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

[davidg5678]

I read all the post, saw many videos on YT on this topic... and i decided to start this adventure...

I'm going to write my experience but i need a little bit of your help, to complete tis adventure...

This is my 27" iMac (with CPU successfully changed i5->i7): Mid 2011 - 3,4 GHz Intel Core i7 - 32 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 - AMD Radeon HD 6770M 512 MB

This is the BOM that i bought:

• Dell Precision AMD FirePRO WX7100 8GB 308VY - V345 Ver 1.1 Ellesmere
• a "new" used GPU heatsink with 3 pipes
• epoxy glue (for odd sensor mod)
• arctic mx-5 (for GPU)
• k5-pro thermal pad replace (for vram, etc)
• copper pads, if needed (different thickness) - i don't used
• kapton tape (always useful)

I started the install procedure with the follow modifications:

1. heatsink thickness reduction (see photo 01-A&B) "a dremel work", for a correct coupling with the video cardView attachment 2012858View attachment 2012857
   
2. ODD sensor glued with epoxy glue (photo 02)
   
   View attachment 2012863
   
3. removal of the 4 threaded rings from the original (of WX7100) x-bracket (photo 03)
   View attachment 2012862

So i started to install:

1. Coupled the video card with the heatsink (+ arctic mx-5 for the GPU and + the k5-pro for all the other components)
2. Connected the original GPU sensor (of the heatsink) to the motherboard
3. All cables reconnected except for the SSD and ODD (power and data)
4. USB key with linux ready to flash videocard.... inserted the key... (USB key boots on my macbook)
5. .....but the system doesn't start.. iMac doesn't boot! :O

So i removed the LCD panel, and turned on the system (always with SDD and ODD disconnected and the USB inserted):

1. 2 of 4 leds turn on (first and second on, third and fourth off)
2. after a while the CPU fan starts to go very fast
3. iMac don't boot from the USB and i can't flash the video card
4. if i install the original video card (AMD Radeon HD 6770M 512 MB with his gpu sensor), iMac start and boot without any problems....

​

I think i wrong something... seems that iMac goes in protection mode...​

Someone with more experience than me, has some suggestions or ideas??

thank you so much!


Attached some photos...

Do you hear any boot chime when you try to turn the iMac on? Are there any short circuits between the GPU and the heatsink? I think that adding the copper piece between the GPU die and heatsink helps space things far enough apart to mitigate this. With luck, this is just a physical installation issue and not an hardware incompatibility.

It's possible that your 2011 iMac will just not work with this particular GPU. 2010 iMacs are generally more compatible. It looks like you have the 1.1 GPU model which I think is a good sign. I know that with some of the other more common AMD GPUs, a hardware modification solution has been developed to resolve this issue, but I'm not currently aware of anything existing for the WX7100 unfortunately.

 

[The_Croupier]

Someone with more experience than me, has some suggestions or ideas??

thank you so much!


Attached some photos...

Test the gpu without the heat sink just temporary and for a few seconds to see if the Mac will post. This will determine if it’s a short.

 

[giulio84fi]

thanks for the answer...

Do you hear any boot chime when you try to turn the iMac on?

no boot chime (i forgot to write before).. i'm going to update the post..

Are there any short circuits between the GPU and the heatsink? I think that adding the copper piece between the GPU die and heatsink helps space things far enough apart to mitigate this. With luck, this is just a physical installation issue and not an hardware incompatibility.

with which parts of the videocard can be some short circuits?

in this case could be useful apply kapton tape on the heatsink that couple with the vram and other components (not the GPU die), before the thermal paste? (kapton tape at what temperature can work without melting?)

in case of using copper pad/piece, should be isolated? how? with insulation tape (or kapton)?
thermal paste arctic MX-5 an k5-pro are both no-conductive.

I really hope it could be a physical installation issue.. 🤞

 

[davidg5678]

thanks for the answer...


no boot chime (i forgot to write before).. i'm going to update the post..



with which parts of the videocard can be some short circuits?

in this case could be useful apply kapton tape on the heatsink that couple with the vram and other components (not the GPU die), before the thermal paste? (kapton tape at what temperature can work without melting?)

in case of using copper pad/piece, should be isolated? how? with insulation tape (or kapton)?
thermal paste arctic MX-5 an k5-pro are both no-conductive.

I really hope it could be a physical installation issue.. 🤞

Carefully inspect for any metal component other than the VRAM and GPU die that contacts the metal of the heatsink. Perhaps not enough material was removed with the Dremel. Kapton tape would be suitable for the temperatures inside the iMac.

It's not a good sign that there is no boot chime. I like the idea above of trying to listen for a chime without any heatsink. Obviously you can't run the computer for long like this without the GPU burning up, but if there is at least a chime, then some hope remains. If you do get lucky enough to hear a chime, only then take time-consuming steps to isolate the short. Otherwise, I think you'll need either a different GPU or iMac.

 

[giulio84fi]

Carefully inspect for any metal component other than the VRAM and GPU die that contacts the metal of the heatsink. Perhaps not enough material was removed with the Dremel. Kapton tape would be suitable for the temperatures inside the iMac.

It's not a good sign that there is no boot chime. I like the idea above of trying to listen for a chime without any heatsink. Obviously you can't run the computer for long like this without the GPU burning up, but if there is at least a chime, then some hope remains. If you do get lucky enough to hear a chime, only then take time-consuming steps to isolate the short. Otherwise, I think you'll need either a different GPU or iMac.

ok i'm going to try in the next days, as i have some time....
before the try without the heatsink, i try to insulate the videocard with the kapton... expecially these parts:


the one on the left, it's the part that i had to work with the dremel on the heatsink...


one doubt: is it correct to re-connect the GPU sensor to the motherboard? or is it better keep it disconnected?


after the tentative, i'll update my story

 

[Mrmani]

Hey all
Finally I got my wx4130 2gb and wx4150 4gb the green pcb.I flashed the cards with the bios and I get only chime and no 3rd led. So what am I doing wrong the previous ver is high serria.do I need to install another os or and mods. My question is do we get the 3rd led on after the bga bios mod.

 

[dfranetic]

Hey all
Finally I got my wx4130 2gb and wx4150 4gb the green pcb.I flashed the cards with the bios and I get only chime and no 3rd led. So what am I doing wrong the previous ver is high serria.do I need to install another os or and mods. My question is do we get the 3rd led on after the bga bios mod.

You're not doing anything wrong: There is no 3rd led with a GOP VBIOS (only 4th LED if you connect the internal display). (BTW: Do update your iMac's Boot ROM...)

 

[Mrmani]

Ohh okay and boot how should I update after putting the wx4140 card or before that with existing hd6770 card. Thanks for that quick reply

 

[dfranetic]

Ohh okay and boot how should I update after putting the wx4140 card or before that with existing hd6770 card. Thanks for that quick reply

Just boot that installation of HS (cleanly, no OCLP) and run the update - it should update the BootROM. (Albeit you'll only see a black screen during that update. Let it finish.) If that does not work, you'll have to put the old card back in. (I've done it both ways - on one occasion the 'first method' did not work...)

 

[davidg5678]

ok i'm going to try in the next days, as i have some time....
before the try without the heatsink, i try to insulate the videocard with the kapton... expecially these parts:
View attachment 2012914

the one on the left, it's the part that i had to work with the dremel on the heatsink...


one doubt: is it correct to re-connect the GPU sensor to the motherboard? or is it better keep it disconnected?


after the tentative, i'll update my story

The sensor wires are for fan speed control --if your goal for now is just figuring out if the computer is going to work with with the GPU, it shouldn't matter if the sensor wires are connected or not.

Good luck!

 

[giulio84fi]

Good luck!

🤞🤞🤞


well, i started to "tape" the videocard:



and i think to do this:

GREEN: kapton tape over + k5-pro​

PINK: only k5-pro​

RED ARROW: this part of the GPU can touch the heatsink? or is it better to cover with k5-pro (or "kaptonized")!?​

Unfortunately i just noticed that a component seems damaged 😧 (hope not):


but this card has been sold to me as working... 🤞


in the next days i try to install again...

 

[asd903191]

Excuse me, may I receive an RX480 4G recently
Want to install on imac 27 2010 Do you want to install opencore legacy patcher v0.4.5 to get the boot interface and then replace rx480?

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Excuse me, may I receive an RX480 4G recently
Want to install on imac 27 2010 Do you want to install opencore legacy patcher v0.4.5 to get the boot interface and then replace rx480?

The only problem you will have is using High Sierra. The vBIOS is not compatible with High Sierra unless you connect an additional external display! So please borrow such a display just for the installation time and connect it on boot.

OCLP can be installed after the GPU change.

 

[Stefanox2410]

good morning everyone I have two questions if you can help me, I installed big Sur on this iMac 27 with 2gb hd6970 video card ,in the menus it was giving me graphics problems and selecting all three Metal Setting now and it is working, but did it need all 3?
another thing I noticed is that in the display setting the image doesn't come out, what could it be?
I get the update notification, can I do them?
i have attached all the pictures, thank you all very much i hope you can help me



Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

 

[Mrmani]

Ohh okay and boot how should I update after putting the wx4140 card or before that with existing hd6770 card. Thanks for that quick reply

Hi I connected the internal display still no display on lcd or in the external monitor.I have 2 cards wx4130 and wx4150 both same issue .
What do I try next

 

[The_Croupier]

Just boot that installation of HS (cleanly, no OCLP) and run the update - it should update the BootROM. (Albeit you'll only see a black screen during that update. Let it finish.) If that does not work, you'll have to put the old card back in. (I've done it both ways - on one occasion the 'first method' did not work...)

You should also tell him not to be scared from the beep 🤭

 

[Mrmani]

Just boot that installation of HS (cleanly, no OCLP) and run the update - it should update the BootROM. (Albeit you'll only see a black screen during that update. Let it finish.) If that does not work, you'll have to put the old card back in. (I've done it both ways - on one occasion the 'first method' did not work...)

Hi so now I installed catalina on the old card hd6990 finally I get display but delayed when the machine is booted up completely.so now is it the boot rom shall I take a new fresh hdd and install high serria

 

[Techtype]

iMac 2011: Some NVIDIA GPU may not run well in your 27 Mid 2011 iMac. We have reports of GTX880M, K3000M, K3100M, K4100M, K5000M which all run only without the internal LCD connected. As soon as you connect the LCD the system refuses to boot or ends up in boot chime loop. Sometimes the same error is related to connecting and disconnecting the single internal SSD. Meanwhile we believe the root cause are address conflicts on the SMBUS caused either by the GPU or some IC on the card connected to the SMBUS delivering thermal data. Sometimes you can visualize such problems with tools like HW Monitor. If you find additional weird temperature readings you might have such a card. No software solution possible! Lately on user made this modification and got his K3100M working.

That issue isn’t happening in mine as I have already done that mod to get it working and it did work for a week as seen in one of my posts, I’m just gonna buy a new motherboard as I really want this system to work

 

[internetzel]

Hi so now I installed catalina on the old card hd6990 finally I get display but delayed when the machine is booted up completely.so now is it the boot rom shall I take a new fresh hdd and install high serria

Great!
Yes, keep your Catalina installation and reinstall High Sierra on another drive in order to get the BootROM update.

 

[Mrmani]

Great!
Yes, keep your Catalina installation and reinstall High Sierra on another drive in order to get the BootROM update.

So I need to put the old mxm card hd6990 or let the amd wx4150 be there while doing installation.
So what is weird is I had upgraded another iMac with k3000m and installed HS on it and the boot rom on it changed to 87.0.0.0.0 and I made a copy of it from my programmer, and interchanged with this amd machine but still did not work.I will again install HS I think security update is necessary 004 and 005 for boot rom.
Also there was this post where someone wrote even Mojave does boot rom update
Thanks for your inputs much appreciated

 

[The_Croupier]

So I need to put the old mxm card hd6990 or let the amd wx4150 be there while doing installation.
So what is weird is I had upgraded another iMac with k3000m and installed HS on it and the boot rom on it changed to 87.0.0.0.0 and I made a copy of it from my programmer, and interchanged with this amd machine but still did not work.I will again install HS I think security update is necessary 004 and 005 for boot rom.
Also there was this post where someone wrote even Mojave does boot rom update
Thanks for your inputs much appreciated

Bootrom update is irrespective of what gpu you have in your system.
Either Mojave 10.14.6 Security Update 2020-004 or High Sierra Security Update 2020-004 released on 15 July 2020 will update your 2011 imac to 87.0.0.0.0
Install High Sierra, go to App Store click on updates, install all updates, done. Easy peasy.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Bootrom update is irrespective of what gpu you have in your system.
Either Mojave 10.14.6 Security Update 2020-004 or High Sierra Security Update 2020-004 released on 15 July 2020 will update your 2011 imac to 87.0.0.0.0
Install High Sierra, go to App Store click on updates, install all updates, done. Easy peasy.

This is weird since Mojave was never supported on these iMacs. Using the old GPU you can follow the upgrade visually while most metal GPUs will show only a black screen during this part until the beep sound happens and the system finally reboots.

Sometimes the update does not happen on the first attempt for an unknown reason.

And you should not copy a firmware from one machine and write it to another, iCloud conflicts will follow using the same firmware/serial combination on more than one system. There are ways to change the serial back, but it is beyond this thread.

 

[giulio84fi]

Test the gpu without the heat sink just temporary and for a few seconds to see if the Mac will post. This will determine if it’s a short.

Test the gpu without the heat sink just temporary and for a few seconds to see if the Mac will post. This will determine if it’s a short.

I tried… but no success 😫

I made a video of the tentative…

 

[Ausdauersportler]

I tried… but no success 😫

I made a video of the tentative…

First:
Dismount the metal frame in front during your experiments. This way you can swap in and out a GPU very easily without removing the system board. Remount it after you solved all your problems and tested all software and hardware updates (consider the BT/WiFi one).

Second:
Run the iMac without any GPU installed and perform three PRAM resets in a row until you hear the fourth chime. Switch the iMac off.

Third:
Mount the WX7100 again and redo the power on test. When you hear a chime pull the wall plug or switch off power immediately!

 

[giulio84fi]

First:
Dismount the metal frame in front during your experiments. This way you can swap in and out a GPU very easily without removing the system board. Remount it after you solved all your problems and tested all software and hardware updates (consider the BT/WiFi one).

Second:
Run the iMac without any GPU installed and perform three PRAM resets in a row until you hear the fourth chime. Switch the iMac off.

Third:
Mount the WX7100 again and redo the power on test. When you hear a chime pull the wall plug or switch off power immediately!

I mounted the graphic card on the heatsink before read your answer….


But with that, i did what you say…
(Before cleaning the card again)


Now after the pram reset without gpu, with the gpu beep at start and 2/4 leds on…

Oops! I forget ram!