Need graphic card. 27" 2012 iMac Aluminum. AMD RAEDON HD 6770M. See used $24 to $100. $200 New from china. Are the new ones from China any good? is there a graphics card upgrade for this computer? Looks like a lot of trouble to replace w/used and then do it again and again. Is the new New Old Stock or something improved? This machine is a freebie so $200 would not be a waste for something w/27" screen. Will probably install Linux or dual boot. I have Linux disc modified so it can easily be installed on a Mac. Hate to see this beautiful machine go to the dump just because it is beyond Apple OS upgrade. I have been running Linux on this 2006 Dell laptop that I am using right now since 2007. Now has the latest OS on it.
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2012 Graphic Card
- Thread starter borgward
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The Late 2012 iMacs' GPU is soldered on the logic board, so not an easy job.
Or, do you mean you want to replace the whole logic board?
The 27" Late 2012 iMacs had a BTO option for the 2GB 680mx, which was the best GPU for that model, and an overall decent GPU (I have one). Maybe you might have some luck finding the 680mx?
Or, do you mean you want to replace the whole logic board?
The 27" Late 2012 iMacs had a BTO option for the 2GB 680mx, which was the best GPU for that model, and an overall decent GPU (I have one). Maybe you might have some luck finding the 680mx?
I believe it's a mid 2012.
Serial # C02HHD5WJDHJP
Part# MC813LL/A
Model A1312
From what I can tell, the GPU is on a board that plugs into something else. I am guessing the 2GB GPU would not be an option for me.
If your graphic card is exactly like what you described (detachable HD 6770m 512BM VRAM), then you have a late 2011 iMac.
In that case, welcome to the club:
2011 iMac Graphics Card Upgrade
iMac 2009 to 2011 MXM3 graphics card upgrade (Lastest update 10/13/2023 - this is the official documentation page - you found it finally!) This is the single and only documentation post. During the last years we constantly updated this post to reflect the lastet development of vBIOS and OCLP...
forums.macrumors.com
iMac 2011 Maxwell and Pascal GPU upgrade
This is a Wiki post with information collected from the entire thread. Before you post, please read this first. This thread is for supporting Maxwell and Pascal cards on the 2009-2011 iMac. Maxwell and Pascal cards will not work with acceleration on MacOS beyond High Sierra due to lack of...
forums.macrumors.com
How do I verify whether or not it is mid or late 2011? According to everymac.com using serial #, Part # and Model # it is Mid 2011:
"iMac 27-Inch "Core i5" 2.7 (Mid-2011) 2.7 GHz Core i5 (I5-2500S)
Intro. May 3, 2011 Disc. October 23, 2012
Order MC813LL/A (EMC 2429)
Family Mid-2011 ID iMac12,2 ... "
Other ways to determine mid or late?
"iMac 27-Inch "Core i5" 2.7 (Mid-2011) 2.7 GHz Core i5 (I5-2500S)
Intro. May 3, 2011 Disc. October 23, 2012
Order MC813LL/A (EMC 2429)
Family Mid-2011 ID iMac12,2 ... "
Other ways to determine mid or late?
Measure the edge of your iMac. The difference is quite obvious, distinguishable by normal eyesight.
Thin edge: iMac 2012
Thick edge (nearly 1 inch or larger 2cm): iMac 2011
There is no late 2011 iMac. Only mid 2011 or simply just 2011.
Last edited:
1st. It is a mid 2011 iMac. GPU card unplugs from the system board.
I booted Linux Live session DVD in the optical drive. Screen displays full 2560 X 1440 resolution, so I do not think the GPU is bad. Please tell me if you think my logic is bad. I suspect there is a driver and or Mac OS issue when trying to boot to Mac login. Thinking about doing system restore. Anything else to get Mac OS to boot? How about reinstall? What do I need to do that?
I booted Linux Live session DVD in the optical drive. Screen displays full 2560 X 1440 resolution, so I do not think the GPU is bad. Please tell me if you think my logic is bad. I suspect there is a driver and or Mac OS issue when trying to boot to Mac login. Thinking about doing system restore. Anything else to get Mac OS to boot? How about reinstall? What do I need to do that?
Try running something that can apply heavy loads to the graphic card.
I have 3 graphic card which can boot to the Linux desktop, but failed to boot Mac OS.
Or you can try old Mac OS, which doesn't require GPU power much.
What would be a heavy load? I don't do gaming. I did run YouTube videos. Maybe do stuff with GIMP which is similar Photoshop.
It does not seem that simply booting to a Mac desktop would put a heavy load on the GPU. I would think since both Mac OS and Linux are both efficient and Unix that they would incur similar loads at boot time.
Do you know for sure that the Mac Driver for the AMD RAEDON HD 6770M is loaded and that the Mac OS is in working order? Your Mac is using the same GPU I have?
Thanks for the suggestions
There is nothing for sure. I just gave you 3 examples from my experience. (And probably there are several dozen thousand more examples from other Mac users). Take it of leave it is up to you.
In my case, after I had replaced the GPU, my iMac booted normally to High Sierra desktop and work with light gaming, youtube v.v...
In the end, you couldn't boot to Mac OS desktop, could you?
How to Stress Test a Graphics Card on Linux - Make Tech Easier
Learn how to stress test your graphics card on Linux with any of these useful tools, such as GL Mark 2, GpuTest, Unigine Benchmark and more.
www.maketecheasier.com
If re-use the HD6770m is the only option you can afford, then you can try the following procedure
1. Dump the vBIOS.
2. Take the MXM card out of your iMac
3. Do a simple reflow (Hot air gun blowing and circulating on the GPU main chip, 300 degrees in 5 min, other component covered with Kapton tape)
4. on a Windows PC, modify the vBIOS to lower it max frequency about 2-3%.
5. Assemble the MXM card back to iMac
6. Boot to Linux and flash the modified vBIOS to the card.
Note: VBIOS modifying is to prolong the GPU life only. You can skip it if it exceed your skill set.
In my case, I would just replace the half-dead GPU with a better one.
I still have a HD6770m which refused to boot to High Sierra, but works fine in Yosemite.
Problem solved. I reinstalled over the Internet and am now running 10.13.6. Boots to login. I think the problem was that only the recovery was installed and the rest of the drive was empty. I could see that there was a whole lot of things greyed out leaving me to think they were there but denied to me. I also saw indication that the drive was empty. That conflict led to confusion on my part.