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2011 iMac GPU upgrade

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Lauwie

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 17, 2011
129
38
So I'm planning on doing a GPU upgrade for my 21,5 inch iMac :D
I use a lot of blender, photoshop and illustrator so I would benefit from a new Gpu! 6770m is a pain really!
I read this post about this guy who upgraded the same iMac with an nvidia 680m, it is quite expensive at around €400 so I was thinking maybe I could just fit in a 6970m cuz they both use around 100watts.
The only thing I worry about is will the heat be an issue and should I buy a larger heat-sink (6770m is MXMa and 6970m and 680m are MXM b) or just use the one that's on the 6770m?

I hope someone can help me :D
 
S

shyataroo

macrumors regular
Dec 17, 2003
150
1
Hell... Wanna join me?
you can upgrade the GPU on the 21.5 inch iMac... but its very VERY complicated and you need a mac compatible GPU, so far the fastest would be the the 6970M for the 2009-2011 iMac the 2012/13 iMac's are a completely different design, so I would imagine the GPUs would not connect correctly. (please someone tell me I'm wrong I'd love to shove a GTX 780 in my 2010 iMAc)
 
L

Lauwie

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 17, 2011
129
38
It is connected with an MXM port which actually is just PCI.
I'll check for you if you're iMac has an MXM port.
The a is because it is smaller and the b because it is larger.
The b does fit in my computer and apparently can handle 100 watts and cooling the 680m with the stock heatsink :D
The only problem is that I don't know if the 6970m emits the same amount of heat as the 680m :/
The 6970m is a lot more interesting to because it has Apple Efi in the rom so I will have a boot screen...

I'll check for you're 2010 iMac what connection it uses ;)
 
G

GMacUser

macrumors newbie
Feb 26, 2014
14
5
Lauwie said:
It is connected with an MXM port which actually is just PCI.
I'll check for you if you're iMac has an MXM port.
The a is because it is smaller and the b because it is larger.
The b does fit in my computer and apparently can handle 100 watts and cooling the 680m with the stock heatsink :D
The only problem is that I don't know if the 6970m emits the same amount of heat as the 680m :/
The 6970m is a lot more interesting to because it has Apple Efi in the rom so I will have a boot screen...

I'll check for you're 2010 iMac what connection it uses ;)
Click to expand...

Did you try it? I'm doing the same thing. The 680m will be here next week.
 
jaxhunter

jaxhunter

macrumors regular
Dec 14, 2012
118
15
Maryland Eastern Shore
I believe one other has tried it and could not get his internal display to work. He could get an external to work but the internal stayed black. Also, you will have the typical issue of not being able to see boot screens just as anyone who has upgraded their GPU to a non-EFI unit.

Further, heat should not be an issue as the video heat sink in the iMacs is rather large. just make sure you use a good, high-quality thermal compound and you should be okay.

All that being said the probability of success on this kind of upgrade is not very high. But I do wish you the best of luck!
 
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