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    iMac GPU Upgrade

    Discussion in 'Gaming (Software and Graphics Cards)' started by vkd, Oct 24, 2014.

  1. vkd

    vkd Newbie

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    Hi,
    I have a Mid-2011 27” iMac with a Radeon HD 6770M MXM graphics card. I would like to upgrade it. I saw a vendor on ebay had an HD 8970M for sale, which would be ideal, but he has written in the listing, “compatibility: Clevo P150SM P170SM P375SM P177SM P157SM. May need Flash Vbios if not in Intel PM77 Chipset”. This is bothering me. Please could you let me know if this card could be used in my machine and what I may have to do to get it working.

    I have already checked that the corresponding device id of 0x6801 is in AMD7000Controller.kext, so that means the card is supported by the built-in Mac OS drivers.

    Thanks
     
    vkd, Oct 24, 2014
    #1
  2. Kirrr

    Kirrr Notebook Deity

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    It is possible to upgrade the iMac's graphics. You need a bigger heatsink and the apple bios for the card. Because of this, only official Apple supported cards will work. (cards that was originally shipped with iMac)

    Best bet is the 6970m I guess, or the 680m/780m on the nvidia side.
     
    Kirrr, Oct 25, 2014
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  3. vkd

    vkd Newbie

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    Sorry but you don't necessarily need a bigger heatsink, plenty of people have done upgrades using standard heatsink, to MXM B cards too. Don't necessarily need apple bios either, EFI is helpful to give you the bootscreen but even without the iMac will boot. What you do need is the device id to be listed in the relevant kext that will be the graphics driver for the new card.

    Thanks for your feedback though.
     
    vkd, Oct 27, 2014
    #3