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

[macnjack]

Final Edit - Card and salvable parts all found good free homes. Keep up the good fight on these GPU issues. 2011 i7 iMac with 6970 was the most stable computer I ever owned. 7years 1 month and was a full time server, TV, gaming (kind of), college paper writing machine.

**********Original Message
My 2011 iMac had a catastrophic failure (kid trying to help while I wasn't looking) while starting the swap of a 5YPW3 Dell Alienware M17x M18x Nvidia GTX 765M 2GB GDDR5. Super sad to scrap the old workhorse but this was suuuupppppeeeeerrrrr catastrophic that involved a wagon, steps, and now drywall repair.

If there is anyone who is actually looking to modify the 6970 heatsink (requires a Dremel or similar tool) and make the swap for the Nvidia 765m, let me know. I'm not selling anything, but would rather see the card go to someone who can use it. It has thermal applied, but never booted. I do not know if the card actually works. DM me and maybe we can find a way to get it to you if you're stateside.

Original Edit: For those messaging me about parts. I recycled what was left of the destroyed iMac, which was almost everything. All I have is the Nvidia card. The old gpu was toast, the heatsink crushed, screen in many pieces, etc. I gave the i7 processor to the local tech school for an upgrade but they weren't keen for the gpu swap.

 

[FlorisVN]

My 2011 iMac had a catastrophic failure (kid trying to help while I wasn't looking) while starting the swap of a 5YPW3 Dell Alienware M17x M18x Nvidia GTX 765M 2GB GDDR5. Super sad to scrap the old workhorse but this was suuuupppppeeeeerrrrr catastrophic that involved a wagon, steps, and now drywall repair.

If there is anyone who is actually looking to modify the 6970 heatsink (requires a Dremel or similar tool) and make the swap for the Nvidia 765m, let me know. I'm not selling anything, but would rather see the card go to someone who can use it. It has thermal applied, but never booted. I do not know if the card actually works. DM me and maybe we can find a way to get it to you if you're stateside.

Edit: For those messaging me about parts. I recycled what was left of the destroyed iMac, which was almost everything. All I have is the Nvidia card. The old gpu was toast, the heatsink crushed, screen in many pieces, etc. I gave the i7 processor to the local tech school for an upgrade but they weren't keen for the gpu swap.

I'm sorry to hear you are having so much problems..
if you cannot find anybody, I'm very interrested in your GTX765m.
We can use it in our second 27" 2011 iMac..

Just let me know...

 

[macnjack]

I'm sorry to hear you are having so much problems..
if you cannot find anybody, I'm very interrested in your GTX765m.
We can use it in our second 27" 2011 iMac..

Just let me know...

I sent you a direct message. Card is all yours. Once you confirm address ill edit my original post since all salvageable parts have will be accounted for.

 

[DavidOrDave]

Hello again,

My GTX765M card just gives a black screen and I cannot get into single-user mode or do anything with it. My external USB flash drive with El Capitan on it doesn't boot, either.

I'm thinking I need to reinstall the old HD 6970m card to get back to a workable condition, but I'm looking for other tips as it's a pain to swap out the video card.

Render mentioned that the Nvidia cards would work with a web driver. I have downloaded various web drivers and may try installing one of those from a flash drive if I get the machine back to a bootable state.

Just for kicks, I tried running the appropriate installer (a .pkg file) here on my MacBook Pro - it complained that this mac is not supported and then quickly exited. I wonder if I'll run into the same issue on the iMac? We'll see. Will I have to open the .pkg file and extract the driver on the iMac?

Any further tips for getting the GTX765M to work on my 27" iMac?

 

[swimllamaswim]

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"?

Sorry for taking so long to respond. My stock card in my iMac is dead, and I wanna swap the card in my laptop since I'd be using it more anyways. It is a 27" though. Has the 6970m in it now.

 

[passatgt]

Hello again,

My GTX765M card just gives a black screen and I cannot get into single-user mode or do anything with it. My external USB flash drive with El Capitan on it doesn't boot, either.

I'm thinking I need to reinstall the old HD 6970m card to get back to a workable condition, but I'm looking for other tips as it's a pain to swap out the video card.

Render mentioned that the Nvidia cards would work with a web driver. I have downloaded various web drivers and may try installing one of those from a flash drive if I get the machine back to a bootable state.

Just for kicks, I tried running the appropriate installer (a .pkg file) here on my MacBook Pro - it complained that this mac is not supported and then quickly exited. I wonder if I'll run into the same issue on the iMac? We'll see. Will I have to open the .pkg file and extract the driver on the iMac?

Any further tips for getting the GTX765M to work on my 27" iMac?

Do you have access to a windows PC with an MXM port? I would suggest installing a different firmware on it(and also just to check if your card works at all). You can get firmwares from TechPowerUp, usually Dell cards work the best based on the comments in this thread.

 

[FlorisVN]

Hello again,

My GTX765M card just gives a black screen and I cannot get into single-user mode or do anything with it. My external USB flash drive with El Capitan on it doesn't boot, either.

I'm thinking I need to reinstall the old HD 6970m card to get back to a workable condition, but I'm looking for other tips as it's a pain to swap out the video card.

Render mentioned that the Nvidia cards would work with a web driver. I have downloaded various web drivers and may try installing one of those from a flash drive if I get the machine back to a bootable state.

Just for kicks, I tried running the appropriate installer (a .pkg file) here on my MacBook Pro - it complained that this mac is not supported and then quickly exited. I wonder if I'll run into the same issue on the iMac? We'll see. Will I have to open the .pkg file and extract the driver on the iMac?

Any further tips for getting the GTX765M to work on my 27" iMac?

I suppose this is the first time you installed your GTX765m ?
I had this problem in the past also once, I just reseated the GTX765m again in the MXM slot on the logic board.
I would suggest you do the same..

Just reseat that card..


and I suppose you have a Dell/Alienware GTX765m ?
Other bios versions may not work...

 

[tschuuuls]

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!

You are not running on the integrated graphics.
You are running the 6970m without any drivers. Which means it won't do any graphics acceleration, which a modern OSx doesn't expect and therefore glitches a bit.
This works, because those cards usually fail in a way they still display some sort of picture but fail if they are under any load (that's why the mac freezes partway though the boot screen, thats where the gpu driver is loaded).
I own a 2011 MBP that also has a dead GPU and while trying to disable it (succeded eventually) the laptop switched back to the dGPU without drivers and I had the same sympthoms you got. But even on 1440x900 stuff like spotify was so slow and buggy it was unusable, can't really imagine to use it on 1440p...

But in some cases the GPU completely fails and won't show any image anymore and will not be recognized, the mac wont chime and the "gpu communication" led on the board never turns green. Then you can't use this trick at all.

 

[DavidOrDave]

OK, thanks for the tips.

Interesting that the AMD 6970m would fail in such a way that it still works without accelerated graphics.

And, yes it was said to be an Alienware card - it's a 5YPW3 card, and cost me $63 with shipping.

But - IT'S ALIVE! I'm using it to type this message.

No boot screen, no brightness control, but otherwise it's working!

What I did was to tilt the screen out just enough to unplug the internal SSD. This forced the iMac to boot from the El Capitan USB flash drive. Up until that point it was black screen only and I had no way to select the external boot drive. I was about to reinstall the failed graphics card just to get back to usability. But getting it to boot from a non-maverick OS did the trick.

Now I know that the eBay GTX765m card is working.

El Capitan running from a USB drive is pretty slow and I get spinning beach balls. But I experienced that before the graphics card failure when running from this USB stick, that's just the way it is. But the graphics looks fine. Finder windows now scroll and drag fine.

It would be interesting to know why it won't work under Mavericks.
I've been perusing the system report to see which drivers are loaded under El Capitan. There are five kernel extensions that seem to be related to the Nvidia card, and three of them are loaded - see the screen shot. I might try taking some of these extensions and try them on my Mavericks installation.

In any case, I'll probably just keep experimenting with later operating systems to see what works. As I mentioned previously, I've avoided upgrading because I don't like the direction Apple is headed with their user interface. But I knew I would have to abandon Mavericks eventually, I guess this is it.

I'll keep at it, but this is real encouraging.

 

[FlorisVN]

OK, thanks for the tips.

Interesting that the AMD 6970m would fail in such a way that it still works without accelerated graphics.

And, yes it was said to be an Alienware card - it's a 5YPW3 card, and cost me $63 with shipping.

But - IT'S ALIVE! I'm using it to type this message.

No boot screen, no brightness control, but otherwise it's working!

What I did was to tilt the screen out just enough to unplug the internal SSD. This forced the iMac to boot from the El Capitan USB flash drive. Up until that point it was black screen only and I had no way to select the external boot drive. I was about to reinstall the failed graphics card just to get back to usability. But getting it to boot from a non-maverick OS did the trick.

Now I know that the eBay GTX765m card is working.

El Capitan running from a USB drive is pretty slow and I get spinning beach balls. But I experienced that before the graphics card failure when running from this USB stick, that's just the way it is. But the graphics looks fine. Finder windows now scroll and drag fine.

It would be interesting to know why it won't work under Mavericks.
I've been perusing the system report to see which drivers are loaded under El Capitan. There are five kernel extensions that seem to be related to the Nvidia card, and three of them are loaded - see the screen shot. I might try taking some of these extensions and try them on my Mavericks installation.

In any case, I'll probably just keep experimenting with later operating systems to see what works. As I mentioned previously, I've avoided upgrading because I don't like the direction Apple is headed with their user interface. But I knew I would have to abandon Mavericks eventually, I guess this is it.

I'll keep at it, but this is real encouraging.

Have you tried Mavericks with Nvidia Drivers.. ?
My GTX765m also did not liked Mavericks so far...
It looked like mavericks was not even able to boot.

 

[DavidOrDave]

Under El Capitan, I selected my external USB stick as the startup drive and then reconnected the internal Mavericks SSD, which I could then access. I also copied the three extensions from El Capitan over to the Mavericks extension folder and restarted without the USB stick. This should force the OS to switch back to Mavericks. Alas - it didn't boot past the black screen.

But reinserting the USB stick still works - the startup disk selection now made. So I can access the internal SSD from El Capitan and then experiment with booting from one or the other - with or without the USB stick plugged in.

I could try copying over the other Nvidia extensions and see what happens under Mavericks. Or try the Nvidia drivers I downloaded from the web. But I may not have the patients to go through all that. I may instead just update my internal SSD to probably - Sierra - which I will assume will work - but won't know until I try it.
[doublepost=1543962958][/doublepost]...Then - I'll try X-Plane. The only graphics intensive game I ever use.

 

[wlagarde]

Dear All -

I may have a solution for the backlight intensity issue. I have been using my oscilloscope to probe around and explore the backlight board on my 2011 iMac 27 to understand how the backlight intensity is controlled. The answer is PWM. The PWM frequency is 13kHz, pulse height 3.25V, and the duty cycle of the 13kHz square wave pulses when varied from 0 to 100% adjusts the screen intensity from minimum to maximum. When a non Apple video card is used the lack of an appropriate EFI on the card results in a duty cycle delivered to the input of the backlight board to be 100%. Should be able to purchase a PWM controller that runs on 12VDC (get power fro 12V power supply rail on iMac PS) and produces a 3.25V height square wave pulse repeated at 13kHz and duty cycle varied by a potentiometer on the unit. I have traced the PWM input wires from the backlight board back to the logic board. Plan to cut this to isolate the logic board PWM output from the backlight board PWM input. Then will feed the purchased PWM controller output into the backlight board PWM input and bury the purchased controller inside the iMac. Would then set backlight intensity to about 50-60%, close up the iMac and use brightness slider app to provide the rest of the needed adjustability. Should work like a charm. Will report back with detailed how to guide with pictures if I am successful.

Bill

 

[FlorisVN]

Dear All -

I may have a solution for the backlight intensity issue. I have been using my oscilloscope to probe around and explore the backlight board on my 2011 iMac 27 to understand how the backlight intensity is controlled. The answer is PWM. The PWM frequency is 13kHz, pulse height 3.25V, and the duty cycle of the 13kHz square wave pulses when varied from 0 to 100% adjusts the screen intensity from minimum to maximum. When a non Apple video card is used the lack of an appropriate EFI on the card results in a duty cycle delivered to the input of the backlight board to be 100%. Should be able to purchase a PWM controller that runs on 12VDC (get power fro 12V power supply rail on iMac PS) and produces a 3.25V height square wave pulse repeated at 13kHz and duty cycle varied by a potentiometer on the unit. I have traced the PWM input wires from the backlight board back to the logic board. Plan to cut this to isolate the logic board PWM output from the backlight board PWM input. Then will feed the purchased PWM controller output into the backlight board PWM input and bury the purchased controller inside the iMac. Would then set backlight intensity to about 50-60%, close up the iMac and use brightness slider app to provide the rest of the needed adjustability. Should work like a charm. Will report back with detailed how to guide with pictures if I am successful.

Bill

Thats some intersting info there sir !
I hope it works, post us an update if you got one..

 

[passatgt]

Dear All -

I may have a solution for the backlight intensity issue. I have been using my oscilloscope to probe around and explore the backlight board on my 2011 iMac 27 to understand how the backlight intensity is controlled. The answer is PWM. The PWM frequency is 13kHz, pulse height 3.25V, and the duty cycle of the 13kHz square wave pulses when varied from 0 to 100% adjusts the screen intensity from minimum to maximum. When a non Apple video card is used the lack of an appropriate EFI on the card results in a duty cycle delivered to the input of the backlight board to be 100%. Should be able to purchase a PWM controller that runs on 12VDC (get power fro 12V power supply rail on iMac PS) and produces a 3.25V height square wave pulse repeated at 13kHz and duty cycle varied by a potentiometer on the unit. I have traced the PWM input wires from the backlight board back to the logic board. Plan to cut this to isolate the logic board PWM output from the backlight board PWM input. Then will feed the purchased PWM controller output into the backlight board PWM input and bury the purchased controller inside the iMac. Would then set backlight intensity to about 50-60%, close up the iMac and use brightness slider app to provide the rest of the needed adjustability. Should work like a charm. Will report back with detailed how to guide with pictures if I am successful.

Bill

I think it would be better if you mount the controller outside, so if you need to change it you don't need to disassemble? You could simple route the wires out through the top vent hole on the back

 

[passatgt]

Is it possible to export a rom from a running iMac without disassembly and external rom flashing tool? I found a local ad about a 2010 iMac, that says it has a 660M and he says that boot screen and brightness control works just fine.

 

[FlorisVN]

Is it possible to export a rom from a running iMac without disassembly and external rom flashing tool? I found a local ad about a 2010 iMac, that says it has a 660M and he says that boot screen and brightness control works just fine.

I think its defenitly possible using bootcamp !
you can use nvflash to backup the rom within cmd (dos) within Windows bootcamp.
So Yes I think you can..

You can also use GPU-Z within Bootcamp, and save the bios rom..

 

[passatgt]

I think its defenitly possible using bootcamp !
you can use nvflash to backup the rom within cmd (dos) within Windows bootcamp.
So Yes I think you can..

You can also use GPU-Z within Bootcamp, and save the bios rom..

Thanks for the info, however turns out its a 2012 late model, he just mistakenly thought it was a 2010...

 

[FlorisVN]

Thanks for the info, however turns out its a 2012 late model, he just mistakenly thought it was a 2010...

ah ok I see.
I was also wondering..
The 2010 iMac, uses AMD HD5xxxx series as far as I know..

 

[mrcarl79]

So read a lot of comments on this great thread, another 2011 27" AMD Radeon HD 6970M owner willing to try and mod to get Mojave up and running. SO first step to buy the GPU, are any of these 4x options I find on Aliexpress when I search "GTX765M IMAC" the right ones?

https://www.aliexpress.com/af/GTX76...05164807&origin=n&catId=0&isViewCP=y&jump=afs

Will get onto researching the thermal paste and dremel options next too! Seeing as my AMD Radeon HD 6970M is running perfect I may buy another iMac cheap that has a dead GPU and try and bring another one back to life that I may be able to resell to pay for the GTX765M

 

[FlorisVN]

So read a lot of comments on this great thread, another 2011 27" AMD Radeon HD 6970M owner willing to try and mod to get Mojave up and running. SO first step to buy the GPU, are any of these 4x options I find on Aliexpress when I search "GTX765M IMAC" the right ones?

https://www.aliexpress.com/af/GTX76...05164807&origin=n&catId=0&isViewCP=y&jump=afs

Will get onto researching the thermal paste and dremel options next too! Seeing as my AMD Radeon HD 6970M is running perfect I may buy another iMac cheap that has a dead GPU and try and bring another one back to life that I may be able to resell to pay for the GTX765M

Alle these GTX765m Dell/Alienware cards on the Alieexpress link you send look fine to me..
Funny to see that even the sellers these day, advertise them as iMac compatible..

These GTX765m's, all look the same like mine.
I also think there is only one version on the market of this Dell/Alienware version..

I would say buy the cheapest version.
I would say pay no more than about 100 euro's..

You also need K5 thermal pasta !
I highly reccomend it !

See following link :
http://www.computer-systems.gr/en/content/k5-pro
https://www.amazon.com/CS-LABS-Thermal-replacement-K5-PRO/dp/B01H3D9ZE8

 

[FlorisVN]

I am wondering how our Nvidia cards performe vs the original HD6970m in Final Cut Pro.
I always thought Final Cut Pro works better with AMD cards, instead of Nvidia cards..

Has anybody here tested and compared it, is the GTX765m or GTX780m for example faster than the original HD6970m in Final Cut pro.
I'm curious, if somebody here can give me an answer on this one...

 

[z4co]

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.

I ran Cinebench on my 780m and got 59.05 fps.

I haven't gotten a chance to investigate my temperature issue any further, I want to try redoing my thermal paste and see if that gets me anywhere, i'll take some internal pictures when I open it back up.

 

[Nv1990]

iMac upgrade in LA? PM me or post here.

Still looking for someone trying to put a replacement or upgraded GPU in their iMac. Pretty sure we could create a working GTX 755,775 or 780 from a PC version. (All "m" versions on MXM board, could do gtx680m if someone finds the file)

Pretty sure it could be made to run with boot screens, etc. We do not have the space or time to start ripping apart iMacs so needs to be someone who does.

You would need to preferably be in LA area but could also possibly work if someone mailed us a PC version of one of those cards. Card would need to have a "SOIC-8" eeprom chip on it.

Offering this as a FREE service for 1 or 2 people to learn from. If it doesn't work as intended we can return card to PC specs so you can re-sell. Keep in mind, removing and installing and making sure there is sufficient cooling is 100% up to you. We are just offering to take a PC version of an existing iMac card and convert it to iMac version with full boot screen and display support.

In short, to do exactly what we do for Mac Pro cards. If there is a Mac repair facility in LA, that would be best. In a perfect world we would end up being able to create MANY different GPU cards for iMacs and could offer these ourselves or through another source. Note, only interested in working on Nvidia cards, no AMD.

Would you do it with a PC Card from eBay if I buy 0ne I want to upgrade my mid 2011 iMac

 

[FlorisVN]

for anybody who is interrsted, Luke Miani on Youtube is going to make a new series on his channel all about the iMac 2011 27".

Upgrading everything in it, including the Graphics card.
First video went out today, I think its a nice video to see for all of us iMac users out there..

UPDATE :
Greg’ from Hrutkay Mods is also going to make an iMac 2011 Graphics Card upgrade video soon...

 

[arkieboy72472]

So, I have had the 2011 for a little while and I love it so far.

I now have that Dell Alienware card everyone recommends. What all parts of it need thermal paste? What all types of paste are needed and what do you all use for the white gummy stuff? Also, what mods if any happen to the heatsink?

For the time being, mine works and I am going to leave it as is until I get everything I need. I will say running a nice SSD and 16gb of ram makes it pretty awesome.