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Looking to upgrade mid 2010 27" GPU & CPU

J

JimmyC123

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 24, 2023
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I'm looking at upgrading my mid-2010 27" iMac 11,3 with new CPU and GPU to install a newer OS version. Had it since new and only ever really upgraded the RAM. Obviously it's struggling a fair bit these days, and just after a 'project' to avoid having to replace the iMac with a new one. Original specs were pretty light, with the 3.2ghz i3 processor, and ATI Radeon HD5670 512mb, but has served extremely well over the years.

I was looking at upgrading the CPU to either the i7-870 (2.93GHz) or i7-880 (3.06GHz), depeding on what I can get my hands on. I also have an SSD I'll be installing at the same time. My main concern with the upgrades is with the GPU, I'm a bit lost on what will fit my iMac, what is compatible and what is the 'best' choice out there when compared to compatibility and additional modifications required. I was considering the AMD WX7100, but not sure if this is compatible due to the Heat Sink requirements, or if the AMD WX4150 is a better choice, albeit requires additional modifications?

Has anyone got any suggestions or thoughts on the above specs that would be most compatible with my current iMac? All thoughts on this are welcomed, and appreciate the insights you've all got to share.
 
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1. Buy the pre-mod big heatsink to use with big MXM cards. I bought 3 as spares to use on my iMacs A1312, although I had to use my angle grinder to do the mod myself. There is no issue using the big heatsink with small cards.

2. iMac 11.3 is not a picky machine regarding GPU. But I would suggest RX480 just because it's more available now, and cheaper than WX4150 at the store.
 
Nguyen Duc Hieu said:
1. Buy the pre-mod big heatsink to use with big MXM cards. I bought 3 as spares to use on my iMacs A1312, although I had to use my angle grinder to do the mod myself. There is no issue using the big heatsink with small cards.

2. iMac 11.3 is not a picky machine regarding GPU. But I would suggest RX480 just because it's more available now, and cheaper than WX4150 at the store.
Click to expand...
I see you have the 27" mid 2010 running Big Sur 11.3.

I would like to do this with my system, can you please point me in the right direction?
I have ordered a SSD and some more ram and have completed a graphics card bake to get it running again.
After the SSD install I wuld like to have the highest Apple OS running to allow MS Office upgrades and work with lighroom.
 
Aussie iMac Hack said:
I see you have the 27" mid 2010 running Big Sur 11.3.

I would like to do this with my system, can you please point me in the right direction?
I have ordered a SSD and some more ram and have completed a graphics card bake to get it running again.
After the SSD install I wuld like to have the highest Apple OS running to allow MS Office upgrades and work with lighroom.
Click to expand...

With the re-baked stock GPU working, my process would be as follows:
1. Install Mac OS X High Sierra (last supported Mac OS) to the internal SSD. If you already has an external disk running High Sierra, it's even better.
2. Download and run OCLP on High Sierra.
3. Use OCLP to create USB installer of Monterey (newer than Big Sur) on a blank USB flash drive
4. Run OCLP to create and overwrite OC EFI to the USB installer.
5. Reboot from the USB installer and install Monterey to the internal SSD. (if the internal SSD has High Sierra, you can either create a new partition for Monterey, or simply wipe it clean for Monterey)
6. Reboot from the USB installer, then from OCLP boot menu, choose to boot from Monterey volume you have just installed.
7. on Monterey Desktop, download and run OCLP again, then do the OCLP root-patch. (a selectable item in OCLP menu)
8. Now you can remove the USB installer and boot from the internal SSD.

When you buy a new GPU (not the stock one), you need to run OCLP again to overwrite the internal EFI volume with new GPU configuration, but that's another story.
 
I didn't have much luck with the SSD External.
I created an image from the old HDD and copied it onto the new SSD, intalled it and is now working.
What would you recomend my next step would be?
With the current hardware, will it be able to run Monterey as prevoisuly suggested?

(Upgraded to a 2TB Crucial SSD and have 24GB 1333)
 
Aussie iMac Hack said:
I didn't have much luck with the SSD External.
I created an image from the old HDD and copied it onto the new SSD, intalled it and is now working.
What would you recomend my next step would be?
With the current hardware, will it be able to run Monterey as prevoisuly suggested?

(Upgraded to a 2TB Crucial SSD and have 24GB 1333)
Click to expand...

It's the same process, except you have got the internal SSD running High Sierra.
You can read the OCLP guideline several times before proceeding the below steps.

1. Done (install and run High Sierra)
2. Download and run OCLP on High Sierra.
3. Use OCLP to create USB installer of Monterey (newer than Big Sur) on a blank USB flash drive
4. Run OCLP to create and overwrite OC EFI to the USB installer.
5. Reboot from the USB installer and install Monterey to the internal SSD. (if the internal SSD has High Sierra, you can either create a new partition for Monterey, or simply format the internal SSD for Monterey)
6. Reboot from the USB installer, then from OCLP boot menu, choose to boot from Monterey volume you have just installed.
7. on Monterey Desktop, download and run OCLP again, then do the OCLP root-patch. (a selectable item in OCLP menu)
8. Now you can remove the USB installer and boot from the internal SSD.

In my opinion, the stock GPU is quite weak for newer version of Light Room.
I still using Big Sur on my iMac 2010. It has MS Office 365 installed and running. My wife is using it so I'm not very hasty to upgrade the OS. No actual benefit for her.
 
I have been running Monterey now for a few weeks and have been able to upgrade office and Chrome with no issues, thanks for your help on this.

One thing I have noticed is that the microphone is not working, I can't work out if it is a setting or is there an internal cable that I may not have connected?
 
zoran said:
Good for working with design apps like AdobeCC, im not much of a gamer
Click to expand...

Then no. It's not good for that purpose. Not even for graphic power demanding game titles, either.
The OCLP driver can enable nVIDIA GPU to work and let one use Mac OS, but they are now barely usable as nVIDIA GPU is no longer supported in recent Mac OS.
Mostly light jobs and media consumption only.
 
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