Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iM 4,1-14,4 2011 iMac Graphics Card Upgrade
- Thread starter MichaelDT
- WikiPost WikiPost
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
- Status
It's really the ROM that is flashed to the card that matters, and whether you have the ability to change that ROM either with or without it inside the iMac. I see the rom chip on the left side of the card sitting under the black protective film. If you are familiar with what a CH341a is you can use a clip and flash that chip directly. If not you an install a W10 ssd into you iMac with the card connected enable automatic login and teamviewer auto login on your iMac (before removing the AMD 67xx card) and blind flash the card. Either way you might as well become familiar with a CH341a because modding the iMac's bootrom is where this project seems to be going.
Did the seller verify the cards functionality? There have been a few dud cards on this forum before.
All the 770m MXM cards I have seen online, including mine have the GD25Q20 FlashROM populated onboard and I can just barely see the one populated on the card you uploaded, If you have all means necessary to flash the card, and can verify functionality I say go for it. Also please modify your iMacs X-Clamp, you run the risk of shorting caps on the back if you don't look carefully.
Link to VBIOS and instructions https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/2011-imac-graphics-card-upgrade.1596614/post-27787298
Attachments
Thank you so much, I probably will go with that card. I more or less familiar with flashing, will make job via CH341.
Thanks again!
Looks like a small capacitor is missing. But not sure if it was blank by default or it was ripped off. Either way its probably a non-essential cap, so it should be fine.
Quick update, (I'm the guy putting a xeon and w7100 in a 27' 2010) I wired up the dying light module and got almost everything ready to finish the whole thing tomorrow I hope. Where can I find the bootrom and vbios and hopefully instructions understandable by someone who has never used an eprom flasher?
Also where is the chip on the lb?
Also just so anyone who want to know knows, you do have to Dremel out a bit of heatsink for a w7100, I went overboard a bit but oh well.
![IMG_2373.png]( "IMG_2373.png")
Inside of the almost finished iMac, no the antenna don't fit the new wifi card, no idea if an adapter exists
![IMG_2374.png]( "IMG_2374.png")
Card and the dremeling I had to do, can confirm that the x bracket that came with the heatsink fits the card perfectly
![IMG_2375.png]( "IMG_2375.png")
Dying light and where I decided to tuck it away. I put headers on to make servicing less of a pain in the future. Yes I am aware my soldering isn't good. I lifted a pad on usb + but I managed to solder it on fine anyways.
Also where is the chip on the lb?
Also just so anyone who want to know knows, you do have to Dremel out a bit of heatsink for a w7100, I went overboard a bit but oh well.
Inside of the almost finished iMac, no the antenna don't fit the new wifi card, no idea if an adapter exists
Card and the dremeling I had to do, can confirm that the x bracket that came with the heatsink fits the card perfectly
Dying light and where I decided to tuck it away. I put headers on to make servicing less of a pain in the future. Yes I am aware my soldering isn't good. I lifted a pad on usb + but I managed to solder it on fine anyways.
Last edited:
![Nick [D]vB](/data/avatars/m/1132/1132239.jpg?1552018909){kind=avatar}
Erm, not sure how to break this to you...
That is the wrong graphics card! You need a WX7100 not a W7170 or S7100X.
I think you'll find that card won't even be detected, it's still worth testing it but you
might need to do an NVRAM reset on every boot, and MacOS might not load the drivers?
I'd set up TeamViewer with the working card so we can see what's happening.
Don't flash the vBIOS or Bootrom yet, but I might be able to make a mod for it.
It's worth trying the card before you send it back anyway.
Nice job on the DyingLight & WiFi btw!
Keep us posted...
That is the wrong graphics card! You need a WX7100 not a W7170 or S7100X.
I think you'll find that card won't even be detected, it's still worth testing it but you
might need to do an NVRAM reset on every boot, and MacOS might not load the drivers?
I'd set up TeamViewer with the working card so we can see what's happening.
Don't flash the vBIOS or Bootrom yet, but I might be able to make a mod for it.
It's worth trying the card before you send it back anyway.
Nice job on the DyingLight & WiFi btw!
Keep us posted...
Last edited:
Sure enough, you are correct.
I didn't even notice it but the ebay page I got it from shows the correct card and I got the card that is seen in the picture. I assume I should contact the seller either way since the performance on the W7170 is worse according to some random website.
Guess I'll try it anyways without any flashing for science before I contacted the seller.
Yeh they do look very similar, but the GPU die on the W7170 is a lot bigger, it's a barn-heater!
Seen lots of sellers doing a bait'n'switch with these so watch out for that, eBay should sort it.
No need to mod the sink / bracket for the WX7100, but shouldn't hurt as you've done it already.
Apple actually sold this chip as the M395X so there is an EFI for it, might be worth a shot?
But I'd expect detection problems, worth testing but I'd definitely swap it for a real WX7100.
I'm going out for a bit now but will be back in a few hours, let us know how the test goes.
Seen lots of sellers doing a bait'n'switch with these so watch out for that, eBay should sort it.
No need to mod the sink / bracket for the WX7100, but shouldn't hurt as you've done it already.
Apple actually sold this chip as the M395X so there is an EFI for it, might be worth a shot?
But I'd expect detection problems, worth testing but I'd definitely swap it for a real WX7100.
I'm going out for a bit now but will be back in a few hours, let us know how the test goes.
Wow I had that same card in my watch list. That sucks I was hoping that card would be the future for my 27" iMac. Who know how much longer Kepler Kexts will be included in Mac OS. I was looking at the wx4170 but all the HP cards I've seen have no ROM chip on board.
I got everything back together enough to test and there's nothing on the display. Not sure if that's because of my backlight mod work of if its the cards fault. I didn't notice the backlight coming on though so who knows. Unfortunately I didn't have any remote access set up under Mac OS so there's no real way to tell I think. Guess I should try and get my money back as soon as I can because the only other source for those cards I found takes forever to ship.
I wonder if the Apple EFI could be modded to work? Though I've heard from others in this thread that newer iMacs use a different kind of EFI and it won't work.
I listed the other one here for any interested: http://ebay.us/egEIq5?cmpnId=5338273189. This one includes a DyingLight module.
Also listed an extra Dell WX7100 I have and also includes a DyingLight module: http://ebay.us/vXazI4?cmpnId=5338273189
...and lastly I listed an extra K2000m with DyingLight module I have: http://ebay.us/UKvEhk?cmpnId=5338273189
So guys, i'm reading thrue this post,and it's a massive amount of information to capture. Thanks for all effort and reasearch allready done.
After performing a memory upgrade and HDD--> SSD swap of a iMac Mid 2011 21,5", i would love to go one step further and swap the GPU for something compatible with Catalina.
If i understand correctly what allready has been written, in the 21,5" it would be better to go with a card that doesn't draw to much power, as such am i limited to the K1100M / K2000M ? Which would be recommended, both confirmed working without boot screen ?
I've seen some new HP K1100M on sale:
https://www.ebay.de/itm/New-NVIDIA-...602227?hash=item4d9de65eb3:g:9zcAAOSw1LJdpHtC
Next, i would only need to mod the heatsink ?
Thanks for your support !
After performing a memory upgrade and HDD--> SSD swap of a iMac Mid 2011 21,5", i would love to go one step further and swap the GPU for something compatible with Catalina.
If i understand correctly what allready has been written, in the 21,5" it would be better to go with a card that doesn't draw to much power, as such am i limited to the K1100M / K2000M ? Which would be recommended, both confirmed working without boot screen ?
I've seen some new HP K1100M on sale:
https://www.ebay.de/itm/New-NVIDIA-...602227?hash=item4d9de65eb3:g:9zcAAOSw1LJdpHtC
Next, i would only need to mod the heatsink ?
Thanks for your support !
Yes but it uses LVDS instead of eDP like the later ones and besides, it's a Core 2 Duo... Why upgrade it?
No,
Actually it has 9400m (mcp79) chipset serving as graphics output and Apple never populated the board for the MXM slot. So even if you found an MXM card that was LVDS compatible, it still isn't possible.
On the 21.5" models a heatsink mod is unnecessary. You'll instead need to drill out the rivets on the X-clamp provided with the Quadro card you purchase so that the screws and heatsink can mount correctly. Pretty easy to do, just work your way through drill bits. You MAY need to flash VBIOS on one of those cards - there's a guide to this and a link to the right VBIOS on the main page.
Might have to take you up on that one once I get my fake one returned and sorted out.
i am thinking of offering a heatsink mod and or with graphics card placement total package service.
(not gonna sell parts, just a modding service)
Let me know if anyone here is interessted, this gives me a picture of whether there are any interested in this service...
(not gonna sell parts, just a modding service)
Let me know if anyone here is interessted, this gives me a picture of whether there are any interested in this service...