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While I think you'll be able to use a 780M in your 2011 iMac, it will not be possible to use one harvested from a 2013 iMac, as in those models the GPU is soldered down and not a removable MXM card. Here is a picture of the 2013 iMac logic board to see what I'm talking about: https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iMac+Intel+27-Inch+EMC+2639+Teardown/17828#s52993
ahh, thanks for clarifying. that's exactly what i was looking for. the gpu is embedded, cannot be harvested.
 
I am having an issue using the easy flash method on my 2011 imac 27"

I have the files installed on a flash drive, I plug it into the system and blind boot with only the usb and video card installed,

on my 2019 iMac. I am using ssh@root 10.10.1.my address. and keep getting the message operation timed out when trying to ssh in to the machine. How can I fix to even flash the vbios on the card if I can't ssh in to do the process?

any help would be appreciated, I have 2 other cards to try but since the system chimes the flash drive shows activity of booting and the IP address shows up in the router I don't see what problem may be??

thanks.
John
 
I am having an issue using the easy flash method on my 2011 imac 27"

I have the files installed on a flash drive, I plug it into the system and blind boot with only the usb and video card installed,

on my 2019 iMac. I am using ssh@root 10.10.1.my address. and keep getting the message operation timed out when trying to ssh in to the machine. How can I fix to even flash the vbios on the card if I can't ssh in to do the process?

any help would be appreciated, I have 2 other cards to try but since the system chimes the flash drive shows activity of booting and the IP address shows up in the router I don't see what problem may be??

thanks.
John
This could be barely the command line your have used. Since you have a 2019 iMac I bet you can do an copy and paste from the terminal into this forum to show the real error messages....
 
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This could be barely the command line your have used. Since you have a 2019 iMac I bet you can do an copy and paste from the terminal into this forum to show the real error messages....

This is from the terminal screen

Last login: Sun Jul 4 12:17:12 on ttys000

owner@Owners-iMac ~ % ssh root@10.10.1.25

ssh: connect to host 10.10.1.25 port 22: Operation timed out

owner@Owners-iMac ~ %
 
This is from the terminal screen

Last login: Sun Jul 4 12:17:12 on ttys000

owner@Owners-iMac ~ % ssh root@10.10.1.25

ssh: connect to host 10.10.1.25 port 22: Operation timed out

owner@Owners-iMac ~ %
Can you ping the address? What exactly does your router tell you?

Edit: owner@Owners-iMac ~ % ping 10.10.1.25
 
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Hello all! I got an 21,5inch imac for free and thought on upgrading the gpu. Is it possible to upgrade the 21,5 inch model to a gtx880m? Cause thats what i bought before i learned this would require a bigger heatpipe. Will the 3 pipe model of the 27inch model fit into the 21inch one?
 
Hello all! I got an 21,5inch imac for free and thought on upgrading the gpu. Is it possible to upgrade the 21,5 inch model to a gtx880m? Cause thats what i bought before i learned this would require a bigger heatpipe. Will the 3 pipe model of the 27inch model fit into the 21inch one?
Please just check out the first post of this thread carefully. Short answer is NO!
 
Please just check out the first post of this thread carefully. Short answer is NO!
No means the the 27inch heatsink does not fit? If so what are the possibilities to get this card running stable in terms of thermal management? Would be enough to remove the optical drive or maybe add another fan? Did anyone did this upgrade at all?
 
No means the the 27inch heatsink does not fit? If so what are the possibilities to get this card running stable in terms of thermal management? Would be enough to remove the optical drive or maybe add another fan? Did anyone did this upgrade at all?
Please do not start to waste my time. We had this discussion several times. It will simply not work out. It is not only the power supply not delivering the power, it is the internal lanes not delivering the current to the MXM port (and so the power), it is the heat generated, the fan, the size of the sink, the size of the body, the whole architecture of this small system does not fit.

We wrote this down on the first post for everybody to read before hitting the big blue Buy this fancy card button. You are free to repeat failed experiments, again. But do not ask for help. There is NO!
 
This is from the terminal screen

Last login: Sun Jul 4 12:17:12 on ttys000

owner@Owners-iMac ~ % ssh root@10.10.1.25

ssh: connect to host 10.10.1.25 port 22: Operation timed out

owner@Owners-iMac ~ %
When I was doing this with mine I found that it would not respond to an IPV4 address but I could log into it via IPV6. If you can ask your router to show you both addresses you may be able to SSH into the machine via the IPV6 address (if it has been assigned)



If you log into the router you should be able to figure out which address is being assigned to the mac. If you have to shut everything else down so that only the target and the machine you are using are on line and then give it a go.
 
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Hi

Can anyone help please

I have replaced my card with a gtx 880m which I got from China .it's already been flashed and the reviews from Ali are good

I have put the 27 iMac back together but when I start it I get a black screen and the iMac chimes 5 times then the fans Ramp up and that's it ..

I have reset the pram and SMC with no joy

The second chime of the 5 sort of stutters ..

To add I have put a new ssd. Drive I. So there is not operating system on it but I have a usb stick inserted with a bootable copy of Sierra on it

I have also added another sata cable to the logic board but as of yet not connected a drive to it

I have also removed the super drive

I can see all 4 lights on the logic board and all are lite up

Any ideas .. am going mad here after all this work

Thanks
 
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Hi

Can anyone help please

I have replaced my card with a gtx 980m which I got from China .it's already been flashed and the reviews from Ali are good

I have put the 27 iMac back together but when I start it I get a black screen and the iMac chimes 5 times then the fans Ramp up and that's it ..

I have reset the pram and SMC with no joy

The second chime of the 5 sort of stutters ..

To add I have put a new ssd. Drive I. So there is not operating system on it but I have a usb stick inserted with a bootable copy of Sierra on it

I have also added another sata cable to the logic board but as of yet not connected a drive to it

I have also removed the super drive

I can see all 4 lights on the logic board and all are lite up

Any ideas .. am going mad here after all this work

Thanks
Reading the first post would have helped. The 980m is a Maxwell card, I assume it can - if possible at all - only run with Nvidia webdrivers installed and only with Sierra or High Sierra. Dead end replacement….

Edit: Could run with Windows 10.
 
Oh so sorry it's actually an gtx 880m

Sorry am very tired
Let me guess your trying this on a 2011 iMac.
Try booting with your lcd screen unplugged and removed and use the display port connected to a external monitor or TV.

You may have to remove your pram.battery to clear the boot chime loop.
 
It's part of the diagnostics to see if the card is ok.

Not all GPUs are built the same different vendors different issue's.

I had a GTX 880m with the exact same symptoms so I know from experience you need to do these trouble shooting test's.
 
Ok thanks

So t have another monitor.. have a TV .. that's it

Several reviews on sellers ali site and all positive with working 880s

So did you manage to fix your card issue .. did iMac chimes four or five times and then the fans kicked in .. also not responsive to any keyboard commands

How does connecting to an external monitor test the graphics card

Thanks
 
It worked fine in my 2010, didn't get it to work in my 2011 and with some messing around got it to work in my sons 2009.

You need to get yourself a display port to HDMI adaptor.
 
That will tell you if there is nothing wrong with the card so you cant blame the seller.

Then you will either have to pray that @nikey22 can come up with a working Bios or some other genius.
Or you get a different iMac or you explain to the seller the situation and they take pity on you and give you a refund/return.

The fact that some perfectly working cards will just not post in certain iMacs is explained in post one.

Pays to do a lot of research before buying an expensive card.
Post in thread '2011 iMac Graphics Card Upgrade' https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/2011-imac-graphics-card-upgrade.1596614/post-29703840
 
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Yes it's a 2011 27 iMac

I shall do as you suggested but why will this help .. is this a common problem

Cheers

If you would have checked the first post of this thread carefully you could have seen that it is in fact one of the known issues here with NVIDIA cards running in the mid 2011 iMac. The Mid 2011 is a beast when it comes to compability with all cards listed within the tables. Still own a single K5000M showing exactly the same behavior.

For that reason (and others) I moved away from NVIDIA cards completely. The results are and were sometime unpredictable.
 
When I was doing this with mine I found that it would not respond to an IPV4 address but I could log into it via IPV6. If you can ask your router to show you both addresses you may be able to SSH into the machine via the IPV6 address (if it has been assigned)



If you log into the router you should be able to figure out which address is being assigned to the mac. If you have to shut everything else down so that only the target and the machine you are using are on line and then give it a go.
I unfortunately have a cox panoramic modem, which limits me to doing a lot of choices on my router, since all the settings are in their app.

I have looked through and am unable to find anything regarding the IPV6 but it does show the address in the ipv4 I had a netgear router before that allowed me to choose the info but does not give me the choice to assign the ipv6 to the IP address given to the card.
 
You may wish to try scanning your network for the iMac's IP address using a free app called "Fing". This is how I like to figure out the IP addresses of every computer connected to my network, and I find it easier to use than my router's built-in software.


I seem to remember having some IPV6-related issues when I was trying to use the GRML software many months ago. As long as you can identify the IPV4 address of you iMac using Fing (or another method), you should be able to get SSH to work eventually. There are also many relevant Linux SSH tutorials online (often intended for Raspberry-Pi computer hobbyists) that should provide some additional helpful information if you need it.
 
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Hi guys,

after reading carefully the 1st post, I decided to look for a card that needs the least modifications for my 27' imac mid2010. So, I'm looking for the Quadrdo K2100M. But I have a difficulty to find one in eu (customs from us may double the price). So my question has to do with:

Do all of K2100M's working for the job or, just the ones fro Dell laptops? Eg. I have found a "HP 734277-001 NVIDIA Quadro Graphics Board K2100M N15P-Q3 für Zbook 15". Do you think that will work?

Please have in mind that English is not my native language and I have may misunderstood something.
 
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