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

[Paus Nefzen]

Hi all guys, hope to post in the correct thread sorry if i made a mistake.
I have an imac 11,2 and i upgraded it with ram, ssd and a new graphics, a nVidia Quadro K1100M 2 gb ddr5.
The performance are really good, but sometimes i got this issue in the photo app or within firefox.
Picture attached
thanks for your help
Andrea

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

It's not cheaper when you already own an MXM graphics card.

Have you considered the cost of time others have to spend to cook a vBIOS for your special needs?

 

[TomBrady]

Hello guys I’ll never be able to use my 2011 for tdm with my PC 💔 so I’m getting rid of my flashed wx7100 I assume they’re still kinda rare (sorry if I shouldn’t post this here 🥺). PM me.

 

[90Ninety]

I have an iMac 11,2 (Mid 2010 EMC 2389) . The 4760 GPU does not support metal or 3D acceleration .. I wanted a good AMD card ( for good Linux support) , is the M5100 a good idea, which other options do I have ?

 

[Vic’s 2011 27” iMac]

Hello,

I have a 2011 27" iMac that I'm trying to upgrade. The original GPU was perfectly fine, but I wanted metal support, so I upgraded to a FirePro M5100. I flashed the GPU with the VBIOS from the Github listed on page 1 using a CH341A programmer. Before swapping the graphics card, I installed macOS Monterey using OCLP, including root patching. Unfortunately, after the swap, the internal display remains completely black—no image or backlight. I've tried modifying the config.plist (framebuffer enable), but I can't say I know what I'm doing, and nothing has worked so far.

I realized that the FirePro M5100 is listed as incompatible with my 12,2 iMac, and I accept my lapse in judgment. I chose the GPU was because it was cheap, and I was hoping to make it work. I'm wondering if there's a workaround or patch that might get the internal panel working (something I might have missed while reading through this forum). If anyone has done it or has any suggestions (even if it’s "give up"), I’d really appreciate your help.

 

[Vic’s 2011 27” iMac]

Hello,

I have a 2011 27" iMac that I'm trying to upgrade. The original GPU was perfectly fine, but I wanted metal support, so I upgraded to a FirePro M5100. I flashed the GPU with the VBIOS from the Github listed on page 1 using a CH341A programmer. Before swapping the graphics card, I installed macOS Monterey using OCLP, including root patching. Unfortunately, after the swap, the internal display remains completely black—no image or backlight. I've tried modifying the config.plist (framebuffer enable), but I can't say I know what I'm doing, and nothing has worked so far.

I realized that the FirePro M5100 is listed as incompatible with my 12,2 iMac, and I accept my lapse in judgment. I chose the GPU was because it was cheap, and I was hoping to make it work. I'm wondering if there's a workaround or patch that might get the internal panel working (something I might have missed while reading through this forum). If anyone has done it or has any suggestions (even if it’s "give up"), I’d really appreciate your help.

Thank you for this post as I am also trying to upgrade my 2011 27 inch Mac with a new graphics card that has metal. I read the M5100 would not work and I’m wondering if there is anyone out there that knows what graphics card I can use.

These new computers are just like new cars….you just can’t fix them and do any upgrades. Everything is disposable nowadays.

I’d rather fix my 2011 instead of spending $3k+ for a new computer.

 

[Vic’s 2011 27” iMac]

Hello,

I have a 2011 27" iMac that I'm trying to upgrade. The original GPU was perfectly fine, but I wanted metal support, so I upgraded to a FirePro M5100. I flashed the GPU with the VBIOS from the Github listed on page 1 using a CH341A programmer. Before swapping the graphics card, I installed macOS Monterey using OCLP, including root patching. Unfortunately, after the swap, the internal display remains completely black—no image or backlight. I've tried modifying the config.plist (framebuffer enable), but I can't say I know what I'm doing, and nothing has worked so far.

I realized that the FirePro M5100 is listed as incompatible with my 12,2 iMac, and I accept my lapse in judgment. I chose the GPU was because it was cheap, and I was hoping to make it work. I'm wondering if there's a workaround or patch that might get the internal panel working (something I might have missed while reading through this forum). If anyone has done it or has any suggestions (even if it’s "give up"), I’d really appreciate your help.

I just read your second post…..did you get the M 5100 to work ?

 

[SubDriver]

I have an iMac 11,2 (Mid 2010 EMC 2389) . The 4760 GPU does not support metal or 3D acceleration .. I wanted a good AMD card ( for good Linux support) , is the M5100 a good idea, which other options do I have ?

Post #1 in this thread has a complete accounting of graphics cards that can be used for these conversions. If you haven't spent time reading that post, I recommend you start there.

 

[SubDriver]

Thank you for this post as I am also trying to upgrade my 2011 27 inch Mac with a new graphics card that has metal. I read the M5100 would not work and I’m wondering if there is anyone out there that knows what graphics card I can use.

These new computers are just like new cars….you just can’t fix them and do any upgrades. Everything is disposable nowadays.

I’d rather fix my 2011 instead of spending $3k+ for a new computer.

Post #1 in this thread has a complete accounting of graphics cards that can be used for these conversions. If you haven't spent time reading that post, I recommend you start there.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

Thank you for this post as I am also trying to upgrade my 2011 27 inch Mac with a new graphics card that has metal. I read the M5100 would not work and I’m wondering if there is anyone out there that knows what graphics card I can use.

These new computers are just like new cars….you just can’t fix them and do any upgrades. Everything is disposable nowadays.

I’d rather fix my 2011 instead of spending $3k+ for a new computer.

It depends on what you plan to do with the computer.
For computing power and ease of use, a base model Mac Mini M4 is much better than the obsolete core i7-2600 inside your iMac 2011. And it costs 599$, not $3k+

So, if you still feel attached to your iMac 2011 beautiful 27" display. I suggest you convert it to a stand-alone display and buy a Mini M4.

If you still want to use your iMac 2011, for less heavy jobs, then the Quadro Kepler series, like K3100M or K4100m is my suggestion. K1100m or K2100m also works, cost less to buy, too.

I bought Quadro M4000m, though, as I plan to install and use only Windows on my iMac 2011.

 

[Artisaimon]

Good day. I have a problem and i need your help. I ordered Dell AMD wx4150 from Ali, flashed it with CH341a Enable GOP. Inserted it into imac 21.5 mid 2011 (A 1311), as a result it does not respond to the power key. I looked at the motherboard, only one LED is lit. I tried different firmware, even original Dell, but imac still does not respond to the power key.

 

[internetzel]

Good day. I have a problem and i need your help. I ordered Dell AMD wx4150 from Ali, flashed it with CH341a Enable GOP. Inserted it into imac 21.5 mid 2011 (A 1311), as a result it does not respond to the power key. I looked at the motherboard, only one LED is lit. I tried different firmware, even original Dell, but imac still does not respond to the power key.

You should take the card out again and try to power on without any graphics card installed.
In case it does power on you know that there is probably some short circuit, probably between the card and the heat sink. You should then remove the heat sink from the card and install the card without heat sink; in case the machine powers up that way (pulling the plug after hearing the boot chime!) you know it's definitely the heat sink installation which is causing the problems.

 

[Artisaimon]

You should take the card out again and try to power on without any graphics card installed.
In case it does power on you know that there is probably some short circuit, probably between the card and the heat sink. You should then remove the heat sink from the card and install the card without heat sink; in case the machine powers up that way (pulling the plug after hearing the boot chime!) you know it's definitely the heat sink installation which is causing the problems.

Thank you very much, it worked. It turned out that the thermal pad on the video card memory was conducting current (maybe because the pad thickness was chosen incorrectly, I took 1.75 mm). As a result, I removed the pads for a while, I will buy new ones

 

[HyperBeanie]

Hello guys I’ll never be able to use my 2011 for tdm with my PC 💔 so I’m getting rid of my flashed wx7100 I assume they’re still kinda rare (sorry if I shouldn’t post this here 🥺). PM me.

Hey, would you be willing to sell the WX7100? I purchased a WX7100 off Aliexpress but it was DOA (VGA LED does not come on, GPU fan maxes out, blank screen) and I am currently stuck with this DOA card till my dispute goes through, I'd love to take it off your hands if you haven't sold it already

 

[WarlockHome]

Greetings, folks!

I’ve run into a problem with my iMac, but first, a little backstory.
It’s a 21.5" iMac 12.1. I tried installing macOS 15 using OpenCore Patcher.
Overall, everything went smoothly, except for one thing—after installing the drivers, the system wouldn’t display anything.
Other systems, like a live Ubuntu distro, showed a black screen after initializing the graphics card. There was a suspicious silence, and it turned out I had forgotten to connect the ODD fan.
I ended up frying the AMD card. So, I ordered a K2100M from China.

I installed the K2100M, the system booted up (I heard the startup sound), but the screen remained black.
I tried resetting the SMC by holding the power button and resetting the NVRAM/PRAM using the key combination.
Result: still a black screen.

I reflashed the vBIOS using a Grml distro—tried the original Dell BIOS as well as all the ones I found on forums, including those in the bundle.
Nothing worked—still a black screen.

But! When I tried installing Windows 10 from a distro, the system froze but turned on the screen with a blinking cursor!
I installed Windows 10 on another machine, enabled RDP, connected to my iMac, and tried installing the Intel Graphics driver from Bootcamp (downloaded via Brigadier). The driver installed without errors.

Next, I installed the Nvidia driver, and it worked too—the screen finally turned on! However, the resolution was stuck at 640×480. Nothing helped fix it.
Oh, and when the screen is on, four LEDs on the board light up.

Yes, putting the original AMD card back (the one that at least showed the boot screen) does nothing now—still a black screen.

What do you think could be the issue? A faulty cable, incorrect firmware, or a hardware problem with the mainboard?

 

[HyperBeanie]

Hello all, I am currently struggling to get a WX 7100 to work on an iMac 2011, I heard its generally a hit or miss card but I wanted to try my luck anyways.

The seller claims it passed QC on a laptop but I cant seem to get the iMac to recognize it.

It is a v1.1 card (heard 1.1 generally works on all 2009-2011 models) but with the card installed I dont get the 3rd VGA Debug LED and no display, 3rd LED comes on just fine with the original HD 6970m but not the WX 7100m.

System makes boot chime but no display, no 3rd LED, and the GPU fans start ramping up to 100% after a min. I have the 3-Pipe Heatsink and the GPU fits perfectly without any modding, using 1mm thermal pads, also tried using electrical tape on the coils just incase.

Currently attempting to flash one of the GOP Vbios's from the Github repository using a CH341A programmer. The Vbios chip appears to read and write correctly between Asprogrammer and CH341A Programmer. It is detected as a GIGADEVICE GD25Q40.

I have OCLP running High Sierra 10.13.6 (waiting to fix GPU before installing a new OS), I have AMD GOP Injection checked, I have the system booting from the OCLP EFI. Everything works just fine with the HD 6970m but no dice with the WX 7100m.

If anyone has any tips or ROM's I could try it would be appreciated.

Cheers! 🍻

 

[HyperBeanie]

Hey guys, I think I figured out why some WX7100m's don't boot; There is an apparent missing chip close to the bottom VRAM chip on the front of the card! I don't know how important that chip is to getting the WX7100m to work or if it is important at all but it's missing on mine and I noticed on the previous guys WX7100m comment his was missing too! I've noticed that BadBiscuit's WX7100m has that chip attached on a picture he posted about the vBios location. I'm beginning to wonder if adding a chip there or some modification may get the card working. This could have already been theorized and tested but I seen it for myself and wanted to share hopefully someone knows something..

 

[WarlockHome]

Hey guys, I think I figured out why some WX7100m's don't boot; There is an apparent missing chip close to the bottom VRAM chip on the front of the card! I don't know how important that chip is to getting the WX7100m to work or if it is important at all but it's missing on mine and I noticed on the previous guys WX7100m comment his was missing too! I've noticed that BadBiscuit's WX7100m has that chip attached on a picture he posted about the vBios location. I'm beginning to wonder if adding a chip there or some modification may get the card working. This could have already been theorized and tested but I seen it for myself and wanted to share hopefully someone knows something..

Hi res photo found here:

https://www.x-vsion.com/wp-content/uploads/MXMRX58001.jpg

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/nxYeWykH6tWxD3jdNafUKG.jpg

This doesn’t look like a memory chip. It’s not even clear what it is—I can’t find a datasheet. Maybe someone knows? I wonder if the circuitry on the back (if there is any) is also different?

 

[WarlockHome]

Greetings, folks!

I’ve run into a problem with my iMac, but first, a little backstory.
It’s a 21.5" iMac 12.1. I tried installing macOS 15 using OpenCore Patcher.
Overall, everything went smoothly, except for one thing—after installing the drivers, the system wouldn’t display anything.
Other systems, like a live Ubuntu distro, showed a black screen after initializing the graphics card. There was a suspicious silence, and it turned out I had forgotten to connect the ODD fan.
I ended up frying the AMD card. So, I ordered a K2100M from China.

I installed the K2100M, the system booted up (I heard the startup sound), but the screen remained black.
I tried resetting the SMC by holding the power button and resetting the NVRAM/PRAM using the key combination.
Result: still a black screen.

I reflashed the vBIOS using a Grml distro—tried the original Dell BIOS as well as all the ones I found on forums, including those in the bundle.
Nothing worked—still a black screen.

But! When I tried installing Windows 10 from a distro, the system froze but turned on the screen with a blinking cursor!
I installed Windows 10 on another machine, enabled RDP, connected to my iMac, and tried installing the Intel Graphics driver from Bootcamp (downloaded via Brigadier). The driver installed without errors.

Next, I installed the Nvidia driver, and it worked too—the screen finally turned on! However, the resolution was stuck at 640×480. Nothing helped fix it.
Oh, and when the screen is on, four LEDs on the board light up.

Yes, putting the original AMD card back (the one that at least showed the boot screen) does nothing now—still a black screen.

What do you think could be the issue? A faulty cable, incorrect firmware, or a hardware problem with the mainboard?

The issue turned out to be simple: a short circuit in the connector pins of the matrix's flex cable (pins 1, 2, 3, and 30 shorted to ground). I assume this prevented reading the EDID to get the matrix parameters, so the device couldn’t recognize the display. Somehow, Windows managed to force it anyway, bypassing the problem.
After replacing the flex cable, everything worked.

 

[SubDriver]

Hey guys, I think I figured out why some WX7100m's don't boot; There is an apparent missing chip close to the bottom VRAM chip on the front of the card! I don't know how important that chip is to getting the WX7100m to work or if it is important at all but it's missing on mine and I noticed on the previous guys WX7100m comment his was missing too! I've noticed that BadBiscuit's WX7100m has that chip attached on a picture he posted about the vBios location. I'm beginning to wonder if adding a chip there or some modification may get the card working. This could have already been theorized and tested but I seen it for myself and wanted to share hopefully someone knows something..

I don't think that is the cause of your problem. My WX7100 worked great and it doesn't have a chip in the location you show. You can see pics of my card in this post.

 

[HyperBeanie]

About the AMD Polaris/Ellesmere vBIOS version booting High Sierra

Booting into High Sierra disables the internal LCD when macOS drivers take over (late boot phase). This is really confusing since the OC boot picker works on power on and during 90% of the boot phase and suddenly the screen turns off.

There is no software fix for this bug. The only work around is this hard - wire mod. Connecting the green and white marked pins enables the internal screen back, brightness control is fully working. The connection needs to be made during the complete time when High Sierra is booted and used. Sleep disables the display, wake brings it back.

Disconnecting the both pins switches the LCD off, again.

Never thought we would need another such hardware mod for this corner case. But who is using High Sierra with this cards and system today?

Soldering the pins together with a wire did not bring back the lcd, I dont see which pin is labled BL_EN (BLON), I soldered the two top pins and no dice

 

[HyperBeanie]

Alright Im probably annoying at this point but I figured it all out, got my WX7100 recognized AND fixed backlight issue, I accidentally killed the original Backlight Inverter board that was in my 2011 but I had a spare dead iMac 2010 lying around, took out the Inverter from that iMac and it had a pin specifically labled BLON, did the hardwire and screen is back with OCLP disk select.

My only issue now is using one of the EG2 vBioses from Github the WX7100 is reporting as an RX 480 in Macs Fan Control and 'Unknown GPU' in Valley/Heaven, in the 'About This Mac' section the graphics section is blank, dont know what I did to cause this but I find it quite funny and puzzling at the same time lol, spoofing is off

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Alright Im probably annoying at this point but I figured it all out, got my WX7100 recognized AND fixed backlight issue, I accidentally killed the original Backlight Inverter board that was in my 2011 but I had a spare dead iMac 2010 lying around, took out the Inverter from that iMac and it had a pin specifically labled BLON, did the hardwire and screen is back with OCLP disk select.

My only issue now is using one of the EG2 vBioses from Github the WX7100 is reporting as an RX 480 in Macs Fan Control and 'Unknown GPU' in Valley/Heaven, in the 'About This Mac' section the graphics section is blank, dont know what I did to cause this but I find it quite funny and puzzling at the same time lol, spoofing is off

(do not ask where I found this)

 

[Artisaimon]

You should take the card out again and try to power on without any graphics card installed.
In case it does power on you know that there is probably some short circuit, probably between the card and the heat sink. You should then remove the heat sink from the card and install the card without heat sink; in case the machine powers up that way (pulling the plug after hearing the boot chime!) you know it's definitely the heat sink installation which is causing the problems.

Hello. Please tell me why all thermal pads of memory chips short circuit on the radiator? I tried to install a video card with thermal paste instead of thermal pads and everything worked, but I'm afraid to use with thermal paste. Tell me which thermal pads do not conduct current? I used thermalright and another brand (I don't remember the name). I used 1 mm thick pads. Please tell me if you know which thermal pads will fit on imac 21.5 mid 2011 with amd wx 4150 GPU and will not short circuit on the radiator

 

[internetzel]

Hello. Please tell me why all thermal pads of memory chips short circuit on the radiator? I tried to install a video card with thermal paste instead of thermal pads and everything worked, but I'm afraid to use with thermal paste. Tell me which thermal pads do not conduct current? I used thermalright and another brand (I don't remember the name). I used 1 mm thick pads. Please tell me if you know which thermal pads will fit on imac 21.5 mid 2011 with amd wx 4150 GPU and will not short circuit on the radiator

I did never try thermal pads - only ever used K5-Pro (search amazon for 635292526541).
As far as I know later cards like the WX41x0 don't really need any cooling for the VRAM at all.