Mid-2010 iMac GPU Upgrade

[Crunchy Dragon]

Hi y'all, I'm back.

 

Recently acquired a 27" mid-2010 iMac(Model A1312, EMC 2390) featuring a Core i3-550, 4GB DDR3, and an HD 5670 512MB. I'm trying to figure out how modern I can make this machine, since it is a big sluggish after nearly 10 years. Currently, it's updated to OX 10.12 Sierra, with plans for an SSD, CPU, and memory upgrade.

This has got me wondering what the most modern GPU I can install would be, which is my question here. I've found that it takes an MXM 3.0b card, but I'm concerned more about TDP than what physically fits and is supported.

 

Thanks in advance!

[Lord Nicoll]

3 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

Hi y'all, I'm back.

 

Recently acquired a 27" mid-2010 iMac(Model A1312, EMC 2390) featuring a Core i3-550, 4GB DDR3, and an HD 5670 512MB. I'm trying to figure out how modern I can make this machine, since it is a big sluggish after nearly 10 years. Currently, it's updated to OX 10.12 Sierra, with plans for an SSD, CPU, and memory upgrade.

This has got me wondering what the most modern GPU I can install would be, which is my question here. I've found that it takes an MXM 3.0b card, but I'm concerned more about TDP than what physically fits and is supported.

 

Thanks in advance!

oof, MXM 3.0b Mac cards are probably not cheap. No doubt that there are ones on ebay that have been flashed with compatible BIOSes, but who know's if they'll actually work. If being 100% compatible is important, look for the fastest factory option they had and try to find one, otherwise, see if there are any MXM mac cards floating around, my guess is they're gonna be hens teeth almost. 

As for TDP, MXM standards do usually stipulate TDP limits and power limits, but it was never a super well defined standard anyways. It would be hard to say if anything more powerful is going to be coolable, you'll just have to find out or make educated guesses based on the existing cooling. 

Edited December 26, 2019 by Lord Nicoll
Accidentally posted before I could comment on TDP

[Crunchy Dragon]

Just now, Lord Nicoll said:

oof, MXM 3.0b Mac cards are probably not cheap. No doubt that there are ones on ebay that have been flashed with compatible BIOSes, but who know's if they'll actually work. If being 100% compatible is important, look for the fastest factory option they had and try to find one, otherwise, see if there are any MXM mac cards floating around, my guess is they're gonna be hens teeth almost. 

Yeah, that was something else I've come across. In theory, I could source an RX 480M, but then the TDP concern surfaces again. Worst case scenario, I end up having to source a card from a 2011-13 iMac and just running OSX 10.13(maybe).

[Lord Nicoll]

1 minute ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

Yeah, that was something else I've come across. In theory, I could source an RX 480M, but then the TDP concern surfaces again. Worst case scenario, I end up having to source a card from a 2011-13 iMac and just running OSX 10.13(maybe).

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/AMD-A1312-ATI-Radeon-HD-6970M-HD6970M-1GB-DDR5-MXM-GPU-Card-for-Apple-iMac-2011/163819615281?hash=item262468f431:g:EyMAAOSwkVVbUU4m Yeah seems ebay does have more powerful cards for sale, but you guessed it, not cheap, probably not all that powerful and likely hot AF, also the HD 6970M seems the highest end one I can see, I would have hoped for a HD 7900m series but oh well

[Crunchy Dragon]

22 minutes ago, Lord Nicoll said:

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/AMD-A1312-ATI-Radeon-HD-6970M-HD6970M-1GB-DDR5-MXM-GPU-Card-for-Apple-iMac-2011/163819615281?hash=item262468f431:g:EyMAAOSwkVVbUU4m Yeah seems ebay does have more powerful cards for sale, but you guessed it, not cheap, probably not all that powerful and likely hot AF, also the HD 6970M seems the highest end one I can see, I would have hoped for a HD 7900m series but oh well

HD 7xxx series is the lowest I'd have to go, macOS Mojave and higher dropped all support for HD 5xxx and 6xxx cards.

[Lord Nicoll]

On 12/26/2019 at 1:26 AM, Crunchy Dragon said:

HD 7xxx series is the lowest I'd have to go, macOS Mojave and higher dropped all support for HD 5xxx and 6xxx cards.

I have given it a wider searched and also yielded nothing oddly, I'm guessing Apple ditched MXM cards in the later iMacs, which seems to be the case, as most manufacturers ditched MXM since basically no one upgrades because it's such a pain, and the cost benefit from having just one motherboard for laptops with an MXM slot for different configs just wasn't worth the saving like with CPUs, it's just all soldered now.

[Crunchy Dragon]

5 hours ago, Lord Nicoll said:

I have given it a wider searched and also yielded nothing oddly, I'm guessing Apple ditched MXM cards in the later iMacs, which seems to be the case, as most manufacturers ditched MXM since basically no one upgrades because it's such a pain, and the cost benefit from having just one motherboard for laptops with an MXM slot for different configs just wasn't worth the saving like with CPUs, it's just all soldered now.

Yeah, the 2010 and 2011 iMacs were the last ones to feature socketed GPUs and CPUs.

 

I've scoured the internet and found that there are some Nvidia cards that will work in more recent versions, such as a few Quadros, GTX 860M, and some GTX 7xxM cards. If I can my hands on one of those, it'll probably be mostly smooth sailing. I'm still a bit irked about not using a Radeon card, though...

[Lord Nicoll]

11 hours ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

Yeah, the 2010 and 2011 iMacs were the last ones to feature socketed GPUs and CPUs.

 

I've scoured the internet and found that there are some Nvidia cards that will work in more recent versions, such as a few Quadros, GTX 860M, and some GTX 7xxM cards. If I can my hands on one of those, it'll probably be mostly smooth sailing. I'm still a bit irked about not using a Radeon card, though...

My laptop has an MXM GTX 860m, it's alright, Mine is a custom MXM ROG version (or might be a very unused standard, idk, maybe MXM 3.0C or something ) that is almost twice the size and features some overclocking options, even then it's only as powerful as a really basic GTX 750ti with no OC. I think the BIOS would be the hardest part. Some MXM cards have the BIOS on the MXM card itself, others it's written onto the motherboards BIOS's, so to update the GPU requires reflashing that, that's why MXM really died it, it's not really standard at all, there are so many versions and differences. 

[Crunchy Dragon]

1 hour ago, Lord Nicoll said:

My laptop has an MXM GTX 860m, it's alright, Mine is a custom MXM ROG version (or might be a very unused standard, idk, maybe MXM 3.0C or something ) that is almost twice the size and features some overclocking options, even then it's only as powerful as a really basic GTX 750ti with no OC. I think the BIOS would be the hardest part. Some MXM cards have the BIOS on the MXM card itself, others it's written onto the motherboards BIOS's, so to update the GPU requires reflashing that, that's why MXM really died it, it's not really standard at all, there are so many versions and differences.

Looks custom to me. I've decided I'll probably roll with a Quadro K2000M since it's still a decent GPU, and I can get it for about $50, which keeps me under $100 total for upgrades once I factor in a Core i7.