There was actually a known issue/REP for the 6970Ms used in 2011 iMacs - you're very lucky if you've had one 6 years without it failing!
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27" 2011 Imac - RAID 0 - 2700K - 7970M - Success!
- Thread starter JDLang76
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There was actually a known issue/REP for the 6970Ms used in 2011 iMacs - you're very lucky if you've had one 6 years without it failing!
Just looked it up. I never knew. This should be a great replacement option then, assuming it works.
Of course all of my 2011 iMac GPUs survived through the REP window, and only started to fail afterwards. I'm not sure if simply cleaning and reapplying the thermal paste solves the issue; since getting to the GPU board on a 27" iMac is such a major undertaking, I want to be sure that what I reinstall ends up actually working.
There were some other threads on here about installing various Nvidia GPUs in the 2011 iMac. I believe some folks found varying degrees of success with them, though none of them worked as seamlessly as the ATI GPUs.
There were some other threads on here about installing various Nvidia GPUs in the 2011 iMac. I believe some folks found varying degrees of success with them, though none of them worked as seamlessly as the ATI GPUs.
I am aware of various degrees of nvidia success stories. I personally prefer nvidia to amd. I chose to go with an amd upgrade for 2 reasons.
One, i don’t want to loose the boot screen, and the chances of loosing it drastically lessen with an amd card. Two, i want to help ensure compatability with Windows 10. I have had crashing issues with Mac gtx card upgrades on Windows 10.
Problem!
Brought it home from my shop today and went to start video editing with my new CPU and its stuck in a boot loop.
This is very discouraging. I have NO clue how this can be possible. Unless the security update re-installed the kext file and I needed to restart to see the effects. Will troubleshoot and update tomorrow.
EDIT-
Found out that the security updates do indeed re-install the kext file and a 2nd restart puts it effect. Solution. Keep a backup single ssd copy of a bootable OS and boot to that to delete the kext file after updates on the RAID array.
2nd problem. When I booted up, the hard drive I connected to the SATA 2 port would not turn on. I thought it was a problem with the imac. I took it out and plugged it in externally and it worked. So I had a hunch. Maybe the SATA 2 port is underpowered. So it can power cd drives and SSDs but no HDDs. Well I was right. Put an ssd on it and everything was fine. So lesson.... The SATA 2 port does not deliver enough power to power a conventional 3.5" spinning hard drive. Which stinks cuz I wanted several TB of local storage but oh well, a 2 TB SSD will have to go in there when I can afford one.
Major and minor crisis both averted tonight. lol.
Now, back to waiting for my new GPU.
Brought it home from my shop today and went to start video editing with my new CPU and its stuck in a boot loop.
This is very discouraging. I have NO clue how this can be possible. Unless the security update re-installed the kext file and I needed to restart to see the effects. Will troubleshoot and update tomorrow.
EDIT-
Found out that the security updates do indeed re-install the kext file and a 2nd restart puts it effect. Solution. Keep a backup single ssd copy of a bootable OS and boot to that to delete the kext file after updates on the RAID array.
2nd problem. When I booted up, the hard drive I connected to the SATA 2 port would not turn on. I thought it was a problem with the imac. I took it out and plugged it in externally and it worked. So I had a hunch. Maybe the SATA 2 port is underpowered. So it can power cd drives and SSDs but no HDDs. Well I was right. Put an ssd on it and everything was fine. So lesson.... The SATA 2 port does not deliver enough power to power a conventional 3.5" spinning hard drive. Which stinks cuz I wanted several TB of local storage but oh well, a 2 TB SSD will have to go in there when I can afford one.
Major and minor crisis both averted tonight. lol.
Now, back to waiting for my new GPU.
Last edited:
Problem!
Brought it home from my shop today and went to start video editing with my new CPU and its stuck in a boot loop.
This is very discouraging. I have NO clue how this can be possible. Unless the security update re-installed the kext file and I needed to restart to see the effects. Will troubleshoot and update tomorrow.
EDIT-
Found out that the security updates do indeed re-install the kext file and a 2nd restart puts it effect. Solution. Keep a backup single ssd copy of a bootable OS and boot to that to delete the kext file after updates on the RAID array.
2nd problem. When I booted up, the hard drive I connected to the SATA 2 port would not turn on. I thought it was a problem with the imac. I took it out and plugged it in externally and it worked. So I had a hunch. Maybe the SATA 2 port is underpowered. So it can power cd drives and SSDs but no HDDs. Well I was right. Put an ssd on it and everything was fine. So lesson.... The SATA 2 port does not deliver enough power to power a conventional 3.5" spinning hard drive. Which stinks cuz I wanted several TB of local storage but oh well, a 2 TB SSD will have to go in there when I can afford one.
Major and minor crisis both averted tonight. lol.
Now, back to waiting for my new GPU.
Something may be up with the HDD/sata port - I had my HDD that sata port (because it's slower) for 5 years without issue.
As for GPU, I never bothered upgrading it. 2 reasons:
1. Unless you get a card with Apple firmware, it's basically pot luck whether it will work, which is too much effort for me.
2. In terms of bang-for-buck, you'l end up paying a lot for not much graphics performance.
That's an annoying point with the CPU though. But it does ring a bell, I do distinctly remember something about compatibility causing me to go with the 2600.
Hey JDLang!!
Do you had success with the gpu HD7970? I have this gpu and I wuld like to upgrad my IMAC 27 2011!
Waiting for news!!
Sorry i kinda let this die...
7970m did NOT work. No screen or boot at all. Looks like only option is 680/780m.
Update on hard drive power problem. I grabbed another healthy 27 2011 imac. Same exact problem. This logicboard will not power 3 drives no matter what. Tried new power supply. Tried doing it with 2600 back in. Nothing on either computer. I dont understand how its possible, but the logic board will not power 3 drives.
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I did. I tried it a few weeks ago. No matter what I did, system would not post. Definitely won't work. With the 2700k, it posted and I had to tweak around the boot problem but without posting, I was stuck.
#37
I did. I tried it a few weeks ago. No matter what I did, system would not post. Definitely won't work. With the 2700k, it posted and I had to tweak around the boot problem but without posting, I was stuck.