Chosen Solution
So this question is not about graphics card upgrade, it’s about DOWNgrade: I have a broken 2009 27” C2D iMac, but the graphics card is still good. Is it possible to put this into the later 2011 Core-i model where the original 67xx card has failed? Seems like the older cards are more durable, and they look like they physically fit (maybe the heat sink needs to be from the 2011 model). There is OSX drivers for them, I don’t need the extra graphics power (or heat) of the 67xx series - so should I go for that combination? Can anybody here answer this? Thanks, Christoph
no, not possible. reason is that there are port differences as Aaron said.
No, unfortunately. I believe the connectors on the Logic boards are different.
ABSOLUTELY! In fact, I’m posting right now from one. I’ve run a Mac repair shop for 18 years and back in the day, these 67xx cards were EXPENSIVE, not to mention, they were unreliable and failed all the time. Because I had such a surplus of 2008-2010 iMac parts, I started experimenting with different cards and after running an HD4850 in a mid-2011 iMac for 4 months (with NO ISSUES WHATSOEVER), I started offering these replacements to our customers. I would tell them: “You can buy this $540 replacement from _________ supplier, I’ll install it for $100 and cross your fingers that it doesn’t fail after your 1-year warranty expires… OR you can just give me $250 and I’ll throw in this HD4850 and we be done with all this nonsense”
