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

[lilliputian]

Regarding the latest version of iStats Menu (v7):

I'm sure I'm not the first to discover this, but the sensors module (and thus, fan control) in iStats Menu v7 is not currently compatible with an iMac 2010 27" running OCLP. It may become compatible in the future (or so the placeholder states), but for now I've downgraded back to iStats 6 (v6.73 available here). iStats 7 is a paid upgrade anyway, so this saves me $10 for now.

If you already installed the update, run the Uninstall procedure from the file menu, then re-install v6 as normal. Your original settings should still be there. When it nags you again about upgrading, click the "Skip This Version" button, and you should be good to go.

 

[alberbrando]

Yessssss...I noted a few days ago,when I bought the new version and I went to install the update in all my Macs and...I couldn´t use it on my iMac Late 2009, not compatible.
I bought the upgrade, familiar pack, and I installed in my other macs.So 6.7 version for iMac and 7 version for the rest.

 

[Stavompe]

Hello everybody! I'd like to upgrade my parents' iMac, but I have a few questions to clarify before proceeding:

- The original GPU died... How can I confirm if latest Mac firmware is present before installing a new Metal-capable GPU?

- Lastly, since I'm looking for the easiest solution...
I want to confirm if the following image represents the correct DELL (GREEN) WX4130 card.

Thanks in advance!

 

[lilliputian]

@Stavompe I purchased my unit from a seller who had already patched the firmware with the correct version from this thread. It will say so somewhere in the listing if that has been done, but you can also contact the seller for more info, as they're obviously catering to us in those listings. If you're looking at a listing and it doesn't mention it, assume it has not been modified (most people are purchasing these for their laptops, so we're a niche market at best).

 

[Stavompe]

@lilliputian
Seems like a good alternative, thank you! Right now, my first option is to flash it myself. I'm fairly familiar with Terminal, and I just wanted to confirm if that’s actually the DELL green card.

 

[howardc64]

Hello everybody! I'd like to upgrade my parents' iMac, but I have a few questions to clarify before proceeding:

- The original GPU died... How can I confirm if latest Mac firmware is present before installing a new Metal-capable GPU?

- Lastly, since I'm looking for the easiest solution...
I want to confirm if the following image represents the correct DELL (GREEN) WX4130 card.

View attachment 2416092


Thanks in advance!

Yes, Dell Green Card v1.1 and flash with EG VBIOS (not listed on post #1)

iMac+Metal GPU - 12,x

Main Info Source All the info is gleamed from the big macrumor's thread post #1. Be sure to consult the following sections. No way to link to these sections so perhaps open 2 browser windows to read side by side this site and these sections Spoiler: 2 Working AMD Graphics Cards Spoiler: AMD GCN v4

sites.google.com

 

[Herver]

Having changed from the HD6970m to the GTX 880m and back, I have found that the original GPU is a tad more smoother on the screen than the replacement GPU. Obvious to me on mouse cursor movement and page scrolling, under High Sierra.

Has anyone ever experience it ?

 

[dorninko]

Running 2x 12,2 with WX4130 on Sonoma + 1.5.0 OCLP as daily driver and have random hangs

14.6.1 hangs multiple times a day. Annoying enough to be not usable.
14.6 was most stable. Every 2-3 days and generally acceptable
14.5 was worse than 14.6

Reverting to Monterey and will report results after use.

Hi all,
so finally I got 2 WX4150M cards. I put one into my wife's iMac12,1 and installed Sonoma 14.6.1. So far everything works fine, much better than with the GTX870.
The second card did not work at all, I had to negotiate with the vendor to get a replacement which I should get in a few weeks...
I will put this ona (if it works) into my iMac 12,2. I will report back.

 

[howardc64]

Hi all,
so finally I got 2 WX4150M cards. I put one into my wife's iMac12,1 and installed Sonoma 14.6.1. So far everything works fine, much better than with the GTX870.
The second card did not work at all, I had to negotiate with the vendor to get a replacement which I should get in a few weeks...
I will put this ona (if it works) into my iMac 12,2. I will report back.

I've switched to EG VBIOS (wx4130) and have no hangs in Monterey and Ventura. Didn't try Sonoma yet.

Which VBIOS are you using?

 

[dorninko]

VBIOS for WX4150M: WX4150_EnableGop_ALT.rom

 

[jorges4lu2]

Hi,

I have a 2010 21" iMac (iMac11,2) with a FirePro M5100 (Samsung vram).

I installed the FirePro M5100 2 years ago and it has worked fine; it only has one problem:

Sometimes when starting up, when the progress bar is about 25% the screen goes black and then some artifacts appear for 4 seconds, then the screen goes black again and stays that way. The only solution is to force shutdown, so it starts up again.

The vbios I flashed 2 years ago had the name M5100-DELL-RED-GOP-BLUE_OBJI.

Is it possible that flashing another vbios can solve this problem?

In the GitHub repository, I see several vbios but I don't know which one is suitable for my GPU (samsung vram).

 

[howardc64]

Hi,

I have a 2010 21" iMac (iMac11,2) with a FirePro M5100 (Samsung vram).

I installed the FirePro M5100 2 years ago and it has worked fine; it only has one problem:

Sometimes when starting up, when the progress bar is about 25% the screen goes black and then some artifacts appear for 4 seconds, then the screen goes black again and stays that way. The only solution is to force shutdown, so it starts up again.

The vbios I flashed 2 years ago had the name M5100-DELL-RED-GOP-BLUE_OBJI.

Is it possible that flashing another vbios can solve this problem?

In the GitHub repository, I see several vbios but I don't know which one is suitable for my GPU (samsung vram).

You might try EG VBIOS ( link to EG explanation ) I recently deviated from Post #1's non EG VBIOS for wx4130 to EG version and got much better stability (no random hang) M4000 EG LVDS VBIOS also fixed a bug that was in non EG VBIOS. Generally it seems EG VBIOS for AMD have more bug fixes. Here is a link that has M5100 EG Samsung

IMAC-EFI-BOOT-SCREEN/EG2 at main · Ausdauersportler/IMAC-EFI-BOOT-SCREEN

How to create an EFI boot screen vBIOS for Apple Late 2009 to Mid 2011 iMac systems using AMD MXM graphics cards - Ausdauersportler/IMAC-EFI-BOOT-SCREEN

github.com

 

[howardc64]

Hey all.
I would like to upgrade the GPU of an 27 iMac mid 2011 (iMac 12.2). It got the i7 and the 2gb standard AMD GPU. SSD; Ram max.out and a "new" GPU would be the project. Reading the first post, I was thinking about upgrading to an RX5500XT, seems to be a powerful and working card. However I would like to run MacOS Sonoma and maybe Sequoia in the future. Reeding the Github page for supperted GPU with OCLP https://github.com/dortania/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher/issues/1008 this seems to be the wrong GPU for me. Furthermore it seems like all the listed Gpu´s are having problems. Am I getting it wrong and there are more options in cards than listed on Github?

post #1 direct to post #19961 for RX5500XT (RDNA 1.0 GPU architecture) preliminary results.

I am using GCN4 (wx4130) on 12,2 i7 running macOS Sequia as daily driver without any problems. No idea where lacking AVX2 ( 256bit vector (8 float) instruction set started in 2013 era Haswell CPU link ) will show up in normal usage. Googling show Adobe (+ other 2D graphics editing apps) apps often require AVX2 and not run under OCLP for < Haswell CPU macs.

 

[jorges4lu2]

You might try EG VBIOS ( link to EG explanation ) I recently deviated from Post #1's non EG VBIOS for wx4130 to EG version and got much better stability (no random hang) M4000 EG LVDS VBIOS also fixed a bug that was in non EG VBIOS. Generally it seems EG VBIOS for AMD have more bug fixes. Here is a link that has M5100 EG Samsung

IMAC-EFI-BOOT-SCREEN/EG2 at main · Ausdauersportler/IMAC-EFI-BOOT-SCREEN

How to create an EFI boot screen vBIOS for Apple Late 2009 to Mid 2011 iMac systems using AMD MXM graphics cards - Ausdauersportler/IMAC-EFI-BOOT-SCREEN

github.com

Hi,

I flashed “M5100-ElpidaSamsung-EG2_adj.rom” and now I got a boot loop with black screen.

If a press “option” key during boot it stops the boot loop but the black screen remains.

What could I do now?

 

[howardc64]

Hi,

I flashed “M5100-ElpidaSamsung-EG2_adj.rom” and now I got a boot loop with black screen.

If a press “option” key during boot it stops the boot loop but the black screen remains.

What could I do now?

I don't know so much about EG2, searching this thread seems to suggest iMac logic board boot rom need to be flashed to work with it. Maybe someone with EG2 knowledge can chime in.

I guess you should flash back old VBIOS by CH341 method (see my signature link on how to do as most CH341 programming dongle need modification to get correct voltage) or if iMac can boot GRML USB stick (need to disconnect SATA drive so iMac only boots GRML USB), use GRML.

Searching this thread with "M5100-ElpidaSamsung-EG2_adj" string finds no post to provide any info unfortunatley.

 

[Jan6553]

post #1 direct to post #19961 for RX5500XT (RDNA 1.0 GPU architecture) preliminary results.

I am using GCN4 (wx4130) on 12,2 i7 running macOS Sequia as daily driver without any problems. No idea where lacking AVX2 ( 256bit vector (8 float) instruction set started in 2013 era Haswell CPU link ) will show up in normal usage. Googling show Adobe (+ other 2D graphics editing apps) apps often require AVX2 and not run under OCLP for < Haswell CPU macs.

Thank you very much. Adobe isn't used on this mac, so AVX2 shouldn't be a problem. Like you said CGN4 and Sonoma or Sequoia should run. For the 12.2 iMac the WX4130/50 and WX7100 sounds like a great option. However there is no WX4130/50 or at least no green Dell branded one available right now. An WX7100 Ver.1.1 would be available for around 200USD.
You are not using a mini Display port emulator and flashed your card? For CGN AMDVB and the vBios thankfully uploaded by Ausdauersportler is the best option?

 

[holyvier82]

Hi everyone you might help me ! I've already installed an AMD Firepro S7100X in my imac mid 2010 an it works very well.
However, when i plug it in my mid 2011 imac (12.2), it doesn't even stat - no bong, black screen ... I can only hear the optical drive starting... Is this GPU compatible with this Imac model? If not, which one would be the best?

Many many thanks !

 

[jorges4lu2]

I don't know so much about EG2, searching this thread seems to suggest iMac logic board boot rom need to be flashed to work with it. Maybe someone with EG2 knowledge can chime in.

I guess you should flash back old VBIOS by CH341 method (see my signature link on how to do as most CH341 programming dongle need modification to get correct voltage) or if iMac can boot GRML USB stick (need to disconnect SATA drive so iMac only boots GRML USB), use GRML.

Searching this thread with "M5100-ElpidaSamsung-EG2_adj" string finds no post to provide any info unfortunatley.

I was able to boot GRML, so I flashed "M5100-Elpida-GOP.rom" and now the iMac boots as good as before.

I assume there is no EG option for the AMD M5100, because there is no rom in the repository. Am I wrong?
The only EG rom for AMD5100 is "M5100-EnableGop-LVDS.rom" and I understand this is not suitable for eDP connected internal displays as found in the iMac11,x.

 

[howardc64]

I was able to boot GRML, so I flashed "M5100-Elpida-GOP.rom" and now the iMac boots as good as before.

I assume there is no EG option for the AMD M5100, because there is no rom in the repository. Am I wrong?
The only EG rom for AMD5100 is "M5100-EnableGop-LVDS.rom" and I understand this is not suitable for eDP connected internal displays as found in the iMac11,x.

Glad you got it back up and running. I need to learn more about EG1.2 and 2.0. I flashed 2 different EG1.2 VBIOS and neither required logic board firmware flash. Perhaps thats the difference from 2.0. Will learn more and update my website.

And you are correct, I only see LVDS version of M5100 under EG directory so I guess thats all there is.

BTW, I had a M5100 running on a 11,1 and I think I also put it in 11,3. Didn't notice any problems you mentioned in post #21986. I unfortunately forgot which VRAM version I had.

 

[howardc64]

Hi everyone you might help me ! I've already installed an AMD Firepro S7100X in my imac mid 2010 an it works very well.
However, when i plug it in my mid 2011 imac (12.2), it doesn't even stat - no bong, black screen ... I can only hear the optical drive starting... Is this GPU compatible with this Imac model? If not, which one would be the best?

Many many thanks !

According to post #1, S7100X is GCN v1-3 and these have sleep/wake problems with 12,x. I've tried other GCN v1-3 GPUs (M4000) on 12,x. It booted fine and sleep/wake okay 9/10 times but 1/10 will hit the sleep/wake problem.

 

[howardc64]

Thank you very much. Adobe isn't used on this mac, so AVX2 shouldn't be a problem. Like you said CGN4 and Sonoma or Sequoia should run. For the 12.2 iMac the WX4130/50 and WX7100 sounds like a great option. However there is no WX4130/50 or at least no green Dell branded one available right now. An WX7100 Ver.1.1 would be available for around 200USD.

GCN4 seems to be getting harder to acquire. I have a WX3200 on order which require couple of simple mods (2 jumpers, remove 2 resistors) Will report after upgrade.

You are not using a mini Display port emulator and flashed your card? For CGN AMDVB and the vBios thankfully uploaded by Ausdauersportler is the best option?

I flash GCN4 VBIOS with GRML method (see signature link) and yes, @Ausdauersportler VBIOS. Although for WX4130, I choose the EG1.2 version rather than linked by post #1. Details in my signature link website under 12,x section.

 

[bigdogbrown]

I finally took the plunge on upgrading my old 2011 27". I purchased a WX7100 and attempted to flash all the GOP VBIOSes including all the EG1 and EG2 versions after doing the iMac firmware mod, I even tried out fellow member SEJU's custom EG2 file. Unfortunately, none of these worked for me. When booting I get vertical artifacts similar to SEJU's post before he got a unique file later. In case maybe the VRAM timings are wrong for my card, I am uploading my original in the hopes that I can be blessed with a new version to try by someone far more skilled than I at VBIOS modding.

In the event I have a bad card, I've ordered a WX4170 with a VBIOS chip, but this one was a red card, not a green one. Does anyone know if that will be an issue? I also didn't know what size of storage the VBIOS chip should be. I asked the seller and they said it was 512KB and based on the github with the ROMS I assume that is the size I'd need. I'd appreciate any insight, thanks!

 

[dorninko]

Quick question: did anybody experience the following issue?
I have a 12,2i Mac with GTX880 and (now) Monterey. Works mostly fine, sometimes graphics glitches. But what is very strange: Unigine Valley Benchmark crashes always. The other tests (Metal, GeekBench5) work fine.

 

[howardc64]

Quick question: did anybody experience the following issue?
I have a 12,2i Mac with GTX880 and (now) Monterey. Works mostly fine, sometimes graphics glitches. But what is very strange: Unigine Valley Benchmark crashes always. The other tests (Metal, GeekBench5) work fine.

I thought Kepler has issues > Big Sur so I've not experienced Kepler at higher macOS.

 

[dorninko]

I thought Kepler has issues > Big Sur so I've not experienced Kepler at higher macOS.

I put a GTX870M into an iMac 12,1 and installed Sonoma, this worked fine and I was able to run Unigine Valley Benchmark without a problem.
I suspect that my GTX880M is not quite ok, therefore, I will replace it with a WX4150 soon (card is already on the way to me).