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iM 4,1-14,4 2011 iMac Graphics Card Upgrade
- Thread starter MichaelDT
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Hi @ nikey22
Tested k500m Windows7 Windows10 can be installed and recognized only the internal screen is not displayed, external display or remote is recognized normally. macOS 10.13.6 is also recognized normally. Included in macOS VBiOS program to help test. Macvis M3000M M4000M also tested Windows7 Windows10 can be installed and used normally.
Thank you!
Tested k500m Windows7 Windows10 can be installed and recognized only the internal screen is not displayed, external display or remote is recognized normally. macOS 10.13.6 is also recognized normally. Included in macOS VBiOS program to help test. Macvis M3000M M4000M also tested Windows7 Windows10 can be installed and used normally.
Thank you!
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So, as an update to this, after a new version of the ROM provided by @nikey22 everything went smoothly. I was upgrading from a Radeon HD 6770M. It booted up into High Sierra first time and I was able to install Catalina using the @dosdude1 patcher without any issues. I've been using it a few weeks running Logic with FireWire audio interfaces and, apart from sleep not working, everything seems to be functioning perfectly!
Hi!
Again, there are no drivers available with NVIDIA Maxwell cards in macOS. So it does not make any sense to create a special vBIOS für these iMacs.
The only needed adaption would be to limit the power input to 70W on each card you can put in. But I guess this does not need a BIOS wizard?
You can use these cards with Windows, if you would search back there has been a single successful experiment doing this so far.
Post in thread '2011 iMac Graphics Card Upgrade' https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/2011-imac-graphics-card-upgrade.1596614/post-29723850
Why not use this and save your rom directly to the USB? It is linked in post 1.
Indeed. I don't use the sleep function and read that restoring it extended boot times so I left it as it was. I was just including the information for clarity in case anyone else is going through the same process.
So your main use case (or is it the single one?) is booting the system and because somebody wrote somewhere it may extend the boot time you let the system crash once in a while? It is getting better with each message. Boot time is extended ONCE after rebuilding the prelinked kernel. On the subsequent boots you will not really measure or experience a difference (at least according to my own experiences). And I am rarely sitting in front of my system watching the progress bar creeping over the screen.
Normally I (re)boot my systems only after installations and experiments and otherwise I let it sleep - yeah, I forgot - your system cannot sleep. Too bad...
This is really fun, today!
Have you used the 21.5 heat sink? The bigger ones cause very often shorts (these are simply not made for those small cards). You can check the first post and do the same as for the AMD 4130 is mentioned following the "special install" link.
P.S.:
All original ATI MXM cards from 2009 to 2011 can be used in any of those systems as long as you limit the big ones to the 27" models.
Thanks for your help. I'm using the 21 heat sink. I thought it would be just a matter of swapping over and should work. It's working in the 21inch but as soon as I put in 27 just chime and black screen
k500m is Kepler GK107 it is waiting for development in the home list, M3000M M4000M is Maxwell GM204, in fact, Maxwell can not use macOS, there is a boot screen can use Windows 10 is not also quite good it. a1312 power supply is 310W test pcie MXM The maximum power supply TDP of the slot is able to provide a peak maximum power consumption of 115W.
Okay, here are some basic physics: The electrical power is completely converted into heat (if you ignore some other really minor effects). Unfortunately the heat sink, the ODD fan and the internal design (and the other internal power sources and fans) are not able to sustain on load and on longer runs more than these 70W ON AVERAGE from the GPU slot. Peak power of the GPU can be higher, not the average values. Peak power is not important.
You can try liquid cooling. More fans are of no use because the heat capacity of air is really limited, phycis, again. And you do not get more air into the system unless you drill more holes into it. At some point you are causing storms inside the box, it is getting load (turbulences).
Apple tried to give all buyers of these nice old 2009-2011 iMacs a perfect user experience with silent running fans - burning the ATI cards to death. Do not make the same mistake.
In HP 8770W notebook tested Kepler GTX780M GTX880M K5100M Maxwell M3000M M4000M GTX980M Pascal P3000 P5200 GTX1070M, are running at full load maximum TDP, heat generation than GTX780M GTX880M K5100M is relatively smaller, Maxwell Pascal process is more advanced maximum load running heat generation than Kepler architecture is quite low. K5100M is relatively smaller, Maxwell Pascal process is more advanced maximum load running heat is relatively lower than the Kepler architecture temperature. In the iMac A1312 model test is also the same it.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
In the HP Notebook the heat may be dissipated in a better way. These iMacs were designed to sustain these 70W.
I agree that modern cards are by far more power efficient. That is the reason why the WX7100 outperforms every NVIDIA Kepler cards by far running on the same 70W.
The most efficient consumer Apple products are the new M1 based Macs and iPads. Those are faster than the WX7100 and running at lower power at the same time.
And I do not need another explanation of Moore's Law...
Normally keeping the small sink is the way to quickly check a card. Try a PRAM reset, no other idea right now. I can confirm that this 4670 runs fine, but sloooow, in 27 systems.
Black Internal LCD issues (while external monitor works)
I write this post to summarize the issue I faced. This is a hardware issue.
iMac 27" late 2009
iMac 27" 2010
Issue: Black internal screen while external monitor displays image well. Backlight does work, confirming by the glow under the screen change when I tried changing the backlight level.
Cause: knocked off component on the logicboard. This occurred when I shaked the heatsink to remove the MXM card.
Location of the component: 3cm above the bottom right conner of the heatsink frame. (Mark Q9001)
(I will upload my photo later, or you can see details in this thread )
Component: 2N7002k (the mark on the component will be k72.., where the dots are replaced with letter to indicate year and month of production). Some say it's a transistor, some say it's a mosfet. I think it's a transistor. It's sold on Aliexpress at 1$ for 100 units, plus shipping.
I bought 20 from a local shop for 3$ (faster delivery) and brought both of my IMacs to a cellular phone repair shop to get them soldered to the logicboard. He charged me 2.5$ for the fix.
Hope this info help those who were lazy and reckless like me.
How to prevent knocking off this component again: Insert a hard plastic card (bank card, etc.) under the metal frame before shaking the MXM card out of its position.
Or do it right from the beginning by removing the whole logic board from the case when changing the graphic card.
iMac 2011 doesn't have this issue because the MXM card cannot be removed without taking out the whole logic board first.
I write this post to summarize the issue I faced. This is a hardware issue.
iMac 27" late 2009
iMac 27" 2010
Issue: Black internal screen while external monitor displays image well. Backlight does work, confirming by the glow under the screen change when I tried changing the backlight level.
Cause: knocked off component on the logicboard. This occurred when I shaked the heatsink to remove the MXM card.
Location of the component: 3cm above the bottom right conner of the heatsink frame. (Mark Q9001)
(I will upload my photo later, or you can see details in this thread )
Component: 2N7002k (the mark on the component will be k72.., where the dots are replaced with letter to indicate year and month of production). Some say it's a transistor, some say it's a mosfet. I think it's a transistor. It's sold on Aliexpress at 1$ for 100 units, plus shipping.
I bought 20 from a local shop for 3$ (faster delivery) and brought both of my IMacs to a cellular phone repair shop to get them soldered to the logicboard. He charged me 2.5$ for the fix.
Hope this info help those who were lazy and reckless like me.
How to prevent knocking off this component again: Insert a hard plastic card (bank card, etc.) under the metal frame before shaking the MXM card out of its position.
Or do it right from the beginning by removing the whole logic board from the case when changing the graphic card.
iMac 2011 doesn't have this issue because the MXM card cannot be removed without taking out the whole logic board first.
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It's part of the LCD_PANEL_PWR circuit so no wonder you had no display after knocking it off.
Hi risk of knocking the component off and others if you take shortcuts and try to remove the gpu without removing the logic board first.
Fortunately it didn't cost me a hefty amount of money to fix. Just a long time waiting and searching here and there for the cause and solution.
Did it ever came into your mind that you got a partly damaged K3000M? Before you had a perfectly working system with your K1100M and after changing the GPU your problems started. Causality is an animal difficult to catch...