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

[fajfelek]

Hello,

I have problem with my iMac mid 2011.
Unfortunately my graphic card (ATI 6970m 1GB) from iMac was damaged and I can only use it in safe mode.

I was installed ATI 6970m 2GB (maybe from dell) with changed VBIOS (PM25LV010 chip) from apple 6970m 2gb (Techpowerup).(this graphic card looks like card from apple)

unfortunately main screen Is black. I have only screen on external display. I can read that installed card is:

Chipset model: AMD Radeon HD 6970
Type: GPU
VRAM: 2GB
Producent: AMD (0x1002)
Device ID: 0x6720
ROM: 113-C2960K-152
VBIOS: 113-C2960900-101
EFI Driver: 01.00.507

And connected displays:

iMac with connect type DisplayPort, LCD, active: yes

and external display with mirror because I don't see anything on iMac's display.


Please tell me. Is it possible to run 6970m Ati graphic card from another computer in iMac.

 

[fhturner]

Make sure that all of the cables for the display got reconnected when assembling the machine. You might take a flashlight and shine onto the iMac's display to see if there's any "content" there. Could be that the backlight isn't turning on...

 

[johnrak]

Here is my story.

Suddenly my mid 2011 21.5 iMac display became black. I turned it off using the button and it wasn’t boot. Sometimes the progress bar was stucking and sometimes it was stucking on white screen. The same thing was happening if I was trying to enter the recovery partition or reinstall os x using a usb drive.

I managed to boot after entering in single user recovery (cmd+opt+s) and deleting all amd* and ati* kext files in system/library/extensions. I’m guessing that the gpu card is the reason my iMac doesnt boot. It has the HD6770M.

After booting with no gpu kexts, the graphics were really slow in os x. I performed a hardware test using the usb method but it didn’t find any problem. Also tried to reinstall os x with no luck (white screen after progress bar). My mistake is that I restored the deleted kext files using time machine. Now my iMac doesnt boot but I’m not able to boot again in single user recovery to delete them. I think that it tries to start the os x installer when I boot and it doesn’t support single user recovery that way. It finds my ssd if I press alt during boot but it stucks on progress bar again. I think I tried everything (reset smc and nvram, verbose boot, safe boot, single user and single user recovery, recovery boot, boot from os x usb installer) with no luck.


I think the only solution is to install a working gpu card. I don’t care about upgrading but I don’t want to install a worse card than what my iMac had originally. I asked for a new HD6770M and they told me it costs €500 for a new and €390 for a refurbished one. I’m not willing to pay that money so I’m looking for cheaper alternatives.

What should I look for on a card to be compatible. I found the GTX 660M as a cheap MXM option. Will this card be compatible? Would you suggest any other card for less than €150? I know that I’m losing graphics during boot, but would I be able to boot in recovery (with cmd+r) or single user (cmd+s) or perform an os x install using this card?

Thank you

 

[NicoDjodj]

Hello Nico,
About the first question:
it could be that you`re using nVidia drivers, if so and version is 13.x it`ll be better to switch to macos drivers. Easy way to do that is to go near the clock top right and to check it - after reboot it should be fixed. The performance is the same.
About the black screen - still no idea how to fix.

Please reply if this solution fix your problem. P.S no need to uninstall nvidia, just switch between drivers.

Regards

Hey Fokser, awesome, thanks for the tip, it solved the random lines problem. But still no boot screen so right now for installing bootcamp, I am trying to install Windows 10 into a dedicated SSD in my Macbook, and the try to transplant it into my iMac. The idea is to switch from Mac to Windows using the Preferences, choosing which drive to use to boot as startup with alt will be tricky.

vkd yep my graphic card was from a dell Alienware laptop, the full eBay description is DELL ALIENWARE 17 18 NVIDIA GTX 765M 2GB GDDR5 LAPTOP VIDEO CARD 5YPW3 9R3F5 USA, bought from " ascendtech", it works perfectly for me, I have tried playing some Heroes of the Storm, the performances are ok, somewhat comparable as what it was with my 6970, maybe better, I don't know I have not played the game for a while

If that can help. Also, totally out of subject, but I bought the iFixit Pro Tool kit, it is a really good product, it would have helped me quite a bit for installing the graphic card. I used it to replace a 2015 iMac HDD by SSD, totally doable if you have already opened your 2011 iMac. Happy fixing guys!

 

[johnrak]

Does anyone sell a HD6770M pulled out from a Mid ‘11 21.5” iMac?

I don’t want to spent much for an old machine. The only cheap options I have with positive reports are the 765M and the K3000. Which one should I prefer? Is there any progress on flashing one of these cards to become fully functional on bootscreen?

Also I’m concerned about the extra memory chips on these gpu and the fact that they don’t touch the heatsink. Do you think that would be an issue?

 

[vkd]

vkd yep my graphic card was from a dell Alienware laptop, the full eBay description is DELL ALIENWARE 17 18 NVIDIA GTX 765M 2GB GDDR5 LAPTOP VIDEO CARD 5YPW3 9R3F5 USA, bought from " ascendtech", it works perfectly for me, I have tried playing some Heroes of the Storm, the performances are ok, somewhat comparable as what it was with my 6970, maybe better, I don't know I have not played the game for a while

Great, that's what I have too, but haven't installed it yet. Did you have any trouble with the heat sink? I heard something about having to file bits off it or something.

 

[johnrak]

...vkd yep my graphic card was from a dell Alienware laptop, the full eBay description is DELL ALIENWARE 17 18 NVIDIA GTX 765M 2GB GDDR5 LAPTOP VIDEO CARD 5YPW3 9R3F5 USA, bought from " ascendtech", it works perfectly for me....

I'm thinking to buy the same card. Are you able to boot in recovery (cmd+R) or single mode (cmd+S) in case you need to edit something or reinstall OS?

 

[Spectroplasm]

Hello everyone, I have followed this thread for over 3 years now. I have a mid 2011 iMac 27" with 6770m that died sometime in 2014, I have reflowed it with a reflow station and up to now it's still working soundly.
I do however want to upgrade it to get more performance. I ahve two GTX675m cards One from a Clevo NYX1712 and another from a MSI GT70, both cards are swappable and they work no problems in either laptop. But when I move any of these cards into the iMac, the iMac wont turn on. all I see is a brief 1s spin of the fans and then that's it.
what gives? is this a power issue or is there something else blocking the iMac from booting up. As soon as I pop the AMD 6770m back it turns on normally. I have reset PRAM and SMC but still wont turn on.

 

[vkd]

I installed my '"DELL ALIENWARE 17 18 Nvidia GTX 765M 2GB GDDR5 Video Card 9R3F5 W/ X-bracket" this morning. When I turned it on it got stuck in an initialising mode, I heard the HDD spin up about 8 times then it turned off, nothing on the screen. I dismantled it and replaced the original 6770m card and it worked perfectly, so all things being equal it indicates the card was incompatible, although this card seems to be exactly the same as NicoDjodj has installed successfully. What I did notice was that the X-bracket that came with the 765m has threaded bosses fixed on the ends of the X, whilst the original Apple X-bracket has holes and separate loose screws are used to fix the card to heatsink. So I used the original X-bracket, but I noticed that the cutout square hole in the middle of it was smaller than that on the Alienware X-bracket. This meant that the X-bracket touched an array of tiny soldered components directly on the back side of the board from the main GPU. Could this have been the cause for a short circuit?

 

[johnrak]

I just installed a GTX 765M (Alienware M17x M18x) on my Mid 11 21.5" iMac.
I can verify it's working (with no brightness control and black screen until login screen).
My main concern is that only 2 of the 8 memory chips touch the heatsink.

The installation was a little tricky.
I had to trim a part of the heatsink because a capacitor didn't allow full contact between the heatsink with the gpu.
The 765M is taller than the stock AMD and it doesn't fit without modifications.
I cut a plastic part below the hard disk and one of the metal stands that supports the hard disk. Also I removed the hard disk from its stands and installed it a little deeper.

I'm using istat menus and it doesnt read the gpu die temperature. Are you able to read the gpu temp with the 765M card? I tried with both nvidia and mac os drivers.

 

[zeon376]

hi good day. i have an Imac 27" late 2009 and am planning to install a nvidia 780m dell version, my question is what do i have to do in order to boot in windows 7 or is 10 better? (but i dont really care that much as long as i can play games on windows using 780m card.) i still have my original apple vidcard btw. coz the main real reason why i will install nvidia 780m on this imac is to play window games like nba 2k18 and tekken 7. so... is it possible..? and if yes can you guys please guide me..? is possible step by step procedure..?

thanks.

 

[highvoltage12v]

Now that Mojave no longer supports the original 6xxx ATI/AMD GPUs, is this thread going to become more active on MXM swaps? I'm thinking about install a 765m in my 2011 27" iMac. Can anyone here see if Mojave works with their 765m, in theory it should because it uses the same kexts as a 650m/750m would.

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

Mojave will not work with models prior to 2012.

 

[highvoltage12v]

Mojave will not work with models prior to 2012.

That's a platformsupport.plist issue. Once we bypass that, it will boot like previous versions. The issue is that the 6xxx AMD GPU drivers will be removed. Which is why swapping it for an MXM Nvidia card will allow this to run the latest version Mojave.

 

[JessieComputes]

Has anyone upgraded the gpu in their 27inch 2011 iMac, and managed to run an external 4k monitor at 60 Hz? According to my research the DisplayPort is version 1.2, and so should handle it if the gpu can handle it, but that is just theory.

 

[e_ch]

Hi guys! I have 2010 iMac with 5750. Can I change it to something that supports Metal? Is there cards which work with native drivers and brightness control/boot screen?

 

[madeirabhoy]

how much would a 2nd hand less than 2 years old 6970m be worth? and are there any other parts of the imac worth putting on ebay? my 2011 27" had its graphics card and LCD replaced maybe 18 months ago by apple, but the logic board has gone meaning it restarts every minute or so as it sees a fault.

should I canibalise it and sell it bit by bit ?

 

[mjsweet]

I just installed a GTX 765M (Alienware M17x M18x) on my Mid 11 21.5" iMac.
I can verify it's working (with no brightness control and black screen until login screen).
My main concern is that only 2 of the 8 memory chips touch the heatsink.

The installation was a little tricky.
I had to trim a part of the heatsink because a capacitor didn't allow full contact between the heatsink with the gpu.
The 765M is taller than the stock AMD and it doesn't fit without modifications.
I cut a plastic part below the hard disk and one of the metal stands that supports the hard disk. Also I removed the hard disk from its stands and installed it a little deeper.

I'm using istat menus and it doesnt read the gpu die temperature. Are you able to read the gpu temp with the 765M card? I tried with both nvidia and mac os drivers.

Attempting this upgrade as well! Any issues with the power supply?

Already upgraded the CPU to an i7 2600s and have two SSD's in Raid 0 + the stock 3.5 inch HDD, going to swap the stock drive for a 2.5 inch for more room for the video card.

 

[highvoltage12v]

I installed the 765m into my 27 iMac. I did some modifications to the heatsink so it will attach properly. When I installed it I only had the first led green. After reaseting it it started up once. With 2 green LEDs, but no video. When I screen shared with the computer. It said unknown Nvidia card 256MB, and never ran after that. I believe the card is bad. Has anyone else had a similar issue?

 

[JessieComputes]

--highvoltage12v-- Sorry that your card could be bad. Hope you can get it replaced okay, but it sure must be a pain having to dismantle the computer all the time. I have seen on youtube where somebody cut a great big hole in the aluminium shell of their iMac so that they could more easily take out the graphics card.

 

[johnrak]

Attempting this upgrade as well! Any issues with the power supply?

Already upgraded the CPU to an i7 2600s and have two SSD's in Raid 0 + the stock 3.5 inch HDD, going to swap the stock drive for a 2.5 inch for more room for the video card.

I have noticed that it gets a little hotter. I monitor the temp values with istat menus and TG Pro and I use custom fan rules on TG Pro to spin my fans a little faster. The temp is higher than before on “Power supply heatsink” which makes sense since the new card uses a lot more power than the genuine one.

I have replaced the thermal paste on the gpu and the cpu but I'd like to compare my temps with anyone who has the same machine (mid 11 21.5"). The picture shows my temp under normal usage.

 

[highvoltage12v]

I was able to get my 780m installed into my iMac after the 765m didn't work. Is it necessary to modify/use the X bracket. Anyone here went without it?

 

[highvoltage12v]

Hello everyone,
Progress has been made on my 780m install on my 27 inch 2011 iMac. In its current state it is running with no internal screen attached, however I can confirm it works. I modified my X-bracket to clear some capacitors on the back side of the board as well as the heatsink for clearance of 2 coils. For the most important news, one of the rear thunderbolt/displayport displays video in 4k@60hz which i'm surprised by, making this upgrade worth it. In the future I will be booting Mac OS Mojave from this with the 780m installed, so far the required kexts that need modification are IO80211Family and AppleHDA.kext.

 

[johnrak]

Hello everyone,
Progress has been made on my 780m install on my 27 inch 2011 iMac. In its current state it is running with no internal screen attached, however I can confirm it works. I modified my X-bracket to clear some capacitors on the back side of the board as well as the heatsink for clearance of 2 coils. For the most important news, one of the rear thunderbolt/displayport displays video in 4k@60hz which i'm surprised by, making this upgrade worth it. In the future I will be booting Mac OS Mojave from this with the 780m installed, so far the required kexts that need modification are IO80211Family and AppleHDA.kext.

View attachment 765862 View attachment 765863

I haven't tested a 4K display with my 765m, but I can confirm that the video output works with a $2 mini displayport to hdmi adapter on a 1080p monitor. I didn't modify the x bracket. The only modifications I made are shown in the photos above. (there might be differences because I own the 21.5" model.)
I'm pretty sure that Mac OS Mojave will not be supported on Mid 11 models.

 

[highvoltage12v]

I haven't tested a 4K display with my 765m, but I can confirm that the video output works with a $2 mini displayport to hdmi adapter on a 1080p monitor. I didn't modify the x bracket. The only modifications I made are shown in the photos above. (there might be differences because I own the 21.5" model.)
I'm pretty sure that Mac OS Mojave will not be supported on Mid 11 models.

Thanks for letting me know, my 765m was defective and didn't work at all.
Mojave isn't natively supported but with the platformsupport.plist from High Sierra, our machines will boot Mojave. With a Newer GPU we gain Metal support allowing Mojave to run on this iMac. This was my intentions of doing this upgrade because my 6970m still works.