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

[armandosilvera]

This

Check the first post of this thread, you will find all files you need. We do not support rEFInd, we have moved to OpenCore and OCLP when it comes to installation of more recent macOS versions.

Using High Sierra you possibly do not need to use any additional software. Using Monterey you need to apply post install patches to regain NVIDIA/WiFi/Bluetooth support. There are two ways to use Catalina, please check the docs on post #1.

P.S.:We do not support these out of date YouTube videos!

Thanks for the reply!

This what I have done since yesterday:
- I installed Ubuntu on SSD hard drive. With black boot screen I can log in and have screen.
- I download nvflash and found a ROM for my K3000M in this page: https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/134051/hp-quadrok3000m-2048-120606
- I flash it but when boot still black screen.
- When I run nvflash --version this is the output:
NVIDIA Firmware Update Utility (Version 5.692.0)
Copyright (C) 1993-2021, NVIDIA Corporation. All rights reserved.


Adapter: Quadro K3000M (10DE,11BE,103C,176C) S:00,B:01,D:00,F:00


EEPROM ID (C2,2012) : MX MX25L2005 2.7-3.6V 2048Kx1S, page

Sign-On Message : GK104 P2051 SKU 501B VGA BIOS (HWDIAG)
Build GUID : Blank
IFR Subsystem ID : 103C-176C
Subsystem Vendor ID : 0x103C
Subsystem ID : 0x176C
Version : 80.04.33.00.2E
Image Hash : 495013C70820CA75BFF6D8107718E348
Product Name : GK104 Board - 2051b501
Device Name(s) : Quadro K3000M
Board ID : 0xE108
Vendor ID : 0x10DE
Device ID : 0x11BE
Hierarchy ID : Normal Board
Chip SKU : 950
Project : 2051-0501
Build Date : 05/23/12
Modification Date : 06/06/12
UEFI Version : N/A
UEFI Variant ID : N/A ( Unknown )
UEFI Signer(s) : Unsigned
XUSB-FW Version ID : N/A
XUSB-FW Build Time : N/A
InfoROM Version : N/A
InfoROM Backup : Not Present
License Placeholder : Not Present
GPU Mode : N/A
CEC OTA-signed Blob : Not Present

Is there any ROM that would work? Any other ideas?

 

[Gray486]

It's me again and I loaded the correct vBIOS onto my 880M which seems to fix all of my issues except that Windows 10 and macOS both detect that I have 4GB of VRAM when I should have 8GB VRAM... Could this be a driver issue or system limitations?

I have an iMac 21.5" 2011 (iMac 12,1) with an upgraded i7 2600s and 20gb RAM.

 

[m0bil]

It's me again and I loaded the correct vBIOS onto my 880M which seems to fix all of my issues except that Windows 10 and macOS both detect that I have 4GB of VRAM when I should have 8GB VRAM... Could this be a driver issue or system limitations?

I have an iMac 21.5" 2011 (iMac 12,1) with an upgraded i7 2600s and 20gb RAM.

Check your vram chips to be sure, but I think there are 4GB versions of the 880M card.

 

[Gray486]

Check your vram chips to be sure, but I think there are 4GB versions of the 880M card.

Thanks! I will check tomorrow. The eBay listing said 8GB so I will have to check with the seller again to make sure.

 

[curioussurfer]

The DisplayPort equipped iMac11,x can do TDM as well with Monterey, but the Thunderbolt2 equipped iMac12,2 not as far as all people trying this have reported (starting with Mojave to make it work ,again). It is definitely broken on Mojave and was on Catalina.

Would be great to have it back though....

Just want to share: I have 2 iMac 12.2 running OCLP 0.4.6 /Catalina 19H1922 in VMM SMBIOS successfully und reliable running TDM. Both iMacs have been upgraded with Polaris cards - WX4150 and WX4130. Full Airplay 1/2 capability is working too. Nice. Thanks again to everyone who made that possible.

 

[mima1982]

Need a hint.
I have an iMac Mid 2011. I want to make it work with open core legacy patcher and Monterey. Can you give me a hint which GPU works or does anybody want to sell one?

 

[PGalati]

Nvidia Quadro K1100M - 2Gb Elpida VRAM​

View attachment 1742876

The following is a K1100M vbios for those of you that have the Elpida based GPU. The K1100M_EG2.rom does not have entries for -Elpida vram equipped cards and it will not function.

@The_Croupier, thank you for the headsup, you are correct, this was an issue in the past, but I think I have it solved now.

K1100M_EG2 rom:
View attachment 1742883

@Streetgamer010, thank you for testing <his screenshots to come>.
According to my personal database, there is also another user @Chris2020 who also uses a K1100M with Eplida.

I've kept the boost low to make sure it will be compatible as much as possible with the Eplida memory.
For now, you still will need to use OpenCore for your boot screen and brightness parameters with this vbios.
Enjoy!


Insanely Great!

I apologize if this question was already asked, I did lots of searching and was not able to find an accurate answer. I recently installed a K1100m into a 2009 27" imac after installing a K2000m that was crashing. I have OCLP .45 and Monterey on the SSD, so when I finished putting the K1100m into the computer and reconnected the power cord, the computer powered itself on, and I got the OCLP boot screen and it booted all the way to the desktop. I looked at About this mac and it showed a K1100M 2GB video card installed, but not a patched card. I powered down the computer, disconnected the SSD, inserted the nvidia usb boot device to flash the card. That all appeared to go without problem but when I powered down and rebooted the computer, the attached screenshot is what I now get. Unfortunately I failed to backup the original bios before flashing.

I saw the quoted post about the Elpida GPU as a possible source for the problem, but when I download the attachment, a zip file, it decompresses into .bin file. Apple's archive app doesn't like the .bin file. So my question is, is it supposed to be a .bin file for the nvidia flash tool or should it be a .rom file like the others we have seen.

I will say that this is probably my 10th install and they have all gone without problem, but they were all 2011 iMacs. I guess I have gotten lax about verifying the gpu specs before working on this 2009.

Thanks for any feedback you can provide.

Edit: I opened the K1100M_0E.rom AND a K1100M.rom and copied and pasted the contents of 0E to the default file and renamed it K1100M_Elpida.rom and copied it to my usb boot disk. The flash utility saw the bios file without problem and flashed the card successfully. Upon reboot I made it to the desktop without incident. Thanks to the great group of developers to allow the iMacs to continue producing clock cycles with modern software.

 

[Dead_Logo]

Guys, one more question, can I install an AMD S7100X card on my imac 27 2010 on my native cooling system? (I know that a replacement is needed, but there is no way to get it now)

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Just want to share: I have 2 iMac 12.2 running OCLP 0.4.6 /Catalina 19H1922 in VMM SMBIOS successfully und reliable running TDM. Both iMacs have been upgraded with Polaris cards - WX4150 and WX4130. Full Airplay 1/2 capability is working too. Nice. Thanks again to everyone who made that possible.

A few weeks ago I found out the latest Monterey 12.4 offers a half working Target Display Mode on the iMac12,2 using Thunderbolt. Tried this from an iMac12,2 with no LCd and only and external 1920x1280 display (sender) to complete 12,2 reciever. Had a lot of sync problem.

Probably Apple lifted a blocking functionality it as a part of the latest developments?

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Guys, one more question, can I install an AMD S7100X card on my imac 27 2010 on my native cooling system? (I know that a replacement is needed, but there is no way to get it now)

No, will not work in a stable way, especially without brighness control.

 

[curioussurfer]

A few weeks ago I found out the latest Monterey 12.4 offers a half working Target Display Mode on the iMac12,2 using Thunderbolt. Tried this from an iMac12,2 with no LCd and only and external 1920x1280 display (sender) to complete 12,2 reciever. Had a lot of sync problem.

Probably Apple lifted a blocking functionality it as a part of the latest developments?

I assume it is the combination new GOP BIOS from Internetzel and the choice of unmodified SMBIOS in OCLP. Tried all possible OCLP SMBIOS variations .. in Catalina mind you. TDM is even working with the Belkin Thunderbolt/Display port

 

[Dead_Logo]

.

 

[czaple45]

Hello everyone, I recently upgraded my imac 2011 27 (I7 2600) so I go from a K1100M to a GTX 780M (dell)
However I have a small problem with this one.
I tried all bios possible but the gpu clock remains blocked at 405mhz maximum, so the performance is not great.
I have been looking for a solution for several weeks, I have shown, reconnect all the cables several times but the problem is still there, whether on windows or osx .
Do you have any idea?
Cordially

 

[G3llings]

Hello everyone, I recently upgraded my imac 2011 27 (I7 2600) so I go from a K1100M to a GTX 780M (dell)
However I have a small problem with this one.
I tried all bios possible but the gpu clock remains blocked at 405mhz maximum, so the performance is not great.
I have been looking for a solution for several weeks, I have shown, reconnect all the cables several times but the problem is still there, whether on windows or osx .
Do you have any idea?
Cordially

I do not know why the BIOS on here is not working properly for you, but you can go in and change the clock speed at that p-state to proper max clock speed using bios editor. That's what I originally had to do on the m4000m when we were working on getting the BIOS.

 

[czaple45]

Je ne sais pas pourquoi le BIOS ici ne fonctionne pas correctement pour vous, mais vous pouvez entrer et modifier la vitesse d'horloge à cet état p pour une vitesse d'horloge maximale appropriée à l'aide de l'éditeur de bios. C'est ce que je devais faire à l'origine sur le m4000m lorsque nous travaillions sur l'obtention du BIOS.

I have already tried several times to modify the frequency using keplerBiosTweaker but this does not give any result .
Maybe I’m not using the software properly.
how to do?

 

[Macconsole]

Update to my video card delima , my imac edu is running 20gigs of ram not just 16 someone said. Still on high Sierra at the moment.

I ordered a preflashed video card from over seas hopefully it will work
Suppose to be plug and play but.... I'll keep you all updated.

 

[Gray486]

Check your vram chips to be sure, but I think there are 4GB versions of the 880M card.

I opened my iMac today (i have been pretty busy) and I can confirm that there are what looks to be 8 VRAM chips on the PCB. Now I'm really confused... Maybe the BIOS that I flashed onto it was made for a 4GB version?? Maybe the power consumption is too high to keep all 8 chips running? Sorry if I sound clueless but I pretty much am...

iMac 21.5" 2011 (iMac 12,1) with an upgraded i7 2600s and 20gb RAM.

 

[G3llings]

I have already tried several times to modify the frequency using keplerBiosTweaker but this does not give any result .
Maybe I’m not using the software properly.
how to do?

Copy all values from P00 into the P08 profile for the boost state and clock state tabs (I have done it in the attached rom). The 405mhz tells me you're stuck in P08 for some reason. The only down side is that the card MAY always be at maximum clock so you will have to watch your temperature. It lists a minimum speed of 135 so it should be able to idle, just keep an eye on it to make sure. I like to use HWinfo64, it has very good sensor monitoring. My m4000m was getting to P05, so I changed that to match P00 values, but still had P08 working as well.

I started with the BR3 ROM, but also noticed that the common tab and boost table tab were set to 797mhz, not 849.5 like the boost state tab, so I fixed that as well. Test at your own risk, I no longer have a 780m to test with.

 

[NightlyH]

Does anyone have the older version of MetalBench that works for 10.14? The one provided here only works on 10.15 and up. There was an old thread a few years back that had a version for Mojave however the link is dead.

 

[Ozzies]

It's me again and I loaded the correct vBIOS onto my 880M which seems to fix all of my issues except that Windows 10 and macOS both detect that I have 4GB of VRAM when I should have 8GB VRAM... Could this be a driver issue or system limitations?

I have an iMac 21.5" 2011 (iMac 12,1) with an upgraded i7 2600s and 20gb RAM.

Hi ,

I have a imac 27 2010 and im trying to upgrade the Gpu as the old one is on its last legs and i used the oven to bake it to bring it back to life.

I decided to purchase a new gtx 880m from a store which they state has been flashed with Imac Vbios so i assumed plug and play, i have read alots of diffrent things on the net to try help myself when installing.

So embarked on the process with zero experience.

Firstsly i brought a 3pipe heatsink and moded this to fit the 880m, i brought thermal pads for chip and some Mx4, after the mod it fit perfectly without the pads as they where to think 2mm so i used some paste instead.

While i was there i also paste the cpu.

After a refit into the machine i tried to boot it up the system chimed as normal and fans started as normal but was just on a black screen and not sure what happended . I assumed if the card was flashed it should boot up but it wasnt the case.

I reinstalled the old heatsink with old card attched and boot straight up again.

I have heard that driver may need installing and i also heard it could be the first time thing and need to hold the shift key on boot various other things

Im really out of my depth and havent got a clue what to do next.

Am i missing something ?

The Imac is on high sierra, 27inch

Any help will be appreciated

 

[m0bil]

I opened my iMac today (i have been pretty busy) and I can confirm that there are what looks to be 8 VRAM chips on the PCB. Now I'm really confused... Maybe the BIOS that I flashed onto it was made for a 4GB version?? Maybe the power consumption is too high to keep all 8 chips running? Sorry if I sound clueless but I pretty much am...

iMac 21.5" 2011 (iMac 12,1) with an upgraded i7 2600s and 20gb RAM.

Take a look at full vram chip references, or post a picture here. Maybe they are density 4-Gbit which will make for 4GB total.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Hi ,

I have a imac 27 2010 and im trying to upgrade the Gpu as the old one is on its last legs and i used the oven to bake it to bring it back to life.

I decided to purchase a new gtx 880m from a store which they state has been flashed with Imac Vbios so i assumed plug and play, i have read alots of diffrent things on the net to try help myself when installing.

So embarked on the process with zero experience.

Firstsly i brought a 3pipe heatsink and moded this to fit the 880m, i brought thermal pads for chip and some Mx4, after the mod it fit perfectly without the pads as they where to think 2mm so i used some paste instead.

While i was there i also paste the cpu.

After a refit into the machine i tried to boot it up the system chimed as normal and fans started as normal but was just on a black screen and not sure what happended . I assumed if the card was flashed it should boot up but it wasnt the case.

I reinstalled the old heatsink with old card attched and boot straight up again.

I have heard that driver may need installing and i also heard it could be the first time thing and need to hold the shift key on boot various other things

Im really out of my depth and havent got a clue what to do next.

Am i missing something ?

The Imac is on high sierra, 27inch

Any help will be appreciated

Have you ckecked the first post of this thread and the known problems section within the Nvidia card spoiler?

 

[czaple45]

Copy all values from P00 into the P08 profile for the boost state and clock state tabs (I have done it in the attached rom). The 405mhz tells me you're stuck in P08 for some reason. The only down side is that the card MAY always be at maximum clock so you will have to watch your temperature. It lists a minimum speed of 135 so it should be able to idle, just keep an eye on it to make sure. I like to use HWinfo64, it has very good sensor monitoring. My m4000m was getting to P05, so I changed that to match P00 values, but still had P08 working as well.

I started with the BR3 ROM, but also noticed that the common tab and boost table tab were set to 797mhz, not 849.5 like the boost state tab, so I fixed that as well. Test at your own risk, I no longer have a 780m to test with.

View attachment 2025531

Thank you for your involvement, unfortunately even after the bios changes the frequency stagnates at 405mhz even in P5.
I don’t know where to look I think I’ve tried every possible method.. ^^
Can’t this come from my Opencore patch?

 

[G3llings]

Thank you for your involvement, unfortunately even after the bios changes the frequency stagnates at 405mhz even in P5.
I don’t know where to look I think I’ve tried every possible method.. ^^
Can’t this come from my Opencore patch?

According to the chart I just looked at, 780m scores 5200 at stock clocks on opencl. Nvidia inspector may not be showing correctly, try hwinfo64 and load the sensors. That will show you the current, men, max, and average for each sensor. The screenshot you showed from opencl shows max clock 849 mhz.

 

[czaple45]

According to the chart I just looked at, 780m scores 5200 at stock clocks on opencl. Nvidia inspector may not be showing correctly, try hwinfo64 and load the sensors. That will show you the current, men, max, and average for each sensor. The screenshot you showed from opencl shows max clock 849 mhz.

As for the Opencl score I see PCs with scores above 10K, the perfomance in games are in any way bad compared to my old K1100M can be 10% more performance ..
I join you the capture under hwinfo64 which shows a 405mhz gpu at full charge .
I don’t get it