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imacin

macrumors newbie
Mar 11, 2023
1
0
I've been reading the threads and watching the videos because I want to upgrade the GPU in my mid-2011 27" imac (12,2) High Sierra (10.13.6). I was inspired to get a red AMD Firepro m5100, but now I'm worried about installing it after reading some more and rewatching the videos. I was going to just put it in and flash it in place (with the SSH method), instead of buying a chip clip. But, before I installed it, I loaded up the Open Core Legacy Patcher to create a MacOS installer and got the impression that using it either does the flashing for you or flashing is not required. So, now I'm confused. I'm also trying to stick with High Sierra for now, so I can't use that program anyway.

If the only thing I'm losing with the card I bought is the boot screen, can I get away with installing this card and not using Open Core at all?

Can I get the boot screen back just with flashing and no Open Core?
 

mrlost

macrumors member
Feb 20, 2023
49
20
Those GPUs simply won't work on that iMac. The power draw and heat generation will be too much for that model. The most powerful card you can put in one of those is a WX4150, which only pulls around 40,45w, and those you mention pull double that.
The most powerful CPU should be either a i7-2600s if you want it fully stock, or a E3-1270 (v1) if you don't mind losing the sleep function.

I totally forgot to reply the first time I saw this post (fellow(?) Mexican). Good going! Btw, did you try searching on Aliexpress for the gpus? Sometimes you can score the gpus cheaper there. Funnily enough, searching on google helps sometimes too, since the search results on aliexpress are sometimes wonky.
I might ask for your help to repair a membrane for a speaker. I have a 2010 MacBook pro for which I'm waiting a new motherboard from eBay, but it's obvious to the eye that the subwoofer is done for.


Thank you very much mate, I am Argentine, but I live in Mexico. I will gladly help you repair your speaker. I have thought of a simpler and easier way to do the job with the resistol 5000. You can get a metal cap, from a soda bottle, or from any bottle that has the same diameter, or greater than the outer diameter of your speaker, You must remove any plastic that has, in the bottom of the cap.

You will use this cap, as a mold, wet the cap with soapy water so that the glue does not stick. You place enough glue to form a 1 mm thick disc, wait for it to dry and remove it from the mold. Using scissors, trim the edges, to fit the outer diameter. Measure the center of the speaker, and cut out a circle in the center of the disk. Upon completion, you will get a rubber ring. With a cloth cloth, gently dry it. With the same glue, resistol 5000, stick the rubber ring on the location of the destroyed piece. You must add enough glue and be perfectly glued on the edges, so that the rubber ring does not come loose.

Here is a video of someone who used my method from the previous publication, it is a less neat method. You use the method you prefer.

Regarding the prices of graphics cards, more important than the price is that it works, and more important than the price is that it arrives at home. For this reason, I first look for the sellers with the best reputation, and among these, I choose the best price, trying as much as possible, that the product is new and unused.
 
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MrZupp

macrumors regular
Apr 18, 2019
151
23
Hi, after installing the k1000m drivers in windows 11 my screen does this after rebooting:
 

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Nguyen Duc Hieu

macrumors 68040
Jul 5, 2020
3,021
1,008
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
(EDIT BIS : for the intel part, yeah I was refering to the CPU. People where I work always told me to have AMD with intel, and to not use NVIDIA, that's why I was struggloing to understand that I can use both inside the IMAC)

Those people were talking about hackintosh build using modern CPUs and PCIe graphic cards. Those stories are not applicable here for our ancient iMacs 2011.
 
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mrlost

macrumors member
Feb 20, 2023
49
20
I've been reading the threads and watching the videos because I want to upgrade the GPU in my mid-2011 27" imac (12,2) High Sierra (10.13.6). I was inspired to get a red AMD Firepro m5100, but now I'm worried about installing it after reading some more and rewatching the videos. I was going to just put it in and flash it in place (with the SSH method), instead of buying a chip clip. But, before I installed it, I loaded up the Open Core Legacy Patcher to create a MacOS installer and got the impression that using it either does the flashing for you or flashing is not required. So, now I'm confused. I'm also trying to stick with High Sierra for now, so I can't use that program anyway.

If the only thing I'm losing with the card I bought is the boot screen, can I get away with installing this card and not using Open Core at all?

Can I get the boot screen back just with flashing and no Open Core?

your video Card is not compatible with your 12.2 Imac 2011 27"

Hello dear colleague, sorry for not replying sooner, at macrumors, we reply as quickly as possible, especially to new ones. I have never installed a red AMD Firepro m5100, I have only installed a blue Dell Nvidia K2100m, on Imac 2011 21.5. I don't know how the red AMD Firepro m5100 works, in 2011 21.5 without flashing it, (I'm new to this like you).
In my case I flashed with ssh fine, because before flashing, my Imac turned on but the screen remained black. I advise you to flash your video card, since in this way you will achieve maximum compatibility with your Imac. Regarding whether you need Open core, in attached files I leave you a section of the table that corresponds to your card, you can find this in publication number 1 of this milestone. According to the table, you need open core to get home screen back. But your video Card is not compatible with your 12.1 Imac 2011 21.5
 

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mrlost

macrumors member
Feb 20, 2023
49
20
Good afternoon colleagues, please, can someone of you help me, telling me if exists any kext, that I can install with kext tool, to get brightness again in high sierra, currently I am using iMac Light Control. Or do you recommend me to use open core to also obtain the h264 codec? does this currently work with syncro 254? I'm too lost with this to know what's right.
 

MrZupp

macrumors regular
Apr 18, 2019
151
23
It happens with Nvidia drivers in windows 11.
And what about the basic windows drivers? work fine?
Yeah, but I get stuttery animations and no brightness control with those...

Also, after reinstalling windows, then the latest nvidia drivers and then the bootcamp drivers, while installing the chipset drivers I got this messed up screen, so the culprit may be the chipset driver. ( Forgot to mention that it is an iMac11,2 )

Also, I have another 11,2 that has no internal screen, motherboard has no knocked off components, tested the whole motherboard and display in the other imac that's fully functional, the display works when connected to the other motherboard, but the "defective" motherboard has the same behavior, so the culprit may be the lvds port? Maybe a bad efi flash? ( Need to mention that I don't know the defective imac's past and the seller sold it without a gpu, so I put a functional 4670 in it and it works and boots perfectly when connected to an external display )
 

mrlost

macrumors member
Feb 20, 2023
49
20
Yeah, but I get stuttery animations and no brightness control with those...

Also, after reinstalling windows, then the latest nvidia drivers and then the bootcamp drivers, while installing the chipset drivers I got this messed up screen, so the culprit may be the chipset driver. ( Forgot to mention that it is an iMac11,2 )

Also, I have another 11,2 that has no internal screen, motherboard has no knocked off components, tested the whole motherboard and display in the other imac that's fully functional, the display works when connected to the other motherboard, but the "defective" motherboard has the same behavior, so the culprit may be the lvds port? Maybe a bad efi flash? ( Need to mention that I don't know the defective imac's past and the seller sold it without a gpu, so I put a functional 4670 in it and it works and boots perfectly when connected to an external display )

Well, the first thing to check is that the video card is OK, or as you say, it's flashing OK. On the other hand, if you installed windows with open core, I remember reading that bootcamp may not be compatible with open core, but you should confirm this for your imac model and graphics card model. Perhaps someone with more experience can clarify this for you. Let's wait a bit here, to see if someone contributes something else.
 

Quinten07

macrumors member
May 19, 2021
46
35
hello :D
i have a Imac 21.5" 2011(12.1)

i have GPU: Radeon HD 6750M and i want to upgrade either to Nvidia geforce GTX 765M or 965M
i have CPU: Intel core i5 2400S and i want the most powerful one out there that fits and is not to complicated to set up. i'm looking for some advice from the veterans :D much appreciated
I have the same system as you have.
I chose for the i7 2600 (non-s) and a Nvidia Quadro K2100M. It works like a charm!
I chose the non-s i7 because where I live the 2600s variant was not available anywhere, but there were plenty of 2600 cpu's for about 30-40 euro's.
The Nvidia K2100M is the most powerfull MXM-A card from Nvidia that you can put in these machines. It outperforms the later GT 640M and GT 650M gpu's used in the 2012 IMac's.
Powerdraw is around 140-150 watts under full use (well within specs) CPU temps never go above 80 degrees. Don't see much difference between the i7 and the i5 cpu to be honest. IMac.jpg
 

HoSpeLL

macrumors newbie
Sep 25, 2022
6
0
Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Screen Shot 2023-03-13 at 16.52.01 PM.png
I have an iMac 2011 with Intel Core i5-2500s running Mac Os 12.6.3 (Monterey), NVIDIA Quadro K4100M, 16GB of RAM and 2 SSD's. So far everything is great but I am thinking of upgrading the CPU. The problem is that I cannot decide which CPU to buy (i7-2700K or Xeon E3-1290, 1280, 1270). Also I am planning to buy 16GB (2x8GB - 1333Mhz) RAM memory modules. Any suggestions and tips would be much appreciated.
 

luis_h44

macrumors newbie
Mar 13, 2023
2
0
I have a 11,2 iMac and upgraded with i7-860s and AMD FirePro M5100 after my stock GPU failed completely. The system is running perfectly with Monterey but I have a problem with my external display. After connecting it via MiniDisplay Port - HDMI adapter the main display gets distorted for 5-10 seconds. Sometimes after this time it works with both displays but sometimes I have to unplug the second display to continue using the Mac.
Can anyone tell me where I should look for the problem. Is it hardware based or maybe the vbios flash? I used the GOP rom fitting my card.
Thanks in advance!
 

Ausdauersportler

macrumors 603
Nov 25, 2019
5,007
5,826
I have a 11,2 iMac and upgraded with i7-860s and AMD FirePro M5100 after my stock GPU failed completely. The system is running perfectly with Monterey but I have a problem with my external display. After connecting it via MiniDisplay Port - HDMI adapter the main display gets distorted for 5-10 seconds. Sometimes after this time it works with both displays but sometimes I have to unplug the second display to continue using the Mac.
Can anyone tell me where I should look for the problem. Is it hardware based or maybe the vbios flash? I used the GOP rom fitting my card.
Thanks in advance!
Bildschirmfoto 2023-03-13 um 20.24.58.png
 
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internetzel

macrumors 6502a
Apr 29, 2015
627
804
Should I use another vBIOS version or is there a possible fix in future versions.
Once a solution is found that part of the first page will be updated - so once in a while you might want to come back and check again.
Some problems probably won't ever be solved (sadly), but until now the current state has always been updated on that first page.
 
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mrlost

macrumors member
Feb 20, 2023
49
20
I have the same system as you have.
I chose for the i7 2600 (non-s) and a Nvidia Quadro K2100M. It works like a charm!
I chose the non-s i7 because where I live the 2600s variant was not available anywhere, but there were plenty of 2600 cpu's for about 30-40 euro's.
The Nvidia K2100M is the most powerfull MXM-A card from Nvidia that you can put in these machines. It outperforms the later GT 640M and GT 650M gpu's used in the 2012 IMac's.
Powerdraw is around 140-150 watts under full use (well within specs) CPU temps never go above 80 degrees. Don't see much difference between the i7 and the i5 cpu to be honest. View attachment 2172820

Hello excuse me. Do you have windows 10 installed?
 

Ausdauersportler

macrumors 603
Nov 25, 2019
5,007
5,826
I'm very sorry. I did the mod on my own and didn't know that a vga-stripped rom still exists.
Do not worry! I really thought you pulled it off the GitHub, it was the first version I shared in the public after EnableGop came out of initial development.
Currently I am in the phase of looking for more test users. All modifications are long done. But I am concerned to open a box of Pandora when releasing a bunch or more untested versions.
 

T0mbi

macrumors newbie
Jan 31, 2023
7
0
Hi all. I bought a preflashed k4100m from aliexpress and i am having issues with it. Installed into a a1312 27" 2011 iMac. Have modified the heatsink with a Dremel. I struggled to get it to boot as it got caught in a chime loop on boot, but after reinstalling the card, it booted ok. I installed Catalina and Windows 10. When i went to test a game on W10 (GTAV) and noticed the fps dropping. Check the temps on the card and it was at 100c then it shut off. I reapplied thermal paste and now im getting the chime boot loop again, as well as only 3 LEDs coming on.

Does anyone have any ideas? As far as i can see, nothing is touching the heatsink that shouldn't be. I have also tried using a thermal pad on the GPU die, and have also taped the silver square below the right cap.

EDIT: I have also tried installing just the video card without the heatsink and i still get the chime loop and 3 leds. So surely that would rule out the card shorting out?
 

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inck243

macrumors member
Jun 15, 2010
70
7
Philadelphia, PA
View attachment 2172953 I have an iMac 2011 with Intel Core i5-2500s running Mac Os 12.6.3 (Monterey), NVIDIA Quadro K4100M, 16GB of RAM and 2 SSD's. So far everything is great but I am thinking of upgrading the CPU. The problem is that I cannot decide which CPU to buy (i7-2700K or Xeon E3-1290, 1280, 1270). Also I am planning to buy 16GB (2x8GB - 1333Mhz) RAM memory modules. Any suggestions and tips would be much appreciated.
I’ve been researching and price tracking for 4 months now and finally bought the i7-2700k for $47 the other day. There is an auction for one ending in 3 days now, also brand new ones for around $70. The Xeon E3-1290 prices are much higher and are around $100-$150. The i7-2700k is cheaper than the Xeon and also scores slightly higher than the E3-1290 on most benchmark sites. Contributing to my decision on the i7-2700k was also that I’ve noticed the i7-2600 CPUs climbing in price. They’re selling for around $25-$35 these days even though in January some sold for as low as $13. I thought the 2700K was worth the $15-20 ish more since I think that’s pretty much as high as you can go with the processor.
 
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inck243

macrumors member
Jun 15, 2010
70
7
Philadelphia, PA
Hi all. I bought a preflashed k4100m from aliexpress and i am having issues with it. Installed into a a1312 27" 2011 iMac. Have modified the heatsink with a Dremel. I struggled to get it to boot as it got caught in a chime loop on boot, but after reinstalling the card, it booted ok. I installed Catalina and Windows 10. When i went to test a game on W10 (GTAV) and noticed the fps dropping. Check the temps on the card and it was at 100c then it shut off. I reapplied thermal paste and now im getting the chime boot loop again, as well as only 3 LEDs coming on.

Does anyone have any ideas? As far as i can see, nothing is touching the heatsink that shouldn't be. I have also tried using a thermal pad on the GPU die, and have also taped the silver square below the right cap.

EDIT: I have also tried installing just the video card without the heatsink and i still get the chime loop and 3 leds. So surely that would rule out the card shorting out?
Did you take off the K4100m x-clamp and drill out the screw hole rivets so the apple screws would fit? If you use the x-clamp from the old card it comes really close to other components.
 
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