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I also think that people would like a nice solution like that. But as fas as i know there is no EFI Firmware for the GTX765M. If so, some guys (like me) could make a lot of money fixing dead iMacs. Cheapest card i have working is the K1100M, cost 30 Euros and is faster as the 6970M, and uses less power (only 40 Watt TDP, instead of the 75 of the GTX765 and 6970M). If it would be possible to get a Boot screen, Backlight control and no problems while upgrading to a newer OS, lots of companies could making lots of money.

So the question is will a K100M fit (MXM-A) / work ok on a 27" imac (MXM-B) ? Any particular brand / origin I should look for?
 
Interesting, although I found all the bios stuff still gets hidden once you load a valid Nvidia EFI.

WX4170 (RX560) Works with back-light mod, but normally comes with a blank vbios!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Zbook17...VIDOE-CARD-917107-001-925180-001/163747154688

Some random screen-shots below...

I was considering the gtx 770m but I might try out team red since its about the same price for an rx 560 and has a bit more performance. Is there a way or place I can get an rx 580 with the correct vbios? Dying light would be nice but I assume Dosdude is working on catalina patcher.
 
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Will this card work in iMac 27 2011 ?

nVidia M1000M DDR5 2Gb MXM GTX 950 HP ZBook
image;s=1000x700
 
Oh btw everyone. I now have a 27in 2011 imac, just got it up and running. What do you think? Should I try the gtx 1060 in that? Seeing as it didn't work in the 2009 imac, I thought it might be an LVDS problem. To my understanding the 2011 imac uses a eDP connector right? Or am I misinformed? Cause I'd be happy to test out the gtx 1060 I have on hand in it for a definitive answer.
 
I just bought a K1100M like
Yes... I have a K1100M in a 27" iMac here. Works fine. You just have to cut a little of the heat sink.

I bought this one: https://www.ebay.de/itm/Notebook-Gr...021924?hash=item262033c8e4:g:cVwAAOSw9m5cLQSY But he sends only in germany.


Ok, based on your shared experience, I bought a K1100M that looks identical to yours. I used an Ebay 10% of coupon too for a grand total of $23.40 USD shipped..

This is the one I bought: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Precision-M4800-M6800-2GB-Nvidia-Quadro-K1100M-Video-Graphics-Card-051Y08/123807566642?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649


I saw in your screenshot you have El Capitan installed.. Have you tried with Sierra / High Sierra?


Still gathering parts and considering what I can do for back light.. Has anyone tried a power resistor for a fixed 50-75% step down to the voltage mains for the backlight? Seems this would be a nice compromise to use with the brightness slider app.

Trying to get everything I need to do the video card swap, backlight, mojave, ssd upgrade all at once to avoid taking this apart over and over again.. along with focus and concentration on the entire project as I shift to many different projects around the house. :)
 
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excellent, thanks for sharing.. only thing I do not have is a scope or a buddy that has one to dial in 13KHz... other than that, I am good with electronics though, and have modded guitar amps (tube bios, tone stack, caps, transformers, resistors, transistors, etc.), repaired / modded alot of things since I was a kid..

I'll try and figure something out.
 
excellent, thanks for sharing.. only thing I do not have is a scope or a buddy that has one to dial in 13KHz... other than that, I am good with electronics though, and have modded guitar amps (tube bios, tone stack, caps, transformers, resistors, transistors, etc.), repaired / modded alot of things since I was a kid..

I'll try and figure something out.

Also you can use a cable like this between the backlight board connector and the power supply cable that goes into the connector, so you don't need to solder/cut any wires: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DV1Z4EQ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1_1_2?smid=A1AMUYYA3CT6HJ&psc=1
 
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I just bought a K1100M like Ok, based on your shared experience, I bought a K1100M that looks identical to yours. I used an Ebay 10% of coupon too for a grand total of $23.40 USD shipped..

This is the one I bought: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Precision-M4800-M6800-2GB-Nvidia-Quadro-K1100M-Video-Graphics-Card-051Y08/123807566642?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

I saw in your screenshot you have El Capitan installed.. Have you tried with Sierra / High Sierra?
:)

Gee whz is Computer hardware so cheap in America...

I tried El Capitan and Mojave, both working fine. Did not testet Sierra or High Sierra on it. But i can do if you want.... Oh and i tried Windows 10 and Mint Linux öD
 
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Will this card work in iMac 27 2011 ?

nVidia M1000M DDR5 2Gb MXM GTX 950 HP ZBook
image;s=1000x700

Dont think it will work oob
It’s not an dell card.
It looks like it does have 8 legged eeprom, you could flash the bios to a dell version i think.
But for my self i would not buy it, and just buy a known working dell card..
 
Hello to all,
I am completely new here and this i my first post so sorry if i did something wrong.

I have a question. I bought AMD Radeon HD 6970 2GB GPU taken from Alienware to upgrade my iMac Mid 2011 27”.

Swap was fast and smooth but i am constantly getting black screen. Machine is booting definitely. I can hear the booting sound, but nothing is happening.

Can do something to change this or is it a lost cause?
 
So waiting for my K1100m to come in, for now I went ahead and pulled it apart anyhow and just completed a bake at 395F @ 8 minutes.. yeah, I know .. this may not work, or if it does, will not last.. just buying time.

IMG-5426.jpg
IMG-5427.jpg


Just want to get the SSD installed, and get things pre-mojave ready..
 
Hello to all,
I am completely new here and this i my first post so sorry if i did something wrong.

I have a question. I bought AMD Radeon HD 6970 2GB GPU taken from Alienware to upgrade my iMac Mid 2011 27”.

Swap was fast and smooth but i am constantly getting black screen. Machine is booting definitely. I can hear the booting sound, but nothing is happening.

Can do something to change this or is it a lost cause?

Did you flashed that card with the iMac rom? https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/109915/apple-hd6970m-2048-110128
 
I was considering the gtx 770m but I might try out team red since its about the same price for an rx 560 and has a bit more performance.
Significantly more performance, especially in Windows as all Nvidia cards are crippled with P5 clocks without a vbios mod. AMD cards have other advantages, but if you can live without boot-screens, don’t want to game in Windows or do FCPX video editing in MacOS, then the Kepler cards are the easier / cheaper option.
Is there a way or place I can get an rx 580 with the correct vbios?
The WX7100 (RX580) cards are good to go, I guess you meant 560s? I just found a few more cards in Europe but they cost me $200 each, when they arrive I’ll have to fit / flash the vbios chips. They're out of stock now but if you can find a card yourself I'll send you the vbios / bootrom files. If not I'm open to reasonable offers…
Dying light would be nice but I assume Dosdude is working on catalina patcher.
Yes, hopefully he’ll get back around to it once Catalina is out the door.
I do not have is a scope or a buddy that has one to dial in 13KHz...
It would have been helpful if he’d let us know the resistance across those pots, not sure how accurate the frequency has to be. Many PWM motor controllers / LED dimmers are supposed to be 13KHz, but you don’t really need anything that powerful and you’d have to step the output down to 3v anyway. There are better options.
I now have a 27in 2011 imac, just got it up and running. What do you think? Should I try the gtx 1060 in that?
No harm in trying, as you already have the card, but even with an eDP screen you will probably have to do the back-light mod. If the screen stays black check the logic-board debug LEDs, if the 4th one lights-up after the driver loads you are in business! I’d set up remote access first, in case it doesn’t detect an external screen, and you’ll obviously need the correct web-drivers for your MacOS build installed & enabled. Good luck with it!
 
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So waiting for my K1100m to come in, for now I went ahead and pulled it apart anyhow and just completed a bake at 395F @ 8 minutes.. yeah, I know .. this may not work, or if it does, will not last.. just buying time.

IMG-5426.jpg
IMG-5427.jpg


Just want to get the SSD installed, and get things pre-mojave ready..


Update: 6970M Bake Successful.. All video glitching is gone for now, Samsung SSD is working great... Will continue to gather parts for round 2 with the installation of the K1100M, and backlight mod.. but will ride this as it is for as long as it will with the original card.
 
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Update: 6970M Bake Successful.. All video glitching is gone for now, Samsung SSD is working great... Will continue to gather parts for round 2 with the installation of the K1100M, and backlight mod.. but will ride this as it is for as long as it will with the original card.

Good, this was also a good practise for a dissasembly of the iMac I guess.. ? :p
 
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Hello to all,
I am completely new here and this i my first post so sorry if i did something wrong.

I have a question. I bought AMD Radeon HD 6970 2GB GPU taken from Alienware to upgrade my iMac Mid 2011 27”.

Swap was fast and smooth but i am constantly getting black screen. Machine is booting definitely. I can hear the booting sound, but nothing is happening.

Can do something to change this or is it a lost cause?

do keep in mind that your card will fail again !
All AMD HD6xxx series will die, due to chip underfill problems I think.
I would better advise you to go with a compatible Dell/Alienware card..
 
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do keep in mind that your card will fail again !
All AMD HD6xxx series will die, due to chip underfill problems I think.
I would better advise you to go with a compatible Dell/Alienware card..

If its not that old, or comes from a newer machine, it could be fine for a few extra years. Especially with increased cooling i think, that helps too.
 
If its not that old, or comes from a newer machine, it could be fine for a few extra years. Especially with increased cooling i think, that helps too.

It could but will still fail.
Going to a metal compatible kepler nvidia card for example is in my opinion a much better replacement
 
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It could but will still fail.
Going to a metal compatible kepler nvidia card for example is in my opinion a much better replacement

yes I agree, but my card didn't fail. I am using 6770 512MB and this was simply an upgrade that i wanted.
i choose this card because i didn't want to think about was it supported or not. I wanted clean swap, but didn't know that
i would need to flash rom. So i choose the card that Apple was installing. Also i found it for 88$ taken from Alienware in working condition.
 
To flash using a raspberry pi: https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/296157/What+GPU's+are+compatible+with+iMac+27"+2011#answer420333

You can also remove the bios chip from your broken apple card and replace it on your dell card, but obviously you need some tools for this to properly desolder/resolder.

Thanks passatgt,
I am not sure if I can do this. I am ok techie guy and i was flashing desktop GPU-s many times but i never done this.
I found SOIC 8 but how to make adapter for Raspberry Pi? I can see that this one was custom made on this picture.
 
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