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

[AmazingRobie]

Reading this thread about brings tears to my eyes. I am so proud of everyone who has been able to take the initiative to do this kind of fix rather than shelling out more money to Apple and succumbing to their planned obsolescence. Hopefully all of these old computers run for many more years having been upgraded with newer parts. Best of luck to all of you.

 

[Mr-Mur]

Great work here with the coper back plate !
Have you used 1mm coper here, or thinner ?

I have just ordered 3M thermal adhesive tape, I think that will work great with some custom copper plates like you made.. ?

I'm also planning of making a custom air cooler to cool the backside, like shown in the picture bellow
I got this info from here :
https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/3590782/all

Yep, that was an 1 mm thick cooper peace

The genuine 3M adhesive will surely be better than Chinese unknown 2-sided tape, mate I'd also prefer to have original thing, but they are not so populated in my place

 

[liquidtwitch]

Btw, how did you cool your GPU ram chips on the backside.. ?
Mine are not cooled yet, and I'm worried about them getting too hot..
I can also not measure them in anyway now :S....

Not yet - I'm weary of having to do much if I have to remove them when posting the card to rominator to flash.

 

[dblack965]

I've been following this thread for awhile now. I have a 2011 27 inch with a dead card. I ordered a 980m to give it a shot, but the seller sent a 970m instead. Are there are tests anyone here would like me to do with it before I send it back? I've tried it in the mac, and it boots, but the third LED doesn't come on, and I don't get anything on internal or external lcd. It's an MSI card from what I can tell, if I could manage to flash it with another vbios would that maybe help?

 

[FlorisVN]

I've been following this thread for awhile now. I have a 2011 27 inch with a dead card. I ordered a 980m to give it a shot, but the seller sent a 970m instead. Are there are tests anyone here would like me to do with it before I send it back? I've tried it in the mac, and it boots, but the third LED doesn't come on, and I don't get anything on internal or external lcd. It's an MSI card from what I can tell, if I could manage to flash it with another vbios would that maybe help?

Thats great, I think you are the first one here to test GTX970M graphics card.
If you can test it that would be great for all of us..

if current vbios does not work, try it with an dell alienware bios.
These usally have the best succes..

I cannot find an alienware bios here :
https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios...=GTX+970M&interface=&memType=&memSize=&since=

But you can also try the other bios versions over there.. ?

Maybay somebody else knows here to find one..

 

[dblack965]

https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=j3pp6

That's from dell. It's for a 970m SLI configuration though. I extracted the .exe and inside there are 2 rom files. The 2 files are 188kb compared to the clevo bios being 181kb. Think it's okay to flash?

EDIT:Comparing the SLI BIOS to the Clevo bios, all frequency tables and power tables etc. are the same. I'll try flashing it when I get home.

 

[Polydactyl]

Yesterday I finallyhave had some time to upgrade one of our 27" 2011 iMac failing AMD Graphics card.

I have used an Dell Alienware GTX765M 2048MB, which worked great btw.
No bootscreen and brightness of course as expected.
HDMI worked only on one of the thunderbolt ports, I have tested this if anybody is interessted in this..
used mini-dp to hdmi adapter, and tested with 1080p monitor, worked no problems, but only 1 external display is possible with this card at the moment..

Also like expected the GTX765M worked great with OOB Built in MacOS Drivers.
I have not installed third-party Nvidia webdrivers, as I think they are not naccecery.. ?
I read some posts here that nvidia -webdrivers cause more problems and simetimes glithces, beter use built-in MacOS Nvidia Drivers.
Am I correct here.. ?


I will post my pictures here, about the mod we have made with a dremmel on the heatsink.
I have used thermal pads on the GPU ram, aswell as the capacitors which need cooling, I had to use 2 layers of thermal pads in the end to make good contact whith the heatsink..
(3 was to much, causing flex to the mxm pcb, and 1 was not enough)
i have ordered K5 Pro, and I hope this is the best solution ?
What do you guys think of this cooling ?

I'm still worried about the 4 GPU ram chips on the backside of the graphics card.
they are not cooled at all.
I can also not measure any temperatures, so I dont know if everything is cool enough...

I removed the original Dell Alienware x-clamp, and used the Apple x-clamp.
It has also been modifed to give acces to the surrounding capacitors, not to make a short.
And to be safe, I have placed some Scotch magic tape arround it, not to make any electrical short to the mxm pcb to be extra safe...
( I did not had electrical tape at hand..)

On this topic here :
https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/3590782/all

I found a guy who used copper thermal pads on the back-side of his GTX780m, and created a custom air duct cooling from the HDD fan.
I'm planning to do something similar like he did.
Anybody got experience with this.. ?

I really think those ram chips in the back-side need cooling..

I'm planning of testing running Bootcamp to see if I can get GPU-Z check GPU temps.
And also try running GPU-Z within MacOS with Wine, and see if that works, that would be the best..

MacOS Mojave also worked great btw, with dosdude1 patcher and withouth selecting legacy video patcher of course..
This GTX765M is fully metal compatible !

I just received an Alienware GTX765 for my 2010 iMac. I’ve pulled the old card out, and it appears that the back plate and heatsink from the old Radeon are already a perfect fit. Not cutting or dremel required. For the record I am replacing a ATI 5750 in 27” iMac. Have to wait for thermal tape to arrive before I complete the upgrade.

 

[FlorisVN]

I just received an Alienware GTX765 for my 2010 iMac. I’ve pulled the old card out, and it appears that the back plate and heatsink from the old Radeon are already a perfect fit. Not cutting or dremel required. For the record I am replacing a ATI 5750 in 27” iMac. Have to wait for thermal tape to arrive before I complete the upgrade.

Good to hear, this means that the HD5750 x-bracket and heatsink already fit.
my 6970m x-bracket and heatsink did not fit, and had contact with some capacitors, thats why we made some cuts in the x-bracket..
And to be safe I taped the whole x-bracket...

I think the heatsink and x-bracket are the same for 2009-2010 iMac's, but are different for 2011 iMac's...
So the older versions are better compatible then..
At least 27" models I guess...

[doublepost=1539161475][/doublepost]

https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=j3pp6

That's from dell. It's for a 970m SLI configuration though. I extracted the .exe and inside there are 2 rom files. The 2 files are 188kb compared to the clevo bios being 181kb. Think it's okay to flash?

EDIT:Comparing the SLI BIOS to the Clevo bios, all frequency tables and power tables etc. are the same. I'll try flashing it when I get home.

Ok I see.
As far as I know best bios versions are Alienware models..
let's hope other available bios versions do work for the 970m

If you take a look at this rom here :
https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/170005/170005

its made for : Dell, Alienware 17 R2, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M ,
Have you tried that one also already.. ???

 

[dblack965]

I flashed a clevo bios last night. I was just using team viewer in windows to control the mac. Not a good idea. After I flashed it with the clevo bios it broke my connection. The graphics in teamviewer were completely unusable. I set up remote desktop connection through windows itself and will try flashing this Dell bios tonight. I didn't see that one before. I didn't check the unverified bios files. Will update when I'm able to flash it.

 

[FlorisVN]

I flashed a clevo bios last night. I was just using team viewer in windows to control the mac. Not a good idea. After I flashed it with the clevo bios it broke my connection. The graphics in teamviewer were completely unusable. I set up remote desktop connection through windows itself and will try flashing this Dell bios tonight. I didn't see that one before. I didn't check the unverified bios files. Will update when I'm able to flash it.

Ok, Let's hope the Dell bios will work..
Good luck flashing..

Keep us posted..

 

[dblack965]

So I flashed a few different bios last night, the dell bios linked here broke the card completely. GPU-z was not able to detect it at all. Fortunately I was still able to reflash. The Dell SLI bios that I found actually seemed to work the best, but there was still no display on the internal lcd, or either of the thunderbolt outputs. My return window on the card is over, so I have to send it back. I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help.

So to recap, on the 970m I tried the clevo bios, the msi bios, alenware/dell sli bios, and a dell bios. None of them were able to display anything, but the dell sli bios showed the best performance at least under the remote connection. Information was most complete in GPU-z with the dell sli bios as well. When I get whatever other card I decide on, I'm not opposed to ROM hacking, but I would need someone to point me in the right direction. I don't know what tools to use. From what I've seen the DCB tables are what needs to be modified for the card to recognize the internal displayport connection of the iMac.

 

[FlorisVN]

So I flashed a few different bios last night, the dell bios linked here broke the card completely. GPU-z was not able to detect it at all. Fortunately I was still able to reflash. The Dell SLI bios that I found actually seemed to work the best, but there was still no display on the internal lcd, or either of the thunderbolt outputs. My return window on the card is over, so I have to send it back. I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help.

So to recap, on the 970m I tried the clevo bios, the msi bios, alenware/dell sli bios, and a dell bios. None of them were able to display anything, but the dell sli bios showed the best performance at least under the remote connection. Information was most complete in GPU-z with the dell sli bios as well. When I get whatever other card I decide on, I'm not opposed to ROM hacking, but I would need someone to point me in the right direction. I don't know what tools to use. From what I've seen the DCB tables are what needs to be modified for the card to recognize the internal displayport connection of the iMac.

Thx for all the testing !
Ad far as i have researched the highest card reporting to work is an Nvidia GTX880m and GTX780m

And the dell alienware bios.
As far as DCB tables go, I advice you maybay to take a look at netkas forums.
Rominator there (macvidcards) and of others like netkas over there have experiencr with DCB tables..
Maybay start a topic there and ask for some help...

It looks for now it’s best I think to stay away from nvidia 900m series and higher.
Highest succes rate i think is gtx700m series with dell alienware bios..

It also looks like the gtx980m does not have a dell/alienware bios at all...
https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios...=GTX+980M&interface=&memType=&memSize=&since=

 

[Mostxclent]

Thanks to all the brave souls that ventured before me, I just ordered an nVidia GTX 770m from https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Dell-A...h=item5b443d23e8:g:UzAAAOSwZ-Ba31jl:rk:3:pf:0
Wish me success, I will be upgrading a mid 2011 21" Imac with the Radeon 6770. I have previously swapped out the HD (failed) with SSD and added to the Ram, but I'll surely upgrade Ram again, currently 8gb.

 

[Polydactyl]

Turns out I was wrong about the card fitting the heatsink on my 2010 iMac, and I have to grind down in the same places, a process that is going slowly since I don’t have great tools for the job.....

 

[dblack965]

This is what I was going off of with ordering the 980m.

https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/4175243/all

Apparently this person got it to work, but after going over his posts again, it doesn't look like he ever got the internal LCD to actually work.

 

[nathansz]

hello everyone,

i’m going to take out my 6790 and bake it to get me through until i get a new card and also as a practice run

i’ve done plenty of tinkering in imacs, minis and macbooks but never anything involving thermal paste

i’ve got arctic silver to replace the paste and the k5 ceramic-y stuff to replace the pads

just wondering if this is the right approach

thanks!

 

[Polydactyl]

Another success! I just installed an Alienware GTX675 in my 2010 27” iMac. Had to do the same heatsink mods as FlorisVN and others, but as I mentioned previously, the backplate from the ATI 5750 fit perfectly on the NVidia card.

As expected, there is no boot screen, but everything else works perfectly. Next up is the upgrade to Mohave...

Edit: Without a boot screen how do you install Mojave? Dosdude’s instructions call for booting target disk mode. What’s the best way to do this while flying blind? I’ll be installing from a thumb drive.

 

[lamerz78]

Edit: Without a boot screen how do you install Mojave? Dosdude’s instructions call for booting target disk mode. What’s the best way to do this while flying blind? I’ll be installing from a thumb drive.

Hi !
I'm in the same condition. I Think the best way to do the trick in "blind mode" is this one (assuming you have only 1 boot partition on the Macintosh HD)

First detach all the usb/fw hard drive except the USB stick with the Mojave installer

Second, switch off the Mac

Third, restart yor mac pressing the ALT button on the Keyboard.

After a reasonable time (30-50 secs) look at the status Led of your usbstick, if is all ok the Led stop blinking. Now is time to switch the boot disk from the internal Macintosh HD to the external usb stick, to do this you have to press ONLY one time the RIGHT ARROW on your keyboard and then the RETURN key.
If is all ok the stick Led begins to blink, the installer is now loading and in 10/20 secs it will show you the Mojave installer.

I've tried the trick WITH THE BOOT SCREEN (I've not already switch the graphic card) but is the best way instead trying to switch the boot disk from the Operating System.

Please give us some feedback!

p.s. sorry for my poor English!!!

 

[FlorisVN]

Another success! I just installed an Alienware GTX675 in my 2010 27” iMac. Had to do the same heatsink mods as FlorisVN and others, but as I mentioned previously, the backplate from the ATI 5750 fit perfectly on the NVidia card.

As expected, there is no boot screen, but everything else works perfectly. Next up is the upgrade to Mohave...

Edit: Without a boot screen how do you install Mojave? Dosdude’s instructions call for booting target disk mode. What’s the best way to do this while flying blind? I’ll be installing from a thumb drive.

target disk mode does not work..

Just use startup disk within macos control pannel, and change disk to your bootable usb stick.
that works fine !
[doublepost=1539424094][/doublepost]

This is what I was going off of with ordering the 980m.

https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/4175243/all

Apparently this person got it to work, but after going over his posts again, it doesn't look like he ever got the internal LCD to actually work.

Indeed, it looks like it works only on external monitor.
as seen from his pictures, internal iMac LCD does not work !
I would not advise to buy and use an GTX980m for your iMac at this time, but stick to known working cards...

I recommend you buy an Nvidia GTX780m or GTX765M, Dell Alienware version.
These all seem to work the best, and Macvidcards is also working on an GTX780m rom...

more info here : http://forum.netkas.org/index.php/topic,13815.0.html
[doublepost=1539426194][/doublepost]

That is me trying to get brightness to work but no success yet...

I'm still wondering how you have managed to get the display recognize again as iMac interal display, instead of external display ??

Have you modified Apple's displayconfig.plist ?
And if so how and what did you do ??

I'm sorry if you maybay have already explained in this topic here, but I cannot find info anymore.. :S

 

[Polydactyl]

Just use startup disk within macos control pannel, and change disk to your bootable usb stick.
that works fine !

Thank you! Worked like a charm. I wasn’t sure if the installer loaded video drivers or not, and didn’t want to get stuck in black screen limbo. I guess more people would be commenting if that was a problem.

 

[MarshallH]

i just installed mojave on my iMac 2009 with nvidia k3000M kepler GPU and also installed on my iMac 2011 with nvidia 765m with no problem all testet ok. metal working fine also with k3000m

Would you be able to share your GPU VBios Version, and attach a copy of it if possible? I have a 2011 27" with K3000M, but i do not have Metal support and would be very interested in what VBios will support Metal.

Thanks

 

[Polydactyl]

I spoke too soon. Something happened with the install process (I was away from the computer at the time) and the computer shut down. Now I can’t get it to boot to save my life. I only get a black screen and the the computer shuts off after about 30 seconds. If I hold down option at boot (for startup manager) it won’t shut down, but it won’t boot either. I try to use the arrow keys like I’m selecting a drive, but no luck.

I’ve tried accessing through screen sharing, in case it was booting without the screen, but nope.

Any ideas?

 

[oscarodas]

Hi, I found this card on eBay: Nvidia Quadro M1000M w/2GB GDDR5, before I buy it I would like to know If it is possible to use it on an iMac 27 2011, I'm already running Mojave 10.14.1(18B57c), just to get hardware acceleration, the system runs ok, only I find some glitches when watching movies, is it worth the trouble? Thank you.

 

[FlorisVN]

I spoke too soon. Something happened with the install process (I was away from the computer at the time) and the computer shut down. Now I can’t get it to boot to save my life. I only get a black screen and the the computer shuts off after about 30 seconds. If I hold down option at boot (for startup manager) it won’t shut down, but it won’t boot either. I try to use the arrow keys like I’m selecting a drive, but no luck.

I’ve tried accessing through screen sharing, in case it was booting without the screen, but nope.

Any ideas?

when you do a pram/nvram reset, your iMac should always bootup MacOS again if its installed on the internal hdd.

 

[vkd]

What I am posting here is the text from the Technician Guide for the mid-2011 27" iMac that was posted on this forum earlier, in case that file is taken down. Here is the Diagnostic LED Startup Sequence:

LED #1 = Power available.

If no LED is visible:

• First disconnect the power cord from computer, then reconnect it to reset the LED
  
  status, in case computer was correctly shutdown and AC was kept connected since
  
  
• Verify AC source
  
  
• Verify known-good power cord is connected
  
  
• Verify cable connection between AC inlet and power supply
  
  
• Verify cable connection between power supply and logic board
  
  
• Verify power supply
  
  LED #1 + LED #2 = Power available, and system is powered on.
  
  If second LED is not visible when power button is pressed:

• Verify power button connection to logic board
  
  
• Verify power button functionality
  
  
• Verify cable connection between power supply and logic board
  
  
• Verify power supply
  
  
• Verify logic board
  LED #1 + LED #2 + LED #3 = Power available, system is powered on, and video card found.
  
  If third LED is not visible after power on:

• Verify that the MXM video card is seated properly
  
  
• Verify if boot chime is present and fans are running when powered ON (reset SMC and
  
  PRAM, reseat or check backup battery if necessary for proper boot up):
  If POST boot chime is not heard, go to No Startup symptom flow, If POST boot chime is heard, go to No Video symptom flow.
  
  LED #1 + LED #2 + LED #3 + LED #4 = Power available, system is powered on, video card found, and internal LCD found.
  
  If fourth LED is not visible after power on:

• Verify internal DisplayPort cable connections between LCD panel and logic board
  
  
• Inspect LCD display cables for cable damage
  
  
• Verify external video functionality, and according to result check the following items:
  
  If external display works then verify/replace the LED backlight board If external display works then verify/replace the LCD panel
  If external display does not work verify/replace the logic board

•