Hi Curtis, hope you can give me a moment of your time but first, thank you for these videos, they are VERY helpful. I have an iMac 27 mid 2011 i7 3.4 with a now failed 6970m 2GB VRAM. Here is the question: With the card you added to the 27" iMac and beyond all the new brightness control and boot menu on startup can you still use 2 external displays? This was something I loved about the 6970m but I can't seem to find an answer on this. If you don't know that's ok but I don't want to upgrade past High Sierra 10.13.6 if that helps you better answer my question. … and hey, where have you been lately. Hope all is well and thank you very much for sharing your methods and experiences they really help the community.
@@santospoland Hey Alex! For the upgrade I think you only maintain the ability to use 1 additional external monitor, and I actually didn't test that, so its more of a 'potential' rather than verified. As for making videos - I might make a comeback, with work /family / moving and everything else that has gone down the last year, I just ran short of time to spend playing around with technology!
@@messing-with-computers Thanks for the reply! I hope you do make a come back as your videos are really informative. I can't thank you enough for all the background work you had to go through to make these videos, I know that it took you a lot of time and sharing the experience with your RUclips audience is truly gracious of you. Best wishes on all your immediate responsibilities and I am hoping you find the time to return with some new content … until then, all the best!
I love it when I take something apart and put it back together and find out they included "extra" screws! You can throw them all over the floor and find them by stepping on them again. Such a fun game
Your videos are great. My 2011 iMac 27 is still running strong. Upgraded video card to gtx675mx 4gb (an amazing card, but not as budget conscious as your recommendations). Ram upgraded to 32gb (you can do this after HighSierra). Dual SSD's running in raid0 (to make speeds more like nvme). Upgraded wifi card to add AC speed. Replaced optical drive with a 3rd SSD for TimeMachine backups. I've tried all Mac OS up to Ventura... they all work, but I keep going back to High Sierra because I think it was Apple's best OS.
@@aironwhite6533 a lot of software is still up-to-date or the latest compatible version is still quite usable... however, chrome and firefox are ending support soon... HOWEVER... I've tested Ventura (installed with OpenCore) on the machine and it works PERFECTLY... the only downside is I was using 2 SSD's in RAID0, and the new MacOS's don't support RAID, so I must go back to using a single SSD. otherwise, the machine keeps going strong ツ
Things have changed in three years, it seems. I installed Ventura on my iMac 2011 using OCLP, and didn't need to swap out the GPU to do it. (Good thing, too, as it seems like a rather involved process.)
Hey mate, isn't the performance pretty slow without a metal gpu? Does Ventura not require metal or am i missing something? I installed big sur a while ago but it was almost unusable without a metal gpu
I’ll update on this I’ve got a 2011 iMac running Ventura perfectly fine. You just loose any location services. I have a 1TB SSD, intel core i7 2700k and 16GB memory it ran Ventura just with the SSD alone. I’ve even ran Sonoma on it but have had Bluetooth issues so Ventura is where I’ve stayed. You’re Mac will run a little warmer but I’ve just used different cooling options
Just want to thank you. Inspired on your videos I did my research, bought a GPU and now I have my mid 2011 iMac working with bigsur. It was a difficult task though, as I faced all kind of issues. That’s why I’m proud I managed to do it. Thanks a lot pal!
Hello Enrique! thats very interesting. I have an imac mid 2011 21". With this model i faced a lot of software compatiblity issues as this stuck with osx high sierra. Now im looking forward to upgrade the gpu. May i know what kind of gpu did you put inside?? And is there any occuring problem?
I tried another stock AMD card on my A1311 and it didn’t work. So as I understand - it doesn’t matter what card you had before upgrade and you just plugged K1100m and it worked?
Thanks alot dude ! I'm a real history NUT n a so-so repair guy. When I saw alittle bit of what u were doing, I was very glad cause that's the same iMac I have n I hope u don't mind me saving all your doing cause it's right up my alley. Good Luck dude and keep on doing what u do ...Peace
I started this upgrade over year ago. I purchased and flashed (in my PC) a Nvidia K2100M by Nick [D] vB 2048 . I installed it into my Mid 2011 27" iMac 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7. I was able to boot up and it worked fine. When I tried the next step to install Catalina, the processed failed and after a number of trys I gave up and just continued using the computer with High Sierra. Eventually I had to replace the computer (Mac Mini M1) so that I could run the updated version of FCPX.. Last night I pulled out my iMac to remove any old files and reformat the drive. After a clean install I decided to try to upgrade to Catalina one more time. I used DosDude1 Catalina Patcher and it successfully installed Catalina, but them my screen went black. I tried what I could to get a picture with no luck. So I reformatted and reinstalled High Sierra and monitor started working again. I am thinking the cause may be that the latest version of the patcher is designed to work with non-metal video cards??? Is it possible to refresh my card with the method you use, and then run the Catalina Patcher. Your video has been very helpful, and I would appreciate any advice you may have.
I can’t thank you enough for this vid and google docs… I’ve successfully did everything to my iMac 2011 upgrading with K2100m …was able to do the blind USB flashing by using my iPad to log in iMac 👍🏻👍🏻
how come you have so few subscribers this video is insane! the only reason i wish i was living in usa is that i could find old imac parts so easily... working spare parts or just cheap old imacs are so hard to come by in Turkey. :( a 27-inch imac 2011 with i7 3.4ghz would be a dream find for me. i know its old af but i would still very much enjoy the process of finding one and upgrading the gpu with a gtx 780m. i may never get to enjoy/suffer through that process but thanks for doing something similiar :D
This video is amazing. All the research has been done and everything is explained step by step. And it’s been proved it works. But I would not recommend anybody with no experience of tinkering with programming to attempt this upgrade. What you will do if you got stuck with something and haven’t got a clue? You will spend hours, days and more looking for a solution and same time fixing it and get it going. I really need this upgrade, badly. But would try to find somebody who is confident with this stuff and would take my imac to him, doing it together. Am I right?
I did all the steps but i cant get the brightness control working u.u i got an error verifying the size of the flashed rom compared to the size of the actual file that could be the problem?
would would be a good price for the k1100 or k2100m? Looks like I may have missed the decent price for now. Ill keep an eye on these. Would love to upgrade this machine to Catalina with upgraded GPU this summer! Thanks for your video!
Think I got lucky with a 610 for $14 .. it's certainly not worth more than that. Advise people be patient and set up a couple of saved eBay searches, prices will drop back down pretty quickly.
Hey curtis, you have the vbios back-up from the k1100m you tried to flash? I bought an hp K1100m and the backup is nowhere to be found on the imac, and now I have scrambled video from the modded vbios.
k610m is back down in price (seen a few around $16 lately) and the k1100m and k2100m have stabilized in price as well. Even picked up a k2100m to test in my 27'' iMac (video soon) for $50! Also - check out an easier method to flash these gpus: ruclips.net/video/sn5K2SKXrJg/видео.html
@@juancenteno3650 Video launched a few days back - check it out! Also published a companion video on a way easier way to flash the video cards once they are installed.
@@bjtster - Hey Brian, correct. The k2100m I bought was $55... I am only seeing ~$120 at the moment, and at that price I would just get a k4100m or go down to a k610m and wait for the price of the k2100m to drop. The exact card I used was: HP NVIDIA Quadro K2100M N15P-Q3-A1 2GB GDDR5
@@messing-with-computers your videos are great!!!! I got my hands on a k2100m for about $75 on eBay about 1 week ago... All went well... The flash you mentioned was so simple via SSH. I have a few questions... Is it normal for the iMac 27 to boot to a black screen (will only show apple boot screen while holding option)? Is there a workaround for it to boot normal?Will the open core / kext file process work the same for the 27 iMac? Once again, thank you, your videos are concise and very informational!!!!
Thanks for the tutorial and info links. Just ordered a k1100m card for my 2010 iMac 27". I've been wanting to upgrade this for a few years now but wasn't sure on what was required. (I actually have done a couple of early Mac Pros by upgrading the video card in the past, along with the Vbios to get the boot screen). I don't really want to go all the way to Catalina yet, as there are quite a few apps that I run that aren't supported in Catalina. I have Mojave on a 2012 MBP 15" that works just fine, so I'll probably go that route. 😉
Every product that ages well develops a community of users, hackers/mod-ers and also one who takes it far enough to be a sensei (the one who travels the road beforehand) or might we say a guru. My Mid-2011 iMac 27"er is in pieces next to me and the original graphics card is cooling down in the background. I wish I had found this guru here a little earlier! I would have got out the Dremel and upgraded my GPU, without this now defunkt step of baking my old GPU and having it last weeks/months and then in the end upgrading anyway! BTW the Mac repairer up the road said he had struggled for months to find a solid solution to the ubiquitous Mid-2011 GPU failure and had given up, and even advised me "not to bother trying to repair a computer that would always have this problem". For every person who watches this video and your previous video and upgrades their iMac, you Curtis Gross can take some credit for saving another machine from scrapping for some more years, and for lifting the skills, knowledge base and intellectual attitude of the human race just that little bit. Appropriate to this theme, your videos are far from the typical computer repair faire and more like a younger Eric Bana delivering an advanced yoga lesson and lecture. Very reassuring, but with more than enough information to back your explanation up. Nicely done!
Thanks for the video! Will try it myself with my 27 inch Mid 2011 iMac, even if I paid 91 Euros for a K610m. In Europe (Germany) it's almost impossible to find K610m for a decent price and shipping costs from the US are like 40 Dollars. AliExpress has cards for 30 dollars, but I don't really trust them with this kind of tech. Even the K2100m's are at a 200 Euro level right now. 91 Euro might be not appropriate, but I want my machine to work 2-3 years longer with Catalina, Big Sur etc. as I do not cut movies or something. It's a nice project and I like the sustainability factor of this. BTW: I think the rallye in pricing might have something to do with your videos. :D
we have the same machine. my k610m arrived today but the problem is the x-bracket from the failing gpu (6970m) does not fit the k610m. curtis has a 21.5inch imac with smaller square in the x-bracket which fits with k610m properly... now i wish what i have is a 21.5 inch instead of 27 inch...
Thanks Curtis! You know what your doing and this tutorial plus the opencore video helped a lot! Only problem I had was due to using a newer version of Catalina that requires replacing Framework and a couple kext files don't need to be installed due to dosdude patcher doing it already, and installing them will ruin the os and will be stuck in loading screen until reinstall. Macrumors page has the instructions/download for that 👍
I sadly I think the 2012 has a soldered gpu, which is non upgradable. Might be able to tell the computer to use the on-cpu gpu instead though! Did that on my old 2012 MacBook Pro that had a gpu go out.
Curtis Gross I recently got a 2011 21.5” iMac with an i7, 16GB of ram, and a 256 GB SSD FOR $220 and am shocked by how capable and quick this nearly decade old machine is (but you already know this). Only thing missing is Catilana support...and thanks to you I now feel comfortable taking the plunge and upgrading the GPU. Thanks!
@@CosmicEpiphany Glad to have helped! Sounds like you got a rockin machine for a good deal - i7 and everything! When you have it ripped open you could put a bigger drive in too!
@@francisacemaglalang1701 I believe it will. But pleas double check. There are some really good guides out there about replacing these GPUs and what they support.
Are brightness controls also working in system preferences? If not, it means you can’t disable auto brightness! Also, this GPU supports Metal. You can easily patch your device to the latest version of macOS, so further than this!
Superb work - thank you, Curtis. As an idea to expand on this instruction set: I would be very interested to see whether you could manage to successfully flash any one of your highly recommended cards using a pcie to mxm adapter (as you showed as one of the potential avenues that you pursued). The reason for asking: I have a 27" mid 2011 that I have heavily upgraded over the years, which I love, is still working and strategically used as a DAW... However, I am very aware that their 6970 graphics cards break down unexpectedly, and that OSX10.13 will probably go out of support soon. And as the 27" repair seems to involve at least some use of a cutting tool, and holds a bit more risk, I am holding off the graphics card replacement until either of those two occurrences force an upgrade. However, in the meantime, based on your very useful advice, I ordered a K1100M to be on standby for when needed, and would like to check (when it arrives) whether it is alive (without having to take the imac apart just to test it) -- i.e. Check it on a windows / Linux system (which I have available), and possibly to perform the flash updates - that way I could determine whether the card is DOA / ready for action if needed. If you have the time / are willing to do so, it would be very useful if you could explore that avenue and make recommendations based on the lessons you have learnt.
This is something I really need for my iMac but is beyond my technical capabilities. even if the GPU is 100 bucks it would be worth it because Big Sur "requires" at least a 2014 iMac. so whatever the graphics card costs is less than a newer computer.
Just placed my order for the *HP ZBOOK Nvidia Quadro K610M Video Graphics Card* for $21.64. For my mid 2011 iMac 21.5". It would be cool to finally get Catalina and be up to speed and proper, without breaking the bank.
I noticed in the guide, it said to purchase an SSD cable, but I don't see a step in the guide or video that calls for it... What is the SSD cable for? Snagged a K1100M for $30 and I was planning to upgrade next week, want to make sure I am not missing something.
Hey Curtis. Thank so much for this and your newest video on how to flash the bios on these cards. One thing though, you might want to visit the macrumors thread and take note that your not having posted credit in the show notes to this video is generating some consternation towards you. Hope you'll see this so you will make that update giving credit where it's due as soon as you can. I did see you do so in your latest video but this one is still lacking. Hope it helps reduce any flak that's building early for you on that point. Thank you for the latest video especially. Helps a ton for someone seeing the process for the first time.
fév 2023 > imac A1311 ready to Ventura 13.2.1 + nvidia GTX675m new wifi AC > and transformation layout of power supply boards + holes and fan for heat extraction TOP !
I think I'll be trying this with my 2009 24" as my GT 130 is dying. Or I could pull the MXM GT 120 from my '09 Xserve and put it in the iMac, then upgrade the Xserve instead.
Thank you for the detailed video ! I was wondering if you knew how different the process would be on a Mid-2010 iMac 21.5-inch computer? Just got one and while I can run Catalina through a patcher, the GPU isn't metal and I'd like to upgrade it. Cheers!
Hi Curtis, Thanks for this video! I just installed Big Sur and now having the acceleration problem in my iMac 27 inc mid 2011. So now planning the GPU upgrade. Just because there are a lot GPU's recommended I was wondering which affordable card would you recommend nowadays? I will use the iMac just for business, maybe some video editing in the future but nothing heavy, not playing heavy games. Can you maybe recommend me some GPU's app to 100$ today? Thanks a lot and have a good 2022!:)
Hi Curtis, are you still around by chance? I see that your google drive is down I happened upon your Video after I installed a K2100M gpu and I'm needing help flashing the bios. I think your option to go with Linux seems great! I have tried booting to the menu but with the K2100M I can't until I flash it. Thoughts?
What is the coincidence you came out with this video today and I just decided today to look into upgrading this exact iMac! How about upgrading the RAM & SSD? Would you recommend upgrading the RAM to 32GB? I see that OWC offers a kit called: "32.0GB (8GB x 4) PC3-10600 DDR3 1333MHz SO-DIMM 204 Pin CL9 SO-DIMM Memory Upgrade Kit" Would an SSD be a good upgrade? Seems like with these 3 upgrades this 2011 iMac might even be better than the current iMac minus any 4K/Retina display, would you agree?
Depends on your workload - I would absolutely get the ssd kit and at least 8gb ram - I usually stick to 16gb unless I am working on 4K files, and then 32gb is necessary. These older iMacs are beasts!
You don't need to buy an expensive owc kit, any so-dimm 1333MHz DDR3 memory will work just fine. Even 1600mhz ones, it will run simply at a lowe clockspeed.
Péter Viszt really? Thanks! Although I’ve tinkered with and upgraded computers before I’m still very much a noob. I haven’t ordered anything yet but I truly was thinking of getting OWC’s 2x8gb RAM and their HDD to SSD replacement kit. That’ll be just under $200 but if you’re saying I can do even cheaper than maybe I should look at Newegg or TigerDirect ;)
@@phillip9263 Yeah - these iMacs are fairly forgiving with the memory choice. Use OWC for custom cables, but not for drives / memory (at least that is my general rule).
Will the NVidia K3100M work ? Could you allow comments on your Google Doc, so we can discuss as a community on what we've discovered directly on the doc. Thank you so much for this information, and setting up that google doc. Subscribing!
Deep - the k3100m will work! It just doesn't have a custom vbios yet... As for the comments on the doc- I think keeping the discussion within maybe the macrumors forum for the 2011 gpu upgrade might be best? I don't have a strong way to manage the comments on a google doc.
@@messing-with-computers I just discovered the MacRumors thread. Yep -agree we can discuss over there. One more question - do you know if upgrading to a k610m will work on the 2010 Intel core i3 3.06Ghz iMac? Or will the instructions you provide in the Google doc ONLY work with 2011 iMac? thanks!
It needs to be more simplified to make me want to take the leap and do this mod on my 2011 iMac. From what I saw it just looks and feels like an enormous headache. It seems too complicated to accomplish. If this becomes more simple to do then it’s definitely something I would do.
And one last question after i saw Tech it out video. Whats normal gpu temperature in your upgraded build? I would be grateful if you answer all my question. And i cant describe with words how grateful i am now. If i had money i would invest it in your projects.
Suggestion (I don't know if it's possible): upgrade the bluetooth and wifi antennas to the imac 2011. With that, you can have Airdrop as smooth as the newer iMacs.
I love your videos and because of that I took my first mid 2011 21.5" iMac apart to upgrade the HDD to SSD and replaced the CDROM with another SSD. But now I cannot get those damned screws from the LCD back in thanks to these strong magnets. What is your secret? How does one do that? Thanks René
I would like to upgrade a 2011 21.5-inch iMac to lend to a friend's son for his start in Highschool. I need to upgrade it to the maximum CPU and GPU it could handle since it will be used for 2D and 3D animation and rendering (most likely using Blender 2.8 at least). The family is unable to buy a new machine so I offered to donate mine for his studies and his son was overjoyed in receiving my used one. I watched several of your videos and thank you for all your efforts. I love your out-of-the-box thinking. The current specs are: - iMac 21.5-Inch "Core i5" I5-2500S (Sandy Bridge); - 2.7GHz (Mid-2011); - Radeon HD 6770M graphics with 512 MB of dedicated GDDR5 memory; - 20 GB of RAM (1333 MHz PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM); - Samsung SSD. Could you please advise on the best CPU and GPU for an upgrade? I will need a bootscreen and brightness control and will follow any instruction you can offer. For the CPU, I was thinking about the Intel Xeon E3 1275 3.4GHz / 8M Quad Core LGA 1155 CPU ( Equal to Core i7 3770K ). For the GPU, I am hoping for one of the following: - Quadro K5100M (8GB of VRAM); - AMD WX7100 (8GB of VRAM); - GTX 880M (8GB of VRAM). I will also need to install Windows 10 via Bootcamp. I know it may sound like overkill to try and revive my old iMac but it still runs fine. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. If you prefer to answer me in private, let me know.
My suggestion for the 21.5 would be the xeon 1275 and the k2100m. The smaller power supply means you will want the lower power gpu. If you don’t want the hassle of explaining the sleep issues - go for the 2600 cpu instead.
@@messing-with-computers Thank you for your response. Does that mean there is no chance of getting a better GPU card to work well in the 21.5 model? He will also be using RPG Maker MV. From what you explain, it is better to get the best CPU and go lower on the GPU? Can the 21.5" (2011) iMac handle a better GPU? IS it possible to install a better Power Supply or will the motherboard not handle that? I am asking since I am not sure that a GPU with only 2GB VRAM would suffice for the needs. What are your thoughts? Would you prefer that I send you message via you Patreon page since I got that working?
@@bobbond8232 - So, the k4100m miiiight work along with the 2600s. It really is a balance. the power supply is 205 watts. The screen and drives and other components can pull ~50. The 2600s is about 50. Which leaves around 100w for your GPU before your computer shuts down. The k4100m is a 100w tdp card, which means if you put it at 100% usage, you can pull 100w-110w. That is why I hesitate a little bit. In most cases it would work (after modifying the heatsink) but if you really push your computer it will turn off. If they are OK without having brightness controls the GTX 770m is a 3gb card and 75w.
Hi Curtis, this follow-up video is so informational. Great work done here. One thing I want to know is that for a 27" iMac 12,2 with 6770m, do I need to file down the 3 pipe heat sink to fit in nicely (without no risk of high temp) to fit in a GTX765m? Does it need to be Dell card (not HP)? Thanks
You will only need to modify the heat sink with a dremel - no new heat sink needed. For the 765m you will want the dell version, but I would try to get the k4100m instead.
@Curtis Gross saw your post on macrumors... you are selling the iMac featured in the video, huh? Should be an easy sell! I’ve been following the development of this gpu upgrade for months and months. I still have my 6750 in my 27” and it runs cool as a cucumber. I was looking to go for the installation now that Big Sur is supported, but honestly through the development it’s gotten a bit confusing for me. I now don’t know whether I can do NVflash and jump straight to Big Sur patcher or if Catalina had to be installed first then the upgrade with the patcher. Thread on macrumors has turned into a book at nearly 450 pages! I might have to ride it out with my 2012 unibody non-retina, but that screen is horrible next to the imac...
Just upgraded mine using a NVIDA CARD 4GB+METAL all works fine except the sleep function, it goes to sleep when it wakes it shows a pointer and blank screen fin all it will reboot on its own with a crash report, if that can be fixed ,that would be done. I. Do think the brightness is a bit low it's at max and can be turned down , otherwise fine!
This is very interesting indeed, great work!. I'm familiar (to a degree) with part of what you've introduced here but pardon my ignorance, you keep referring to "opencore" as some sort of tool or utility, and I can't figure out what opencore is... googling it just bring me to a sort of community. Is it a tool similar to Dosdude's? Thanks in advance.
Hi Curtis, thanks for your videos. I was wondering if you could help out. The Catalina Loader file on your guide appears to be compromised as chrome is flagging it as a virus, is there an alternate source? much appriciated.
Hello buddy, thank you for the video. I did a reflow on my 27” 2011 iMac and it was working great... until it failed again of course. What do you think about the performance on the 610m overall? Of course, I don’t expect anything too fancy or close to the higher level but, do you think it is capable of some basic 1080p video editing? Thank you again for the great work
The k610m should be able to handle basic tasks and even 1080 video editing without many issues. I have done 1080 video editing on a Macbook Air with the hd3000... and the k610m is around 60% faster performance (at least).
That red light is weird, I have a production business since 97 and I'm just saying..... good video I have 2 2011s I want to mess with since I dont really need them and there broke anyway so no foul if I mess it up haha.
Gonna try this route soon hopefully with my beloved 21.5 imac. Keep on producing quality videos. Subscribed! 🤚🏻 Btw you looked like Christian Bale, dude!
btw, further research brings me to this video ruclips.net/video/BfYfw40Q9ds/видео.html , did you faced those kind of problems on your imac after upgrading to Catalina?
Hi, great video! I tried the links in the description but they don't seem to work now. Do you have any working links or up to date advice? I have a mid 2011 iMac with a GPU on it's last legs!
You're a wizard Curtis! it looks fly how it works man! I have an issue, maybe you can put me in the right direction, I got my hands on an iMac same year but 27 inch, with a fan noise from the startup, it doesn't stop and no brightness control, which makes me think it may benefit from making a GPU replacement/upgrade ( everything else works fine) ... but I'm guessing about the GPU malfunctioning here, I'm a newbie on this procedure, nothing more than ssd, ram upgrades, screen, keyboard replacements, and just basic knowledge about linux, but I need to know how to correctly diagnose this iMac so I can start fixing it, any suggestions?
It should work with Windows once the vbios is flashed. But, I will note that I only go it working with Linux like in my video, because it was easier for me ;)
@@messing-with-computers Haha, thanks! And just to clarify, you listed the w4170 as a compatible card, but did you mean the wx4170? I ask because I found an HP wx4170 out of China, and wanted to know if it was compatible. Thanks for your work!
@@tomdrexel112 - Correct, the wx4170. Now, I haven't personally tested it, because it was more expensive at the time, but here is the full list: forums.macrumors.com/threads/2011-imac-graphics-card-upgrade.1596614/
Hi curtis. I bought a k610 that i want to use for my 27inch mid2011 imac but my problem is that the x bracket from the failing 6970m does not match exactly to the k610m. Some small components are placed right under that bracket... how did you modify the x bracket to match your k610m? Edit - saw that the bracket in the 21.5 inch imac fits well with k610m but the brakcet from 27inch imac does not. Now i dony have an idea what to do.
Hi Curtis, I must say you have been such a big help. I want to ask if there is any video of AMD WX series cards upgrade to 2011 iMacs as that is pretty different from Nvidia (the software part) please help if you know of any. Thanks
Hey Curtis you might not respond but its worth a shot so is there any cards out there that is better than the Radeon HD 6970m that is fully compatible with the 2011 Imac 27 inch and doesn't need a special heatsink if not I will prob just get the 2gb version of Radeon HD 6970m Thanks for Reading if you did!
Be sure to check out the macrumors thread for new updates! forums.macrumors.com/threads/2011-imac-graphics-card-upgrade.1596614/
thx for a great walk through! you never mention target display mode.... will this also work with your method here?
You deserved every like, for your hard work! Thank you for spending your time for it ❤
Hi Curtis, hope you can give me a moment of your time but first, thank you for these videos, they are VERY helpful. I have an iMac 27 mid 2011 i7 3.4 with a now failed 6970m 2GB VRAM. Here is the question: With the card you added to the 27" iMac and beyond all the new brightness control and boot menu on startup can you still use 2 external displays? This was something I loved about the 6970m but I can't seem to find an answer on this. If you don't know that's ok but I don't want to upgrade past High Sierra 10.13.6 if that helps you better answer my question.
… and hey, where have you been lately. Hope all is well and thank you very much for sharing your methods and experiences they really help the community.
@@santospoland Hey Alex! For the upgrade I think you only maintain the ability to use 1 additional external monitor, and I actually didn't test that, so its more of a 'potential' rather than verified. As for making videos - I might make a comeback, with work /family / moving and everything else that has gone down the last year, I just ran short of time to spend playing around with technology!
@@messing-with-computers Thanks for the reply! I hope you do make a come back as your videos are really informative. I can't thank you enough for all the background work you had to go through to make these videos, I know that it took you a lot of time and sharing the experience with your RUclips audience is truly gracious of you. Best wishes on all your immediate responsibilities and I am hoping you find the time to return with some new content … until then, all the best!
I love it when I take something apart and put it back together and find out they included "extra" screws!
You can throw them all over the floor and find them by stepping on them again. Such a fun game
I have so many spare Mac / iMac / Macbook screws...
@@messing-with-computers All of them on the floor? 😁
Wee bits. no spares.
Why wee bits?
Throw them and make the noise. Weeeee..........
Hey. If you have extra screws then that means you did a better job putting it together than the manufacturer did
Your videos are great. My 2011 iMac 27 is still running strong. Upgraded video card to gtx675mx 4gb (an amazing card, but not as budget conscious as your recommendations). Ram upgraded to 32gb (you can do this after HighSierra). Dual SSD's running in raid0 (to make speeds more like nvme). Upgraded wifi card to add AC speed. Replaced optical drive with a 3rd SSD for TimeMachine backups. I've tried all Mac OS up to Ventura... they all work, but I keep going back to High Sierra because I think it was Apple's best OS.
You can do 32gb before high sierra. How are you handling the old os. Any limits?
@@aironwhite6533 a lot of software is still up-to-date or the latest compatible version is still quite usable... however, chrome and firefox are ending support soon... HOWEVER... I've tested Ventura (installed with OpenCore) on the machine and it works PERFECTLY... the only downside is I was using 2 SSD's in RAID0, and the new MacOS's don't support RAID, so I must go back to using a single SSD. otherwise, the machine keeps going strong ツ
Things have changed in three years, it seems. I installed Ventura on my iMac 2011 using OCLP, and didn't need to swap out the GPU to do it. (Good thing, too, as it seems like a rather involved process.)
interesting, I am looking to do the same. I have 14gb of RAM but I assume I will need to upgrade to an SSD first. Does it run smooth ?
Hey mate, isn't the performance pretty slow without a metal gpu? Does Ventura not require metal or am i missing something? I installed big sur a while ago but it was almost unusable without a metal gpu
I’ll update on this I’ve got a 2011 iMac running Ventura perfectly fine. You just loose any location services. I have a 1TB SSD, intel core i7 2700k and 16GB memory it ran Ventura just with the SSD alone. I’ve even ran Sonoma on it but have had Bluetooth issues so Ventura is where I’ve stayed. You’re Mac will run a little warmer but I’ve just used different cooling options
Just want to thank you. Inspired on your videos I did my research, bought a GPU and now I have my mid 2011 iMac working with bigsur. It was a difficult task though, as I faced all kind of issues. That’s why I’m proud I managed to do it. Thanks a lot pal!
Hello Enrique!
thats very interesting. I have an imac mid 2011 21". With this model i faced a lot of software compatiblity issues as this stuck with osx high sierra. Now im looking forward to upgrade the gpu.
May i know what kind of gpu did you put inside?? And is there any occuring problem?
Nice 🙌🏻 Thank you . I just got a new K610M from HP. This guide was perfect in timing. 👍🏻 🇸🇪
Enjoy it! It was a fun process and .. it works!
Very underated channel for the quality of the content you make
Thanks! I just started recording my strange projects recently, so in time I’m sure it will be even better. Glad you like it!
Thank you VERY much for this stuff. I've been looking for this for three years now. Cool!
Hi. the 2 URL's in the description do not work anymore., is possible, can you provide the updated URL's. Thanks
Just upgraded my gpu in a 2011 21.5" iMac to a K1100m with success. Thanks for the time put into your video and guide.
This is great! But can you run the GPU benchmark?
Hello derek, I had a quick question, is K1100m optimal for gaming?
K1100m works for a 2011 27" too???
did u have software issues
I tried another stock AMD card on my A1311 and it didn’t work. So as I understand - it doesn’t matter what card you had before upgrade and you just plugged K1100m and it worked?
Thanks alot dude ! I'm a real history NUT n a so-so repair guy. When I saw alittle bit of what u were doing, I was very glad cause that's the same iMac I have n I hope u don't mind me saving all your doing cause it's right up my alley. Good Luck dude and keep on doing what u do ...Peace
Why does this guy only have 286 subs?! Come on people!
I started this upgrade over year ago. I purchased and flashed (in my PC) a Nvidia K2100M by Nick [D] vB 2048 . I installed it into my Mid 2011 27" iMac 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7. I was able to boot up and it worked fine. When I tried the next step to install Catalina, the processed failed and after a number of trys I gave up and just continued using the computer with High Sierra. Eventually I had to replace the computer (Mac Mini M1) so that I could run the updated version of FCPX.. Last night I pulled out my iMac to remove any old files and reformat the drive. After a clean install I decided to try to upgrade to Catalina one more time. I used DosDude1 Catalina Patcher and it successfully installed Catalina, but them my screen went black. I tried what I could to get a picture with no luck. So I reformatted and reinstalled High Sierra and monitor started working again. I am thinking the cause may be that the latest version of the patcher is designed to work with non-metal video cards??? Is it possible to refresh my card with the method you use, and then run the Catalina Patcher. Your video has been very helpful, and I would appreciate any advice you may have.
I can’t thank you enough for this vid and google docs… I’ve successfully did everything to my iMac 2011 upgrading with K2100m …was able to do the blind USB flashing by using my iPad to log in iMac 👍🏻👍🏻
Literally just watched your vid from a couple years ago this is awesome that there is a fix
Been using mine for a month now - and it works great!
how come you have so few subscribers this video is insane! the only reason i wish i was living in usa is that i could find old imac parts so easily... working spare parts or just cheap old imacs are so hard to come by in Turkey. :(
a 27-inch imac 2011 with i7 3.4ghz would be a dream find for me. i know its old af but i would still very much enjoy the process of finding one and upgrading the gpu with a gtx 780m. i may never get to enjoy/suffer through that process but thanks for doing something similiar :D
Thanks for the support, my channel is fairly new, and I don't really share it out much... so maybe some day I will have a bigger set of subs!
How do you have so few subs? I thought it said 359k subs until I looked closer. You deserve so many more!
He'll get there in time :)
This video is amazing. All the research has been done and everything is explained step by step. And it’s been proved it works. But I would not recommend anybody with no experience of tinkering with programming to attempt this upgrade. What you will do if you got stuck with something and haven’t got a clue? You will spend hours, days and more looking for a solution and same time fixing it and get it going. I really need this upgrade, badly. But would try to find somebody who is confident with this stuff and would take my imac to him, doing it together. Am I right?
with stress comes new experience. If its not your main working tool and you have a sidemac have a go
Just finished this with a k1100m on a 27” and it’s perfect!
Snowcuber04 glad to hear!
Did you get brightness control with this steps?
666DRAKUL you will!
I did all the steps but i cant get the brightness control working u.u i got an error verifying the size of the flashed rom compared to the size of the actual file that could be the problem?
did you use the x bracket from your previous amd gpu into the k1100m?
Looks like the pricing of the k610m is up to ~$50-60 now. At this price, I would hold off on the k610m, maybe go for a k1100m or k2100m instead.
would would be a good price for the k1100 or k2100m? Looks like I may have missed the decent price for now. Ill keep an eye on these. Would love to upgrade this machine to Catalina with upgraded GPU this summer! Thanks for your video!
JRichVA I see a few k1100m around $50-60. That is an ok price.
Think I got lucky with a 610 for $14 .. it's certainly not worth more than that. Advise people be patient and set up a couple of saved eBay searches, prices will drop back down pretty quickly.
Hey curtis, you have the vbios back-up from the k1100m you tried to flash?
I bought an hp K1100m and the backup is nowhere to be found on the imac, and now I have scrambled video from the modded vbios.
Richard Woodurff mine wouldn’t even turn on - so no bios here. Worth asking in the macrumors forum though, lots of people with the k1100m there.
Just subscribed, the first of many more subs you deserve :)
k610m is back down in price (seen a few around $16 lately) and the k1100m and k2100m have stabilized in price as well. Even picked up a k2100m to test in my 27'' iMac (video soon) for $50!
Also - check out an easier method to flash these gpus: ruclips.net/video/sn5K2SKXrJg/видео.html
ETA on the 27" iMac? Im excited and praying it works.
@@juancenteno3650 Video launched a few days back - check it out! Also published a companion video on a way easier way to flash the video cards once they are installed.
Can you give some links where to but k2100m for imac 27" - finding it hard to find a card thats right ?
@@bjtster - Hey Brian, correct. The k2100m I bought was $55... I am only seeing ~$120 at the moment, and at that price I would just get a k4100m or go down to a k610m and wait for the price of the k2100m to drop. The exact card I used was: HP NVIDIA Quadro K2100M N15P-Q3-A1 2GB GDDR5
@@messing-with-computers your videos are great!!!! I got my hands on a k2100m for about $75 on eBay about 1 week ago... All went well... The flash you mentioned was so simple via SSH. I have a few questions... Is it normal for the iMac 27 to boot to a black screen (will only show apple boot screen while holding option)? Is there a workaround for it to boot normal?Will the open core / kext file process work the same for the 27 iMac? Once again, thank you, your videos are concise and very informational!!!!
Thanks for the tutorial and info links. Just ordered a k1100m card for my 2010 iMac 27". I've been wanting to upgrade this for a few years now but wasn't sure on what was required. (I actually have done a couple of early Mac Pros by upgrading the video card in the past, along with the Vbios to get the boot screen). I don't really want to go all the way to Catalina yet, as there are quite a few apps that I run that aren't supported in Catalina. I have Mojave on a 2012 MBP 15" that works just fine, so I'll probably go that route. 😉
Mojave is my go-to at the moment for all my computers except my work computer.
Subbed. Great content, and environementally very sensible. Keep up the terrific work!
Every product that ages well develops a community of users, hackers/mod-ers and also one who takes it far enough to be a sensei (the one who travels the road beforehand) or might we say a guru. My Mid-2011 iMac 27"er is in pieces next to me and the original graphics card is cooling down in the background. I wish I had found this guru here a little earlier! I would have got out the Dremel and upgraded my GPU, without this now defunkt step of baking my old GPU and having it last weeks/months and then in the end upgrading anyway! BTW the Mac repairer up the road said he had struggled for months to find a solid solution to the ubiquitous Mid-2011 GPU failure and had given up, and even advised me "not to bother trying to repair a computer that would always have this problem". For every person who watches this video and your previous video and upgrades their iMac, you Curtis Gross can take some credit for saving another machine from scrapping for some more years, and for lifting the skills, knowledge base and intellectual attitude of the human race just that little bit. Appropriate to this theme, your videos are far from the typical computer repair faire and more like a younger Eric Bana delivering an advanced yoga lesson and lecture. Very reassuring, but with more than enough information to back your explanation up. Nicely done!
Just installed the k4100m into my 2010 iMac 27. Upgraded the ram to 32gb. i7 cpu with 1tb SSD. This machine screams!
Thanks for the video! Will try it myself with my 27 inch Mid 2011 iMac, even if I paid 91 Euros for a K610m. In Europe (Germany) it's almost impossible to find K610m for a decent price and shipping costs from the US are like 40 Dollars. AliExpress has cards for 30 dollars, but I don't really trust them with this kind of tech. Even the K2100m's are at a 200 Euro level right now. 91 Euro might be not appropriate, but I want my machine to work 2-3 years longer with Catalina, Big Sur etc. as I do not cut movies or something. It's a nice project and I like the sustainability factor of this.
BTW: I think the rallye in pricing might have something to do with your videos. :D
we have the same machine. my k610m arrived today but the problem is the x-bracket from the failing gpu (6970m) does not fit the k610m. curtis has a 21.5inch imac with smaller square in the x-bracket which fits with k610m properly... now i wish what i have is a 21.5 inch instead of 27 inch...
Thanks Curtis! You know what your doing and this tutorial plus the opencore video helped a lot! Only problem I had was due to using a newer version of Catalina that requires replacing Framework and a couple kext files don't need to be installed due to dosdude patcher doing it already, and installing them will ruin the os and will be stuck in loading screen until reinstall. Macrumors page has the instructions/download for that 👍
These GPU's are listed in the UK eBay at £95 ($125) for k610m and £125 ($165) for k1100m.
great timing , so helpful and insightful, thanks
Glad you liked it!
Amazing channel and video. How are you not bigger?
best video ive seen so far on this process. I may need to replace the graphics card in my 2012 imac 🖥 because it is straight up not working anymore
I sadly I think the 2012 has a soldered gpu, which is non upgradable. Might be able to tell the computer to use the on-cpu gpu instead though! Did that on my old 2012 MacBook Pro that had a gpu go out.
This is exactly what I've been looking for!!
Glad to hear! I will be doing a k2100m gpu upgrade and installing a CPU upgrade into my 27'' iMac soon as well!
Curtis Gross I recently got a 2011 21.5” iMac with an i7, 16GB of ram, and a 256 GB SSD FOR $220 and am shocked by how capable and quick this nearly decade old machine is (but you already know this). Only thing missing is Catilana support...and thanks to you I now feel comfortable taking the plunge and upgrading the GPU. Thanks!
@@CosmicEpiphany Glad to have helped! Sounds like you got a rockin machine for a good deal - i7 and everything! When you have it ripped open you could put a bigger drive in too!
@@CosmicEpiphany will changing the GPU make the iMac 21.5 2011 possible to install Catalina? I know it has GPU issues with Radeon HD6xxx
@@francisacemaglalang1701 I believe it will. But pleas double check. There are some really good guides out there about replacing these GPUs and what they support.
This is amazing. Thank you.
Are brightness controls also working in system preferences? If not, it means you can’t disable auto brightness!
Also, this GPU supports Metal. You can easily patch your device to the latest version of macOS, so further than this!
looks great but sadly waaaay beyond my skills (
Superb work - thank you, Curtis. As an idea to expand on this instruction set: I would be very interested to see whether you could manage to successfully flash any one of your highly recommended cards using a pcie to mxm adapter (as you showed as one of the potential avenues that you pursued). The reason for asking: I have a 27" mid 2011 that I have heavily upgraded over the years, which I love, is still working and strategically used as a DAW... However, I am very aware that their 6970 graphics cards break down unexpectedly, and that OSX10.13 will probably go out of support soon. And as the 27" repair seems to involve at least some use of a cutting tool, and holds a bit more risk, I am holding off the graphics card replacement until either of those two occurrences force an upgrade. However, in the meantime, based on your very useful advice, I ordered a K1100M to be on standby for when needed, and would like to check (when it arrives) whether it is alive (without having to take the imac apart just to test it) -- i.e. Check it on a windows / Linux system (which I have available), and possibly to perform the flash updates - that way I could determine whether the card is DOA / ready for action if needed. If you have the time / are willing to do so, it would be very useful if you could explore that avenue and make recommendations based on the lessons you have learnt.
Stewart Watson - I got another k610m today, going to try it with the mxm adapter again.
Thank you, sir - much appreciated indeed.
This is something I really need for my iMac but is beyond my technical capabilities. even if the GPU is 100 bucks it would be worth it because Big Sur "requires" at least a 2014 iMac. so whatever the graphics card costs is less than a newer computer.
It is a little bit crazy to do, but you can still use high Sierra which is fairly well supported.
Curtis Gross I wish! I need to be able to get to Mojave so I can run Universal Audio’s LUNA.
Could you possibly make a video on upgrading this iMac to Big Sur? If it’s possible? I really appreciate your content!
Lol, you muppet. I suggest you research that. Answer is NO
Just placed my order for the *HP ZBOOK Nvidia Quadro K610M Video Graphics Card* for $21.64.
For my mid 2011 iMac 21.5".
It would be cool to finally get Catalina and be up to speed and proper, without breaking the bank.
Nice! Enjoy it!
Did you have thunderbolt display port working?
this guy is touching the PSU bare handed what a gangster
I noticed in the guide, it said to purchase an SSD cable, but I don't see a step in the guide or video that calls for it... What is the SSD cable for? Snagged a K1100M for $30 and I was planning to upgrade next week, want to make sure I am not missing something.
Did you miss it? Planning on January
Hey Curtis. Thank so much for this and your newest video on how to flash the bios on these cards. One thing though, you might want to visit the macrumors thread and take note that your not having posted credit in the show notes to this video is generating some consternation towards you. Hope you'll see this so you will make that update giving credit where it's due as soon as you can. I did see you do so in your latest video but this one is still lacking. Hope it helps reduce any flak that's building early for you on that point. Thank you for the latest video especially. Helps a ton for someone seeing the process for the first time.
For sure - I’ll see if I can update the video while it is live. The “notes” doc does point to that thread all over though.
Good video man. Thanks
fév 2023 > imac A1311 ready to Ventura 13.2.1 + nvidia GTX675m new wifi AC > and transformation layout of power supply boards + holes and fan for heat extraction TOP !
I have mid 2011 imac with nvidia quadro k3100m 4gb everything works no problems. You just need to flash the vbios.
rafal osip nice! Do you have the vbios file link? I would be interested in the k4100m and k5100m too.
@@messing-with-computers I get this card long time ago on ebay it was flashed for this imac.
@@messing-with-computers how do you update to latest version 10.15.5
I think I'll be trying this with my 2009 24" as my GT 130 is dying.
Or I could pull the MXM GT 120 from my '09 Xserve and put it in the iMac, then upgrade the Xserve instead.
It works good. I have done the GT 120 with my 24 Imac
Interesting video man!
Best man!
Has the GTX 780m actually been successfully installed in the meantime or the k3100m?
Good morning Master! Congratulations on the video.
Would the k610m board be more recommended for the Imac 21.5-inch, Mid 2011?
Sorry for a noob question, but will this video and process pertain to my beloved mid-2011 27 inch? If so, what would be the best GPU out of that list?
Thank you for the detailed video ! I was wondering if you knew how different the process would be on a Mid-2010 iMac 21.5-inch computer? Just got one and while I can run Catalina through a patcher, the GPU isn't metal and I'd like to upgrade it. Cheers!
Dear Curtis, excellent job. I'd like to know if have you got the display port working with K610?
Hi Curtis, Thanks for this video! I just installed Big Sur and now having the acceleration problem in my iMac 27 inc mid 2011. So now planning the GPU upgrade. Just because there are a lot GPU's recommended I was wondering which affordable card would you recommend nowadays?
I will use the iMac just for business, maybe some video editing in the future but nothing heavy, not playing heavy games. Can you maybe recommend me some GPU's app to 100$ today?
Thanks a lot and have a good 2022!:)
Thank you!
Thankyou so much for making this video..👍
Welcome!
hi curtis it would be awesome if you made a couple of videos on installing newer versions of mac os on these 2011 imacs
Hi Curtis, are you still around by chance? I see that your google drive is down I happened upon your Video after I installed a K2100M gpu and I'm needing help flashing the bios. I think your option to go with Linux seems great! I have tried booting to the menu but with the K2100M I can't until I flash it. Thoughts?
What is the coincidence you came out with this video today and I just decided today to look into upgrading this exact iMac!
How about upgrading the RAM & SSD?
Would you recommend upgrading the RAM to 32GB? I see that OWC offers a kit called: "32.0GB (8GB x 4) PC3-10600 DDR3 1333MHz SO-DIMM 204 Pin CL9 SO-DIMM Memory Upgrade Kit"
Would an SSD be a good upgrade?
Seems like with these 3 upgrades this 2011 iMac might even be better than the current iMac minus any 4K/Retina display, would you agree?
Depends on your workload - I would absolutely get the ssd kit and at least 8gb ram - I usually stick to 16gb unless I am working on 4K files, and then 32gb is necessary. These older iMacs are beasts!
@@messing-with-computers That makes sense. So I'll save the money and go for the 16gb. Thanks for the reply!
You don't need to buy an expensive owc kit, any so-dimm 1333MHz DDR3 memory will work just fine. Even 1600mhz ones, it will run simply at a lowe clockspeed.
Péter Viszt really? Thanks! Although I’ve tinkered with and upgraded computers before I’m still very much a noob. I haven’t ordered anything yet but I truly was thinking of getting OWC’s 2x8gb RAM and their HDD to SSD replacement kit. That’ll be just under $200 but if you’re saying I can do even cheaper than maybe I should look at Newegg or TigerDirect ;)
@@phillip9263 Yeah - these iMacs are fairly forgiving with the memory choice. Use OWC for custom cables, but not for drives / memory (at least that is my general rule).
Awesome! Can I use a 4K external display with this graphic card?
Hello Curtis, I wanted to ask you if this GPU fits also an iMac 27” 2010? Besides that, thank you for your videos, they’re amazing!
The opencoreloader DMG in google drive has been marked as virus. No longer downloadable.
Will the NVidia K3100M work ? Could you allow comments on your Google Doc, so we can discuss as a community on what we've discovered directly on the doc. Thank you so much for this information, and setting up that google doc. Subscribing!
Deep - the k3100m will work! It just doesn't have a custom vbios yet... As for the comments on the doc- I think keeping the discussion within maybe the macrumors forum for the 2011 gpu upgrade might be best? I don't have a strong way to manage the comments on a google doc.
@@messing-with-computers I just discovered the MacRumors thread. Yep -agree we can discuss over there. One more question - do you know if upgrading to a k610m will work on the 2010 Intel core i3 3.06Ghz iMac? Or will the instructions you provide in the Google doc ONLY work with 2011 iMac? thanks!
Deep Cuts should work for any of the i3 i5 or i7. Questionable for the core 2 lineup.
It needs to be more simplified to make me want to take the leap and do this mod on my 2011 iMac. From what I saw it just looks and feels like an enormous headache. It seems too complicated to accomplish. If this becomes more simple to do then it’s definitely something I would do.
It can be a pain for sure. Luckily I am OK if I blow these machines up, I mean, I wouldn't like doing it, but I can take the risk.
very useful video.
Should have used this as an opportunity to upgrade to an ssd.
I actually did! Just not covered heavily in the video. Was getting lengthy as is.
And one last question after i saw Tech it out video. Whats normal gpu temperature in your upgraded build? I would be grateful if you answer all my question. And i cant describe with words how grateful i am now. If i had money i would invest it in your projects.
Suggestion (I don't know if it's possible): upgrade the bluetooth and wifi antennas to the imac 2011. With that, you can have Airdrop as smooth as the newer iMacs.
osxwifi.com Super easy 100% reliable but expensive. You may be able to assemble the components yourself much cheaper.
Good movie thanks 🙏
I love your videos and because of that I took my first mid 2011 21.5" iMac apart to upgrade the HDD to SSD and replaced the CDROM with another SSD.
But now I cannot get those damned screws from the LCD back in thanks to these strong magnets. What is your secret? How does one do that?
Thanks René
I only use the holes that are furthest from the magnets and leave the others out. I use two on top and bottom of each side. That’s it.
@@messing-with-computers Thanks that makes sense
or you can lay it on its back plate and get screws in their nest with tweezers aiming and screwdriver pushing. The most reliable way so far.
I would like to upgrade a 2011 21.5-inch iMac to lend to a friend's son for his start in Highschool. I need to upgrade it to the maximum CPU and GPU it could handle since it will be used for 2D and 3D animation and rendering (most likely using Blender 2.8 at least). The family is unable to buy a new machine so I offered to donate mine for his studies and his son was overjoyed in receiving my used one. I watched several of your videos and thank you for all your efforts. I love your out-of-the-box thinking.
The current specs are:
- iMac 21.5-Inch "Core i5" I5-2500S (Sandy Bridge);
- 2.7GHz (Mid-2011);
- Radeon HD 6770M graphics with 512 MB of dedicated GDDR5 memory;
- 20 GB of RAM (1333 MHz PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM);
- Samsung SSD.
Could you please advise on the best CPU and GPU for an upgrade? I will need a bootscreen and brightness control and will follow any instruction you can offer.
For the CPU, I was thinking about the Intel Xeon E3 1275 3.4GHz / 8M Quad Core LGA 1155 CPU ( Equal to Core i7 3770K ).
For the GPU, I am hoping for one of the following:
- Quadro K5100M (8GB of VRAM);
- AMD WX7100 (8GB of VRAM);
- GTX 880M (8GB of VRAM).
I will also need to install Windows 10 via Bootcamp. I know it may sound like overkill to try and revive my old iMac but it still runs fine. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
If you prefer to answer me in private, let me know.
My suggestion for the 21.5 would be the xeon 1275 and the k2100m. The smaller power supply means you will want the lower power gpu. If you don’t want the hassle of explaining the sleep issues - go for the 2600 cpu instead.
@@messing-with-computers Thank you for your response. Does that mean there is no chance of getting a better GPU card to work well in the 21.5 model? He will also be using RPG Maker MV. From what you explain, it is better to get the best CPU and go lower on the GPU? Can the 21.5" (2011) iMac handle a better GPU? IS it possible to install a better Power Supply or will the motherboard not handle that? I am asking since I am not sure that a GPU with only 2GB VRAM would suffice for the needs. What are your thoughts? Would you prefer that I send you message via you Patreon page since I got that working?
@@bobbond8232 - So, the k4100m miiiight work along with the 2600s. It really is a balance. the power supply is 205 watts. The screen and drives and other components can pull ~50. The 2600s is about 50. Which leaves around 100w for your GPU before your computer shuts down. The k4100m is a 100w tdp card, which means if you put it at 100% usage, you can pull 100w-110w. That is why I hesitate a little bit. In most cases it would work (after modifying the heatsink) but if you really push your computer it will turn off. If they are OK without having brightness controls the GTX 770m is a 3gb card and 75w.
Oh - and sadly there is no other powersupply upgrade that would fit in the case.
can you please post the docs again. the link is dead with the previous google docs url
How do I get the miniport with external monitor to work after updating to Catalina ?
+1 for this issue
Great, informative video but your "Go ahead" count is far too high
Hi Curtis, this follow-up video is so informational. Great work done here. One thing I want to know is that for a 27" iMac 12,2 with 6770m, do I need to file down the 3 pipe heat sink to fit in nicely (without no risk of high temp) to fit in a GTX765m? Does it need to be Dell card (not HP)? Thanks
You will only need to modify the heat sink with a dremel - no new heat sink needed. For the 765m you will want the dell version, but I would try to get the k4100m instead.
Якраз те шо потрібно.
Дякую.
@Curtis Gross saw your post on macrumors... you are selling the iMac featured in the video, huh? Should be an easy sell! I’ve been following the development of this gpu upgrade for months and months. I still have my 6750 in my 27” and it runs cool as a cucumber. I was looking to go for the installation now that Big Sur is supported, but honestly through the development it’s gotten a bit confusing for me. I now don’t know whether I can do NVflash and jump straight to Big Sur patcher or if Catalina had to be installed first then the upgrade with the patcher. Thread on macrumors has turned into a book at nearly 450 pages! I might have to ride it out with my 2012 unibody non-retina, but that screen is horrible next to the imac...
Just upgraded mine using a NVIDA CARD 4GB+METAL all works fine except the sleep function, it goes to sleep when it wakes it shows a pointer and blank screen fin all it will reboot on its own with a crash report, if that can be fixed ,that would be done. I. Do think the brightness is a bit low it's at max and can be turned down , otherwise fine!
What cpu do you have? There is a “kext” file for stock cpus called hd3000.kext or something similar that fixes sleep.
This is very interesting indeed, great work!. I'm familiar (to a degree) with part of what you've introduced here but pardon my ignorance, you keep referring to "opencore" as some sort of tool or utility, and I can't figure out what opencore is... googling it just bring me to a sort of community. Is it a tool similar to Dosdude's? Thanks in advance.
It is a tool similar to the dosdude patcher. Check out the google doc in the description for links to the downloads.
hey man, could you reupload those files? cheers
Hi Curtis, thanks for your videos. I was wondering if you could help out. The Catalina Loader file on your guide appears to be compromised as chrome is flagging it as a virus, is there an alternate source? much appriciated.
Can you connect an external monitor using an adapter via displayport/thunderbolt after the gpu upgrade?
This is important for those of us who are using a pen display tablet!
Hello buddy, thank you for the video. I did a reflow on my 27” 2011 iMac and it was working great... until it failed again of course. What do you think about the performance on the 610m overall? Of course, I don’t expect anything too fancy or close to the higher level but, do you think it is capable of some basic 1080p video editing? Thank you again for the great work
The k610m should be able to handle basic tasks and even 1080 video editing without many issues. I have done 1080 video editing on a Macbook Air with the hd3000... and the k610m is around 60% faster performance (at least).
Curtis Gross thank you! I’ll keep an eye on the prices for this and the k1100m
That red light is weird, I have a production business since 97 and I'm just saying..... good video I have 2 2011s I want to mess with since I dont really need them and there broke anyway so no foul if I mess it up haha.
Great video. I wanna do this myself but the links in your description to the guide and the files don't work.
I just drilled out the stock back plate to fit the stock cooler screws
Gonna try this route soon hopefully with my beloved 21.5 imac. Keep on producing quality videos. Subscribed! 🤚🏻
Btw you looked like Christian Bale, dude!
btw, further research brings me to this video ruclips.net/video/BfYfw40Q9ds/видео.html , did you faced those kind of problems on your imac after upgrading to Catalina?
I actually have an older, similar video! The issues with the 765 was why the new process with the quadro lineup is way nicer.
@@messing-with-computers thanks for the clarification.. gonna try it out soon perhaps . thanks for the guide write-up btw! 👍🏻
Thanks
Hi, great video! I tried the links in the description but they don't seem to work now. Do you have any working links or up to date advice? I have a mid 2011 iMac with a GPU on it's last legs!
You're a wizard Curtis! it looks fly how it works man! I have an issue, maybe you can put me in the right direction, I got my hands on an iMac same year but 27 inch, with a fan noise from the startup, it doesn't stop and no brightness control, which makes me think it may benefit from making a GPU replacement/upgrade ( everything else works fine) ... but I'm guessing about the GPU malfunctioning here, I'm a newbie on this procedure, nothing more than ssd, ram upgrades, screen, keyboard replacements, and just basic knowledge about linux, but I need to know how to correctly diagnose this iMac so I can start fixing it, any suggestions?
Will this repair the infamous 27" iMac dead GPU issue? That is, the "black screen?"
Hope you trouble was well worth it!
it is. if you take into account miserable 512 mb of preinstalled gpu.
Hi Curtis, great content! Do you know if Windows/Boot Camp works with the cards you listed, or are there compatibility issues? Thanks!
It should work with Windows once the vbios is flashed. But, I will note that I only go it working with Linux like in my video, because it was easier for me ;)
@@messing-with-computers Haha, thanks! And just to clarify, you listed the w4170 as a compatible card, but did you mean the wx4170? I ask because I found an HP wx4170 out of China, and wanted to know if it was compatible. Thanks for your work!
@@tomdrexel112 - Correct, the wx4170. Now, I haven't personally tested it, because it was more expensive at the time, but here is the full list: forums.macrumors.com/threads/2011-imac-graphics-card-upgrade.1596614/
@@messing-with-computers Awesome, thanks!
Hi curtis. I bought a k610 that i want to use for my 27inch mid2011 imac but my problem is that the x bracket from the failing 6970m does not match exactly to the k610m. Some small components are placed right under that bracket... how did you modify the x bracket to match your k610m?
Edit - saw that the bracket in the 21.5 inch imac fits well with k610m but the brakcet from 27inch imac does not. Now i dony have an idea what to do.
Can you do all of this for a mid 2010 27” iMac!
Hi Curtis, I must say you have been such a big help. I want to ask if there is any video of AMD WX series cards upgrade to 2011 iMacs as that is pretty different from Nvidia (the software part) please help if you know of any. Thanks
Hey Curtis you might not respond but its worth a shot so is there any cards out there that is better than the Radeon HD 6970m that is fully compatible with the 2011 Imac 27 inch and doesn't need a special heatsink if not I will prob just get the 2gb version of Radeon HD 6970m Thanks for Reading if you did!
Hi Curtis, thanks for sharing the video. The files and guide are no longer available. Is it possible to get them in another address? Thanks.
hey thanks for the video. But your google docs is deletes!? :(
The first parts of the video were ok, the rest is what you shouldn't do at all, specially with Opencore Configurator and kext utility lol