Hi! The TPD is only one side of the story. There are not a lot of upgrades possible with these iMacs. The Sandy Bridge family knows according to ark.intel.com only a 1270 - which is a i7-2600 with a disabled HD3000 iGPU ...
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iM 4,1-14,4 2011 iMac Graphics Card Upgrade
- Thread starter MichaelDT
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Yep, I did, and as Pascal said I think that the key lies in blocking of the com.apple.driver.AppleGraphicsDevicePolicy... I also found out that Lilu and WhateverGreen (and no I didn't had them injected and installed during testing, always just one or the other) somehow were not cooperating.
I was testing this with the WX4170 and 2020-002 Update (I believe it will be the same for 003 which I updated later but did not do an extensive testing).
- Booting without OC
- system boot
- HS with 2020-002 and AppleGraphicsControl (from @highvoltage12v) - all is good
- HS without 2020-002 and without AppleGraphicsControl (from highvoltage12) - requires external display for the internal one to fire-up
- sleep on both HS with or without 2020-002 security update works well
- system boot
- Booting with OC
- system boot
- HS without 2020-002 security update works well (requires Kernel parameter under Block section com.apple.driver.AppleGraphicsDevicePolicy to be enabled)
- HS with 2020-002 security update works well (requires Kernel parameter under Block section com.apple.driver.AppleGraphicsDevicePolicy to be enabled and requires Lilu and WhateverGreen to be disabled)
- system boot
Latest High Sierra:
With patched AppleGraphicsControl.kext + Opencore + com.apple.driver.AppleGraphicsDevicePolicy blocked in Opencore + Lilu + Whatevergreen --> No black screen.
That's my experience as well, but @jborko wrote something like:
Without patched AppleGraphicsControl.kext + Opencore + com.apple.driver.AppleGraphicsDevicePolicy blocked in Opencore - Lilu - Whatevergreen --> No black screen.
Sure, but Whatevergreen is needed for hardware enc\dec HEVC so there is a choice to make here...
I've got the impression that lilu is the part that performs the blocking according to what is passed on the kernel command line. Blocking without lilu doesn't seem possible to me.
Maybe something was not right with my setup and it was 002 update. Current one is 003. I just went back to see what I did at the end > Lilu and WEG directly in HS (instead of OC) and the remaining things as Pascal said.
Ah, now I do understand what Pascal wrote! So you do have WEG and Lilu installed, but directly since that is needed for HEVC hardware acceleration. Now it makes sense to me.
Short question about: which cpu to choose.
I have have:
2700k
E3 1270
E3 1280
E3 1290
I see on ark intel they all would fit in the socket and have the same TDP as the Processor himself. I saw some articles where they could insert an e3 1270 but basically would the 1280/1290 also fit no?
I would like to order then the 1290 at first hand to try this out the 4 GHz would be a bit of a boost.
Do I run in thermal issues ? I guess no ?
Kind regards,
I have have:
2700k
E3 1270
E3 1280
E3 1290
I see on ark intel they all would fit in the socket and have the same TDP as the Processor himself. I saw some articles where they could insert an e3 1270 but basically would the 1280/1290 also fit no?
I would like to order then the 1290 at first hand to try this out the 4 GHz would be a bit of a boost.
Do I run in thermal issues ? I guess no ?
Kind regards,
These E3 CPUs dont have GPU embedded, you maybe will not be able to sleep/wake.
I'll choose in this set (GPU onboard):
intel® Xeon® Processor E3-1275 CPUID signature: 206A7
Intel® Xeon® Processor E3-1245 CPUID signature: 206A7
Intel® Xeon® Processor E3-1235 CPUID signature: 206A7
Intel® Xeon® Processor E3-1225 CPUID signature: 206A7
I will not go too with 2700K, it seems not fully supported (some say yes, others no). I7 2600, I7 2600s are sure solutions.
These E3 CPUs dont have GPU embedded, you maybe will not be able to sleep/wake.
I'll choose in this set (GPU onboard):
intelXeon
Intel
Intel
Intel
I will not go too with 2700K, it seems not fully supported (some say yes, others no). I7 2600, I7 2600s are sure solutions.
XeonThank you very much. I purchased already a 2700k so let’s see if this one is working. I’d not I’m going to order a 1275 then.
Kind regards,
No, different socket type. The best you can do is the i7-860 or i7-870...as I wrote before there is not much difference unless you get more real cores, not only HT threads.
EDIT:
It is always worth to replace a i3 since this is only a limited i5 (marketing or production failure). But you rarely see difference between i5 and i7 unless you use a production software heavily using the CPUs for a real long time (minutes, hours). The last thing I can remember was seti@home or mining or scientific simulations (often badly implemented).
Last edited:
Here is full catalina 10.15.5 support with nvidia quadro k2100m on imac 21,5 mid 2011 with opencore
If anyone is interested I put together a start to finish walkthrough of installing a k610m into a 2011, 21.5 inch iMac. I also compiled a list of the files needed as well as a readme in google drive. The docs are included in a link in the comments of the video. Hopefully this simplifies the process a little for someone, It was a bit tricky to find all the files and the entire process!
Docs: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1SUAfVkq3TnTRo2DcoeyRR0AhimA1HxZZ
Docs: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1SUAfVkq3TnTRo2DcoeyRR0AhimA1HxZZ
Hi All!
Success here upgrading my iMac mid 2011 27".
From retail it was a i5-2500S with Radeon HD 6770M 512mb.
I got a K2100M from Aliexpress, Dell version and followed exactly the steps from post #1, specially this two:
1) Post #4363 (https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/2011-imac-graphics-card-upgrade.1596614/post-28184981) with the steps needed to flash via linux USB. It was quick and safe.
2) Post #4921 (https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/2011-imac-graphics-card-upgrade.1596614/post-28281414) with the steps to mount OpenCore image on SD card.
With the SD and Usb-drive ready, I swapped my video card (With the X brace from HD6770).
Connected via SSH from another mac, I've flashed the new card.
With the SSD cables attached and SD card inserted, I've rebooted and everything works flawlessly!
High Sierra booted up OK, brightness control working and the best part: almost 2x more powerfull than HD6770.
Tomorrow I'll try to upgrade my CPU too. I've bought a i7-2600S to replace the i5. I know there is a little (or zero) improvement lol
Many thanks to everybody that put so much effort on this project and made all this possible!
Sorry about my english!
Success here upgrading my iMac mid 2011 27".
From retail it was a i5-2500S with Radeon HD 6770M 512mb.
I got a K2100M from Aliexpress, Dell version and followed exactly the steps from post #1, specially this two:
1) Post #4363 (https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/2011-imac-graphics-card-upgrade.1596614/post-28184981) with the steps needed to flash via linux USB. It was quick and safe.
2) Post #4921 (https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/2011-imac-graphics-card-upgrade.1596614/post-28281414) with the steps to mount OpenCore image on SD card.
With the SD and Usb-drive ready, I swapped my video card (With the X brace from HD6770).
Connected via SSH from another mac, I've flashed the new card.
With the SSD cables attached and SD card inserted, I've rebooted and everything works flawlessly!
High Sierra booted up OK, brightness control working and the best part: almost 2x more powerfull than HD6770.
Tomorrow I'll try to upgrade my CPU too. I've bought a i7-2600S to replace the i5. I know there is a little (or zero) improvement lol
Many thanks to everybody that put so much effort on this project and made all this possible!
Sorry about my english!
Attachments
According to the documentation of openCore the R9 M290X is fully supported natively in Catalina with Lilu and WhateverGreen kext. So basically I could try this one out and give it a shot.
...in a Hackintosh... not in an iMac..
But if you wanna try, try. You're alone on this track.
I wish you to succeed, we need explorers.
Using a different BIOS it's now working in High Sierra without patched AppleGraphicsControl and without PolarisBoost. I suspect it's the PCI device ID that makes the difference; the BIOS I'm currently using has the same device ID as the devices Apple used to put in their machines.
so guys, I have a little gift for you to give back after such an incredible thread
hope you like it, the headaches to get it running were immens for me as a newb.
I couldn't stand it to use fckin windows to flash the cards and so I prepared this ~350mb drive
I created a Linux Live USB (based on grml.org) Thumb Drive with nvflash_linux and Nicks Bioses preloaded. and its booting by itself so you can work blind with a new unpatched nvidia card plugged in. Also, its starting a ssh daemon and using DHCP to get an IP so you can remote login
Steps
Download
14 days left to download, uploaded here: https://www.mediafire.com/file/cztz4xqj2sru9gj/2011_imac_usb.zip/file
mirror by NOTNICE, thnx: https://cloud.notnlce.com/index.php/s/xkJP34GD6a9WziE/download
Prepare USB Drive or SD Card
so, you take a small usb thumb drive, partition it with disk utility on a Mac: GPT + FAT32
and just unzip the files structure onto the drive, no dd or etcher or something. just copy paste it. folder structure see attached screenshot. (you can remove the .roms I downloaded and download itself if you want to be sure about the correct file size. I did not verify them at all. use/flash at your own risk please)
Test & Try
test your thumb drive with a more or less working GPU/ external Screen or just have faith in me
Swap Hardware
swap your GPU to NVIDIA and (!) disconnect every SSD/HDD, makes it easier to boot blindly from one USB or SD Card, connect the ETH Cable (!)
Find IP
let the iMac boot, everything is black, the boot loader is waiting 20s before booting, so give the whole process 1min time, then head over to your Router Page and find the right IP that the iMac got through DHCP
SSH to the iMac
now fire up your terminal on a Win/Mac/Linux Machine of your choice and ssh to your iMac with
ssh root@YOURIP
Password:flash
Confirm the ssh id with yes and you should be in your iMac
Working Directory
cd /lib/live/mount/medium/flash
read the RADME in there… I will enjoy my brand new k2000m in my 27" 2011 iMac with Catalina 10.15.3
… and because this is so easy, I rebuild it to a K1100M and flashed that also
(someone could write some fancy scripts but I thought its saver that everyone is doing it command by command and don't stop thinking and trusting some scripts)
Sorry guys i`m really new, and after baking my AMD, i had the chips that automatically pop out and unsoldered themselves. So i have ordered a k610 (the only one i could find for the mac 27 inched mid 2011), and while waiting for it i was looking on what should i do to prepare the flashing. being a super super newbie i think this one is the easiest way, but looking inside the folder i cant find any rom for k610. does it mean i need to add it when putting inside the usb right? or for the 610 there are no other solution to flash it directly when installed inside the imac?
Also is there a way to "head over to your Router Page and find the right IP that the iMac got through DHCP" <- can someone makes some practical example. sorry and thanks a lot guys