iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2011) Upgrade Graphics Card

[maxianraduioan]

Hi guys ! Some one know if you can upgrade one of this graphics card and is work for installing macos Catalina , Big Sur ... before to flash vbios , nvram?? :

Quadro K500M

Quadro K510M

Quadro K610M +

Quadro K1100M +

Quadro K2100M +

Quadro K1000M +

Quadro K2000M +

Quadro K3000M ++

Quadro K4000M ++

Quadro K3100M ++

Quadro K4100M ++

Quadro K5000M ++

Quadro K5100M ++

GTX 680M ++

GTX 765M +

GTX 770M +

GTX 780M +

GTX 780M ++

GTX 880M ++

GTX 860M ++

GTX 870M ++

And if is posible to install , can i flash vbior from my imac directly?

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

I'm curious.
1. Where did you get the above list? Isn't come from the famous thread in this forum?

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

2. Have you read the entire post, all the links from there until you understand it?
If your answer were yes, your question would have been already answered.

 

[maxianraduioan]

i buy a nvidia quadro k1100m graphic card bat the screen is black , i listen the sound for power on but no image available. how to flas the graphic card in this case?

 

[maxianraduioan]

Someone get the vibios for Nvidia QUADRO K1100M from HP?? Not for Dell or Lenovo . HP I NEDD

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

Someone get the vibios for Nvidia QUADRO K1100M from HP?? Not for Dell or Lenovo . HP I NEDD

If you are not willing to read the thread of which link I have provided above, I'm afraid no one can help you. All the info and VBIOS files you need are in that thread.

 

[maxianraduioan]

If you are not willing to read the thread of which link I have provided above, I'm afraid no one can help you. All

If you are not

 

[maxianraduioan]

Of course I read everything. I take the firmware from this website And I flash it , so the Display is not black anymore but is not working fine, A lot of lines are all my screen it’s something unstable. Tomorrow I will put some pictures to see

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

Of course I read everything. I take the firmware from this website And I flash it , so the Display is not black anymore but is not working fine, A lot of lines are all my screen it’s something unstable. Tomorrow I will put some pictures to see

Are you sure that you bought a working card? Tested on a laptop or PC?

 

[maxianraduioan]

I buy the graphic card from eBay, I think Was working fine I’m not sure. The graphic cards is extracted from From HP laptop.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

I buy the graphic card from eBay, I think Was working fine I’m not sure. The graphic cards is extracted from From HP laptop.

I think you got a bad graphic card.
Here are something I would do to test.

1. Hook up an external display to see if it display clearly or not. => External display works means the card was flashed successfully. Issues may be on the LVDS (eDP) cable or connector, or the card.
2. Try booting with other OS like the Linux USB, or some other Linus Distro to isolate software (OS) issue.
My iMac 2009 booted nicely with the flashed K1100m, straight to High Sierra desktop. No lines, no strips, stable screen.

 

[maxianraduioan]

No I find a graphic art Nvidia Quadro K3100m . My question is only we have one more the office I mean it’s made by HP? Dell , Lenovo …?? Or all the graphic cards and video are made by Nvidia? I am a little bit confuse because I find firmware to my graphic card for : Dell , And Lenovo. So no I want to make sure if I buy the Nvidia K3100M the firmware from this site is 100% compatible. For the last time I’m asking is this graphic card is just one model?

I think you got a bad graphic card.
Here are something I would do to test.

1. Hook up an external display to see if it display clearly or not. => External display works means the card was flashed successfully. Issues may be on the LVDS (eDP) cable or connector, or the card.
2. Try booting with other OS like the Linux USB, or some other Linus Distro to isolate software (OS) issue.
My iMac 2009 booted nicely with the flashed K1100m, straight to High Sierra desktop. No lines, no strips, stable screen.

I tried Another room version and I did it, is work perfectly. Thank you very much guys you are the best

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

No I find a graphic art Nvidia Quadro K3100m . My question is only we have one more the office I mean it’s made by HP? Dell , Lenovo …?? Or all the graphic cards and video are made by Nvidia? I am a little bit confuse because I find firmware to my graphic card for : Dell , And Lenovo. So no I want to make sure if I buy the Nvidia K3100M the firmware from this site is 100% compatible. For the last time I’m asking is this graphic card is just one model?

I tried Another room version and I did it, is work perfectly. Thank you very much guys you are the best

Really? I thought there was only 1 ROM version for K1100m from the link in post#1. I used that link and maybe I got lucky.

For the K3100m and other nVidia/AMD cards, only the GPU main chip is made by nVIDIA or AMD. Other manufacturers design their own MXM cards to fit their laptops. Then they send those design to OEM manufacturers in China for mass production. HP and Dell don't make parts, they just order the parts with their brand printed on.

 

[maxianraduioan]

Really? I thought there was only 1 ROM version for K1100m from the link in post#1. I used that link and maybe I got lucky.

For the K3100m and other nVidia/AMD cards, only the GPU main chip is made by nVIDIA or AMD. Other manufacturers design their own MXM cards to fit their laptops. Then they send those design to OEM manufacturers in China for mass production. HP and Dell don't make parts, they just order the parts with their brand printed on.

Thanx a lot .

 

[maxianraduioan]

I flashed the graphic card Nvidia Quadro K1100m Into my iMac 27 from 2009 , I made the flash installing the windows in my iMac 27 from 2009 and I work by control remote with AnyDesk , finally I flashed and is work. Now I put my Nvidia K1100m in another iMac 21,5 from 2011, I started up the iMac and is work (with macOS High Sierra.)And I restarted my iMac to install Big Sur bat never boot up. I Hear the sound for starting up bat the screen is in black , not recovery , not Boot logo , not usb boot (pressing and holding ALT key). Is like a dead Pc. When is booting is restarting all the time . What can I do now??

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

I flashed the graphic card Nvidia Quadro K1100m Into my iMac 27 from 2009 , I made the flash installing the windows in my iMac 27 from 2009 and I work by control remote with AnyDesk , finally I flashed and is work. Now I put my Nvidia K1100m in another iMac 21,5 from 2011, I started up the iMac and is work (with macOS High Sierra.)And I restarted my iMac to install Big Sur bat never boot up. I Hear the sound for starting up bat the screen is in black , not recovery , not Boot logo , not usb boot (pressing and holding ALT key). Is like a dead Pc. When is booting is restarting all the time . What can I do now??

You need OpenCore Legacy Patcher to install Big Sur.
Remember to do a PRAM reset when making changes to the hardware like swapping graphic cards.

OpenCore Legacy Patcher

Experience macOS just like before

dortania.github.io

 

[maxianraduioan]

You need OpenCore Legacy Patcher to install Big Sur.
Remember to do a PRAM reset when making changes to the hardware like swapping graphic cards.

OpenCore Legacy Patcher

Experience macOS just like before

dortania.github.io

I have a usb with Big Sur and I change the EFI from Original installer with the EFI from OpenCore. The same think , the screen is black.

 

[CefelMac]

I have a usb with Big Sur and I change the EFI from Original installer with the EFI from OpenCore. The same think , the screen is black.

Hello Max i have the same problem my K1100m works in IMac 2010 (21,5" and 27"), but not in my Imac 21,5" 2011 !?
Did you find a solution ? Thank you ;-)

 

[sjoe83]

Can you

No I find a graphic art Nvidia Quadro K3100m . My question is only we have one more the office I mean it’s made by HP? Dell , Lenovo …?? Or all the graphic cards and video are made by Nvidia? I am a little bit confuse because I find firmware to my graphic card for : Dell , And Lenovo. So no I want to make sure if I buy the Nvidia K3100M the firmware from this site is 100% compatible. For the last time I’m asking is this graphic card is just one model?

I tried Another room version and I did it, is work perfectly. Thank you very much guys you are the best

Can you show me the rom version that you used? Because I'm having the same issue with the K1100M

 

[maxianraduioan]

hi! i upgraded my imac 21.5 from 2011 to nvidia quadro k3100m flashed and i my boot screen (when the screen is white) i get some black lines for the right side of my screen to the left side of my screen, is the secong nvidia quadro k3100m with the same problem. someone know what cant be? i downloaded the rom from this forum. thanx

 

[maxianraduioan]

Hello Max i have the same problem my K1100m works in IMac 2010 (21,5" and 27"), but not in my Imac 21,5" 2011 !?
Did you find a solution ? Thank you ;-)

Hi! Yes i found the solution.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

hi! i upgraded my imac 21.5 from 2011 to nvidia quadro k3100m flashed and i my boot screen (when the screen is white) i get some black lines for the right side of my screen to the left side of my screen, is the secong nvidia quadro k3100m with the same problem. someone know what cant be? i downloaded the rom from this forum. thanx

How would it be when you use the stock GPU? Same black lines?

 

[maxianraduioan]

Can you

Can you show me the rom version that you used? Because I'm having the same issue with the K1100M

Hi . Yes!

 

[maxianraduioan]

Hello Max i have the same problem my K1100m works in IMac 2010 (21,5" and 27"), but not in my Imac 21,5" 2011 !?
Did you find a solution ? Thank you ;-)

here is the rom!

 

[maxianraduioan]

Hi! Yes i found the solution.

the rom is here : remeber extract the file named:K1100M_0E.bin : the comand is : nvflash -6 K1100M_0E.bin

 

[maxianraduioan]

How would it be when you use the stock GPU? Same black lines?

with the stock rom the screen is was in black , i use AnyDesk control remote for flashing.