iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011) running Yosemite 10.10.5
3.4GHz i7
32GB 1333MHz DDR3
500GB SSD startup disk
1 TB second hard drive (mechanical)
2TB Thunderbolt Drobo RAID array
AMD Radeon HD 6970M 2048 MB
We have way too much money invested in this machine...
I am wondering if it's possible to upgrade the video.
(did try a forum search, couldn't see much obvious)
It seems that the current video card is just about the last Apple card that is NOT supported by the new "Metal" video subsystem. And its fairly anemic for my purposes, anyway. ( this is supposed to be a video editing workstation)
So.. is it possible to upgrade this card to a higher-performance "Apple supported" one??
I have read on some forum that you can't just plug in any (comparatively sized) card, but you need a video card with actual Apple firmware onboard. Do 2012/2013/2104 iMacs use a card with the same form factor?
It would be great to be able to keep this machine alive for another five years, and I expect a better video card would do the trick.
If it's not possible, then I guess I need to try to get some budget organized, and to flog this beast ASAP while it still has any resale value at all...
PS: it has a BRAND NEW HD 6970M - this was replaced under the 'secret warranty program' last month! (something in 10.10.3 made the flawed video card obvious)
3.4GHz i7
32GB 1333MHz DDR3
500GB SSD startup disk
1 TB second hard drive (mechanical)
2TB Thunderbolt Drobo RAID array
AMD Radeon HD 6970M 2048 MB
We have way too much money invested in this machine...
I am wondering if it's possible to upgrade the video.
(did try a forum search, couldn't see much obvious)
It seems that the current video card is just about the last Apple card that is NOT supported by the new "Metal" video subsystem. And its fairly anemic for my purposes, anyway. ( this is supposed to be a video editing workstation)
So.. is it possible to upgrade this card to a higher-performance "Apple supported" one??
I have read on some forum that you can't just plug in any (comparatively sized) card, but you need a video card with actual Apple firmware onboard. Do 2012/2013/2104 iMacs use a card with the same form factor?
It would be great to be able to keep this machine alive for another five years, and I expect a better video card would do the trick.
If it's not possible, then I guess I need to try to get some budget organized, and to flog this beast ASAP while it still has any resale value at all...
PS: it has a BRAND NEW HD 6970M - this was replaced under the 'secret warranty program' last month! (something in 10.10.3 made the flawed video card obvious)