Radeon HD 5970 in iMac possible?

[DaSal]

I found this post on another forum which seems to suggest it's possible to replace the GPU?

http://forums.appleinsider.com/showpost.php?p=1526374&postcount=134

I'm kind of confused as I thought the 5970 is a desktop GPU? Also I thought it wasn't possible to replace the card anyway cause it uses a custom shape or something?

Can anybody clarify this for me? Is it possible?

If it is then that'd be amazing, with a 5970 the iMac would be an all-around powerhouse, no longer lacking in one department.

 

[dukebound85]

lol no way jose

 

[jonwd7]

Hahaha. They're talking about the iMac's "Target Display Mode". There were issues wherein the 5870/5850 DisplayPort ports were not supported by the iMac.

The 5970 seems to work though, and that's what this post is about.

 

[Hellhammer]

There's no way that desktop ATI 5970 would fit into iMac... They use different interface (iMac uses MXM while ATI uses PCI, I guess) AFAIK. Also it's way too big and hot

 

[MH01]

Impossible. The Imac does not use desktop GPUs, to be honest I think the 5970 is thicker then the Imac It is one huge card, you are talking 2 GPUs on the same board. The PSU in an Imac could not run one anyway.

If you want to unleash a 5970, build a PC.

 

[Outrigger]

I found this post on another forum which seems to suggest it's possible to replace the GPU?

This made me LOL and to chime in, no, its not even in the realm of possibilities.

 

[gjw4u]

OP, I guess you did not interpret that article correctly. It's about a PC using the 5970 card in order to be able to use the 27" iMac as a display in target mode.

 

[adder7712]

Even if it's possible, the HD 5870 will be very very hot and it will be power hungry.

 

[300D]

It will be a year minimum before the iMac gets a GPU even close to that level of power.

 

[RichardI]

Impossible. The Imac does not use desktop GPUs, to be honest I think the 5970 is thicker then the Imac

I thought the new, current iMacs were using a desktop class GPU.
No?

Rich

 

[300D]

I thought the new, current iMacs were using a desktop class GPU.

No. They use a desktop CPU.

 

[53x12]

No. They use a desktop CPU.

 

[goMac]

You can replace the card, but only with cards in the MXM form factor. They do not make a 5970 as an MXM version.

 

[DoFoT9]

You can replace the card, but only with cards in the MXM form factor. They do not make a 5970 as an MXM version.

that and the fact that no mac supports this card, so it wont work because of lack of drivers.

 

[300D]

Desktop CPU, mobile GPU. Got it?

 

[DoFoT9]

Desktop CPU, mobile GPU. Got it?

so MXM GPU is mobile?

 

[300D]

so MXM GPU is mobile?

No. MXM is merely a connection protocol, like PCIe or AGP.

 

[DoFoT9]

No. MXM is merely a connection protocol, like PCIe or AGP.

ah great thanks for clarifying

 

[53x12]

Desktop CPU, mobile GPU. Got it?