iM 4,1-14,4 2011 iMac Graphics Card Upgrade

[FlorisVN]

Alright thanks a lot!

One more Question: is Target Display Mode working with these cards? I use my iMac alot as an external Display. Wonder in Mojave Even Supports this Feature as new iMacs do Not have it (which is a Shame)

Nope target display mode is not working.
It could be make to work, but we need a vbios mod for this..

 

[jb1331]

I have a low hours 2011 i7, 16gb ram, and original 6970 I picked up about a week ago... All is working fine today on high sierra, but wondering...

Are there any utilities to undervolt / underclock the GPU so I can make it last longer, even better a custom bios / firmware update? Machine is not used for gaming.. Trying to prolong the inevitable..

Thanks!

 

[FlorisVN]

I have a low hours 2011 i7, 16gb ram, and original 6970 I picked up about a week ago... All is working fine today on high sierra, but wondering...

Are there any utilities to undervolt / underclock the GPU so I can make it last longer, even better a custom bios / firmware update? Machine is not used for gaming.. Trying to prolong the inevitable..

Thanks!

I think at least run fans at full speed all time, like Hdd and Optical drive fan.
These are mainly used for the gpu cooling.
use macsfancontrol as a speedfan program, its great and free 😉

About bios undervolting/underclocking.
Maybe trough bootcamp extract GPU bios, and edit it with AMD bios modding tools.. ?
Extract vbios with tools like gpu-z for example..

 

[passatgt]

I'm trying to do Bootcamp with my 2011 27" + 780M(i'm fine with outputting to an external screen only). I found this guide: https://gist.github.com/oznu/8796d08d73315483c3b26e79a8e3d350

However this involves lots of boot menu steps... is there any way to do this easier without changing the GPU(i don't have access currently to a working apple GPU).

 

[FlorisVN]

I'm trying to do Bootcamp with my 2011 27" + 780M(i'm fine with outputting to an external screen only). I found this guide: https://gist.github.com/oznu/8796d08d73315483c3b26e79a8e3d350

However this involves lots of boot menu steps... is there any way to do this easier without changing the GPU(i don't have access currently to a working apple GPU).

I would suggest you use my winclone image, or create one your self.
With winclone you can just restore a bootcamp image which is ready to go.
Then you won’t need to install windows with a black screen.. 😉

I made a Windows 7 Ultimate winclone image in the past.
But I will make a Win10 Pro someday..
In my experience tools like winclone are a must in this situation...

 

[kral84]

On my imac 2011 i must remove logic board to remove the gpu 🙁 ...

 

[FlorisVN]

On my imac 2011 i must remove logic board to remove the gpu 🙁 ...

Thats correct.. 😉

 

[passatgt]

I would suggest you use my winclone image, or create one your self.
With winclone you can just restore a bootcamp image which is ready to go.
Then you won’t need to install windows with a black screen.. 😉

I made a Windows 7 Ultimate winclone image in the past.
But I will make a Win10 Pro someday..
In my experience tools like winclone are a must in this situation...

Thanks! I found a Win10 winclone image online, restored it and it shows up as a boot option in the startup disk settings, but sadly it won't boot(or at least i don't see anything on the external screen) 🙁
Checked in the Windows folder for log files, but none of them changed since install, so that means it won't even boot. Can you share your Win7 version somehow?

 

[micro17]

Nope target display mode is not working.
It could be make to work, but we need a vbios mod for this..

vbios mod... what does this involve? will read up in the thread if that was already mentioned here...
Will a dump/ soldering the bios chip from a defective apple card work?

Im ready to invest some effort as im not buying a new mac just for mojave 😉

 

[Melvibilly]

looks like a Dell/Alienware card to me..
so I think it should work, at least with 2011 models.

I presume also 2009/2010 27" models should work with this card..
Have you tried reseating the card in the MXM slot.

Also have you tried an SMC and NVram reset.. ?

you can also test if it boots and chimes, without connecting the iMac internal LCD display.

I got it all fix up thanks for the help!

 

[FlorisVN]

Thanks! I found a Win10 winclone image online, restored it and it shows up as a boot option in the startup disk settings, but sadly it won't boot(or at least i don't see anything on the external screen) 🙁
Checked in the Windows folder for log files, but none of them changed since install, so that means it won't even boot. Can you share your Win7 version somehow?

sure, just send me a pm..
[doublepost=1556007909][/doublepost]

vbios mod... what does this involve? will read up in the thread if that was already mentioned here...
Will a dump/ soldering the bios chip from a defective apple card work?

Im ready to invest some effort as im not buying a new mac just for mojave 😉

modding a graphics card vbios to make in Apple compatible is very difficult.
If it was easy, there would already have been roms arround the internet for our iMac's 😉
But of course feel free to create a rom, and share with the iMac community 😉

I think Rominator from macvidcards gots the closed to a working mod of us all.
But I think he fall of the earth at the moment..

for more info of his latest posts look here :
http://netkas.org/forum/index.php/topic,13815.0.html

 

[DManno3]

Thats correct.. 😉

Can I download your Windows 7? Will I be able to install the NVIDIA CUDA and WEBSERVER drivers on windows in order for my gtx 780m in my imac 2011 to work once windows boots???? Could somebody please provide me with a tutorial or page on steps to take to install windows on my 2011 imac upgraded gtx 780m so that i dont boot into a black screen?

 

[FlorisVN]

Can I download your Windows 7? Will I be able to install the NVIDIA CUDA and WEBSERVER drivers on windows in order for my gtx 780m in my imac 2011 to work once windows boots???? Could somebody please provide me with a tutorial or page on steps to take to install windows on my 2011 imac upgraded gtx 780m so that i dont boot into a black screen?

see my post above, in my opinion easiest way to install bootcamp windows, is by restoring a prebuilt winclone image..
I still have not found a way to get my blackscreen working with GTX765m on bootcamp, only external monitor works for me.
There are however people here who clamed to get internal screen to work, but I don't know how exactly.

 

[DManno3]

see my post above, in my opinion easiest way to install bootcamp windows, is by restoring a prebuilt winclone image..
I still have not found a way to get my blackscreen working with GTX765m on bootcamp, only external monitor works for me.
There are however people here who clamed to get internal screen to work, but I don't know how exactly.

How do you 'restore a prebuilt winclone image?'??
[doublepost=1556022426][/doublepost]

see my post above, in my opinion easiest way to install bootcamp windows, is by restoring a prebuilt winclone image..
I still have not found a way to get my blackscreen working with GTX765m on bootcamp, only external monitor works for me.
There are however people here who clamed to get internal screen to work, but I don't know how exactly.

Are you saying I can use a virtual machine to install windows, then install the NVIDIA drivers, then use winclone to save the windows and export it to a USB then use bootcamp to RESTORE that USB?
[doublepost=1556025119][/doublepost]

Not true, Mac OS 10.11-10.14 has drivers built in for Kelper cards which is why we're using them. And please STOP YELLING. Well I finally know you have a 6770m Since you never provided me details the last 6 posts, which means you have the shorter heatsink. While you were in there you probably should have upgraded your CPU to a 2600 non K. Boot camp on the 27"/780m in Windows will give you no backlight as stated by @FlorisVN. And you should put k5 Pro on your VRam which is probably help with lagging in fortnite. Also you are running on a i5 2500 what do you expect.
[doublepost=1555514837][/doublepost]

From IMG_3274 it appears you got thermal paste on your MXM contacts. Please clean that, and carefully check/clean your MXM slot.

The reason Fortnite is lagging is not the CPU, In activity monitor there is plenty of power. I did some research and it turns out fortnite's compatibility with mac is just awful. Other games run like a dream! My shorter heatsink did not impose any problems. Now I need to install windows. Have you installed windows on yours?? maybe you could share your experience with what works and what doesn't please, thanks.

 

[kral84]

now i install an 860m working perfektly....

-black boot screen for 10 sec 🙂 +chrimes
-full FAN speed
-lights is full up

 

[FlorisVN]

Can I download your Windows 7? Will I be able to install the NVIDIA CUDA and WEBSERVER drivers on windows in order for my gtx 780m in my imac 2011 to work once windows boots???? Could somebody please provide me with a tutorial or page on steps to take to install windows on my 2011 imac upgraded gtx 780m so that i dont boot into a black screen?

now i install an 860m working perfektly....

-black boot screen for 10 sec 🙂 +chrimes
-full FAN speed
-lights is full up

Can you share the exact model of card with us ?

 

[kral84]

what values do I have to set in macsfancontrol? default or special values?

 

[FlorisVN]

what values do I have to set in macsfancontrol? default or special values?

Hi,
I personally reccomend putting al the fans at full speed all the time.

But have at least HDD Fan and Optical drive fan at full speed !

Use Macsfancontrol, its great and free !

What GTX860M are you using ?
a dell/alienware model I presume ?
Maybe you can share te exact details here, could be handy for everybody 😉

 

[kral84]

Hi,
I personally reccomend putting al the fans at full speed all the time.

But have at least HDD Fan and Optical drive fan at full speed !

Use Macsfancontrol, its great and free !

What GTX860M are you using ?
a dell/alienware model I presume ?
Maybe you can share te exact details here, could be handy for everybody 😉

Full speed is loud 🙂 i try it it with temp 46 - 58 ... Its from an DELL Alienware 18, where can i read the details? i have buy it from ebay ...

 

[passatgt]

what values do I have to set in macsfancontrol? default or special values?

This is what i use for my 780M:

[doublepost=1556100200][/doublepost]

Full speed is loud 🙂 i try it it with temp 46 - 58 ... Its from an DELL Alienware 18, where can i read the details? i have buy it from ebay ...

Open System Information(you can use spotlight, or apple logo -> about this mac -> System Information) and select Graphics & display on the left side and post a screenshot. So we can see the bios version.

 

[kral84]

I have it ... #1967

Thank you i will try your settings...

 

[Ooze]

Howdy everyone, sorry to be interrupting everything, long time lurker here. But I'm now installing a GTX 1060 mxm into my 21.5 inch Late 2009 I-mac (core 2 duo) originally with the wonderful ATI Radeon HD 4670. Don't worry I'm not here for the basics, I've already completed the install, installed High Sierra and have the NVIDIA webdrivers installed in hopes of it catching on. Alas, After taking apart and reassembling everything twice. I'm still on the black screen. Lucky for me, I can reset the PRAM (confirming startup keys work), and even get it into Mac OS and make it make noise, so I do know it's booting and getting past the initial screen. Problem is though... I've got black screen. No flashlight application can show me anything on it (some have reported losing screen backlight while doing this. But I've lost the whole thing.) And there is no output from the mini-Display Port. Tried as much as I know. I wonder if any of you fine feathered gentlemen could shed some light for on this, maybe get an angle I don't. Anyway. Hope someone has an idea. I'm running out.

In short, madman puts GTX 1060 in Late 2009 C2D I mac in hopes of making the most rad pre-i7 imac of all time. He's blackscreen now and is in need of ideas. Pls help this man.

 

[FlorisVN]

Howdy everyone, sorry to be interrupting everything, long time lurker here. But I'm now installing a GTX 1060 mxm into my 21.5 inch Late 2009 I-mac (core 2 duo) originally with the wonderful ATI Radeon HD 4670. Don't worry I'm not here for the basics, I've already completed the install, installed High Sierra and have the NVIDIA webdrivers installed in hopes of it catching on. Alas, After taking apart and reassembling everything twice. I'm still on the black screen. Lucky for me, I can reset the PRAM (confirming startup keys work), and even get it into Mac OS and make it make noise, so I do know it's booting and getting past the initial screen. Problem is though... I've got black screen. No flashlight application can show me anything on it (some have reported losing screen backlight while doing this. But I've lost the whole thing.) And there is no output from the mini-Display Port. Tried as much as I know. I wonder if any of you fine feathered gentlemen could shed some light for on this, maybe get an angle I don't. Anyway. Hope someone has an idea. I'm running out.

In short, madman puts GTX 1060 in Late 2009 C2D I mac in hopes of making the most rad pre-i7 imac of all time. He's blackscreen now and is in need of ideas. Pls help this man.

Have you done remote connection to the iMac like VNC, and see if nvidia web drivers are also enabled.. ?
Also check to see if the card is recognised at all with system profiler..

Also I highly doubt GTX1060 will work.
I would advise stick to known working Dell/Alienware kepler cards..

 

[passatgt]

Howdy everyone, sorry to be interrupting everything, long time lurker here. But I'm now installing a GTX 1060 mxm into my 21.5 inch Late 2009 I-mac (core 2 duo) originally with the wonderful ATI Radeon HD 4670. Don't worry I'm not here for the basics, I've already completed the install, installed High Sierra and have the NVIDIA webdrivers installed in hopes of it catching on. Alas, After taking apart and reassembling everything twice. I'm still on the black screen. Lucky for me, I can reset the PRAM (confirming startup keys work), and even get it into Mac OS and make it make noise, so I do know it's booting and getting past the initial screen. Problem is though... I've got black screen. No flashlight application can show me anything on it (some have reported losing screen backlight while doing this. But I've lost the whole thing.) And there is no output from the mini-Display Port. Tried as much as I know. I wonder if any of you fine feathered gentlemen could shed some light for on this, maybe get an angle I don't. Anyway. Hope someone has an idea. I'm running out.

In short, madman puts GTX 1060 in Late 2009 C2D I mac in hopes of making the most rad pre-i7 imac of all time. He's blackscreen now and is in need of ideas. Pls help this man.

Are you sure you want to do that? The 1060M is an MXM-B card, i don't think that fits correctly with the small heatsink in this iMac(cooling will not be good). I don't saw anyone successfully running the 1060M in any iMac though. Also You could try installing Windows and see if that works(make sure you enable remote desktop, so you can still use it even if you don't have video output). You could try installing different firmwares on the card, you can find other 1060M versions on techpowerup. You can do a bios update from Windows i believe.

 

[Ooze]

Have you done remote connection to the iMac like VNC, and see if nvidia web drivers are also enabled.. ?
Also check to see if the card is recognised at all with system profiler..

Also I highly doubt GTX1060 will work.
I would advise stick to known working Dell/Alienware kepler cards..

I haven't tried to remote connect yet, I'll reinstall the original GPU today and see if I can't get that all set up for my next set of tests.

I'm nowhere near sure if it'll work either, BUT, if it does, I'm sure someone will enjoy reading about it.

Wait, I need to enable the webdrivers? I had no idea, after I installed them I just essentially said "well I should just try it again? I think?" I'm not really a mac guy, (this is really my first BIG project doing this kind of thing with an apple machine besides getting Win10 running on a Late 2008 Macbook and then finding a way to overclock it for fun.) I don't have a lot of experience with OSx or the later MacOS variants.