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

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The first post of this thread is a WikiPost and can be edited by anyone with the appropiate permissions. Your edits will be public.
highvoltage12v

highvoltage12v

macrumors 6502a
Mar 27, 2014
926
931
dblack965 said:
4a1b4d9c3ea20efd1e2990c4beb613ec.jpg


Does anyone know what the connector labeled J1 is for on an mxm card?
Click to expand...
It's a form of mobile SLI, there were Alienware laptops that can take 2 of these cards.
 
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J

João Victor

macrumors newbie
Jul 19, 2013
7
3
oscarodas said:
My upgrade was unsuccessful, installed NVidia gtx 660m, all cables are in, when I. Start the computer I hear the chime, but all I get is a black screen, I have a wired keyboard and tried the option key, the safe mode but nothing, guess I will put back my old amd 6970m card.
Click to expand...

Did u install nvidia webdrivers before the switch?
 
O

oscarodas

macrumors regular
May 7, 2013
145
65
Sydney Australia
My system is running high Sierra
oscarodas said:
I have high sierra installed on an external ssd and Mojave on an internal ssd, bothe drives are working ok.
Click to expand...
[doublepost=1539927765][/doublepost]I can't do it.
[doublepost=1539927939][/doublepost]
oscarodas said:
my screen is the fan are running normally and I can see a green light in the motherboard.
[doublepost=1539927765][/doublepost] Because the computer is stuck in a black screen.
Click to expand...
I get the chime when the computer starts.
[doublepost=1539929614][/doublepost]the motherboard only shows green lights.
 
Last edited:
Reactorvisual

Reactorvisual

macrumors newbie
Oct 17, 2018
13
5
Polydactyl said:
I finally got it working. Long story short, I had to put the old vid card back to get things working so I could see the screen and boot from the thumb drive, follwed by reinstalling the new card and installing Mojave. Everything works, hardware acceleration and all.

A critical step in this was being present when the Mojave install completed this time, so I could run the Mojave patcher in the 10 seconds before the automatic reboot.
Click to expand...
Mojave patcher??? can you explain what is it, where is it?
 
FlorisVN

FlorisVN

macrumors 6502a
Nov 8, 2013
979
380
Reactorvisual said:
Mojave patcher??? can you explain what is it, where is it?
Click to expand...

Mojave patcher is a tool from dosdude1
It modifys a normal mojave installer to make support for unsupported macs.
It adds some kernel extensions and other minor tweaks neccecrry to run mojave on these unsupported macs, like 2011 iMac for example.

The tool is easy to use, and free to download.
With the mojave patcher application you can create your own patcher mojave installer usb stick to boot from to instal.
The installation is almost the same as a normal supported mac, mojave installation.

You can download and find more information about mojave patcher here :
http://dosdude1.com/mojave/
 
Reactorvisual

Reactorvisual

macrumors newbie
Oct 17, 2018
13
5
greenbirdlx said:
My experience was a resounding success, installing a 780M in my 2011 21.5" i7. I did have to modify the hard drive case a bit, there was an interference with the new card since it is "taller" than the stock card.

I had to omit one of the PCB screws, and sand out a small bit of one of the plastic air dams. If I were to do it again, I'd remove the entire PCB before grinding on the hard drive case and reinstall it after. I used an old shirt to make a pseudo-surgical cover, and vacuumed up any other grinding I could find after.

Booted up in OS X and was good to go, no issues! Installed CUDA drivers just in case. Switched to Bootcamp Windows 10, had a 480p resolution to start, but was able to install drivers and now runs great. Attached are some pics, hopefully they help anyone else.

My source was ebay, bought on June 13, 2016 for $295 shipped.
DELL Alienware M18x M17x Nvidia Geforce GTX 780M 4GB Video Card N14E-GTX-A2 Used
Lot AWDA-GTX780

P.S. I had been lurking this thread for awhile, registered just to document and say thanks to those that tried it and reported back first!
Click to expand...
i wonder why your model dont show up the Bios number like other succesfully installed 780m?
 
O

oscarodas

macrumors regular
May 7, 2013
145
65
Sydney Australia
FlorisVN said:
I have ended up putting K5 pro also on the power chocs on the GPU.

I have also made an winclone bootcamp Windows 7 image, it has DHCP and RDP both enabled.
this way you can at least check your GPU temps.

If anybody is interested?

You can easly use this image, restore it with winclone, and check your die temps.
By connecting to RDP session.
Teamviewer is also installed, so you can run benchmarks this way as well.
In my opinion a good test to now if you GPU is running cool.

I have some tools pre installed :
Bootcamp 4033 Drivers
MacsFanControl (full speed set to fans)
Nvidia Mobile Drivers (600-100m series cards supported) so Nvidia GTX765m and GTX780m and many others will work with these drivers OOB.
benchmark tools like :
Furmark - Heavenbenchmark AIDA Extreme.

Winclone image is based on an Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit SP1 version. (english)
This image has been tested on iMac 2011 27", but since it has Bootcamp 4033 should work on all supported macs for this bootcamp version. (for example should also work with iMac 2009-2010)

And my GPU Die temps. are arround 30 degrees celcious, so pretty cool I would say.
But I do want to note that I have the fans of the iMac, at all times running at full speed, to get better cooling for the HDD / Power supply and GPU of course.
I like better an total cool iMac, than a hot one...


and, almost forgot.
External display also works within bootcamp.
Only 1 external display works, and used the same thunderbolt port which gave me screenoutput within macOS.
tested with thunderbolt to HDMI adapter to 1080p screen, with Dell Alienware GTX765m 2GB card.
Click to expand...
Hi FlorisVN, could you tell me where can I download the Windows 7 image you have mentioned? After having troubles with my new (old) gtx 660m card I reverted to High Sierra hoping I could install Windows but after a few hours trying eventually found out that my system doesn't support Bootcamp.
Thank you.
 
Reactorvisual

Reactorvisual

macrumors newbie
Oct 17, 2018
13
5
FlorisVN said:
I have ended up putting K5 pro also on the power chocs on the GPU.

I have also made an winclone bootcamp Windows 7 image, it has DHCP and RDP both enabled.
this way you can at least check your GPU temps.

If anybody is interested?

You can easly use this image, restore it with winclone, and check your die temps.
By connecting to RDP session.
Teamviewer is also installed, so you can run benchmarks this way as well.
In my opinion a good test to now if you GPU is running cool.

I have some tools pre installed :
Bootcamp 4033 Drivers
MacsFanControl (full speed set to fans)
Nvidia Mobile Drivers (600-100m series cards supported) so Nvidia GTX765m and GTX780m and many others will work with these drivers OOB.
benchmark tools like :
Furmark - Heavenbenchmark AIDA Extreme.

Winclone image is based on an Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit SP1 version. (english)
This image has been tested on iMac 2011 27", but since it has Bootcamp 4033 should work on all supported macs for this bootcamp version. (for example should also work with iMac 2009-2010)

And my GPU Die temps. are arround 30 degrees celcious, so pretty cool I would say.
But I do want to note that I have the fans of the iMac, at all times running at full speed, to get better cooling for the HDD / Power supply and GPU of course.
I like better an total cool iMac, than a hot one...


and, almost forgot.
External display also works within bootcamp.
Only 1 external display works, and used the same thunderbolt port which gave me screenoutput within macOS.
tested with thunderbolt to HDMI adapter to 1080p screen, with Dell Alienware GTX765m 2GB card.
Click to expand...


Nvidia Mobile Drivers (600-100m series cards supported) so Nvidia GTX765m and GTX780m and many others will work with these drivers OOB.


wich are those exact drivers and where i get them, im having a 780m in the way so i need to install the drivers before installing the card or after it is inside the imac?
 
M

mrbubzie1993

Suspended
Oct 23, 2018
85
137
Hey guys I’ll be jumping in and attempting this on a secondary machine. Kinda cheaped out because this is not a primary system just to get hardware acceleration and metal working. Can anyone confirm 100% that the Kepler Quado k3000m supports metal out of the box and if not what you had to do to get it working. If you could link the web drivers used it would be awesome. Pretty sure drivers are built into Mac OS for these series cards but was curious about metal and hardware acceleration? Thanks guys :)
 
FlorisVN

FlorisVN

macrumors 6502a
Nov 8, 2013
979
380
Reactorvisual said:
Nvidia Mobile Drivers (600-100m series cards supported) so Nvidia GTX765m and GTX780m and many others will work with these drivers OOB.
These Drivers I have installed in a custom bootcamp image, only used to check the GPU temperatures.
Since MacOS cannot measure GPU die temperature, I have created an Bootcamp Image to check them..
Since Bootcamp has only a black screen on my GTX765m, you can install this image with winclone.
Run Remote desktop to it, and then teamviewer for example, run some benchmarks and you can measure your gpu die temperature if needed...
All this is not possible in MacOS, I wanted to be sure my GPU is in cool conditions, and now I know it is...

If anybody is interssted, I can share this winclone bootcamp image.. (like stated before..)

wich are those exact drivers and where i get them, im having a 780m in the way so i need to install the drivers before installing the card or after it is inside the imac?
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure you won't need any Nvidia Drivers for your 780m.
Drivers are built in to MacOS, if wanted you can use newer Nvidia Web Drivers, and install them..
But you wont need them.
At least my GTX765m did not need any drivers at all, it just works OOB with built in MacOS Nvidia Drivers...
[doublepost=1540368615][/doublepost]
oscarodas said:
Im back ok, with my old card, and found out what the problem was, the height of the original processor on the card is twice as the new Nvidia the rest everything fits ok, so I'm going to get a piece of copper plate and put it on , and try again.
[doublepost=1539940248][/doublepost]The silver frame, plus underneath you can also see a yellow thing I would say a sort of gasket, the Nvidia card (blue) doesn't have it.
View attachment 796462 View attachment 796463
Click to expand...

Did you use K5 Pro here ?
if so, its too little I think...

Also I reccomend for everybody here to use K5 pro, its the best solution for replacing Apple's own original thermal pasta for the vram chips and heatsink capacitors..

Info about the product can be found here :
http://www.computer-systems.gr/en/content/product/k5-pro-60g-3x20g

Instruction video's from the maker of the product here :

I think usefull info for everybody out here !!!
 
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highvoltage12v

highvoltage12v

macrumors 6502a
Mar 27, 2014
926
931
Hey everyone today is 10% off site-wide on eBay. Because of this I bought the GTX 770M that used by @Mostxclent in his 2011 iMac, that I will be installing in my 21.5" 2011 iMac.
[doublepost=1540486570][/doublepost]
mrbubzie1993 said:
Anyone know if the Quadro k300m supports metal with hardware acceleration in mojave?
Click to expand...
I believe it is the same card as the 765m, but I would just go with a 765m because we're all unsure what bios version the card will come with, which can affect DCB tables, aka will your internal display work after install.
 
swimllamaswim

swimllamaswim

macrumors newbie
Apr 10, 2017
11
6
Has anyone tried a Quadro K1100m or K2200m? I've got a K1100m in my Dell Precision M4800, I might swap it out for a K2200m and try the K1100m in my '11 27". I've hackintoshed my Precision before and the GPU worked without even having the web drivers installed, so I have high hopes for it working well in the iMac.
 
highvoltage12v

highvoltage12v

macrumors 6502a
Mar 27, 2014
926
931
swimllamaswim said:
Has anyone tried a Quadro K1100m or K2200m? I've got a K1100m in my Dell Precision M4800, I might swap it out for a K2200m and try the K1100m in my '11 27". I've hackintoshed my Precision before and the GPU worked without even having the web drivers installed, so I have high hopes for it working well in the iMac.
Click to expand...
The Quadro k1100m is keplar based and is close to the gtx 650 (which is why it loads in Mac OS no problem) why do you want to go through the work of swapping cards. I know you will gain metal support but it's not much better than a 6770m. Being a Dell vBios raises the odds of it working though. Is this a 21.5" iMac or 27"?
 
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