Apple iMac needs new vid card

[DieselUV]

I have a 27" iMac A1312 that boots up to a white screen with green bars. After some research, it looks like the video cards on these go bad and people usually upgrade to a diff model. Looks like I can get a Radeon 6770 or 6970 and some other options. The 6970 seems a little too high at $600+ for a 2009 machine. The original is a 4850. Is a 5750 good enough? It's about $300 on eBay.

 

[Headfoot]

Wow jesus those are expensive. I bought a regular 5750 on the forums here for $50 3 years ago. What are you doing with this machine?

 

[DieselUV]

Wow jesus those are expensive. I bought a regular 5750 on the forums here for $50 3 years ago. What are you doing with this machine?

i figured i could fix it and use it as a pc/streaming tv for my bedroom. or maybe sell it, not sure yet. i have a late 2012 27" that i don't use enough.

 

[Glo.]

If those GPUs are mobile versions, then yes, but you need to check if the OSX have specific Kext's for specific GPU.

Second thing. You cannot add a desktop card to iMac. It only can be mobile version. but I don't know if it is MXM connector there or its soldered to the motherboard.

If is soldered - you need new MoBo.

 

[DieselUV]

If those GPUs are mobile versions, then yes, but you need to check if the OSX have specific Kext's for specific GPU.

Second thing. You cannot add a desktop card to iMac. It only can be mobile version. but I don't know if it is MXM connector there or its soldered to the motherboard.

If is soldered - you need new MoBo.

yeah pretty sure they're mobile. so i've been looking for "imac radeon..." pretty sure it's not soldered.
they look like this:

 

[kasakka]

Based on those prices it might be better to either have Apple deal with it or rip out the hard drive and put that money towards a new one.

It's a special daughterboard so that's why it's so expensive.

 

[NTMBK]

According to iFixit, it can be replaced, but it's a custom board design with a custom cooler on it. https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+27-Inch+EMC+2309+or+2374+Graphics+Card+Replacement/9553

Those prices are awfully expensive- you can replace the entire iMac for that much money! I would sell it for spares on eBay, and make more use of that 2012 one you have.

 

[DieselUV]

According to iFixit, it can be replaced, but it's a custom board design with a custom cooler on it. https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+27-Inch+EMC+2309+or+2374+Graphics+Card+Replacement/9553

Those prices are awfully expensive- you can replace the entire iMac for that much money! I would sell it for spares on eBay, and make more use of that 2012 one you have.

yeah, that's why i haven't rushed in to fixing it. i'm debating on whether or not i could even make anything off fixing and selling it.

 

[Glo.]

I have to say, for 600 bucks you could buy a used Mac Pro, with better CPU, better GPU, and so on .

 

[DieselUV]

Found a 6670M for $250 http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-661-596...930?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c55071d6a

i wonder why it's not good for other macs? can i use a video card from a 24"?

 

[shady28]

I have a 27" iMac A1312 that boots up to a white screen with green bars. After some research, it looks like the video cards on these go bad and people usually upgrade to a diff model. Looks like I can get a Radeon 6770 or 6970 and some other options. The 6970 seems a little too high at $600+ for a 2009 machine. The original is a 4850. Is a 5750 good enough? It's about $300 on eBay.

I had a 2011 iMac 27" with 6770M up until late last year, when I bought the Dell in my sig. I spent quite a bit of time looking up replacement Apple MXM cards.

Long story short - I wouldn't do it. For every success story out there, there are utter failures. The iMac BIOS may or may not work with different video cards, and disassembling the things and getting it right is going to be risky / major pain. Plus the 2009 iMac 27" are selling for 650 - 850.

You would be better off, and it would probably be cheaper, to sell your 2009 for parts (probably can still get $500 or so) and buy a used 2011 or 2012.

I just checked ebay and see a 2012 with a 660M / 1TB HDD / 128GB SSD for $1150. The GPU will be ~ 50% faster than the 6770M that came in the 2011 models.

A quick look at notebookcheck indicates the 4850M performed about the same as a 6770M.

Only caveat here is if you are using the 2009 iMac as an external monitor. The 2011 and later don't allow that except via Thunderbolt and it must have another Apple computer with thunderbolt (ie, like a macbook).