same issues.
For sure I'll try to flash the 860m.

In the meanwhile I was looking for a fix for the internal monitor with the old "baked" original Apple Card.

Thanks!

 

[tgaillar]

Maxwell based GPUs like your 860M will not work. Apple has already said that it is unwilling to support Maxwell, Pascal and Turing GPUs. They don't have webdrivers for them and their firmware engineers certainly don't have intentions of developing the necessary EFI UGA display drivers that we would need.

Instead they are focusing on AMD as its dedicated graphics card provider.

The 860m is listed on page one as working one. There are Kepler versions of this card.

Yes, there are indeed 2 versions of the GTX860M (Maxwell versions usually soldered on the mobo with Kepler versions --always?-- on MXM boards)!

Quoting a review on the matter by the "notebookcheck" website (can't post the link, but go to the first Google search result on "gtx-860m-maxwell-kepler"):

Review Nvidia GeForce GTX 860M Maxwell vs. Kepler

Florian Glaser, 04/14/2014
Gaming Laptop Windows

The unequal duel. Nvidia offers two different versions of its latest high-end GPU GeForce GTX 860M. Besides a version based on the Maxwell architecture, there is also a GPU from the old Kepler generation. We compared the performance of the two DirectX 11 chips and found a winner.

...

Specifications
It is easy to understand why Nvidia produces two versions of the GeForce GTX 860M. Smaller notebooks use the soldered GPUs with the Maxwell chip GM107, whereas bulkier gaming cases with MXM slots use the significantly bigger Kepler sibling (GK104 chip), which is also manufactured in a 28 nm process.
Other similarities of the two cards include the memory interface: The GTX 860M uses modern GDDR5 video memory, but a 128-bit interface is not up to date anymore in 2014. It does not really matter if Nvidia equips the graphics card with 2 or 4 GB memory based on our experiences.
Much more important is the number of shader units. Thanks to the huge efficiency improvement, 640 CUDA cores are sufficient for the Maxwell GTX 860M to compete with the in-house rivals. Compared to the GTX 765M, the Kepler GTX 860M gets 50% more CUDA cores, more precisely 1,152 instead of 768. This is even superior to the GTX 770M (960 CUDA cores).
The Maxwell chip is particularly superior in terms of clocks. 1,029-1,097 MHz during 3D operation is significantly higher than the Kepler version. The latter manages 797-915 MHz under load, which is still decent.

Graphics card	GeForce GTX 765M	GeForce GTX 860M Kepler	GeForce GTX 860M Maxwell	GeForce GTX 770M	GeForce GTX 870M	GeForce GTX 780M	GeForce GTX 880M
Manufacturing process	28 nm	28 nm	28 nm	28 nm	28 nm	28 nm	28 nm
Chip	GK106	GK104	GM107	GK106	GK104	GK104	GK104
Architecture	Kepler	Kepler	Maxwell	Kepler	Kepler	Kepler	Kepler
CUDA Cores	768	1,152	640	960	1,344	1,536	1,536
Core clock base	850 MHz	797 MHz	1,029 MHz	811 MHz	941 MHz	823 MHz	954 MHz
Core clock Turbo	902 MHz	915 MHz	1,097 MHz	862 MHz	967 MHz	849 MHz	993 MHz
Memory clock	2,000 MHz	2,500 MHz	2,500 MHz	2,000 MHz	2,500 MHz	2,500 MHz	2,500 MHz
Memory	2,048 MB	4,096 MB	2,048 MB	3,072 MB	6,144 MB	4,096 MB	8,192 MB
Memory type	GDDR5	GDDR5	GDDR5	GDDR5	GDDR5	GDDR5	GDDR5
Memory interface	128-bit	128-bit	128-bit	192-bit	192-bit	256-bit	256-bit

...

Verdict
GTX 860M Maxwell (left) vs. GTX 860M Kepler (right)
The Kepler GTX 860M does actually leave a good impression when you compare it with the last generation. Around 30% more performance than a GTX 765M certainly deserve credit.
However, the old chip has a hard time keeping up with the Maxwell version. Despite less shaders, the new architecture is around 10% faster. The GeForce GTX 770M is also slightly ahead of the Kepler chip, which is not least caused by the larger memory interface. We are pretty sure that the Kepler GTX 860M would be faster with a 192-bit memory interface.
The Kepler GPU offers a decent, but not brilliant high-end performance. If possible, gamers should choose the Maxwell chip or a more powerful GPU. The GTX 860M is usually sufficient for 1600x900 pixels, high details and – depending on the game – subtle anti-aliasing settings.

GPU	Overall Performance
GeForce GTX 880M	+65%
GeForce GTX 780M	+47%
GeForce GTX 870M	+37%
GeForce GTX 860M Maxwell	+10%
GeForce GTX 770M	+3%
GeForce GTX 860M Kepler	Base (Average of 16 games)
GeForce GTX 765M	-23%

And by the way, GeForce GTX 870M and GTX 880M should be accessible too since Kepler-based!

 

[passatgt]

These cards would be perfect, but no idea where to buy them. Probably way too expensive and sold in bulk.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

For those of you who have done many of these - how's your luck been with these greymarket cards? So far, I've purchased two K2000Ms and three K1100Ms and 3 of 5 have been DOA. (Short on the MXM board or damaged resistors/caps.)

I bought 5x K2100M and 8x K1100M from four different sources, no faulty card so far. Two privately owned K2100M, the others from two used part resellers. This is no long term data, I just flashed, installed with pads, booted and put back into my stock or left it - them K2100M - in one of my family owned iMac mid 2011 machines. Latest kid is a 780m, privately owned. I am really curious

 

[Brennan Schmidt]

Would you like to upload a system report? You get it with this terminal command:

system_profiler -detailLevel basic > ~/Desktop/system_report_basic.txt

and you will find it on the desktop. Did you have the latest and greatest firmware installed before using Catalina, although 10.15.3 comes with the latest one. Which OS version?

Hey sorry for the late response but i was able to get that file that you wanted to look into.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Hey sorry for the late response but i was able to get that file that you wanted to look into.

Yep, your macOS does not recognize your hardware, the built in audio hardware is missing in the beginning of the log - what we already knew.

And you have a pretty old firmware, I would go back to High Sierra and try an upgrade there. Base install and then just load the latest security upgrade. Recent versions can be easily recognized: The numbers are like 87.0.0.0.0 and not your:

      Boot ROM Version: IM112.005D.B00
      SMC Version (system): 1.64f5

Check audio in High Sierra (latest supported OS) and when you get audio it will be probably just a unfortunate combination of software, otherwise I would recommend to check all the cables. You did a complete hardware reinstallation.

 

[Brennan Schmidt]

Yep, your macOS does not recognize your hardware, the built in audio hardware is missing in the beginning of the log - what we already knew.

And you have a pretty old firmware, I would go back to High Sierra and try an upgrade there. Base install and then just load the latest security upgrade. Recent versions can be easily recognized: The numbers are like 87.0.0.0.0 and not your:

      Boot ROM Version: IM112.005D.B00
      SMC Version (system): 1.64f5

Check audio in High Sierra (latest supported OS) and when you get audio it will be probably just a unfortunate combination of software, otherwise I would recommend to check all the cables. You did a complete hardware reinstallation.

Got high Sierra back on and updated it all. Sound also started working as soon as I got back on High Sierra. You think it just needed updated or just SOL on the drivers for the sound on Catalina?

 

[Brennan Schmidt]

Quick update i ended up going to Mojave and installed the patches after the install and everything seems to be working again. Thanks for the help guys!

 

[Marvin_B.]

Hey Guys !
I´ve got a little problem with the Gpu Upgrade on my Imac 2011 21.5, i´ve just installed an K1100M flashed with the Nick[D]vB. So everything is working properly (of course no native brightness control), but the System crashes randomly Time over Time and just restarts instantly. So i got the System Report for you. I hope you can help me and i don´t need to reinstall my old Graphics.
Thanks a lot Marvin

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Hey Guys !
I´ve got a little problem with the Gpu Upgrade on my Imac 2011 21.5, i´ve just installed an K1100M flashed with the Nick[D]vB. So everything is working properly (of course no native brightness control), but the System crashes randomly Time over Time and just restarts instantly. So i got the System Report for you. I hope you can help me and i don´t need to reinstall my old Graphics.
Thanks a lot Marvin

Did you install the sleep kext mentioned on the first page of this thread? Lies dort noch einmal nach
[automerge]1582100843[/automerge]

Quick update i ended up going to Mojave and installed the patches after the install and everything seems to be working again. Thanks for the help guys!

On your 2011 you need the Dosdude1 post install patches and the sleep kext mentioned on page #1, too. It is still a pity not having them in the Dosdude1 patcher included.

 

[Marvin_B.]

Did you install the sleep kext mentioned on the first page of this thread? Lies dort noch einmal nach
[automerge]1582100843[/automerge]

On your 2011 you need the Dosdude1 post install patches and the sleep kext mentioned on page #1, too. It is still a pity not having them in the Dosdude1 patcher included.

Okay danke, I will try this!

 

[olindacat]

If you plan to re-use the iMac you will use the modern versions of MacOS, too. I went through this baking story, it did not work at all. So I would not recommend it unless you a second oven not used for food preparation (ROHS) and a lot of time.
And you will go through all this hand work a second time when yo have your new graphics adapter prepared. The baking story was the solution before Nick came up with his BIOS. This is history. But you can use the video above and the ifixit.com link to get an idea which tools you need and what has to be done.

I can bake a spaghetti squash, and even a salmon, but a video card??? No way!

 

[ich558]

Hey, i have 4 LEDs light on my 27"2011 but display stays black- with original AMD GPU and a K2000m. Any idear what the problem could be?

 

[passatgt]

Hey, i have 4 LEDs light on my 27"2011 but display stays black- with original AMD GPU and a K2000m. Any idear what the problem could be?

Can you try an external display and see if you have picture there?

 

[BeerFighter]

Hi everyone! Tryin' to read such thread, but it much question
1. Why does the GTX 860M have a special ROM - 80.04.E8.00.0D, and not "Nick [D]vB"? Is it better or something else?
2. Which card is suitable cooling with two heat pipes, and for which three?
3. Does the native 310 watt power supply have enough power?
4. Will there be any problems with High Sierra? Is additional software required?
5. What will happen to the memory chips located on the back side?
6. Will there be metal support if I install Catalina?
just to make everything clear...

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Hi everyone! Tryin' to read such thread, but it much question
1. Why does the GTX 860M have a special ROM - 80.04.E8.00.0D, and not "Nick [D]vB"? Is it better or something else?
2. Which card is suitable cooling with two heat pipes, and for which three?
3. Does the native 310 watt power supply have enough power?
4. Will there be any problems with High Sierra? Is additional software required?
5. What will happen to the memory chips located on the back side?
6. Will there be metal support if I install Catalina?
just to make everything clear...

I do not like this kind of answer, but did you read the first post of this thread? Nearly every question will be answered there. Otherwise this will become spoon feeding

 

[passatgt]

Hi everyone! Tryin' to read such thread, but it much question
1. Why does the GTX 860M have a special ROM - 80.04.E8.00.0D, and not "Nick [D]vB"? Is it better or something else?
2. Which card is suitable cooling with two heat pipes, and for which three?
3. Does the native 310 watt power supply have enough power?
4. Will there be any problems with High Sierra? Is additional software required?
5. What will happen to the memory chips located on the back side?
6. Will there be metal support if I install Catalina?
just to make everything clear...

1. That is a rom thats working but without boot screen
2. Quadro kXX00m for 21.5" iMacs and 27" with 2 heatpipes. The other card mentioned are for 27" with 3 heatpipes.
3. Yes
4. No problem, no add. software
5. It will be still on the back side once you install the card
6. Yes

 

[BeerFighter]

I do not like this kind of answer, but did you read the first post of this thread? Nearly every question will be answered there. Otherwise this will become spoon feeding

Weel, just did it one more time. So, it answer just for #6. Yep, miss it some way..
But there are no full answers to the remaining questions. Spoon feeding, huh? I'm just open my mouth
[automerge]1582142490[/automerge]

1. That is a rom thats working but without boot screen
2. Quadro kXX00m for 21.5" iMacs and 27" with 2 heatpipes. The other card mentioned are for 27" with 3 heatpipes.
3. Yes
4. No problem, no add. software
5. It will be still on the back side once you install the card
6. Yes

Thank you! But about #5: сan they be damaged by overheating?

 

[max86]

Hello.Is non k quardo 2000m is working,and be bios flashable?Someone has tryed this?