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

[howardc64]

No speciall apps just firefox, spotify, signal, libre office.

I’ll try Sequoia, can I use the upgrade option? Or do I need to make a new usb stick?

VBIOS from github repository or post #18295? I had 2-3x daily crashes (cursor would hang) but LCD on 18295 VBIOS but perfect with github VBIOS.

 

[jay508]

Hi, long time reader first time poster.

I am interested in doing something a little different than I’ve seen done here. I am interested in putting a W6600 pro GPU into a 2011 iMac. I’ve done some quick measurements and I think it would fit if the optical drive is removed along with the factory GPU cooler. I found a MXM to PCIE adaptor on AliExpress, it’s actually on sale right now. The W 6600 pro GPU is the best single slot GPU that I think Mac supports. If anyone knows a better one, please let me know.

I’ve done some preliminary research and I think I’ll need to do a patch in order to get to work. I found a post on the site talking about how to get these GPUs to work in the older 5.1 Mac pros.

I linked some information at the bottom of the post.

The big questions I have right now are if PCI express supports sending the video back into the iMac to run the screen, and also how hard it will be to get the GPU to work in the iMac with regards to the bios. I’ve done a bit of reading on the firmware pages that are linked here and I think the bios could be edited in a similar way to the MXM cards featured on this post. Also the 6000 series cards seem to have issues because of a bios bug, it seems there’s a patcher to cover this. Based on what I know, I feel like if I were able to patch the bios in the way that makes it work in the Mac Pro then I could get it working with open core but I am definitely not sure on this.

My understanding is that the PCI express can send video back into the motherboard, for example to go out through a HDMI port on the motherboard. I’m curious if this is how the iMac does it? I also read that MXM boards can send video through additional pins that they have using display port.

One work around that I was thinking of if it cannot send it through the PCI express then possibly I could get LCD driver board designed for these iMacs and use that instead of the built in one.

Please feel free to criticize this idea. I’m curious about any other issues I will run into while I’m trying to get this to work. I really appreciate everything on this thread. It has been very helpful for me.

I currently have three 2011 iMacs and one 2010 iMac. One of them I’ve upgraded to i7 2700 K with 32 gigabytes 1600 megahertz RAM and the WX 4170 GPU. Currently, I’m running the 4150 bios as I was having stability issues. I just got a new package of copper spacers. I’m going to try to optimize it and get it working with 4170 bios. I have the computer overclocked and the ram running at 1600 mhz using the motherboard flashing information on another thread on this site.

Thank you for any information you can provide me!

MXM to PCIe adapter

AMD Radeon Pro W6600

Information about flashing W6600 Pro for 5.1 Mac Pro

I'm in China.
Saw someone using a Clevo laptop model PT870TM have used pretty much the same method using MXM to PCIe gtx180ti laptop internal screen works fine and split pcie*16 for pcie*8x2 add using nvme ssd and the mxm card has a typce port on it can be used with a mobile portable screen.

 

[cyaan]

VBIOS from github repository or post #18295? I had 2-3x daily crashes (cursor would hang) but LCD on 18295 VBIOS but perfect with github VBIOS.

I have to check, I kind of forgot which VBIOS I flashed (I think I went for the newest one I found)
Also I did nothing with the AMDGOP.efi file because I didn't understand that part

 

[howardc64]

I have to check, I kind of forgot which VBIOS I flashed (I think I went for the newest one I found)
Also I did nothing with the AMDGOP.efi file because I didn't understand that part

I just set AMD GOP Injection and AMD Lexa in Advanced tab and it automatically included AMDGOP.efi + Lexa Spoofing Patches when building OC.

Infact, AMDGOP.efi is missing if you let OCLP (2.0.2) auto detect without manually setting Lexa GOP injection which is a bug. An OC with this missing will not boot.

See my signature link for 12,x wx3200 install link which explains this in detail.

 

[davidmorr]

I have just read through all this info (again) and am trying to narrow down my options.

Mid 2011 iMac 12,2 27" with Radeon HD 6970M(dead) A1312, 2 disks installed inside case.

I want to run Monterey using OCLP. I do not want to run Windows natively, but will run under Parallels.

Question 1.
NVIDIA cards seem to be problematical for Monterey and later. Should I exclude them from consideration?

Question 2.
The mid 2011 iMac 27 can have a 2 pipe or 3 pipe heat sink as I understand it, depending on whether Radeon 6770 or 6970 was originally installed. Some cards need the 3 pipe to avoid overheating issues. But if a card will work with a 2 pipe heatsink, can it be fitted to a machine with the 3 pipe heatsink, or does the heat sink need to be swapped?

 

[howardc64]

I have just read through all this info (again) and am trying to narrow down my options.

Mid 2011 iMac 12,2 27" with Radeon HD 6970M(dead) A1312, 2 disks installed inside case.

I want to run Monterey using OCLP. I do not want to run Windows natively, but will run under Parallels.

Question 1.
NVIDIA cards seem to be problematical for Monterey and later. Should I exclude them from consideration?

Just get AMD, more future proof when you want higher > Monterey.

Question 2.
The mid 2011 iMac 27 can have a 2 pipe or 3 pipe heat sink as I understand it, depending on whether Radeon 6770 or 6970 was originally installed. Some cards need the 3 pipe to avoid overheating issues. But if a card will work with a 2 pipe heatsink, can it be fitted to a machine with the 3 pipe heatsink, or does the heat sink need to be swapped?

Smaller MXM-A cards works with both 2 + 3 pipe. Key is to have clearance between the taller components on the GPU (inductors (silver rectangels)) and the heatsink (a short if touch). There are generally 2 ways to do this

• Use thicker shims until it clears.
• Combination of shim+grinding heat sink to clear.

Did grinding once and the heat sink material ended up completely clogging my grinding bit. Now I just use ever taller shims (potentially 1.5mm for wx3200 as this GPU has really low GPU die in relation to the inductor height.

I've not had problems installing MXM-A cards like m5100/m4000/wx4130/wx3200 into 3 pipe heat sink. Just need to have ever thicker shims. I have 0.3 - 1.5mm shims for this purpose. Smaller MXM-A cards usually run much cooler than the larger MXM-B cards anyways. Cooling is generally not a problem.

 

[ArticPolarDEV]

I have a problem, my iMac early 2009 24' starts, gives the video on the internal monitor, but after 1 to 2 minutes, the iMac turns off completely, the 4 LEDs near the cmos battery, the 3rd LED is off, and the rest is on, with the gt 130, it turns on completely normally, but with my new m6100, it just keeps turning off. Please help me.

 

[Uzimandias]

Hi everyone. This is my first time posting here and I only recently found out that this forum exists. I'm a complete beginner and the only place I get my information about upgrading my imac 12,2 27in is from chatgpt. Long story short, it convinced me to buy the amd w7170m gpu as a viable upgrade option. Now that I have read through this forum, w7170m seems to be the worst upgrade option out of the bunch. Is there anything I can do to make it work? I'm completely out of options and i cant spend anymore on a new card.

 

[Noot]

I have a problem, my iMac early 2009 24' starts, gives the video on the internal monitor, but after 1 to 2 minutes, the iMac turns off completely, the 4 LEDs near the cmos battery, the 3rd LED is off, and the rest is on, with the gt 130, it turns on completely normally, but with my new m6100, it just keeps turning off. Please help me.

Which VBIOS did you flash?

 

[ArticPolarDEV]

Which VBIOS did you flash?

M6100-HynixBFR-EnableGOP91-LVDS.rom

But I noticed that the heatsink came out without thermal paste, but the graphics processor had thermal paste applied, I didn't modify the heatsink, could that be the problem?

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

M6100-HynixBFR-EnableGOP91-LVDS.rom

But I noticed that the heatsink came out without thermal paste, but the graphics processor had thermal paste applied, I didn't modify the heatsink, could that be the problem?

It is the very problem. Your iMac works fine until the GPU was too hot because the chip doesn't touch the heatsink.
Verify the gap between them and what cause the gap.
Your heatsink is not the same as iMac A1311 and A1312 heatsink.
Therefore you have to check and modify it yourself.

 

[howardc64]

M6100-HynixBFR-EnableGOP91-LVDS.rom

But I noticed that the heatsink came out without thermal paste, but the graphics processor had thermal paste applied, I didn't modify the heatsink, could that be the problem?

The tallest components on these GPUs are inductors (silver rectangles) On MXMB cards, they usually touch the heatsink causing a short without heatsink grinding + shimming. If you look at AliExpress listing of MXMB heatsinks (usually for 27" A1312s), they often show the grinding location. Yours is 24" and less examples posted online. Need to study clearance carefully.

 

[ArticPolarDEV]

The tallest components on these GPUs are inductors (silver rectangles) On MXMB cards, they usually touch the heatsink causing a short without heatsink grinding + shimming. If you look at AliExpress listing of MXMB heatsinks (usually for 27" A1312s), they often show the grinding location. Yours is 24" and less examples posted online. Need to study clearance carefully.

I did an improvised test, I made a sheet of aluminum foil the size of the GPU die, and glued it with thermal paste, I put the heatsink on the GPU, and it stopped turning off. I applied nail polish to protect the electronic components from short circuits, both due to the heatsink and the aluminum foil. The temperature stabilized and did not exceed 50°C.

 

[howardc64]

I did an improvised test, I made a sheet of aluminum foil the size of the GPU die, and glued it with thermal paste, I put the heatsink on the GPU, and it stopped turning off. I applied nail polish to protect the electronic components from short circuits, both due to the heatsink and the aluminum foil. The temperature stabilized and did not exceed 50°C.

Visually check if GPU card edges are all straight. If improper clearance but insulated inductors against shorts, GPU card will warp slightly after tightening the heatsink. Probably not good for the BGA solder balls longevity.

 

[howardc64]

Hi everyone. This is my first time posting here and I only recently found out that this forum exists. I'm a complete beginner and the only place I get my information about upgrading my imac 12,2 27in is from chatgpt. Long story short, it convinced me to buy the amd w7170m gpu as a viable upgrade option. Now that I have read through this forum, w7170m seems to be the worst upgrade option out of the bunch. Is there anything I can do to make it work? I'm completely out of options and i cant spend anymore on a new card.

I have no experience with w7170m but found 3 interesting links for you

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/2010-imac-graphics-card-amd-firepro-w7170m.2338687/

https://forums.macrumors.com/search/4947445/?q=W7170M&t=post&c[thread]=1596614&o=relevance

AMD FirePro W7170M 4GB Metal Video Card 109-C769A1-00B_02 for iMac 11,1 / 11,3 A1312 27 inch Late 2009 Mid 2010 Sonoma Sequoia - AliExpress 7

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.us

AliExpress seller is selling a pre-flashed w7170m for 11,1/11,3 use.

Anyway, I guess read through all these to see if 12,2 is possible.

 

[howardc64]

Found a minor issue with GCN 1-4 with OCLP macOS. Tested on 11,3+M4000 and 12,2+wx3200 with OCLP 2.2.0+macOS Sequoia 15.2

Safari doesn't display properly on website using mapbox maps. Chrome works fine. I believe macOS has parts of the web/browser software stack in the macOS and Safari uses it while Chrome brings its own complete web/browser software stack. Here are couple of example mapbox website that doesn't work in Safari

Interactive CMS Map w/ Mapbox - Webflow

An interactive, CMS-powered map that is built using Mapbox. The collection list that populates the map must have Lattitude and Longitude coordinates for each item, and you can populate any other CMS data you want within the popups for each point. This approach does require Javascript located in...

webflow.com

https://www.fresha.com/search (need to grant location access and not sure if will work outside US)

 

[dorninko]

Hi all,
Another very strange problem I encountered:
about half a year ago I upgraded an iMac 12,2 with WX4130 and installed Sonoma and sold it. Worked for a while then no boot. I investigated and found that the SSD was empty??? Ok, so I thought a bad SSD. I installed a new SSD and installed Sequoia. Worked fine for me. Gave it back to the buyer. After a few days the same problem, no boot. I checked again: SSD empty???
I re-installed Sequoia again on the same SSD, worked up to the point when I tried to install the post patches. After installation of the patches I rebooted and.... empty SSD???

Any ideas?

 

[Bigwaff]

And the SSD is the only storage installed and has been completely erased with single partition/container before each fresh install attempt?

 

[dorninko]

And the SSD is the only storage installed and has been completely erased with single partition/container before each fresh install attempt?

Yes and no, I have a 1TB HDD in addition to the ssd, but I installed the OS without having this second disk connected.
Yes always fresh erased and formatted.

 

[Bigwaff]

Only suggestion I have at the moment is to install OCLP+macOS to an external drive and boot off that. Your HDD would suffice for this exercise. Curious if the same issue appears.

 

[cajillarcade]

Hola
Tengo un imac mid 2011 de 27 pulgadas al cual la grafica amd 6970 1 gb no funciona.
Cual sería la mejor opción para mi?
Gracias

 

[howardc64]

Hello
I have a 27 inch imac mid 2011 to which the amd 6970 1 gb graphics card does not work.
What would be the best option for me?
Thank you

Original AMD 6970 is easiest.

List of easier options upgrading to metal graphics + OCLP ( link )

If not running High Sierra (HS) when 6970 failed, then I believe need to find a solution to install HS first (flash the logic board firmware ( link )) Might choose a GPU that works without OCLP on HS.

 

[stcm]

(********)
Hey, Santa Claus! Plz give me a special surprise gift.

IDK all when it'll happen, but I'm looking forward to the day when the RX5500XT MXM, RX5700 MXM, or RX6600 MXM works fine on the Ventura or higher.
Even if the price is a little high, I'll not hesitate to purchase it.
I rly wanna experiment them...

Merry Chrismas!!

 

[BzowK]

Hey Guys -

I've got an iMac 12,2 with the below specs and after studying this thread for about an hour am still torn as to which GPU I should attempt to upgrade to. I basically want to be able to use metal features of the OS - nothing too advanced or expensive. Plenty of experience flashing BIOS and such in past but not wanting a time sink Suggestions? Thanks!

• 2011 iMac 12,2 27"
• 2.7ghz i5 / 12gb RAM
• AMD Radeon HD 6770M 512mb
• 256gb Samsung SSD
• Sequoia 15.2 / OpenCore 2.2.0

Thanks again!

 

[howardc64]

Hey Guys -

I've got an iMac 12,2 with the below specs and after studying this thread for about an hour am still torn as to which GPU I should attempt to upgrade to. I basically want to be able to use metal features of the OS - nothing too advanced or expensive. Plenty of experience flashing BIOS and such in past but not wanting a time sink Suggestions? Thanks!

• 2011 iMac 12,2 27"
• 2.7ghz i5 / 12gb RAM
• AMD Radeon HD 6770M 512mb
• 256gb Samsung SSD
• Sequoia 15.2 / OpenCore 2.2.0

Thanks again!

wx3200 ($30 eBay US) with 2 jumper + 2 small resistor removal (need pro soldering). See guide in my signature link.