Imac 2011 Help

[jonesad43]

Good Morning,

I've had a mid 2011 27" Imac for about 18 months now and it's been great. I only use it for internet use and as a Plex server. But the past few weeks random parts of the screen have become pixelated, If I move the mouse over it then it goes away but comes back. I've done a bit of research and seen that it's probably the graphics card and it's a common issue with them so question is what card do I need to buy for it? is it an easy install do I actually need a graphics card? I don't play games or anything so if I just took it out without replacing it will the computer still work?

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

 

[Berenod]

Indeed, those AMD cards can't stand the heat and all of them will eventually start to fail.

Unfortunately you do need the card as there is no way to drive the LCD from the graphics unit built into the CPU (unlike on a Macbook where you can through some trickery).

Changing the graphics card on the 2011 iMac is not so easy, as you need to remove the complete motherboard. Beats me why they moved the screws around, as on the 2009 iMac it's a lot easier, no need to remove the motherboard as the screws holding it are in the front!

For experienced "hobbyists" it's not too hard, but for novices it's a bit daunting.

First step I would try to remove your card and "bake" it, when it hasn't been baked before (which you do not know for sure, as you only have the machine for 18 months) you can expect to get several months up to more then a year of problem free usage, especially if you try to keep it cool (modify fan curves through MacFans, is easy).

However, if the previous owner already baked the card (and then sold the iMac), would mean your bake would be the second one, chances are you won't get that much "extra" life out of it.

 

[Berenod]

Replacing with the same model graphics card doesn't make much sense, as likely it's been a baked one you'll find on sites like Ebay, so will be a gamble as to how long it'll work (and they ask stupid money for them).

You can also replace the graphics card with a more modern version, there is a dedicatet thread here as to which cards work.
But fair chance you'll then have to modify the heatsink with a Dremel to make the card fit.

This would bring another advantage, most those alternative cards are "metal" capable, allowing you to install a much more recent version of MacOS through OpenCore.

 

[Berenod]

To be honest, in the past years I have done the bake/replace gpu often with those 2099-2011 generation iMacs, as they are, still today, quite useful machines.
But now, with prices dropping spectacularly for later models iMac (due to the Apple Silicon generation), it's simply noth worth it anymore, as buying a 2012 skinny iMac likely is cheaper then the whole replace GPU cost of your iMac

Even the early 5K models are getting dirt cheap!

And you can actually change your old iMac into a very nice QHD monitor!
Pretty easy, just need to get the correct LCD drivers on Aliexpress or some Chinese site, does work rather well!
Something like this, just need to make sure you get the correct one for your display (Aplle used a few different models).

 

[Fishrrman]

Not worth fixing (unless it costs less than $25...)

 

[kpluck]

Years ago I had a client with an iMac that started having graphic glitches. For a short term solution, I found a fan control app and manually ramped up the fan speed which solved the problems. It ran that way without issue for almost a year until the iMac was replaced.

I don't remember the name of the app but I am sure with a little research you can find it or something with equivalent features.

-kp

 

[Berenod]

Years ago I had a client with an iMac that started having graphic glitches. For a short term solution, I found a fan control app and manually ramped up the fan speed which solved the problems. It ran that way without issue for almost a year until the iMac was replaced.

I don't remember the name of the app but I am sure with a little research you can find it or something with equivalent features.

-kp

MacFansControl is what you mean!

Macs Fan Control - control fans on Apple computers, also on Windows via Boot Camp

Control fans on Apple computers, also on Windows via Boot Camp. Monitoring of fan speed and temperature sensors. Solve fan noise and overheating problems, iMac HDD replacement

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