iMac 21,5 2010 - Need help on GPU Upgrade

[nicocorradini]

Hi everyone! Mi iMac's GPU is completely dead, and there's no way to get an original ATI Radeon HD 4670 here in Argentina. The only one I've found is the 2GB Nvidia Quadro K1100M. I've did a huge search and reading, and found a lot of information about this upgrade, but it is always about the 2011 model, or other graphics cards.

My question is: have anyone did this upgrade on a 2010 21,5" iMac with exactly the same video card (K1100M)? Was it successful?!

Of course, I know I'll have to flash the vBios. Thank you, and sorry about my English

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

Hi everyone! Mi iMac's GPU is completely dead, and there's no way to get an original ATI Radeon HD 4670 here in Argentina. The only one I've found is the 2GB Nvidia Quadro K1100M. I've did a huge search and reading, and found a lot of information about this upgrade, but it is always about the 2011 model, or other graphics cards.

My question is: have anyone did this upgrade on a 2010 21,5" iMac with exactly the same video card (K1100M)? Was it successful?!

Of course, I know I'll have to flash the vBios. Thank you, and sorry about my English

Quite a few people have done that.
I'm about to do that on my iMac 2010 (27"), maybe this weekend.
I just can't be sure whether my K1100m is working or not.

Let's do it and share our experience on this thread!

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

Follow the plan here "
Spoiler: A Short Plan of the Complete Hardware Upgrade Process"

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

1. Get the card:

First issue: How to remove the X-clamp?
=> I brought it to a phone repair shop on my way to work, and ask the guy there to remove it using his heat gun.

2. Prepared the iMac for flashing: Remove all storage device, remove the current GPU (WX4150) and power it up to do PRAM reset. Connected it to an external monitor.

3. Installed the K1100m to the iMac: covered the components by Kapton tap so they would touch the heat sink.
I got the over-kill 3-pipe heatsink, there for I used 1mm Copper sim between the GPU chip and the heatsink. For the RAM chips, I just used some blue thermal pad.
Everything went well, the card was installed to the MXM slot.
Power-up the machine to confirm no short circuit: The iMac booted and chimed nicely. I tried to connect the Windows SSD, but no image on the external monitor.

4. Prepare the Xanderon Linux USB on my Windows PC
(added with AMD flash & ROM, thanks to The_Croupier)
I used the Zip file provided by The_Croupier, as Xanderon's file took too long to download (10hrs or so)
It's took quite some steps to partition the USB in GPT, as I couldn't find this option from Disk Management, had to do from Command Terminal

5. Then move the USB to iMac, and reboot it.

6. SSH from Windows PC to the iMac, and flash the GPU
There is guidance and command line on the README file came with the Zip file. Just follow it, but be sure to understand the folder structure in Linux.

7. Turn-off the iMac, remove the USB and reconnect the SSDs

8. At first boot, only Windows shows up. Even when I open BootCamp in Windows to reboot to Mac OS, it still reboot to Windows.

9. I then had to press Option (Alt) when power up the machine and select High Sierra disk to boot.

This mean the flashing is completed successfully.

Next phase in next post.

 

[ewertondias]

Siga o plano aqui "
Spoiler: um breve plano do processo completo de atualização de hardware "

[URL unfurl = "true"] https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/2011-imac-graphics-card-upgrade.1596614/ [/ URL]

1. Obtenha o cartão:
[ANEXAR = cheio] 1754326 [/ ANEXAR]

Primeira questão: como remover o grampo X?
=> Levei-o a uma oficina de conserto de telefones no caminho para o trabalho e pedi ao cara que o removesse usando sua pistola de ar quente.

2. Preparou o iMac para piscar: remova todos os dispositivos de armazenamento, remova uma GPU atual (WX4150) e ligue-o para fazer a redefinição do PRAM. Conectado a um monitor externo.

3. Instale o K1100m no iMac: cubra os componentes com a torneira Kapton para que eles toquem no dissipador de calor.
Eu tenho o dissipador de calor de 3 tubos over-kill, uso sim de cobre de 1mm entre o chip da GPU e o dissipador de calor. Para os chips de RAM, use apenas uma almofada térmica azul.
Correu tudo bem, uma placa foi instalada na ranhura MXM.
Ligue a máquina para confirmar que não há curto-circuito: o iMac inicializou e tocou bem. Tentei conectar o SSD do Windows, mas nenhuma imagem no monitor externo.

4. Prepare o Xanderon Linux USB no meu PC Windows
(adicionado com AMD flash & ROM, graças a [USER = 1149487] The_Croupier [/ USER])
Eu usei o arquivo Zip fornecido pelo The_Croupier, pois o arquivo de Xanderon demorou muito para baixar (cerca de 10 horas)
Foram alguns passos para particionar o USB no GPT, já que não consegui encontrar essa opção no Gerenciamento de disco, que fazer no Terminal de comando

5. Em seguida, mova o USB para o iMac e reinicie-o.

6. SSH do PC com Windows para o iMac e atualizar uma GPU
Há orientação e linha de comando no arquivo README que acompanha o arquivo Zip. Basta segui-lo, mas órgão-se de sentido a estrutura de pastas no Linux.

7. Desligue o iMac, remova o USB e reconecte os SSDs

8. Na primeira inicialização, apenas o Windows aparece. Mesmo quando abro o BootCamp no Windows para reiniciar no Mac OS, ele ainda reinicia no Windows.

9. Tive então que pressionar a opção (Alt) ao ligar uma máquina e selecionar o disco High Sierra para inicializar.

Isso significa que o flashing foi concluído com sucesso.

Próxima fase no próximo post.

existe uma placa de vídeo mais plug and play para ser usada no mesmo iMac 2010 21.5 "?

Penso em colocar o k610m. Mas aparentemente ele ainda precisa do procedimento VBios. Está correto?

Existe algum tópico que mostra exatamente como fazer o processo?

Você precisa comprar alguma peça adicional para fazer o processo VBios?

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

existe uma placa de vídeo mais plug and play para ser usada no mesmo iMac 2010 21.5 "?

Penso em colocar o k610m. Mas aparentemente ele ainda precisa do procedimento VBios. Está correto?

Existe algum tópico que mostra exatamente como fazer o processo?

Você precisa comprar alguma peça adicional para fazer o processo VBios?

There is pre-flashed K610m on sales. But many people prefer to do the Vbios flash themselves, saving some money.
You don't need extra parts to mount the K610m to your iMac. Just re-use the stock heatsink and x-clamp.
But anyway, it depends on the K610m you purchased. Many cards will come with the original x-clamp. You need to remove them before doing the installation.
Go to the GPU upgrade topic to collect every info & files you would need.