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

[RustyBl0ck]

Hello! I am back here again. Has anyone tried to get a k3100m on iMac 27" 2009 i7? I am changing my iMac 27" 2009's logicboard to an 1156 socket H version to add an i7. And does it have support for brightness control on OpenCore? Thx! Planning to use Big Sur

 

[RustyBl0ck]

Information on the card Nvidia K3000M HUNIX 2GB

Works on iMac 2010 21.5

DOES NOT WORK :
iMac 27 2011
iMac 27 2010
iMac 27 2009
iMac 21.5 2011

* With SAMSUNG chips works on ALL of these iMacs!

Hi! I can see in ur signature that you have an iMac 2009 with Nvidia k3100m and an i7? Can you teach me? And do you use OpenCore and Big Sur? And brightness control? Thx

 

[RustyBl0ck]

How can i stop with these iMac renovations if there are deals like this?

View attachment 1753467

Where did u find that?! Pls help me find that!!!!!

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Where did u find that?! Pls help me find that!!!!!

How would you get this from Vienna to your home? BTW: Do you know in where Vienna exactly is?

 

[idenis42]

Quadro K2000M 2 GB 👍

 

[Den_UA]

Is this an experiment with a single card of each type or did you check multiple?
My few K3000M with Hynix AFR worked in 2009/2010/2011 27 iMac systems.
We never recommend to use a MXM-B card in small 21.5 inch models. I would even say - no support - since I refuse to answer when people posting their problems doing this

Used 3 different Nvidia K3000M cards under HP brand!
It starts every other time, if it turns on, it works stably.
All cards have been tested under load, 100% working!

=> Ausdauersportler Which BIOS did you use? I used @stephle.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Used 3 different Nvidia K3000M cards under HP brand!
It starts every other time, if it turns on, it works stably.
All cards have been tested under load, 100% working!

=> Ausdauersportler Which BIOS did you use? I used @stephle.

Yes, the @stephle version.

 

[bluecrowHH]

Hello! I am back here again. Has anyone tried to get a k3100m on iMac 27" 2009 i7? I am changing my iMac 27" 2009's logicboard to an 1156 socket H version to add an i7. And does it have support for brightness control on OpenCore? Thx! Planning to use Big Sur

I will soon fit a k3100m into an Imac 2009 So far I had no problems with K3100 from Aliexpress.

 

[PaDa23]

Are the silver square things on a mxm gpu conductive? Do I need thermal pads so they dont touch the metal of the heatsink? Is this important or can I use thermal paste and its no big deal if the square parts touch the metal?

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

Are the silver square things on a mxm gpu conductive? Do I need thermal pads so they dont touch the metal of the heatsink? Is this important or can I use thermal paste and its no big deal if the square parts touch the metal?

View attachment 1777070

2 pieces of thermal pad don't cost that much for you to ask a question, do it?
I just apply thermal pad any way, just for precaution purpose.

 

[G3rry71]

He's not using OCLP. He is using OpenCore and a patched version of Catalina with Catalina Loader. He needs to install OCLP and then download the latest version and use the install media command on his Mac to prepare the USB installer.

Hi, thanks for your reply.Does it means I have to reinstall from scratch everything or may I install OCLP over the existing patched Catalina with OpenCore?

 

[PaDa23]

2 pieces of thermal pad don't cost that much for you to ask a question, do it?
I just apply thermal pad any way, just for precaution purpose.

Maybe if I had some thermal pads around I wouldn't ask this question ...
I want to test my GPU first.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

Maybe if I had some thermal pads around I wouldn't ask this question ...
I want to test my GPU first.

Just for a short time testing, you can use some kapton tape (or any kind of insulation tape) to keep any components from touching the heatsink. I did use the Kapton tape myself, thermal pads are sticked to memory chips only.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

Hi, thanks for your reply.Does it means I have to reinstall from scratch everything or may I install OCLP over the existing patched Catalina with OpenCore?

After having all personal data backed up, and a freshly created USB installer,
you can try making a OCLP USB to see if the machine will hang or not when booting from OCLP USB.
If it does, unplug the USB and reset NVRAM, your machine will be back to its previous status, I suppose.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Are the silver square things on a mxm gpu conductive? Do I need thermal pads so they dont touch the metal of the heatsink? Is this important or can I use thermal paste and its no big deal if the square parts touch the metal?

View attachment 1777070

On the first post there a longer text about grinding the (large three pipe 2011) heat sink to avoid any contact of the bigs coils with the sink. Did I mention that reading the first post is quite a good idea?

 

[cabinfourus]

Same answer as usual: Please check the wiki on the first post. It is the hidden documentation. The 460M is a Fermi based GPU, you could spend months on developing a BIOS just to figure out at the very end that Apple does not provide drivers for those GPU types - too bad.

I gotcha. I see you answer most of these questions and I'd like to thank you for taking the time to do so.
I am upgrading two mid 2010 imacs. I am going to run the core i5 680 in one of them along with 16 gig of ram. Which amd card would be best with my setup and have the least amount of trouble installing. By trouble, I mean things like flashing the bios or running special software..etc. Thanks again.

 

[davidg5678]

Which amd card would be best with my setup and have the least amount of trouble installing.

I'd recommend going with either the WX4130 or WX4150. (in my opinion, the more expensive cards are not usually worth installing in 11-year-old computers unless you can buy one for a fantastic deal) As you have a 2010 iMac, there should be a reasonably high chance of things going successfully with AMD. You'll need to set up OpenCore Legacy Patcher, as well as flash the GPU ROM. For the best compatibility, OCLP and flashing are requirements for almost every GPU (AMD or NVIDIA) at this point.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

I gotcha. I see you answer most of these questions and I'd like to thank you for taking the time to do so.
I am upgrading two mid 2010 imacs. I am going to run the core i5 680 in one of them along with 16 gig of ram. Which amd card would be best with my setup and have the least amount of trouble installing. By trouble, I mean things like flashing the bios or running special software..etc. Thanks again.

There is no difference! And even this you can get from the first post.

There is even no answer to questions like „which is the best“ because the measure you personally will apply is unknown. Pick one according to you unknown needs, to your unknown budget, to your unknown comfort level fixing things. Guess even this phrase you will find on the famous first post.

 

[mitesh33]

You could as well run Big Sur with the 4850. Graphics acceleration in beta state for the 4xxx should be available via OCLP, although with some glitches (but that will still be improved). OTA updates will not work then.

Hi, I did try this, however it's got way too many graphic glitches for it to be usable all day, also I would like a bit more Graphics Card memory for the odd photo/video editing

 

[KennyW]

Maybe if I had some thermal pads around I wouldn't ask this question ...
I want to test my GPU first.

The simplest is just to put a thin insulating electric tape to cover it.
With a 1mm copper plate over the GPU, these coils will just be clear of the heatsink.
So, I just cover them with K5 Pro thermal paste.
But do check your own spacing.

 

[KennyW]

Hi, thanks for your reply.Does it means I have to reinstall from scratch everything or may I install OCLP over the existing patched Catalina with OpenCore?

My experience is that you can successfully install a more recent version of Catalina by OCLP over your old version in situ with preservation of all your user accounts and data. You might also update to Big Sur in the same way with no problem as I did. But still be fore-warned that you should DO A BACKUP FIRST at least for your data, or it is no use to cry over spilled milk.

 

[G3rry71]

My experience is that you can successfully install a more recent version of Catalina by OCLP over your old version in situ with preservation of all your user accounts and data. You might also update to Big Sur in the same way with no problem as I did. But still be fore-warned that you should DO A BACKUP FIRST at least for your data, or it is no use to cry over spilled milk.

Hi Kenny,
I'll take your hint. Fully agree with backup everything first!
Thanks

 

[wilma127]

So you have a black screen on boot?

Tried reading the first post or searching the thread?

...well...let's call this a "creative pause" ^^:

I followed the FAQ in terms of the black screen on boot-issue and patched MacOS High Sierra on my 11,1 (2009) iMac. So far, so good, everything's fine now in Mac OS and I have a working internal screen!! This is awesome after this adventure.

Here is the last downside:
My Win10 on this machine didn't boot anymore. I tried to boot a Win10 USB-Bootstick, which also didn't start. Meanwhile I deleted the Windows Partition, created a new one and even the Win10 DVD won't boot. So no Win10 Setup at all possible at the moment. The Screen freezes and nothing happens. Is this related to some device-dependent settings, too?

 

[MrZupp]

Hi, I’m having some trouble with a K3000M on a iMac 2011, I’m using OCLP and I have no sleep under Big Sur and Windows 10 UEFI ( High Sierra’s sleep function works under OCLP very well )

Also, sometimes when I boot it up my wireless apple keyboard and magic mouse aren’t recognized and I have to connect a usb keyboard to do a pram reset to make them work for the next 2-3 boots. I had no issues under Catalina Loader.

 

[wilma127]

...well...let's call this a "creative pause" ^^:

I followed the FAQ in terms of the black screen on boot-issue and patched MacOS High Sierra on my 11,1 (2009) iMac. So far, so good, everything's fine now in Mac OS and I have a working internal screen!! This is awesome after this adventure.

Here is the last downside:
My Win10 on this machine didn't boot anymore. I tried to boot a Win10 USB-Bootstick, which also didn't start. Meanwhile I deleted the Windows Partition, created a new one and even the Win10 DVD won't boot. So no Win10 Setup at all possible at the moment. The Screen freezes and nothing happens. Is this related to some device-dependent settings, too?

...me again: is there a chance to boot in a 'verbose' mode, so that one can monitor where the booting stops? I just can't figure out a reason for this, but the new GPU (GTX780m with BR2-Rom).

edit: my other 2009 iMac11,1 had faaar less problems. the GTX780m flashed under Win10 and everything was fine since then... no need to patch anything. the only obvious difference between these two machines is one is a i5 and the other one is i7.