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

[Render]

Thanks for your info about the copper size and everything !
I still recommend K4/K5 pro, I think its better than Artic Silver Ceramique, K4/K5 is also specialy tested and also made for iMac MXM cards.

Info can be found here for example :
http://www.computer-systems.gr/en/content/product/k5-pro-k4-pro-set

Yes, that's how I found K5-Pro: I saw it was specially made for iMac's cards. The truth is that I think there's some marketing there. What makes an iMac/heatsink different than any other MXM card for a thermal paste to be specially made for it?
But the truth is that It works great, and it also acts like kind of glue, heatsink sticks to the card without the bolts.
The only reason why I decided to use Arctic Silver on the processor and let K5-Pro for the rest of the card was because of the extreme electrical insulation and lower viscosity of Ceramique 2 (top of GPU is metallic). But I know I probably wouldn't have noticed any difference using K5 on the GPU too.

After several hours playing CS:GO, 3D modeling, CUDA processing... it never goes over 70º. At idle it's about 45º to 50º. It could be even lower but I try to set the fans as lower as I can

 

[Redlight-Records]

I can test my GTX765m with Mavericks for you, when I have some spare time...

Man I was really stoked just hearing about the possibility of a fix for this 6970m card. I even lined up a dremmel to do the heatsink mod. You seem
to think that highvoltage12v did his Mavericks test with a 780m. So there is still the possibility that the 765m could work with x.9.5?

If you did indeed test the 765m with Mavericks you would be a hero to me.

Even if it didn't work out, it would still be a hugely magnanimous gesture on your part. My re-baked 6970m has been running fine for the last 3 weeks (on 24/7, smc fan control, never get above 109F) but how long's that gonna last? I still can't seem to get any real solid info on what a viable 6970m replacement card might look like, so right now, you're my only hope.

From the forum info, it does seem feasible to get a 2011 27" iMac running with a GTX card if one is running El Capitan or later, but that would f*ck me out of all my Adobe CS6 applications and a whole slew of my audio plugins, and I rely on all those programs for my studio business. Man, I'm really hating Apple right now...
[doublepost=1542441599][/doublepost]

The only ATI purchase that I would consider is the one that Rominator commented on one occasion, he mentioned that there were Chinese who were cloning the original ATI ROMs from Apple's ATI on PC cards, I think that by changing the EEPROM for a bigger one. But I've never seen them advertised on Aliexpress, in theory they sell them as new and original from Apple.

Hi Render, there are quite a few 6970m cards for sale on ebay, lots of them are listed as new, with some of them being "unbranded". would that be a tell that they're clones? or just junk? a few of them are tagged as "Bespoke" - does that point to clone? there are a couple that have some obvious component differences from the big majority of 6970's in that they have 3 R47 components next to the the R56 and R68 components that all of the cards seem to have. Does that indicate anything positive? Some of the "new" cards are pictured with tape intentionally obscuring the AMD card number. Is that a "tell" of a EEPROM swap? If it sounds like I'm desperate, it's cause I am...

 

[man1sshhh]

Hello everyone! Here's my update on GTX 765m after 15 days. My usage with my 27" mid 2011 iMac has been moderate. Nothing CPU or GPU intensive. There seems to be an issue here but it has nothing to do with the GPU or CPU (or at least I hope its not). The Optical drive proximity and Skin Upper Right temperature seems to be touching a whopping 78*-80* C with all other temps being normal (Please check iStats Screenshot attached) with normal browsing with multiple tabs on and video playbacks. My optical drive remains disconnected since I installed the GPU so at least I know its not the Optical drive. I have also set the RPMs manually using SSD Fan Control for both HDD and Optical Drive. Please let me know if I'm missing something or perhaps I ought to check something specific to solve this high temperature reading. Also, room temperature here is usually somewhere around 30*C. Thanks

*Update: Turns out the optical drive sensor cable isn't function properly. Issue resolved

 

[FlorisVN]

Hello everyone! Here's my update on GTX 765m after 15 days. My usage with my 27" mid 2011 iMac has been moderate. Nothing CPU or GPU intensive. There seems to be an issue here but it has nothing to do with the GPU or CPU (or at least I hope its not). The Optical drive proximity and Skin Upper Right temperature seems to be touching a whopping 78*-80* C with all other temps being normal (Please check iStats Screenshot attached) with normal browsing with multiple tabs on and video playbacks. My optical drive remains disconnected since I installed the GPU so at least I know its not the Optical drive. I have also set the RPMs manually using SSD Fan Control for both HDD and Optical Drive. Please let me know if I'm missing something or perhaps I ought to check something specific to solve this high temperature reading. Also, room temperature here is usually somewhere around 30*C. Thanks

*Update: Turns out the optical drive sensor cable isn't function properly. Issue resolved

View attachment 804770 View attachment 804771

I presume your superdrive sensor is broken..
[doublepost=1542463560][/doublepost]

Man I was really stoked just hearing about the possibility of a fix for this 6970m card. I even lined up a dremmel to do the heatsink mod. You seem
to think that highvoltage12v did his Mavericks test with a 780m. So there is still the possibility that the 765m could work with x.9.5?

If you did indeed test the 765m with Mavericks you would be a hero to me.

Even if it didn't work out, it would still be a hugely magnanimous gesture on your part. My re-baked 6970m has been running fine for the last 3 weeks (on 24/7, smc fan control, never get above 109F) but how long's that gonna last? I still can't seem to get any real solid info on what a viable 6970m replacement card might look like, so right now, you're my only hope.

From the forum info, it does seem feasible to get a 2011 27" iMac running with a GTX card if one is running El Capitan or later, but that would f*ck me out of all my Adobe CS6 applications and a whole slew of my audio plugins, and I rely on all those programs for my studio business. Man, I'm really hating Apple right now...
[doublepost=1542441599][/doublepost]
Hi Render, there are quite a few 6970m cards for sale on ebay, lots of them are listed as new, with some of them being "unbranded". would that be a tell that they're clones? or just junk? a few of them are tagged as "Bespoke" - does that point to clone? there are a couple that have some obvious component differences from the big majority of 6970's in that they have 3 R47 components next to the the R56 and R68 components that all of the cards seem to have. Does that indicate anything positive? Some of the "new" cards are pictured with tape intentionally obscuring the AMD card number. Is that a "tell" of a EEPROM swap? If it sounds like I'm desperate, it's cause I am...

Sure, I will test Mavericks with Nvidia GTX765m, for you.
But I'm currently very busy with work and everything, I hope to have some spare time next week, or next weekend to test for your !
But I will definitly test it, I'm also curious my self if it will work..

I will let you know the results, as soon as I have them !

About 6970m, I would not spend any more time investigating in this card at all.
All 6970m, chips have problems with underfill, and more AMD 6xxx chips from these series..
Upgrading is the best and only way in my opinion...

 

[Render]

My re-baked 6970m has been running fine for the last 3 weeks (on 24/7, smc fan control, never get above 109F) but how long's that gonna last?

You can never know for sure how long it will last, but I would tell you not to be so overwhelmed by now. The first reflow I made lasted just over two years. I'm not trying to say stop looking for a solution for now, but I think you have room to try options.

Either try to adapt the software you have to make it work in a higher and apparently incompatible OS version, like testing the installation of Nvidia drivers in different versions (spoofing the OS version).
You can always to install a current version of OS and virtualize Mavericks for certain software...

From what I understand, Adobe CS6 can work in High Sierra but there are some problems in certain software of the suite such as Illustrator, related to APFS, so you could either choose to use Sierra or Installing High Sierra with HFS+
Of course it won't only be Adobe, you will have other software that you need to keep. But I would consider the possibility of adapting and updating some, and as a last option, virtualize others.
You have also mentioned audio plugins, here your options increase. Whether it's VST or RTAs, it's something you can use in different DAWs...

I totally agree with FlorisVN, I would't go with the 6970m. Even if you manage to find a brand new card flashed with original Apple EFI, it won't last forever, eventually it will fail.

On the other hand, if nothing I have said makes you change your mind and you are clear that your only option is to keep Mavericks, even assuming there is no way to get the 675M working, to purchase a reflowed 6970m every 2? years should not be an exorbitant amount of money. Buy another 6970M, keep in the drawer and wait till your current one begins to die, bake it and reuse it, when it dies, open your drawer, swap the card and buy a new one

But of course, it would be my last option

 

[Redlight-Records]

I totally agree with FlorisVN, I would't go with the 6970m. Even if you manage to find a brand new card flashed with original Apple EFI, it won't last forever, eventually it will fail.

I'm still holding out hope for the GTX to work. There's even been some cards on ebay that claim to be for the iMac
I'm really hoping FlorisVN can get around to testing the 765m on Mavericks and that it'll work. (friggin awesome to have people offer so much help) If not, I may just just bite the bullet and upgrade my OS. I had planned on just jumping up to El Capitan x.11 as I did see a successful swap to a gtx 880m using x.11 and I guess I'm assuming that if the 880m works on x.11, then the 765m will work.
I have a MacBook Pro that has all my Adobe CS6 apps on it, and I'll find a way around any software issues if I have to. Software compatibility doesn't seem so important if you don't have hardware!

 

[passatgt]

I'm still holding out hope for the GTX to work. There's even been some cards on ebay that claim to be for the iMac
I'm really hoping FlorisVN can get around to testing the 765m on Mavericks and that it'll work. (friggin awesome to have people offer so much help) If not, I may just just bite the bullet and upgrade my OS. I had planned on just jumping up to El Capitan x.11 as I did see a successful swap to a gtx 880m using x.11 and I guess I'm assuming that if the 880m works on x.11, then the 765m will work.
I have a MacBook Pro that has all my Adobe CS6 apps on it, and I'll find a way around any software issues if I have to. Software compatibility doesn't seem so important if you don't have hardware!

I think it just says that works with an iMac, but it doesn't have a custom firmware.

 

[FlorisVN]

I'm still holding out hope for the GTX to work. There's even been some cards on ebay that claim to be for the iMac
I'm really hoping FlorisVN can get around to testing the 765m on Mavericks and that it'll work. (friggin awesome to have people offer so much help) If not, I may just just bite the bullet and upgrade my OS. I had planned on just jumping up to El Capitan x.11 as I did see a successful swap to a gtx 880m using x.11 and I guess I'm assuming that if the 880m works on x.11, then the 765m will work.
I have a MacBook Pro that has all my Adobe CS6 apps on it, and I'll find a way around any software issues if I have to. Software compatibility doesn't seem so important if you don't have hardware!

looks the same like my Dell Alienware Nvidia GTX765m which I used..
And should work fine, by the looks of it.
But of course no bootscreen, and other missing little things...

 

[daniel.page]

Hi All, My iMac 27” GPU has finally died, I’ve been offered a recycled 6770m 512mb from a 27” iMac extremely cheap, my question is will I be able to use the heat sink from the 6970m that my iMac came with, or would I need to modify it to fit? Thanks in advance

 

[bmillz]

Hey guys, hope everyone is enjoying their holiday. I replaced the Radeon HD 4850 in my late 2009 27" iMac with a Dell Alienware Nvidia GTX 770m. Everything went well and it seems to be working fine except for the boot screen and brightness adjustment. I did have to modify the heat sink with a Dremel as it wouldn't sit flush (which is weird, because I have the two pipe heatsink and I thought it would only be an issue with the three pipe one). I haven't gotten to try any games yet, but my machine is so much quieter without that hot AMD card in there.

 

[FlorisVN]

Due to Black Friday ! for anybody which is interessted, i think I found some deals for you.
Nvidia GTX765m and GTX780m deals on eBay right now. (some discount here and there)
I think these cards should work fine in our iMacs..

https://www.ebay.nl/itm/NEW-Dell-Al...h=item5b4ecaddd4:g:sKEAAOSwq4Vb0hT9:rk:6:pf:0

https://www.ebay.nl/itm/Dell-Alienw...h=item1cb19752ad:g:c3EAAOSwWV9bQZYJ:rk:2:pf:0

https://www.ebay.nl/itm/Dell-Alienw...h=item362ebb055b:g:xncAAOSwq1JZERDT:rk:3:pf:0

https://www.ebay.nl/itm/Dell-Alienw...h=item3b1f325c1b:g:a8oAAOSw6jNbvQ3q:rk:6:pf:0

 

[wiruzdk]

i just got a imac 2009 with a ATI HD4850 the chip is 216-0732025 can i replace it with 216-0732026 since it both are HD4850 but the last number is different but looks the same and same pinns.

 

[vkd]

Hi All, My iMac 27” GPU has finally died, I’ve been offered a recycled 6770m 512mb from a 27” iMac extremely cheap, my question is will I be able to use the heat sink from the 6970m that my iMac came with, or would I need to modify it to fit? Thanks in advance

If the 6770m won't include the heat sink (I recently bought one from ebay.com and it came with the heat sink still attached), I wouldn't think it will be much of a problem as the 6770m is a Type A MXM card and the 6970m is Type B, which is the same width but slightly longer. So, as your present heat sink is for a longer card, it should be alright. The extra length is visually taken up by memory chips, just do a comparison using photos on the internet if you're in doubt.

 

[passatgt]

Hi! I successfully installed 780m into a 27inch 2011 iMac. Everything runs smooth on High Sierra, however on Mojave the animations are really slow, lots of glitches in dark mode and overall bad experience(for example when you drag around the window, its really choppy). Any ideas how to fix this?

 

[bmillz]

Hi! I successfully installed 780m into a 27inch 2011 iMac. Everything runs smooth on High Sierra, however on Mojave the animations are really slow, lots of glitches in dark mode and overall bad experience(for example when you drag around the window, its really choppy). Any ideas how to fix this?

Make sure when you apply the patches from dosdude1’s post install tool you uncheck “Legacy Video Patch,” or you will run into that issue.

 

[passatgt]

Make sure when you apply the patches from dosdude1’s post install tool you uncheck “Legacy Video Patch,” or you will run into that issue.

Thanks, that does make sense. I launched the Post Install Tool once I was booted into Mojave, however it just hangs at the Rebuilding Caches step. This needs to be run from the usb disk after booting from it?

Because I don't know how to boot from the USB Mojave installer anymore. Its not showing up under System Settings / Startup Disk

 

[FlorisVN]

Thanks, that does make sense. I launched the Post Install Tool once I was booted into Mojave, however it just hangs at the Rebuilding Caches step. This needs to be run from the usb disk after booting from it?

Because I don't know how to boot from the USB Mojave installer anymore. Its not showing up under System Settings / Startup Disk

strange, the usb stick should appear in startup disk selection.
if not the usb stick might be corrupted ?
Check on another mac if it can see the usb device, and boot from it...

I also think for more in deph questions about the Mojave patcher, you should better ask help here :
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/macos-10-14-mojave-on-unsupported-macs-thread.2121473/

 

[bmillz]

Thanks, that does make sense. I launched the Post Install Tool once I was booted into Mojave, however it just hangs at the Rebuilding Caches step. This needs to be run from the usb disk after booting from it?

Because I don't know how to boot from the USB Mojave installer anymore. Its not showing up under System Settings / Startup Disk

Hmm, that is weird. I had to boot back into my usb stick without a boot screen so I just held down the option key until my usb drive started blinking, then I hit the left arrow key and pressed return. I figured it was working because it started rapidly blinking and pretty soon it booted up. If you already applied the patch, you’re better off reinstalling Mojave though. I don’t know where the patch files are located to manually remove them. Best of luck.

 

[passatgt]

Thanks, I cleaned up everything and did a reinstall with the old GPU, now its working fine. But the USB drive I used to install still won't show up as a startup disk... Weird. I'll try to create a new boot disk from Mojave and see if that shows up or not.
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That's kind of a no sh*t answer on this thread. @wiruzdk reboot to the patched Mojave installer, open Mac OS post install and choose "Software Update Patch" and select your Mojave partition and choose patch.

For everyone with a 2011 27" iMac on 10.14.1 I have patched 'AppleGraphicsControl.kext' and 'AppleGraphicsPowerManagement.kext' by finding the iMac14,2: 'Mac-27ADBB7B4CEE8E61' board id and replacing it with our 2011 board id 'Mac-942B59F58194171B'. This results in faster boot times and less lag in the UI. I chose the 14,2 because it shipped with the 780m. It's a simple process to do, and may be better than installing whatevergreen/lilu.

Can you please explain how to do this? I first tried to copy/paste these files into System/Library/Extensions, but after a restart all i got was a black screen

 

[highvoltage12v]

Thanks, I cleaned up everything and did a reinstall with the old GPU, now its working fine. But the USB drive I used to install still won't show up as a startup disk... Weird. I'll try to create a new boot disk from Mojave and see if that shows up or not.
[doublepost=1543167690][/doublepost]

Can you please explain how to do this? I first tried to copy/paste these files into System/Library/Extensions, but after a restart all i got was a black screen

You can't do that. You have to install it with the correct permissions. You have to get 'Kext Utility' and drag the kexts on top of the application icon. You can also use kext wizard too.

 

[passatgt]

You can't do that. You have to install it with the correct permissions. You have to get 'Kext Utility' and drag the kexts on top of the application icon. You can also use kext wizard too.

Thanks, its working now! I have another issue though... it won't wake from sleep. Either a black screen or just restarts immediately. Might be because this 780m has a different firmware than yours? I saw a post that you had the same issue but it was resolved in the Mojave GM.

Also feel like that somethings wrong. I experience low frame rate and jump in animations. Its not that noticable, but i feel like it was better with the old gpu and high sierra. For example if i open a folder stack from my dock while holding shift to slow down the animation, it will always jump twice at the end, frame rate is around 20 fps

 

[FlorisVN]

Thanks, its working now! I have another issue though... it won't wake from sleep. Either a black screen or just restarts immediately. Might be because this 780m has a different firmware than yours? I saw a post that you had the same issue but it was resolved in the Mojave GM.

Also feel like that somethings wrong. I experience low frame rate and jump in animations. Its not that noticable, but i feel like it was better with the old gpu and high sierra. For example if i open a folder stack from my dock while holding shift to slow down the animation, it will always jump twice at the end, frame rate is around 20 fps

As far as I can remember, sleep function was also not working on Mojave with my GTX765m.
I have not noticed any animation slow downs in MacOS Mojave at all, not as far as I can remember...
I have only tested 10.14.0 so far, not 10.14.1 build..

 

[DavidOrDave]

Greetings.

New poster to this board but I've watched this thread with interest for a while now. I've been a Mac user since buying my Mac Plus in early 1985.

Lots of good stuff and thanks to all contributors. However, this thread has become a maze of twisty little passages.

My mid 2011 27" iMac i7 HD 6970m graphics card died recently, sticking on a white screen at startup with no boot. I like this iMac and would like to resurrect it. Too bad Apple canceled the repair program but I can understand it from a business standpoint. Too bad AMD isn't being held responsible for this. In any case...

The only key chord that works for me is command-s. From there, I've disabled the kext files and at least the computer is usable again with integrated graphics, but it's weird and slow. I'd be happy to restore it to original performance and towards that end, I'm considering a Alienware HD 6970m card or perhaps a M8600 card which is said to be nearly identical. But it's hard to know which to buy and it's said that these will also be unreliable.

I also could reflow it, as I have a homemade, temperature controlled reflow oven. But I'm dubious of this solution.

Otherwise, I would try another card but want to choose the most compatible, least fuss option. I am willing to flash Apple firmware onto the card but would hope it would then "just work". I am confident that I can go the Raspberry pi route or use other SPI programmer.

Also, people who have have no boot screen - does command-s single user mode still work?

It sure would be helpful to cut through the maze here by starting a poll. Which cards work, what minimal hacks are required with them, what features don't work (boot screen, etc.).

Thanks! David. Or Dave.

 

[passatgt]

Greetings.

New poster to this board but I've watched this thread with interest for a while now. I've been a Mac user since buying my Mac Plus in early 1985.

Lots of good stuff and thanks to all contributors. However, this thread has become a maze of twisty little passages.

My mid 2011 27" iMac i7 HD 6970m graphics card died recently, sticking on a white screen at startup with no boot. I like this iMac and would like to resurrect it. Too bad Apple canceled the repair program but I can understand it from a business standpoint. Too bad AMD isn't being held responsible for this. In any case...

The only key chord that works for me is command-s. From there, I've disabled the kext files and at least the computer is usable again with integrated graphics, but it's weird and slow. I'd be happy to restore it to original performance and towards that end, I'm considering a Alienware HD 6970m card or perhaps a M8600 card which is said to be nearly identical. But it's hard to know which to buy and it's said that these will also be unreliable.

I also could reflow it, as I have a homemade, temperature controlled reflow oven. But I'm dubious of this solution.

Otherwise, I would try another card but want to choose the most compatible, least fuss option. I am willing to flash Apple firmware onto the card but would hope it would then "just work". I am confident that I can go the Raspberry pi route or use other SPI programmer.

Also, people who have have no boot screen - does command-s single user mode still work?

It sure would be helpful to cut through the maze here by starting a poll. Which cards work, what minimal hacks are required with them, what features don't work (boot screen, etc.).

Thanks! David. Or Dave.

You could only get a different Ati card, which will fail the same as the one that came with your iMac. The cards you can buy especially on Aliexpress are highly likely already reflowed. If you plan to go this route, try to find a card that has the same model number that was sold with an iMac and when you buy one, make sure they have a bios chip you can use to flash. Lots of MXM gpus don't have this, because i guess the logic board loads it for the card.

I did this with a 6770M 1gb card i found on aliexpress($50) for my 21.5 inch iMac, but i also had to replace the bios chip, because it was only 64kb, and the bios for the apple card is 128kb. Also, the apple bios is 512mb and i wasn't able to change that to use all available memory on the gpu. Still, it works fine with boot screen and everything.

 

[FlorisVN]

i think, I share this AliExpress link of a "cheap" Dell Alienware GTX780m card.
I think this card should work fine..

For anybody who is interested of buying a GTX780m, see link bellow :
https://nl.aliexpress.com/item/GTX-...108.1000016.1.373849c8RdWG6f&isOrigTitle=true