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

[Render]

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.

Hi David, welcome to to the longest "iMac gpu upgrade" thread
First, reflow definetly works, but anyway your card is dead already so you've nothing to lose. No matter what card you buy, do a reflow of your 6970m, I find it crucial to have an original card to swap if anything goes wrong.

I'm not sure if every PC 6970m has the same EEPROM chip size, but I do know that most of Apple's versions of the cards need bigger chips to store Apple EFI. I remember that it was necessary a SOIC8 for some geforces to be flashed for hackintosh so I bet it will be the same for M versions.

I don't know anyone who has done it yet (I only know there are chinesse guys that have done it and sells like original ones).
Anyway I don't think it worth it. Even losing bootscreen and brightness control, upgrading to a 780m totally worth it.

As you can read in this thread, there is another issue with PC 780m: some firmwares work with macOS, some others with Windows but none works with both OS.

Alienware's firmware is the way to go for macOS. My card was extracted from a Dell Alienware. I'm not sure if Clevo Alienware is exactly the same.
Dell's firmware work with Windows but not macOS.

Of course you can flash the firmware you need, but I will recommend you to choose the right one to start from a working card.

 

[FlorisVN]

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.

Personally I would not spend anymore time or money in a AMD HD6970m or HD6770m or any other AMD HD6xxx compatible iMac video card.
I think its a total waste of time and money , all these AMD chips will die eventually, since the problem is within the chip itself and has never been fixed..

I recommend you upgrade to for example an Dell Alienware GTX765m or GTX780m.
These cards are known to work, I can confirm Dell Alienware GTX765m works fine, and so do others with GTX780m here..

yes you loose the EFI bootscreen, and some other minor things..
You have to ask you self do you need these options or can you live with the available work arrounds..

Having a working iMac with a "reliable" GPU again is most important to most of us I think..

 

[vkd]

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...

Why don't you just by a replacement 6970m card from ebay? You can get them refurbished with the heat sink included for little more than $100. I recently got a 6770m for my iMac, slotted it in and it works perfectly. Simple as.

 

[DavidOrDave]

Thank you all for the suggestions. I do have trepidation about using another 6970M card but it seems the easiest solution. The Apple ones are all overpriced, which is why I would consider the Alienware ones.

Suggestions of upgrading to the Dell Alienware GTX765m or GTX780m sound promising. When I loose the boot screen, will I still be able to boot single-user and get the unix prompt?

Replacing the flash memory with a 128K version doesn't bother me too much. SOIC8 chips are easily soldered. Still, I'll look for the easiest solution.
[doublepost=1543257449][/doublepost]I found a cheap GTX765m but it only has 2GB of memory. That's what my original 6970m had, but most of the cards referred to here seem to be the 4GB versions. Anyone using the GTX765M with 2GB?

 

[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

A quick follow up to this, you need to slightly modify the 6970 Heatsink to clear a few capacitors but it’s fits fine, marked areas need filing flush with the rest of the Heatsink

 

[FlorisVN]

Thank you all for the suggestions. I do have trepidation about using another 6970M card but it seems the easiest solution. The Apple ones are all overpriced, which is why I would consider the Alienware ones.

Suggestions of upgrading to the Dell Alienware GTX765m or GTX780m sound promising. When I loose the boot screen, will I still be able to boot single-user and get the unix prompt?

Replacing the flash memory with a 128K version doesn't bother me too much. SOIC8 chips are easily soldered. Still, I'll look for the easiest solution.
[doublepost=1543257449][/doublepost]I found a cheap GTX765m but it only has 2GB of memory. That's what my original 6970m had, but most of the cards referred to here seem to be the 4GB versions. Anyone using the GTX765M with 2GB?

My GTX765m also has 2GB, and only comes in 2GB variants.
the GTX780m has 4GB..

 

[bmillz]

Thank you all for the suggestions. I do have trepidation about using another 6970M card but it seems the easiest solution. The Apple ones are all overpriced, which is why I would consider the Alienware ones.

Suggestions of upgrading to the Dell Alienware GTX765m or GTX780m sound promising. When I loose the boot screen, will I still be able to boot single-user and get the unix prompt?

Replacing the flash memory with a 128K version doesn't bother me too much. SOIC8 chips are easily soldered. Still, I'll look for the easiest solution.
[doublepost=1543257449][/doublepost]I found a cheap GTX765m but it only has 2GB of memory. That's what my original 6970m had, but most of the cards referred to here seem to be the 4GB versions. Anyone using the GTX765M with 2GB?

If you’re looking for a nice middle ground, the GTX 770M will also work. It has 3GB of VRAM and is more affordable than the 780M.

 

[DavidOrDave]

Thanks. I found a good deal on a GTX 765m, only $63 with shipping and it's said to be "new". We'll see, but that's cheap enough not to hesitate a try.

 

[FlorisVN]

If you’re looking for a nice middle ground, the GTX 770M will also work. It has 3GB of VRAM and is more affordable than the 780M.

as far as I can remember, there are some strange problems with the GTX770m.
Some users have reported here as far as I can remember.
Problems with power throtteling and low performance where visible with the GTX770m.

I think its best to avoid this card, and go for the GTX765m and GTX780m, since these have been repported multiple times here to work wel..
[doublepost=1543403619][/doublepost]

Thanks. I found a good deal on a GTX 765m, only $63 with shipping and it's said to be "new". We'll see, but that's cheap enough not to hesitate a try.

sounds like a good deal.
But make sure it is an Dell/Alienware version, since these bios versions have the highest rate of succes !

 

[tschuuuls]

Has anyone tried installing refind to the HDD to allow booting off an usb drive for an OSX/MacOS installation?
Or will the built in GTX 765m driver not work during setup?

I will attempt to fix an 2011 imac this weekend. The original GPU died suddenly with some black and white vertical bars, a system lockup and it never showed any image again. Doesn't chime or attempt to boot from disk (Disk Drive initializes, HDD spinns up, thats about it). Diagnostic LEDs show no communication with GPU.

EDIT: I want to put in an SSD into the machine, configure it as a fusion drive with the stock HDD and install high sierra. Would be nice, if I don't have to rip out the HDD to do this...

 

[FlorisVN]

Has anyone tried installing refind to the HDD to allow booting off an usb drive for an OSX/MacOS installation?
Or will the built in GTX 765m driver not work during setup?

I will attempt to fix an 2011 imac this weekend. The original GPU died suddenly with some black and white vertical bars, a system lockup and it never showed any image again. Doesn't chime or attempt to boot from disk (Disk Drive initializes, HDD spinns up, thats about it). Diagnostic LEDs show no communication with GPU.

EDIT: I want to put in an SSD into the machine, configure it as a fusion drive with the stock HDD and install high sierra. Would be nice, if I don't have to rip out the HDD to do this...

GTX765m will even work during macos setup. (it uses built in macos drivers)
So no big problems here for installing macos.
I think GTX780m should also work fine during macos setup..

so building a fusion drive within the macos setup terminal should not be any problem..

 

[arkieboy72472]

Long time listener, first time caller.

I have a mid-2011 27" (A1312) i just bought. It needs some work. I would like for it to just run mojave. I hear these cards allow that. I am concerned with nothing else. I would like to spend around 100 bucks.

What post has the installation process and what I need to get?

I keep seeing that a Dell Alienware GTX 765m is what I need. So, say I get this. Do I install the OS and then do the upgrade of the card then reboot?

Do i put high sierra on there first?

Can someone link me in the right direction?

Do I just make a dosdude1 Mojave USB boot drive and start it up with the card in it?

Just wondering.

 

[z4co]

First of all, thank you to everyone in this thread!

I am curious about what temps people using 780m's are seeing. I have followed the recommendations posted in here and used the K5 paste on the VRAM and capacitors, Arctic MX-4 on the GPU die, and the copper plates on the rear VRAM. I am using Macs Fan Control to manage my fan speeds and get temperature readings from the GPU heatsink. I even tried my hand at making a fan duct, similar to FlorisVN's, to redirect the HDD fan onto the graphics card.

It seems that my GPU heatsink temperature will sit between 55-60º for most things, and maybe pass 60º if I am streaming video or doing heavy web lifting. This isn't too high, but definitely higher than the 6970m would run for these tasks (45-50º) so my fan speeds go above idle. But, when I am playing a game it will be 88-90º with the fans at full speed, and feeling significantly higher than the AMD card. It's my first week with the card installed so I have been weary of running it for more than 30-45 minutes at those temps (also the fans start to annoy me).

I am wondering if the air duct makes any differences and will probably play around with that some. I might consider trying a different thermal paste on the die but that takes a lot of time to change out so it won't be the first thing I do. Currently I have my iMac LCD tilted forward to give it a bigger exhaust but I don't trust my cat around that…

 

[Redlight-Records]

Greetings.

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.

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.

My understanding is that there's no such thing as integrated graphics on the iMac. Only the laptops can skip discreet and use integrated graphics. Do I have that right?

We probably have the same machine (mine's a 3.4GHz), and have the same card (mine's the 1gb). After card failure but before baking, I had iMac working somewhat by removing just the AMDRadeonX3000.kext (I tried other kext removal remedies but didn't work well at all). After baking has been running like new. I installed smcfancontrol and gave up Call of Duty and GTA just in case.

But I want a permanent fix (i.e. graphics card replacement) so I'm trolling this forum (which is the biggest repository of knowledge on this subject) in the hopes I can find the perfect (or best) working combination for my hardware and operating system (x.9.5) and using a dremmel is about as far as I can go with "modding" as I don't know jack about re-flashing or any of that trickery.

It would be great if some tweaker hackintosh nut out there would stay up for three days and compile all the pertinent, usable, trouble shot info from this thread and make a table of confirmed compatible hardware/software fixes for the card the OP posted about back in 2012 all the way through including the cards and machines and OS's that have been experimented on in the 6 years of this thread. My wife won't let me do meth, so I call "not it"

 

[Zeitkind]

Even if you replace the CPU, the internal GPU is not connected to anything (like a DP switch/MUX), so yes, no iMac can use an Intel integrated GPU, it needs an extra MXM-card.

 

[FlorisVN]

Long time listener, first time caller.

I have a mid-2011 27" (A1312) i just bought. It needs some work. I would like for it to just run mojave. I hear these cards allow that. I am concerned with nothing else. I would like to spend around 100 bucks.

What post has the installation process and what I need to get?

I keep seeing that a Dell Alienware GTX 765m is what I need. So, say I get this. Do I install the OS and then do the upgrade of the card then reboot?

Do i put high sierra on there first?

Can someone link me in the right direction?

Do I just make a dosdude1 Mojave USB boot drive and start it up with the card in it?

Just wondering.

What MacOS is your iMac currently running ?
I would reccomend you already have High Sierra 10.13.6 running right now..
You can just upgrade your card, should be working fine then..
Make sure its al Dell Alienware version, the Nvidia GTX765m is also what I have used.
Its in my opinion best price/performance card compatible out there..


I would recommend upgrading to Mojave when the last release is out of Mojave, so wait about a year...
This way you avoid the need of running the patcher over and over again, with new point release updates are comming out and should break the patches everytime from dosdude1.
And you also get the benefit of not using an macos version that is more or less bug free at the time you upgrade to it...
[doublepost=1543665926][/doublepost]

First of all, thank you to everyone in this thread!

I am curious about what temps people using 780m's are seeing. I have followed the recommendations posted in here and used the K5 paste on the VRAM and capacitors, Arctic MX-4 on the GPU die, and the copper plates on the rear VRAM. I am using Macs Fan Control to manage my fan speeds and get temperature readings from the GPU heatsink. I even tried my hand at making a fan duct, similar to FlorisVN's, to redirect the HDD fan onto the graphics card.

It seems that my GPU heatsink temperature will sit between 55-60º for most things, and maybe pass 60º if I am streaming video or doing heavy web lifting. This isn't too high, but definitely higher than the 6970m would run for these tasks (45-50º) so my fan speeds go above idle. But, when I am playing a game it will be 88-90º with the fans at full speed, and feeling significantly higher than the AMD card. It's my first week with the card installed so I have been weary of running it for more than 30-45 minutes at those temps (also the fans start to annoy me).

I am wondering if the air duct makes any differences and will probably play around with that some. I might consider trying a different thermal paste on the die but that takes a lot of time to change out so it won't be the first thing I do. Currently I have my iMac LCD tilted forward to give it a bigger exhaust but I don't trust my cat around that…

I think these are high heatsink tems. you are getting here..
my GTX765m heatsink is in idle about 30-35 degrees celcious, and tested in under heavy load (heaven benchmark) 10 min. it was not more then about 45 degrees celcious, as far as I can remember..

In Bootcamp I tested the GTX765m die temperature, it was not going over 55 degrees celcious when doing benchmarks.

take a look at my temps. running idle in Mojave.
See screenshot

Does your GTX780m GPU-die makes good contact with the heatsink.. ?
Have you modified your original 6970m heatsink good enough, to make good contact with the GPU.. ?

How did you make your custom air duct, and which copper heatsinks did you use ?
Can you show is with a picture here perhaps.. ?
That would be nice...

 

[FlorisVN]

for anybody who is interested to know how the performance is of the GTX765m, see screenshot bellow of Cinebench.

@Redlight-Records Today I have tested Mavericks (10.9.5) for you and i can also confirm I don't have any screen visible with my GTX765m.
Strangly 10.8.5 Mountain lion worked fine (at least within the setup installer).
I thought mavericks should then also work just fine, but it dit not.
I can do one more test in the future, installing nvidia drivers for mavericks aswell, and test again.
But so far OOB like other macos versions, Mavericks does not work..
I dont know why, but Mavericks is different then the other mac OS versions it seems, when handeling this card..

But if you can upgrade to Yosemite i would highly recommend you do so !
Mavericks is now really becomming Obsolete anyways...

 

[passatgt]

for anybody who is interested to know how the performance is of the GTX765m, see screenshot bellow of Cinebench.

@Redlight-Records Today I have tested Mavericks (10.9.5) for you and i can also confirm I don't have any screen visible with my GTX765m.
Strangly 10.8.5 Mountain lion worked fine (at least within the setup installer).
I thought mavericks should then also work just fine, but it dit not.
I can do one more test in the future, installing nvidia drivers for mavericks aswell, and test again.
But so far OOB like other macos versions, Mavericks does not work..
I dont know why, but Mavericks is different then the other mac OS versions it seems, when handeling this card..

But if you can upgrade to Yosemite i would highly recommend you do so !
Mavericks is now really becomming Obsolete anyways...

Thats weird... My 780M gave me 57.28. Same processor. Can someone else with a 780M test it please so we can compare scores? Might be a firmware issue on my card? Because i'm guessing it should be more than what a 765m makes, slightly at least.

 

[FlorisVN]

Thats weird... My 780M gave me 57.28. Same processor. Can someone else with a 780M test it please so we can compare scores? Might be a firmware issue on my card? Because i'm guessing it should be more than what a 765m makes, slightly at least.

also have 8GB ram, and running Mojave.. ?
I have not installed any Nvidia drivers btw..

 

[passatgt]

also have 8GB ram, and running Mojave.. ?
I have not installed any Nvidia drivers btw..

I have 32gb memory, and also didn't install any nvidia drivers. Another weird thing is that for me in system reports, it says 4095MB Vram, not 4096MB. Not sure if thats a problem though.

 

[DavidOrDave]

My understanding is that there's no such thing as integrated graphics on the iMac. Only the laptops can skip discreet and use integrated graphics. Do I have that right?

As to integrated graphics - I don't know. I don't know why it works, but if I move all of the AMD extensions to a /Disabled folder that I created in single-user mode - the computer boots past the white screen. The finder and certain applications flicker and update poorly, but other applications are OK. It works well enough to do real work like word processing, email, web surfing, personal finances and fresh time machine backups.

My machine is:

mid 2011 iMac 27"
Model: A1312
SN: ------------------
EMC: 2429

AMD HD 6970M 2GB GDDR
GRAPHICS 065-0312 AMD Radeon HD 6970M 2GB GDDR5

I'm in the process of installing the GTX765m. I modified the heatsink yesterday and now I find that the X bracket doesn't have sufficient clearance around some of the capacitors of the new board, so I'm going to trim that today and then be ready to start reassembling things.

My machine is still running Mavericks as I don't like the direction Apple is going with their user interface. Some have said the GTX765M won't work with Mavericks. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it - I have several external, bootable flash drives with newer OS's that I can try.

Wish me luck!

 

[FlorisVN]

I have 32gb memory, and also didn't install any nvidia drivers. Another weird thing is that for me in system reports, it says 4095MB Vram, not 4096MB. Not sure if thats a problem though.

my GTX765m also shows 4095MB..
I dont think this is any problem...
[doublepost=1543771078][/doublepost]

As to integrated graphics - I don't know. I don't know why it works, but if I move all of the AMD extensions to a /Disabled folder that I created in single-user mode - the computer boots past the white screen. The finder and certain applications flicker and update poorly, but other applications are OK. It works well enough to do real work like word processing, email, web surfing, personal finances and fresh time machine backups.

My machine is:

mid 2011 iMac 27"
Model: A1312
SN: ------------------
EMC: 2429

AMD HD 6970M 2GB GDDR
GRAPHICS 065-0312 AMD Radeon HD 6970M 2GB GDDR5

I'm in the process of installing the GTX765m. I modified the heatsink yesterday and now I find that the X bracket doesn't have sufficient clearance around some of the capacitors of the new board, so I'm going to trim that today and then be ready to start reassembling things.

My machine is still running Mavericks as I don't like the direction Apple is going with their user interface. Some have said the GTX765M won't work with Mavericks. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it - I have several external, bootable flash drives with newer OS's that I can try.

Wish me luck!

My last test for Mavericks I did not get any screen.
I dont know why, but all other versions I have tested so far worked OOB just fine with GTX765m.
I still can test Mavericks with nvidia web drivers, have not tested that yet.

But I advise High Sierra 10.13.6 for now , since that works also great for this card..

 

[passatgt]

As to integrated graphics - I don't know. I don't know why it works, but if I move all of the AMD extensions to a /Disabled folder that I created in single-user mode - the computer boots past the white screen. The finder and certain applications flicker and update poorly, but other applications are OK. It works well enough to do real work like word processing, email, web surfing, personal finances and fresh time machine backups.

Thats interesting! Would it be possible to create an app that disables the AMD extensions on shutdown automatically and enable it while booting? So we could have boot screen. Or is it required to enable the extensions again before the actual boot in order to load them. It would be an interesting workaround to the no boot screen problem.

 

[DavidOrDave]

So, I just get a black screen with my new GTX765M card. No single-user mode, it's pretty much hobbled. I do get the startup chime. I'll have to try booting from an external non-mavericks drive and see what happens. Not sure how to select which os to boot if I cannot see anything on the screen.

 

[FlorisVN]

So, I just get a black screen with my new GTX765M card. No single-user mode, it's pretty much hobbled. I do get the startup chime. I'll have to try booting from an external non-mavericks drive and see what happens. Not sure how to select which os to boot if I cannot see anything on the screen.

Sounds like the same result as mine..
It looks like Mavericks won't even boot at all with a GTX765m.

You can try test it again, on an internal drive perhaps.
and test again with Nvidia webdrivers..

I don't know what is so different with Mavericks, but even Mountain Lion worked fine OOB with the GTX765m.
I expected Mavericks to work just the same OOB like most MacOS X versions...