iMac 27 2011 R9 290X supported?

[HisDev]

I currently have an iMac 27 2011, is using the classic HD 6970 and I want to upgrade the GPU, I saw a R9 290X/HD 8970 but I didn't find any info. Btw I want to use an eGPU to cause I need MacOS Catalina o Big Sur but I need a good performance. Recomendations?

-i7 2600
-32GB RAM
-SSD 512GB
-HDD 2TB
-HD 6970 1GB

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

No, R9 290x is not supported.

 

[HisDev]

No, R9 290x is not supported.

So i should pass to a 880m I guess?

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

So i should pass to a 880m I guess?

If you are comfortable with working inside your iMac and other stuff like flashing vBIOS, Opencore etc., welcome to the club.

2011 iMac Graphics Card Upgrade

iMac 2009 to 2011 MXM3 graphics card upgrade (Lastest update 10/13/2023 - this is the official documentation page - you found it finally!) This is the single and only documentation post. During the last years we constantly updated this post to reflect the lastet development of vBIOS and OCLP...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[HisDev]

If you are comfortable with working inside your iMac and other stuff like flashing vBIOS, Opencore etc., welcome to the club.

2011 iMac Graphics Card Upgrade

iMac 2009 to 2011 MXM3 graphics card upgrade (Lastest update 10/13/2023 - this is the official documentation page - you found it finally!) This is the single and only documentation post. During the last years we constantly updated this post to reflect the lastet development of vBIOS and OCLP...

forums.macrumors.com

Sure, no problem. btw, I want to use an eGPU to improve the performance. It could be a problem if I use vBIOS? and i need to use Catalina OS xd

 

[HisDev]

If you are comfortable with working inside your iMac and other stuff like flashing vBIOS, Opencore etc., welcome to the club.

2011 iMac Graphics Card Upgrade

iMac 2009 to 2011 MXM3 graphics card upgrade (Lastest update 10/13/2023 - this is the official documentation page - you found it finally!) This is the single and only documentation post. During the last years we constantly updated this post to reflect the lastet development of vBIOS and OCLP...

forums.macrumors.com

Or instead of use an 880m should I use just an eGPU? I was thinking in RX 5500XT or RX Vega 56 RX 590

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

Or instead of use an 880m should I use just an eGPU? I was thinking in RX 5500XT or RX Vega 56 RX 590

As you are thinking of eGPU, I suggest you build a Hackintosh and use your iMac 2011 as monitor. You will get all the speed and expandability, while still keeping the 27" 2k display.

Get an RX5700XT or RX6700XT if available.
I made a mistake and bought RX6600XT, which is not supported by Opencore.

 

[HisDev]

And how does you connect your eGPU to your iMac 2011? Check the specs of the eGPU you want to buy.

using an eGPU case with thunderbolt 3 and an adapter thunderbolt 3 to thunderbolt 2, and with a repository from Git. I saw some videos and it's pretty easy but there could be some problems in specific case.

 

[HisDev]

As you are thinking of eGPU, I suggest you build a Hackintosh and use your iMac 2011 as monitor. You will get all the speed and expandability, while still keeping the 27" 2k display.

Get an RX5700XT or RX6700XT if available.
I made a mistake and bought RX6600XT, which is not supported by Opencore.

But i want to use native MacOS because I already have the iMac, my PC is good enough so I really want to improve my iMac and make a fully work station, I want the eGPU to connect not only the iMac, I also want to connect my MacBook Pro whem I'm in home and use an Ultra Wide monitor. Just to work and casual games. That's why asked about use an iGPU like GTX 880m or an eGPU like RX 5500XT or 590 / Vega 54.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

But i want to use native MacOS because I already have the iMac, my PC is good enough so I really want to improve my iMac and make a fully work station, I want the eGPU to connect not only the iMac, I also want to connect my MacBook Pro whem I'm in home and use an Ultra Wide monitor. Just to work and casual games. That's why asked about use an iGPU like GTX 880m or an eGPU like RX 5500XT or 590 / Vega 54.

Native Mac OS for iMac 2021 is High Sierra, it's not supported with more recent Mac OS.
Installing newer Mac OS to it means you have just done a Hackintosh project.
Review the definition of Hackintosh: Installing Mac OS on non-supported hardware.

Research more about eGPU.
I think your idea is not working because no commercial solution is available at the moment.
A normal Thunderbolt 3 eGPU will not feedback signal to drive the internal LCD on your iMac 2021.
There is a work-around (i.e. more serious hacking) solution: Use an LCD driver board to make the internal LCD external, then reroute the cable (DP) back to it from the eGPU. But this would be a different type of eGPU which will not work on MacBook. This type of eGPU will use the MXM slot on the iMac's logic board.