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

[unclemiltie]

Yeah, I changed my graphics card a year ago when my old AMD card in the system is dead, and I just want a plug-and-play card without realising the power draw. I also didn't know how to flash the card at that time so I just went online and found the cards that people have documented success with plug-and-play. I stumbled upon k1000m but decided against using it because there was no documented plug-and-play success with that card. By the way, is there any documentation of plug-and-playable cards on the Imac 2011? Just to let beginners like me feel better about buying the cards and not buying expensive paperweights lol

I bought a K3100M from a guy on ebay for a reasonable price that had been pre-flashed (albeit with the wrong version as he confirmed after I had issues. I suspect that he's fixed this issue) That'll fit a 27" but not a 21.5" 2011.


I installed it in my 27" 2011 A1312 and it came up but refused to finish booting (see earlier posts) and he did confirm that he had used the wrong flash file. He sent me the right one, I flashed it and I'm up and running (and typing this message to you) with my iMac.

It did require modification of the heat sink though, using a dremel in my garage to mill away spots to make the larger card fit properly.

 

[MrZupp]

I do not know. The only part you changed was the GPU. I am tired to see this thread cluttered with hardware problems, especially when the poster comes up with all the facts post by post and line by line.

Do a proper before and after description. Even then one might not be able to help you because you could have damaged the hardware while changing the GPU - happened lately again. Check the hardware section and solve your problem at home.

The fun thing is: After so long you made a colourful signature yourself and missed the most crucial part - the GPU in use and in your particular case the problem you are trying to solve. Even the installation method is missing.

I just redid my sig, I only followed the Dortiana OCLP guide and I'm using OCLP on a FAT partition to acces W10. I don't think that it's a GPU-related problem since I played Rocket League for around 2-3 hours on max settings with the gpu sitting at around 65 celsius on load with no problems ( another problem is that the new vbios for the k3000m doesn't work with the backlight patch under W10, but that's mentioned so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )

Now my only "big" problem is that sleep doesn't work. ( Also, idk if I said this earlier, but the igpu isn't detected under any OS, except High Sierra when not booting via OCLP )

 

[Lady Titan]

Hey! urgent question) how much more powerful a 2019 imac is than a 2011 imac with an AMD WX7100 card, did anyone make comparisons or tests?

 

[herrdude]

Hey! urgent question) how much more powerful a 2019 imac is than a 2011 imac with an AMD WX7100 card, did anyone make comparisons or tests?

Look at Geekbench scores:

https://everymac.com/ultimate-mac-c...iMacIntel043&prod2=iMacIntel082&prod3=eMac003

 

[Ausdauersportler]

I just redid my sig, I only followed the Dortiana OCLP guide and I'm using OCLP on a FAT partition to acces W10. I don't think that it's a GPU-related problem since I played Rocket League for around 2-3 hours on max settings with the gpu sitting at around 65 celsius on load with no problems ( another problem is that the new vbios for the k3000m doesn't work with the backlight patch under W10, but that's mentioned so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )

Now my only "big" problem is that sleep doesn't work. ( Also, idk if I said this earlier, but the igpu isn't detected under any OS, except High Sierra when not booting via OCLP )

Okay, either you read now the first post about OCLP and the 2011 or this post:

The iGPU has been disabled by OCLP because we i) could not get it working with Big Sur and ii) it breaks sleep all the time.

When disabling the iGPU no patching to get sleep working has to be done. If you need the iGPU you have to go back to Catalina using @dosdude1 patcher and and the sleep patches. It is your choice.

So if you still have a broken sleep you have a hardware problem. Take your pick, could be the GPU, could be memory or whatever.

All this could be found on the first post.

 

[MrZupp]

Okay, either you read now the first post about OCLP and the 2011 or this post:

The iGPU has been disabled by OCLP because we i) could not get it working with Big Sur and ii) it breaks sleep all the time.

When disabling the iGPU no patching to get sleep working has to be done. If you need the iGPU your have to go back to Catalina using @dosdude1 patcher and and the sleep patches. It is your choice.

So if you still have a broken sleep you have a hardware problem. Take your pick, could be the GPU, could be memory or whatever.

Okay, now everything's clear, also, how hard do you think that it would be to source a "compatible" wx7100 or wx4150/4170? I have a few places to buy from and I'm thinking of doing this upgrade since the k3000m only caused headaches for me and I want something a bit more powerful.

 

[west125]

Good afternoon, my imac 2009 i7 is out of order, the video card has been ordered for Ali express gtx 880, the seller showed the photo that it works before sending it, I installed it, there is no black screen, there is a sound on the password and tell me if the seller did not modify the BIOS, the image should displayed? Or do you need a BIOS modification?

 

[herrdude]

Good afternoon, my imac 2009 i7 is out of order, the video card has been ordered for Ali express gtx 880, the seller showed the photo that it works before sending it, I installed it, there is no black screen, there is a sound on the password and tell me if the seller did not modify the BIOS, the image should displayed? Or do you need a BIOS modification?

A photo of the card working in an iMac? Also, this sentence is not clear: "I installed it, there is no black screen, there is a sound on the password". That sounds like it's working properly.

 

[west125]

.

 

[west125]

A photo of the card working in an iMac? Also, this sentence is not clear: "I installed it, there is no black screen, there is a sound on the password". That sounds like it's working properly.

Sorry for my English, the seller took a photo on the card before sending it to imac that the card works, but I cannot be sure that this is the same card. When I installed it, I have a black screen, when I have a password I hear how I can dial but there is no picture on the display, what next do?

 

[herrdude]

Sorry for my English, the seller took a photo on the card before sending it to imac that the card works, but I cannot be sure that this is the same card. When I installed it, I have a black screen, when I have a password I hear how I can dial but there is no picture on the display, what next do?

There is a section in the first post that tells you how to fix the black screen problem.

 

[jazo97]

thanks for all the guides and the ROM's

another successful upgrade, OCLP is next...

 

[west125]

There is a section in the first post that tells you how to fix the black screen problem.

I bought a dsport hdmi adapter, the image appeared, installed the package for the black screen as described on page 1, but the main monitor did not show the picture, the external one is working, what else can I do?

 

[Ausdauersportler]

I bought a dsport hdmi adapter, the image appeared, installed the package for the black screen as described on page 1, but the main monitor did not show the picture, the external one is working, what else can I do?

How many LED you see? Take a small mirror an check through the air vent holes on the bottom side. It can be a damaged system board, contact problems with the LVDS connector and other hardware problems. There is a hardware section on the first post. Read it, download the Technician Guides and read them.

 

[west125]

How many LED you see? Take a small mirror an check through the air vent holes on the bottom side. It can be a damaged system board, contact problems with the LVDS connector and other hardware problems. There is a hardware section on the first post. Read it, download the Technician Guides and read them.

3 indicators are lit green, when I connect my native video card imac display the backlight turns on, I did not change the loop

 

[west125]

How many LED you see? Take a small mirror an check through the air vent holes on the bottom side. It can be a damaged system board, contact problems with the LVDS connector and other hardware problems. There is a hardware section on the first post. Read it, download the Technician Guides and read them.

installed the native video card, all 4 indicators are on, although it is faulty or half operational

 

[Ausdauersportler]

installed the native video card, all 4 indicators are on, although it is faulty or half operational

Check this post to verify you have not accidentally knocked of an important small component....

 

[west125]

Check this post to verify you have not accidentally knocked of an important small component....

this is all ok

 

[dfranetic]

View attachment 1781240 this is all ok

Q9001 (2N7002 MOSFET) lost its housing. This component turns on the display. It may still work, maybe unreliably, since the display is OK with the old GPU...

 

[cheescake]

Looks normal to me, just back-up your original rom then flash the card. Is it a Clevo card?

I have no idea what a clevo card is!

Apple iMac MXM Grafikkarte NVIDIA Quadro K1100M - 2GB - A1311 A1312 Video Card​

This is what it said on the ebay store where I bought it. After all I flashed the video card with the K1100.rom but after installing Catalina with all the patches the screen stays black - only thing working is to chose external usb by pressing ALT at startup so I can boot into the prepared stick. What did I do wrong?

 

[The_Croupier]

I bought a dsport hdmi adapter, the image appeared, installed the package for the black screen as described on page 1, but the main monitor did not show the picture, the external one is working, what else can I do?

Did you flash the card and do the heatsink modification as explained in post #1?

 

[west125]

Взаимодействие с другими людьми

Did you flash the card and do the heatsink modification as explained in post #1?

 

[terabay]

Hi, Folks!

This time I tried iMac 2011 21.7 with GTX 870M & USB stick running Ubuntu server image.

Can you see this boot up screen? We may not need GRML usb stick any more since Ubuntu can show the login screen and you can reimage your GPU from the iMac itself. (No need to press option or anything from the keyboard when sdd/hdd is disconnected. just wait a few mins and it boots up!)

Anyway, pls can someone contribute for the Vbios of 2G 870m?

Thanks!

 

[cheescake]

Looks normal to me, just back-up your original rom then flash the card. Is it a Clevo card?

Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!!!!! Actually I made the PRAM reset - and now it looks good!!

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Hi, Folks!

This time I tried iMac 2011 21.7 with GTX 870M & USB stick running Ubuntu server image.

Can you see this boot up screen? We may not need GRML usb stick any more since Ubuntu can show the login screen and you can reimage your GPU from the iMac itself. (No need to press option or anything from the keyboard when sdd/hdd is disconnected. just wait a few mins and it boots up!)

Anyway, pls can someone contribute for the Vbios of 2G 870m?

Thanks!

Can you start some version macOS (High Sierra) using the very same setup without flashing the card or changing the current vBIOS? Just put an SSD/HDD with a known to work installation in and wait for a long time unless you believe the macOS must have started. The best will be to enable remote login, screen sharing and file sharing in the Sharing system preferences pane in advance. This way you can check remotely if the came system up, but not the internal LCD.

Can you provide a download link for the Ubuntu image you have used.

As I told you the GRML Linux enables the text mode in the same way on all my systems and cards (having a Dell Bios or the BIOS from the first post)!

The interesting part is when you get a card with no suitable BIOS loaded at all or a HP card (just a stub file). Then neither GRML not Ubuntu will show a screen on the main LCD, at least this is my status as long as you prove me wrong.

One can setup any Linux distribution to provide the same functionality as the GRML one provided here. This is no church.

P.S.:

The 2011 system have an internal GPU (called iGPU) in the Intel CPU (named HD2000). This may be used by the Ubuntu, but this iGPU is not available in the Intel CPU with Late 2009 and Mide 2010 systems.