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

[FlorisVN]

I don't think we will ever see a workable bios. The best option for brightness control is the dyinglight module, but installing that is a bit tricky and at the moment you cannot buy one i believe.

never say no, maybe Rominator will be back someday with a rom..
http://netkas.org/forum/index.php/topic,13815.0.html
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What is the right way to reassemble the board into the iMac. It always take me about 20-30 minutes to get the board in position. This design s*ks hard for maintenance.

I would advise to take a look at the service manual for the 2011 iMac.
yes it is big operation, and the logic board has to be completly taken out, that is the best way.
(also the way Apple reccomends)

some people just lift the board up a little, and slide out their MXM video card, but this is not the way I do it..

Maybe you use the Apple service manual.. ?

 

[Roman78]

I dont have the Service Manual. Getting the Logicboard out is not the problem. Somehow i always have problems to get the board back in. I am always stuck in the middle somewhere.

Anyhow i managed to get the board back in... and i can confirm a Quadro K1100M is working out of the box.

 

[FlorisVN]

I dont have the Service Manual. Getting the Logicboard out is not the problem. Somehow i always have problems to get the board back in. I am always stuck in the middle somewhere.

Anyhow i managed to get the board back in... and i can confirm a Quadro K1100M is working out of the box.

View attachment 844043

I just took out some pages of the service manual
maybe this is some usefull info for you.. ?

Good to know that the Quadro K1100M is also working, we can add this to the list I think.. 😉
[doublepost=1561034663][/doublepost]

Thanks so much - that's really useful to see and makes me feel quite confident 🙂 I guess the flashes during brightness changes is just the camera adapting?



That's a shame, but thanks for trying. I'll see if I can find anything out but personally while I'd regret losing auto-brightness I could live with the keyboard buttons for brightness control as long as the screen quality isn't reduced.

Thanks again to everyone for so much info - I'll have to have a think about this!

Out of curiosity if you were in my shoes would you jump on a 765m / 780m now or wait to see if anyone does come up with a workable Mac BIOS for one of these GPUs?

yeah mostly flashes from the camera indeed.
Brightness Slider is in my opinion the best solution, if you are not modding the backlight control with the DyingLight mod from dosdude1 for example or other hardware mods.
(https://computeco.de/DyingLight.html)

Glad this gave you a better picture of how it works.. 😉
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I dont have the Service Manual. Getting the Logicboard out is not the problem. Somehow i always have problems to get the board back in. I am always stuck in the middle somewhere.

Anyhow i managed to get the board back in... and i can confirm a Quadro K1100M is working out of the box.

View attachment 844043

this Quadro K1100m is btw a good alternative to the Quadro K2000m which are both perfect for the 21,5" iMac models in my opinion.
(both are smaller MXM-A cards)
I think the Quadro K1100m is also a little bit faster than the Quadro K2000m ?
https://technical.city/en/video/Quadro-K1100M-vs-Quadro-K2000M

Does at least 1 external monitor out put also works with the K1100m ?
and which exact model did you use.. ?
I think this info could then also be added to the opening post of this thread, and spread the word... 😉

 

[Roman78]

Nice.. i just did a Geekbench of the K1100M, it got 10588 points... thats even more as the Radeon HD 6970M with 9956 Points. And this card was 30 Euros.

https://browser.geekbench.com/v4/compute/4191956

 

[passatgt]

I can remove and install the logicboard without removing the power supply. You need to flex the plastic around the power supply, but it fits just fine and that way its faster. Theres a plastic tab on the inside, on the right side of the case that touches the IO on the logic board, thats where it will usually stuck. What i do is with the the right side first, and then move the left side down while pushing on the plastic brackets below the PSU and it just snaps into place. Also the PSU cables that connects to the logic board, i usually remove that from the cable holders at the top and align them inside the little channel first, before pushing down the logic board. Those wires can also get in the way.

 

[lamerz78]

What is the right way to reassemble the board into the iMac. It always take me about 20-30 minutes to get the board in position. This design s*ks hard for maintenance.

First time take me about 3 hours to disassemble and reassemble.....

Yesterday only 1 hour. 😎

I have the 21,5” but I think the 27” is the same s**t.... only bigger 😀

I always start reconnecting all cables (SATA x3, power x3, another multiple plug and last the alimentation). Next carefully I slide in the main board.

Tipically the sata cables aren’t correctly “oriented” and they steal some space so the main board would not go in the right position. I have also the SSD and its cables to complicate the rubbish.....

On the 21,5” you have to worry about the antenna cables and the power button connector (a couple of time They have disappeared under the main board😕) don’t know on the 27”.

I always use the perfect guide from ifixit. Clear and with color photo.

 

[Roman78]

External monitor using mDP-HDMI is working.



I don't know the exact type. I just bought one on eBay. I Just searched for Quadros and found ths one:

https://www.ebay.de/itm/Notebook-Gr...WikYJ2GE0o%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc

 

[passatgt]

External monitor using mDP-HDMI is working.

View attachment 844048

I don't know the exact type. I just bought one on eBay. I Just searched for Quadros and found ths one:

https://www.ebay.de/itm/Notebook-Grafikkarte-Nvidia-Quadro-K1100m-N15P-Q1-A2-/163648026309?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&nma=true&si=67JedN3kv9LBDVF85WikYJ2GE0o%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc

A screenshot from System Report / Graphics/Display would help, the ROM version is visible there.

 

[FlorisVN]

@Roman78

I think it looks like an Dell card to me.
But not sure about this..

like @passatgt states, if you can share a screenshot of the system rapport showing the graphics card, that would be great for all of us !

 

[passatgt]

Btw this K1100M looks perfect. Even has a lower tpd than the k2000m, similar or slightly better performance, same price. I wonder if other K*100 series cards would work. For example a K2100M which i can find on aliexpress, its almost 1,5x faster than the k1100m and still using the smaller form factor.

 

[Roman78]

Btw this K1100M looks perfect. Even has a lower tpd than the k2000m, similar or slightly better performance, same price. I wonder if other K*100 series cards would work. For example a K2100M which i can find on aliexpress, its almost 1,5x faster than the k1100m and still using the smaller form factor.

Could be. The K2100M use the GK106 Core, same as in the GTX765M and GTX770M. Used this list to be sure to get a Kepler and not a Fermi Core.

Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nvidia_Quadro
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_700_series

 

[Roman78]

Did someone tested a GPU from an iMac 2010 in a 2011. I have a friend who's iMac is now here and he wants the brightness control to work.

A screenshot from System Report / Graphics/Display would help, the ROM version is visible there.

Here you go...

 

[FlorisVN]

Did someone tested a GPU from an iMac 2010 in a 2011. I have a friend who's iMac is now here and he wants the brightness control to work.



Here you go...
View attachment 844110

I think it should work.
i think also the 2009 amd cards should work in 2011 models, not sure though..
you can always try of course, and share your result here... 😉

of course keep in mind your card is not metal compatible like the nvidia cards... 😉

btw funny and interessting ROM-version your quadro K1100M has, it says preset 1.0.0

 

[passatgt]

Did someone tested a GPU from an iMac 2010 in a 2011. I have a friend who's iMac is now here and he wants the brightness control to work.

I used a 2011 AMD gpu in a 2010 before. So i think it works both ways. Also you can order a non-mac 2gb 6770M from aliexpress and flash the 1gb apple rom on it, that works too.

 

[Ooze]

Sorry, I might need to lurk a little harder, has anyone tried AMD's Cards? Like the HD 7970M, the HD 8970M, or the FirePro WxxxxM series ones?

 

[lamerz78]

Hi all......I've installed HS and Mojave....but I'm in this condition......

If I do a PRAM reset the first SO is Mojave.....

 

[Roman78]

I used a 2011 AMD gpu in a 2010 before. So i think it works both ways. Also you can order a non-mac 2gb 6770M from aliexpress and flash the 1gb apple rom on it, that works too.

Ah.. yes... flashing with a Raspberry, wasn't it? I wonder if a HD6770M 1GB from a HP would work.

/edit: what the hack... just bought one...

 

[passatgt]

Ah.. yes... flashing with a Raspberry, wasn't it? I wonder if a HD6770M 1GB from a HP would work.

/edit: what the hack... just bought one...

Usually the HP versions doesn't have a bios chip on it, so i don't think that works. And sorry, i forgot by now, but it was a 1gb card and the apple version is 512mb. This is the one i ordered: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32865870005.html
Also you need to replace the bios chip, because the default one on the non-apple card is 64kb and you need a 128kb one for the apple fw: https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/113063/apple-hd6770m-512-110418
My friend removed the chip form a broken apple card, it was the same model. But i checked and you can order a bios chip like this for like a 1$.
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Hi all......I've installed HS and Mojave....but I'm in this condition......View attachment 844209

If I do a PRAM reset the first SO is Mojave.....

I have an SSD installed in place of the original HDD and an additional one in place of the ODD. So my setup was to install high-sierra on the sata0 ssd(which is the original hdd location) and mojave on the odd(which is sata2 i believe, because you have one more sata connector inside for an additional disk)

 

[Roman78]

You link to Aliexpress gives: Sorry, the page you requested can not be found🙁

I have ordered this card, looks like the one in your second link, only green instead of blue.

 

[passatgt]

You link to Aliexpress gives: Sorry, the page you requested can not be found🙁

I have ordered this card, looks like the one in your second link, only green instead of blue.
View attachment 844222

Yes, this one doesn't have a bios chip on it. It should be here:

 

[lamerz78]

double post sorry

 

[Roman78]

Aha.. crud... Well lets see if it works...

/edit... hmm the seller canceld the purchase, and i don't know why.

 

[lamerz78]

.....


I have an SSD installed in place of the original HDD and an additional one in place of the ODD. So my setup was to install high-sierra on the sata0 ssd(which is the original hdd location) and mojave on the odd(which is sata2 i believe, because you have one more sata connector inside for an additional disk)

I want two s.o. on the same SSD .... and I want the HS partition be the “first” one not like my screenshot above.....

Hi all......I've installed HS and Mojave....but I'm in this condition......View attachment 844209

If I do a PRAM reset the first SO is Mojave.....

I’ve installed in order:

HS and then Mojave.....

Now if I do a PRAM reset it starts Mojave.....I want exactly the reverse.... I want to start HS if I do a PRAM reset.

Any suggestion?

 

[AlexPalm]

Hi all,

Simple (I hope) question.
I have iMac 27" 2011 with Radeon HD 6970M 1024 MB, that means that I have a bigger thermal system.
Will Quadro K2000M fit to my iMac ? Will I need some modifications in thermal pad?

 

[passatgt]

Hi all,

Simple (I hope) question.
I have iMac 27" 2011 with Radeon HD 6970M 1024 MB, that means that I have a bigger thermal system.
Will Quadro K2000M fit to my iMac ? Will I need some modifications in thermal pad?

Yes, it fits with the bigger heatsink. You need to drill out the bracket holes on the card so the iMac screws can go through it, thats the only mod you need to do. But if you read back, the k1100m works too and it has slightly better performance, so i would get that instead.