iMac 2011 27" component compatibility?

[TAPKAE]

Hi. I have two 2011 iMac 27s. I'm wondering, if push came to shove, how/if components on one can be swapped with the other since they are different specs.

First, the one I've had for a few years, and semi-retired from my recording studio use this year. It's a 3.4ghz Intel Core i7, and has a stock AMD 6970M GPU (or, maybe it's stock, or maybe it's replaced with the same model...it was six years old when I got the machine). Just today I started seeing some wonkiness onscreen, and blanked-out screens fluctuating from black to blue and back again each way. So, after at least the four years I've had it, the writing is on the wall. I've kept it on High Sierra, and it hasn't been used as a sandbox to experiment with.

The other is a 3.1ghz quad-core Intel Core i5. This one came to me last year as a donation from a friend. I found the GPU and drive were dead on arrival, and I was able to get that GPU replaced with the Quadro K2100M by Nick[D]vB 1 GB card and flashing. That bought me at least a year now of stability and I've had four different OS iterations in different partitions. Presently High Sierra, Catalina, and Big Sur. So I know the card replacement is viable. Big Sur is doing great, at least in the capacity of a daily driver with no particular stress put on it (like in the studio how the other machine was used).

Truth is, I don't particularly need two similar machines. The thought comes to mind... what are any options for combining them in some way and offloading or parking the second unit?

Can the processor from the 3.4 be moved to the 3.1 to replace that in the machine with the beefed-up GPU and OS?

Or would it be better/viable/the only way to swap out the GPU (and any related elements that might make it a whole working unit) and use the platform of the 3.4?

Does any of that work? Could I make one relatively hot shot device out of the best parts of these?

***

In another iMac group, a dude used a GTX880M 8GB to put into the same 3.4 machine as mine. He says it screams now. That is where I'd direct my attention if I just resort to a GPU mod. Unless the hive mind has a better idea now that it's been done plenty of times by folks here.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

1. Quadro K2100m is weaker in performance comparing with HD6970
2. You can do either way, but the simplest is to move the core i7 from half-dead iMac to the working iMac
3. You can do better, by fixing the half-dead iMac with a new GPU, upgrade the working iMac by another core i7.

 

[TAPKAE]

1. Quadro K2100m is weaker in performance comparing with HD6970
2. You can do either way, but the simplest is to move the core i7 from half-dead iMac to the working iMac
3. You can do better, by fixing the half-dead iMac with a new GPU, upgrade the working iMac by another core i7.

I think I'll leave the i5 alone for now--the one with the K2100m. It's been stable for a year in terms of the GPU itself and since September or so when I got into OCLP/Big Sur. I'm thinking it might be good to leave well enough alone. It's handy as a daily driver. If there should be cause to deal with the GPU again, I might use that as the excuse to see about CPU as well. Otherwise, I don't forsee any such work just now. Maybe open it up for a cleaning and second drive installation.

As for the i7 that just took a dump. It took more of a dump today. After the initial events described yesterday, I was able to get backup work done and it was seeming somehow back to a workable state for nearly 24 hours. Then today it really took a dive into the netherworld of boot loops like things were with the i5 before it got its mod last year. I've been reading plenty of stuff today about options and things to watch for. I'm still looking for any consensus about a suitable card that has the following attributes for my use case.

--I like the iMac format for its ease of use with regard to colors. I turn it on, it looks true and works reliably. That suits me. I've had my face in iMacs for over a decade. External displays kind of irk me while trying to calibrate them. For me to have an iMac around is to sort of be insisting on having a screen I trust to do photo editing and possibly some video work, still very much amounting to 'amateur stuff with ambition.' Nothing I've done is high spec, but new projects would be based on footage from an iPhone 12 Pro Max. 1080, I guess. Even if it isn't used for the timeline work, I'd like the option of having something to trust any colorwork to on a trusted monitor.

--Needs to be Metal-ready so I can get going with newer OS options, even if I keep High Sierra around to retain my old apps.

--I have no interest in Windows or gaming, but it would be nice to find a more robust, somewhat later model GPU that opens up the options to keep things going for photoshop artwork and the relatively modest video (FCP and Davinci) projects I may get into.

Would appreciate input on how to narrow the search.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

Would appreciate input on how to narrow the search.

It depends on how much money you plan to spend for the Metal-support card.

Otherwise, they are all explained in this famous thread:

2011 iMac Graphics Card Upgrade

iMac 2009 to 2011 MXM3 graphics card upgrade (Lastest update 10/13/2023 - this is the official documentation page - you found it finally!) This is the single and only documentation post. During the last years we constantly updated this post to reflect the lastet development of vBIOS and OCLP...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[TAPKAE]

I'll solve the money thing after I understand what does what. I've visited this thread repeatedly for a year but plenty of it doesn't make enough sense. Fortunately, the sandbox i5 got lucky enough to let me feel good, but the i7 is my more stalwart machine so I want to pay more attention and maybe sling a few more bucks at a better setup, but with the flood of info here, it's hard to know what I really need to prioritize and get more serious about. Every time I mention something, ten more issues/options pop up somehow.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

I'll solve the money thing after I understand what does what. I've visited this thread repeatedly for a year but plenty of it doesn't make enough sense. Fortunately, the sandbox i5 got lucky enough to let me feel good, but the i7 is my more stalwart machine so I want to pay more attention and maybe sling a few more bucks at a better setup, but with the flood of info here, it's hard to know what I really need to prioritize and get more serious about. Every time I mention something, ten more issues/options pop up somehow.

So you meant you haven't make-up your mind on what the purpose for which you are going to fix the machine, how much you plan to spend, and what OS (High Sierra or Big Sur) you want with it.

Just some suggestion below:
If you want it to be like the other iMac, then purchase the same GPU (or GPU of the same family), Quadro K2100m, K3100m, K4100m.
The newest GPU for High Sierra & Windows: Quadro P3000, P4000
The most powerful GPU for Big Sur or Monterey: Radeon Pro WX7100m

 

[TAPKAE]

Thanks for the list to consider.

It's not about making up my mind--yet. It's about even having a clue what to look at in the big list that the huge upgrade thread proposes. At least having a list as you provided points me in a few suitable directions based on things I hope to achieve.

With the already-modded i5 using Nick's flash method, I found out just yesterday why my tech told me it was somehow running at half capacity. The card is a 2GB model but it is seen by the machine as 1 GB. I didn't understand it but over at the OCLP Discord someone knew that there was a supplier, Elpida, that I guess has some issue with the GPU RAM that does that. It's a strange weird caveat that neither my tech nor I would have thought would be a thing, and somehow we accidentally managed to step in that pile of ******* unawares when we did this work in November of last year--before plenty of that big thread about these upgrades took place.

So I'm trying better understand what I have in that machine while trying to prepare for doing the newly-crapped out i7. For the i5 it was a miracle just to bring it back from the dead at all, but I'd like to go in better prepared with the i7 since it is 'my machine' and not just a thing my lazy friend dumped on me and that I got lucky with while fumbling somewhat blindly in the dark.

I do like the prospect of having HS for my collection of apps (Adobe chief among them... I would like not to get drawn into their pricing schemes if CS6 can be sustained this way), but Big Sur has been a nice experience and if the i7, as the better of the two models, can do that but be pushed a bit harder than the 'daily driver' i5 used for putzing around on the web and doing basic photo tasks, then I'd welcome that.

Thanks.

 

[TAPKAE]

So you meant you haven't make-up your mind on what the purpose for which you are going to fix the machine, how much you plan to spend, and what OS (High Sierra or Big Sur) you want with it.

Just some suggestion below:
If you want it to be like the other iMac, then purchase the same GPU (or GPU of the same family), Quadro K2100m, K3100m, K4100m.
The newest GPU for High Sierra & Windows: Quadro P3000, P4000
The most powerful GPU for Big Sur or Monterey: Radeon Pro WX7100m

Update about the i7 from about 9 months later.

By the end of December, I did the bake thing and with that got my feet wet with the extensive work involved. Wrapped that up just before New Years Eve kicked off, and ever since then--a full 8 months now--that has been holding. I have Big Sur and use it as a daily driver. I've not seen any issues and OCLP certainly has made it work better than it could have before the GPU took a dump in December, making the notoriously bad card work at all, and a compromised one at that. Props to Mykola and the team.

Because it has not yet shown any issue, I've kind of let it go but have kept evaluating cards and I'm thinking a K3100m or K4100m would be the right ones to choose from, in part because as you said, they are the same family as in the other iMac. I see a seller on Ebay doing flashed cards (I'm willing to pay a bit to get that done) and it appears a nearly plug and play fix with just some grinding of the stock heat sink (mine is the 3 pipe). Is that on track? I have an itchy finger over the mouse to get one of those two cards and just put the thing in, and all that's stopping me for now is the fact the system works well enough as it is. I think the 3100 or 4100 would be a good complement to the i7 3.4 and full RAM.

Is this on the mark, especially with regard to the physical fitting of the two cards named?