CPU Upgrade iMac Mid 2011

[ElCani]

Just wanted to share the experience I had today upgrading my 2011 27" i5 2500S to an i7 2600. Might help somebody in the future...

I bought the used i7 on eBay and it arrived here (Sweden) from Poland. I disassembled the iMac (which I've done several times over the years) and installed the i7 with some new thermal paste, then refitted the logic board in the chassis. I also took the opportunity to remove the optical drive, because I never use it and I wanted better airflow to the bigger graphics card that I recently put in. Once all the logic board connectors were back in, I decided to power up the iMac before fitting the LCD, just to check everything was ok. I was met with three status lights on the logic board, but also a endlessly repeating (about every 1.5 seconds) start-up chime/bong. "Oh sh*t" thought I. A brief search showed surprisingly little online about this boot problem and not much consistency in what was there, most of suggesting possible RAM or boot disk problems. After checking all the connections, I concluded the new CPU must be to blame and set about refitting the old one. Same result. "Oh sh*t" again. I then tried reinstalling the original 6770M GPU, but that didn't work either. Eventually, after quite a lot of time and frustration trying different things (putting the OD back, various RAM modules, disconnecting and reconnecting stuff) and becoming increasingly sure that the new CPU (or something I’d done) had killed the logic board, I decided to put everything back together and continue another day. And of course... once the LCD was back on, the iMac (with the new CPU) booted up perfectly! So good news in the end, but I wish I'd tried refitting the LCD as a first step in the troubleshooting, rather than two hours later…

 

[StephN999]

Bonjour,

Small question about the inverter I broke the connector by dint of plugging and unplugging, I just know that it is used for the V-Sync, so logical that my machine works, I wanted to know if it is not connected the processor underclock (I'm stuck at 1.60Ghz)?

Merci. ?

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Bonjour,

Small question about the inverter I broke the connector by dint of plugging and unplugging, I just know that it is used for the V-Sync, so logical that my machine works, I wanted to know if it is not connected the processor underclock (I'm stuck at 1.60Ghz)?

Merci. ?

There is no need to have the v-sync connected. Boost is not dependent on this connection.
You have another problem. Check HW Monitor or ASD which sensor is broken.

 

[StephN999]

Bonsoir,

Thank you, I hadn't thought about it, it could be any sensor?

I didn't see anything special with HW Monitor, I would test with ASD but I'm afraid I don't have any information...

Ps: I changed my motherboard, ethernet card and sound card functional (plug blocked in optical for the moment) and I thought that this problem was due to the motherboard.

Bonne soirée! ?

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Bonsoir,

Thank you, I hadn't thought about it, it could be any sensor?

I didn't see anything special with HW Monitor, I would test with ASD but I'm afraid I don't have any information...

Ps: I changed my motherboard, ethernet card and sound card functional (plug blocked in optical for the moment) and I thought that this problem was due to the motherboard.

Bonne soirée! ?

Please check the GPU thread and the HW section and the single post I made about it. In general the missing CPU boost is either caused by a missing temp sensor not properly reconnected to the logic board or the loss of the famous L5500 coil near the CPU fan connector.

Everything has been discussed on the other thread numerous times. No need to repeat all this here, again.

 

[Alitifal]

Intel Xeon E3-1290V2 will work on our machines? 27 2011​

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Intel Xeon E3-1290V2 will work on our machines? 27 2011​

This is another Ivy Bridge CPU model.

No, this is what this thread is about. Making Ivy Bridge CPU working, but unfortunately no one got it done. Check the very first post of this thread - as always it is a good idea to start reading a book on page one, not on the last page….

 

[Alitifal]

Understood. The maximum that I can put Xeon E3-1290

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Understood. The maximum that I can put Xeon E3-1290

Keep in mind that all Xeon CPU break sleep/wake within the iMac12,2 2011 with macOS. So my advice would be to use the i7-2600 or run Windows/Linux, only.

The CPU is not the most important part in this system, GPU, memory, SSD are far more important when it comes to performance. You see differences mostly only in artificial benchmarks, not in real world applications.

 

[Alitifal]

iMac 27 2011 LGA1155

Core i7-2600 4/8 3.40-3.80 GHz 95W DDR3 32GB 1066/1333 Intel® HD Graphics 2000 850MHz-1.35GHz
Core i7-2700k 4/8 3.50-3.90 GHz 95W DDR3 32GB 1066/1333 Intel® HD Graphics 3000 850MHz-1.35GHz
Xeon E3-1290 4/8 3.60-4,00 GHz 95W DDR3 32GB 1066/1333
Xeon E3-1280 4/8 3.50-3.90 GHz 95W DDR3 32GB 1066/1333
Xeon E3-1270 4/8 3.40-3.80 GHz 80W DDR3 32GB 1066/1333

Correct list?

 

[USB3foriMac]

iMac 27 2011 LGA1155

Core i7-2600 4/8 3.40-3.80 GHz 95W DDR3 32GB 1066/1333 Intel® HD Graphics 2000 850MHz-1.35GHz
Core i7-2700k 4/8 3.50-3.90 GHz 95W DDR3 32GB 1066/1333 Intel® HD Graphics 3000 850MHz-1.35GHz
Xeon E3-1290 4/8 3.60-4,00 GHz 95W DDR3 32GB 1066/1333
Xeon E3-1280 4/8 3.50-3.90 GHz 95W DDR3 32GB 1066/1333
Xeon E3-1270 4/8 3.40-3.80 GHz 80W DDR3 32GB 1066/1333

Correct list?

See first post on page 1.

 

[coleshores]

I have already upgrade my 2011 21.5in i5 to a wx4150 and replaced the internal hard disk with an SSD, it runs great! Would it be possible to upgrade the CPU to a Xeon E3-1270 or would I run in to power and TDP constraints or would there be too much power draw and the temps be too high for workstation and gaming use? I don't need sleep. I plan to just have the screen turn off after 10 minutes of inactivity and power off at night.
Thanks in advance!

 

[elbert]

Mid 2011 iMac was released over 10 years, 9 months ago

The 2021 iMac M1 can be bought at sale price from 3rd party Apple authorized resellers.

Total cost of spare parts may approach nearly 80% of 3rd party prices.

Power consumption is lower and is more than a decade faster.

2021 M1 is 5nm

2011 Intel chips are 32nm

Something to ponder.

 

[coleshores]

I use Linux as my daily driver, the CPU is fine as it is.. I am looking to max it out and finally a CPU upgrade from an i5 to a Xeon is nearly double the performance at only $30.
Also, it didn’t answer my question. Id like to a upgrade the CPU. This seems like the correct forum to ask it.

 

[elbert]

I use Linux as my daily driver, the CPU is fine as it is.. I am looking to max it out and finally a CPU upgrade from an i5 to a Xeon is nearly double the performance at only $30.
Also, it didn’t answer my question. Id like to a upgrade the CPU. This seems like the correct forum to ask it.

See first post on page 1.

 

[m0bil]

I use Linux as my daily driver, the CPU is fine as it is.. I am looking to max it out and finally a CPU upgrade from an i5 to a Xeon is nearly double the performance at only $30.
Also, it didn’t answer my question. Id like to a upgrade the CPU. This seems like the correct forum to ask it.

Your best bet is the i7-2600S with 65W TDP. While the Xeon is socket compatible, it's 80W TDP. Most probably power supply can handle the difference, but I'm not so sure about heat, these iMacs get already quite hot with the 65W cpu.

 

[elbert]

Your best bet is the i7-2600S with 65W TDP. While the Xeon is socket compatible, it's 80W TDP. Most probably power supply can handle the difference, but I'm not so sure about heat, these iMacs get already quite hot with the 65W cpu.

Clean the HSF, apply better conducting thermal paste and manually set HSF to max RPM.

It will sound like an off the shelf PC.

If ever the Xeon breaks any part of the iMac then it provides incentive to buy an M1 or M2 iMac.

 

[KNz]

Is the first post not outdated ? I've seen numerous ppl having a 2700k or 3770k in their imac's.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Is the first post not outdated ? I've seen numerous ppl having a 2700k or 3770k in their imac's.

Can we agree to prove such claims with at least some evidence? The 3770k is Ivy Bridge and the whole story here is exactly about getting such CPU working in these 2011 iMacs. If you found a method to solve the we all will be happy if you share your findings.

The (Sandy Bridge) 2700K with 95W TPD will possibly cause some instabilities within the 21,5 iMac.

 

[KNz]

Can we agree to prove such claims with at least some evidence? The 3770k is Ivy Bridge and the whole story here is exactly about getting such CPU working in these 2011 iMacs. If you found a method to solve the we all will be happy if you share your findings.

The (Sandy Bridge) 2700K with 95W TPD will possibly cause some instabilities within the 21,5 iMac.

I saw the 2700k in the GPU topic:

2011 iMac Graphics Card Upgrade

Thanks to nikey22 and Nick[d]vB for a job well done! iMac 27 2011 i7-2700K, SSD 2tb, DDR3 32gb, GTX880M 8gb.

forums.macrumors.com

And yes it would not be advisable for the 21,5, but it has the same tdp (95) as the 2600. Also the fist post states that "k" cpu's won't work witch they clearly do.

As for the 3770, I thought I saw a post, but can't find it anymore. Will have to get back on that.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

I saw the 2700k in the GPU topic:

2011 iMac Graphics Card Upgrade

Thanks to nikey22 and Nick[d]vB for a job well done! iMac 27 2011 i7-2700K, SSD 2tb, DDR3 32gb, GTX880M 8gb.

forums.macrumors.com

And yes it would not be advisable for the 21,5, but it has the same tdp (95) as the 2600. Also the fist post states that "k" cpu's won't work witch they clearly do.

As for the 3770, I thought I saw a post, but can't find it anymore. Will have to get back on that.

The 27 2011 has been designed to use this 95W TPD CPU type, but honestly I see no reason to move from i7-2600 to 2700K - the differences can only be seen in artificial benchmarks to when using (simulation) software like SETI@home on your iMac.

 

[KNz]

The 27 2011 has been designed to use this 95W TPD CPU type, but honestly I see no reason to move from i7-2600 to 2700K - the differences can only be seen in artificial benchmarks to when using (simulation) software like SETI@home on your iMac.

Sure 100 Mhz may not be a good upgrade for you, but if you have one of the standard i5's (like me) this could be a good or beter upgrade. Also I'm just trying to update the first post.

 

[m0bil]

Sure 100 Mhz may not be a good upgrade for you, but if you have one of the standard i5's (like me) this could be a good or beter upgrade. Also I'm just trying to update the first post.

I think the 2700K crashes MacOs, or at least it did on High Sierra... It will probably work fine on Windows/Linux.

Edit: there was a workaround about manually removing some kext, probably not worth the hassle if you plan to use MacOs.

 

[profcutter]

Mid 2011 iMac was released over 10 years, 9 months ago

The 2021 iMac M1 can be bought at sale price from 3rd party Apple authorized resellers.

Total cost of spare parts may approach nearly 80% of 3rd party prices.

Power consumption is lower and is more than a decade faster.

2021 M1 is 5nm

2011 Intel chips are 32nm

Something to ponder.

True, and an M1 would run circles around an upgraded 2011 iMac. That said, some folks like to tinker, some folks already have a 2011 iMac, and you can upgrade one piece at a time. You can also reliably run other OSes on the 2011.

 

[KNz]

I think the 2700K crashes MacOs, or at least it did on High Sierra... It will probably work fine on Windows/Linux.

Edit: there was a workaround about manually removing some kext, probably not worth the hassle if you plan to use MacOs.

Hard to say, I am planning on using macos (patched or not) and editing or moving about kexts is not really a problem. Maybe I should try the 3770 first... or just get an 2600 and be done with it.