iM 4,1-14,4 iMac 2011 Maxwell and Pascal GPU upgrade

[m0bil]

iMac Quadro P5200 rom:​

- Enables the internal display.
- Enables GOP boot screen using Opencore.
- Brightness control and sleep/wake work
- Max Memory clock raised from 3600 MHz to 4000 MHz.
- Max TDP raised from 110W to 115W/125W.
- Power Limit (%) slider unlocked in Afterburner, to decrease the Max TDP if desired.
- Temperature throttle limits slightly increased.
- NVGI header added for ease of Windows driver install
- External display is enabled on the mini DP closest to USB ports.

Many thanks to @idenis42 for help and time spent testing this card and vbios.

Windows 10 will automatically recognize card and install Nvidia drivers. You can use NVCleanstall if you wish to update to the latest GeForce drivers.
To enable brightness control on Windows you need to manually add the same registry entries as with other Nvidia cards.

Works on MacOS High Sierra with Web Drivers.

GPU clock can be locked to a specific value using the voltage-frequency curve in Afterburner. The curve itself can't be edited (no undervolting possible).

3 pipe heatsink and install with good thermal paste is a must.

Unlike P3200 and P4200, the card tested (board DAXW3UB6CB0 REV B) did NOT need the smbus isolation trick to work properly on the iMac 12,2. It also came with the eeprom chip onboard. Note that this card lacks some components when compared with P3200/P4200, maybe one of them was responsible for smbus collision.

You must use a hardware programmer to flash this rom on the eeprom chip at 1.8V (nvflash will not work, as digital signature is invalid). Also take into some cards may come without eeprom chip onboard, you have to use a nvflash compatible 4M-bit 1.8v eeprom chip like W25Q40EW / W25Q40EWNIG for the bios (some sellers may offer to solder it for you).

Card performance is great, best Pascal card so far. See post above for benchmark results. I have included 115W TDP and 125W TDP roms.

Display tables changes based on @Santa's Little Helper work for the P3000/P4000 cards.

 

[ouaftouh]

iMac Quadro P5000 rom:​

- Enables the internal display.
- Enables GOP boot screen using Opencore.
- Brightness control and sleep/wake work.
- Max GPU clock raised from 1656 to 1910 MHz.
- Max Memory clock raised from 3000 MHz to 4000 MHz.
- Max TDP raised from 100W to 115W.
- Power Limit (%) slider unlocked in Afterburner, to decrease the Max TDP if desired.
- Temperature throttle limits slightly increased.

Windows 10 will automatically recognize card and install Nvidia drivers. You can use NVCleanstall if you wish to update to the latest GeForce drivers.
To enable brightness control on Windows you need to manually add the same registry entries as with other Nvidia cards.

External display is enabled (but not tested) on the mini DP closest to USB ports.

Works on MacOS High Sierra with Web Drivers. To enable brightness control on MacOs, follow @Santa's Little Helper guide for the P3000/P4000 cards. When internal screen is enabled on boot using Opencore, card will work on later MacOS without metal acceleration.

GPU clock can be locked to a specific value using the voltage-frequency curve in Afterburner. The curve itself can't be edited (no undervolting possible).

3 pipe heatsink and install with good thermal paste is a must. During testing, iMac was able to dissipate heat properly and GPU temp was only slightly above 70ºC.

You must use a hardware programmer to flash this rom on the eeprom chip at 1.8V (nvflash will not work, as digital signature is invalid).

Display tables changes based on @Santa's Little Helper work for the P3000/P4000 cards.
Many thanks to @idenis42 for help and time spent testing this card and vbios.

Hi m0bil, sorry for bothering you but I will be very appreciated if you can provide me with a way to raise Max GPU clock and Max Memory clock of a P5000, I was able to raise both Max TDP and Temperature limit using the tool attached below.
I'm currentely using the CH341A Programmer to flash my modified bios.
I have attached below a copy of my bios in case you want to apply the modifications to it.
Thank you in advance.

 

[AgntRndy]

Hello, I have an iMac mid 2011 27 inch with a failed GPU. I would like to use this iMac for Batocera (Linux distro with no other operating system).

Could you please recommend a simple GPU that might be appropriate. Please specify if the vbios must be flashed or if it can be left stock (HP or Dell). I am not readily able to flash the vbios so I would be seeking to buy one pre-flashed.

Thanks very much.

 

[Ausdauersportler]

Hello, I have an iMac mid 2011 27 inch with a failed GPU. I would like to use this iMac for Batocera (Linux distro with no other operating system).

Could you please recommend a simple GPU that might be appropriate. Please specify if the vbios must be flashed or if it can be left stock (HP or Dell). I am not readily able to flash the vbios so I would be seeking to buy one pre-flashed.

Thanks very much.

Try at least reading the first post of this thread and check the list of the supported cards yourself.

Later you can decide what to buy based on the local market (no one can guess were you live!)
Flashing is easy using the software tools described on the first post of the other thread.

 

[Willybecher]

Hey together,

I'm sitting on a 12.2 27" i72600 upgraded iMac.
I just purchased (by mistake??) a K(epler?)4000M 4GB RAM... I could not find out if this is way much worse in performance (Windows gaming) thank any Pascal or Maxwell GPU 👀
Anyone has a quick reply so I can cancell the Order?

 

[Willybecher]

Try at least reading the first post of this thread and check the list of the supported cards yourself.

Later you can decide what to buy based on the local market (no one can guess were you live!)
Flashing is easy using the software tools described on the first post of the other thread.

To be honest I've ready this thread and the other 800pages...but I couldnt locate any side by side comparison between Kepler, Maxwell and Pascal Windows-Game-Performance-wise...


... Google helped, I guess I'll cancel the order...
Kepler --> Maxwell -->> Pascal is about 350times faster...👀

Graphics Card Comparison - Head 2 Head

NVIDIA Quadro M4000M vs NVIDIA Quadro K4000M - Benchmarks, Tests and Comparisons

www.notebookcheck.net

 

[dfranetic]

Hey together,

I'm sitting on a 12.2 27" i72600 upgraded iMac.
I just purchased (by mistake??) a K(epler?)4000M 4GB RAM... I could not find out if this is way much worse in performance (Windows gaming) thank any Pascal or Maxwell GPU 👀
Anyone has a quick reply so I can cancell the Order?

There is a VBIOS and performance table in post 1 of this thread.

 

[Willybecher]

Yes Tank you I read and checked the other thread... I'm an old fart and was away from upgrading/tinkering since 2011, so I missed about 12-15 years of evolution of GPUs and other components...
I guess a 780M would equal a K4000M?

 

[dfranetic]

Yes Tank you I read and checked the other thread... I'm an old fart and was away from upgrading/tinkering since 2011, so I missed about 12-15 years of evolution of GPUs and other components...
I guess a 780M would equal a K4000M?

I don't know and all I can do is look up that table - which you can do by yourself. There's also a warning about Nvidia Kepler GPUs in that thread - they are old, the sold ones are usually used and prone to fail. Please read the rest by yourself - this is all off-topic in this thread...

 

[m0bil]

Yes Tank you I read and checked the other thread... I'm an old fart and was away from upgrading/tinkering since 2011, so I missed about 12-15 years of evolution of GPUs and other components...
I guess a 780M would equal a K4000M?

If your goal is windows gaming, avoid Kepler and get at least a M4000M, but if you can afford it better get one of the Pascal cards, P3000 or P3200 offer good price/performance.

 

[Willybecher]

Me again 👀

So, I found a P4000M that was taken from a working Dell Precision, the Code in the GPU chip is N17E-Q3-A1 ... Would the firmware in post no1 fit to it?
As said: MacOS support is not needed, we'll go the Windows route.

The card is listed for 300€/340US$ ... As a father of 3, I'd like to avoid a waste of Money.
I have a self built htpc lying, but probably will need to upgrade to SSD and Something faster than the HD4570/90(can't remember what's in it) plus Monitor, which probably will end up same price...

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

Me again 👀

So, I found a P4000M that was taken from a working Dell Precision, the Code in the GPU chip is N17E-Q3-A1 ... Would the firmware in post no1 fit to it?
As said: MacOS support is not needed, we'll go the Windows route.

The card is listed for 300€/340US$ ... As a father of 3, I'd like to avoid a waste of Money.
I have a self built htpc lying, but probably will need to upgrade to SSD and Something faster than the HD4570/90(can't remember what's in it) plus Monitor, which probably will end up same price...

As a father of 2, I bought the M4000m for one of my iMac 2009. ($99 incl. shipping)
Pretty decent for light gaming.
And I do consider paying 340$ for P4000m is a waste of money, working or not working.

 

[Willybecher]

If you make Up the math..... 150 Monitor, 120-150 new GPU and who knows what CPU I built into that htpc in 2010ish... 🤷🏻‍♂️
The mac would sell for 200ish, but If it would work on Windows the next 5 years: unbezahlbar (German Word, can't even translate it)...

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

If you make Up the math..... 150 Monitor, 120-150 new GPU and who knows what CPU I built into that htpc in 2010ish... 🤷🏻‍♂️
The mac would sell for 200ish, but If it would work on Windows the next 5 years: unbezahlbar (German Word, can't even translate it)...

Why not?
Hardware wise, I still have one HP Compaq 8000 USDT (dated 2006 with intel core 2 duo E8500) running Windows 10.
Software wise, iMac 2011 does not support Windows 10 64bits, but you still can install it on the machine.
If you are not worrying too much about Microsoft official support on security patches or something, it would just work as it is supposed.

 

[Amethyst1]

The mac would sell for 200ish, but If it would work on Windows the next 5 years: unbezahlbar (German Word, can't even translate it)...

"priceless" comes pretty close

 

[Willybecher]

Just checked the HTPC AMD Athlon X2, 4GB DDR2-800 sitting on the AsRock A785GMH/128M doing AM2/3 AMD CPUs...👀😁 I might Go with the i7 in the iMac with the P4000M

 

[m0bil]

Me again 👀

So, I found a P4000M that was taken from a working Dell Precision, the Code in the GPU chip is N17E-Q3-A1 ... Would the firmware in post no1 fit to it?
As said: MacOS support is not needed, we'll go the Windows route.

The card is listed for 300€/340US$ ... As a father of 3, I'd like to avoid a waste of Money.
I have a self built htpc lying, but probably will need to upgrade to SSD and Something faster than the HD4570/90(can't remember what's in it) plus Monitor, which probably will end up same price...

Price issues aside, that card should work and offer excellent performance (if fact I have a beta untested vbios around that should give and extra 5% to 10% performance boost to the one on first post).

Take into account it's not plug&play, you'll need a hardware programmer at 1.8V to flash the eeprom chip, and properly grinded 3 pipe heatsink.

 

[m0bil]

Happy new year everyone!!

I'm looking for beta testers of Maxwell cards UGA EFI rom that could bring native Apple bootpicker & bootscreen functionality to such cards. It's still on early stages, hopefully if it works and all goes well it can be ported to Pascal cards too.

So, if you're using such cards on iMac and want to help testing send me PM.

 

[rjpoisonoak]

Been following this thread as well as the other graphics card and cpu upgrade threads. My current build is a 2011 27 inch iMac. Current upgrades are a single SSD, xeon 1270 CPU, GTX 880m graphics card, 32 gb of ram and removed cd drive. I only have windows 10 installed so Mac os functionality is of no concern to me. I use the computer mainly for gaming. In it's current state I can get decent performance on low to medium graphics settings with the current bottleneck being the 880m installed. I'm torn between the GTX 1070 and Quadro p5200 I've seen in this thread. Seeing the p5200 scores higher than the GTX 1070 is encouraging but I've researched that workstation GPUs are worse in terms of gaming performance than a GeForce model. Both of these cards are around the same price point in my area so mostly just looking for some clarification on whether to go with a 1070 or p5200. It sounds like the 5200 is an easier install with only having to do the hardware flash which isn't an issue for me. Seeing about the different card models of the 1070 sounds like a nightmare to find the correct one that would work in my application. Curious to hear your thoughts and I appreciate any responses!

 

[m0bil]

Been following this thread as well as the other graphics card and cpu upgrade threads. My current build is a 2011 27 inch iMac. Current upgrades are a single SSD, xeon 1270 CPU, GTX 880m graphics card, 32 gb of ram and removed cd drive. I only have windows 10 installed so Mac os functionality is of no concern to me. I use the computer mainly for gaming. In it's current state I can get decent performance on low to medium graphics settings with the current bottleneck being the 880m installed. I'm torn between the GTX 1070 and Quadro p5200 I've seen in this thread. Seeing the p5200 scores higher than the GTX 1070 is encouraging but I've researched that workstation GPUs are worse in terms of gaming performance than a GeForce model. Both of these cards are around the same price point in my area so mostly just looking for some clarification on whether to go with a 1070 or p5200. It sounds like the 5200 is an easier install with only having to do the hardware flash which isn't an issue for me. Seeing about the different card models of the 1070 sounds like a nightmare to find the correct one that would work in my application. Curious to hear your thoughts and I appreciate any responses!

mobile GPUs are limited by lower TDP compared to desktop versions, you can get at most ~115W from the iMac mxm slot while desktop versions can go with 150W or higher TDP. There are plenty of youtube vids of mobile gtx1070 performance test with modern games, take a look at them to see if it meets your expectations. The Quadro cards can't be dynamically overcloked/undervolted as the GeForce ones, but that does not mean they perform worse.
Also take into account the CPU is a limiting factor too, while this cards offer excellent performance don't expect the same results as with a modern gaming laptop.

Price aside, the P5200 should give you a little extra performance and double the ram than the gtx1070, but is little tested here (we just tested one of those cards and it's possible that different board revisions may need the same mxm track isolation as the p3200 and p4200 cards needed).

 

[rjpoisonoak]

mobile GPUs are limited by lower TDP compared to desktop versions, you can get at most ~115W from the iMac mxm slot while desktop versions can go with 150W or higher TDP. There are plenty of youtube vids of mobile gtx1070 performance test with modern games, take a look at them to see if it meets your expectations. The Quadro cards can't be dynamically overcloked/undervolted as the GeForce ones, but that does not mean they perform worse.
Also take into account the CPU is a limiting factor too, while this cards offer excellent performance don't expect the same results as with a modern gaming laptop.

Price aside, the P5200 should give you a little extra performance and double the ram than the gtx1070, but is little tested here (we just tested one of those cards and it's possible that different board revisions may need the same mxm track isolation as the p3200 and p4200 cards needed).

Thanks for the info I'll do some research on them and see how it goes. The tdp info makes a lot of sense so I'll do a little more research and see what I come up with.

 

[rjpoisonoak]

mobile GPUs are limited by lower TDP compared to desktop versions, you can get at most ~115W from the iMac mxm slot while desktop versions can go with 150W or higher TDP. There are plenty of youtube vids of mobile gtx1070 performance test with modern games, take a look at them to see if it meets your expectations. The Quadro cards can't be dynamically overcloked/undervolted as the GeForce ones, but that does not mean they perform worse.
Also take into account the CPU is a limiting factor too, while this cards offer excellent performance don't expect the same results as with a modern gaming laptop.

Price aside, the P5200 should give you a little extra performance and double the ram than the gtx1070, but is little tested here (we just tested one of those cards and it's possible that different board revisions may need the same mxm track isolation as the p3200 and p4200 cards needed).

Also wanted to ask if there's a way to discern the board revisions and the device id specifically for the 1070 before I pull the trigger on whichever one I decide to go with. The non direct x and all that stuff mainly since the ROM released is only for the non direct version of the card.

 

[m0bil]

Also wanted to ask if there's a way to discern the board revisions and the device id specifically for the 1070 before I pull the trigger on whichever one I decide to go with. The non direct x and all that stuff mainly since the ROM released is only for the non direct version of the card.

As far as I know, both g-sync and non g-sync cards look very similar, but the non g-sync is the one most commonly available. This was an actual picture of the card I used.

Your better chance is to ask the seller, card has to be non g-sync with vendor/device id 10DE:1BA1
If in doubt ask seller for the card vbios and you can check device id using "nvflash --version" command on the vbios file (a g-sync card would have device id 1BE1).

 

[rjpoisonoak]

As far as I know, both g-sync and non g-sync cards look very similar, but the non g-sync is the one most commonly available. This was an actual picture of the card I used.

Your better chance is to ask the seller, card has to be non g-sync with vendor/device id 10DE:1BA1
If in doubt ask seller for the card vbios and you can check device id using "nvflash --version" command on the vbios file (a g-sync card would have device id 1BE1).

Awesome thanks a lot man I think I'm gonna go with a 1070. Will report my findings here for future reference!

 

[THeKiNGs]

Hi, anyone with a K2000m can make a high res picture of it? I need to identify the missing IC in the attached pictured.
The card was killed by a n00b and I'm trying to get it back to life, solved the smashed BIOS pads but need to know what is that IC, thanks!