Guest Eug Posted September 7, 2006 Report Share Posted September 7, 2006 According to macgeneration the new 24 inch iMac uses MXM for its 7300 GT and 7600 GT. Can anyone confirm this? Is this standard MXM? --- Eug @ Everything Apple Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice-Tea Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 According to macgeneration the new 24 inch iMac uses MXM for its 7300 GT and 7600 GT.Can anyone confirm this? Is this standard MXM? --- Eug @ Everything Apple No :) We'll have to wait untill someone cracks her open :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobilenvidia Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 There is no go7300 GT, I doubt it would use desktop GPU's on an MxM type board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice-Tea Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 I googled some pics of the Apples insides. No MXM :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 There is no go7300 GT, I doubt it would use desktop GPU's on an MxM type board. Is there a reason this is not possible? Just wondering. The 24" iMac doesn't actually need a laptop GPU. It can use a slower desktop GPU, since it is a desktop after all (even if it does use a laptop CPU, and it looks kinda like an oversized laptop in design). I googled some pics of the Apples insides. No MXM :) The 24" iMac came out yesterday. I haven't seen any pix of its insides yet, and nobody seems to have an actual unit yet either. Thus, any internal pix would have to be from the service manual, and I haven't seen that online yet either. I'm pretty sure the 20" and 17" models use a different design for the GPU. The 24" is the only one with an nVidia GPU, and it's the only with a GPU upgrade option. The 20" and 17" models use the Radeon X1600 or else Intel GMA 950, soldered to the motherboard AFAIK. Maybe macgeneration got the type of daughter card wrong, but I figure if it's nVidia, there's a good chance it's MXM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabrice Roux Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 If it's done Apple all the way be sure it will be a Quanta like MXM... (read physically MXM but not compatible with other MXM graphic cards) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Eug Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 If it's done Apple all the way be sure it will be a Quanta like MXM... (read physically MXM but not compatible with other MXM graphic cards) Yeah, I could see that happening. Then again, that's better than nothing. If it's feasible, a 3rd party might step in and release upgrades. BTW, the CPU is likely also upgradable. Or at least it was on the previous Intel iMac models. We need the Kodawarisan people to get one of these 24" iMacs asap to disassemble. :) I ordered one, but there is no way I'm disassembling mine. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice-Tea Posted September 8, 2006 Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 Yeah, I could see that happening. Then again, that's better than nothing. If it's feasible, a 3rd party might step in and release upgrades. BTW, the CPU is likely also upgradable. Or at least it was on the previous Intel iMac models.We need the Kodawarisan people to get one of these 24" iMacs asap to disassemble. :) I ordered one, but there is no way I'm disassembling mine. :) Yeah, it were his pictures I saw, so my appologies for the disinformation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice-Tea Posted October 4, 2006 Report Share Posted October 4, 2006 Updated the frontpage with pictures of Aplle's 'kinda' MXM solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabrice Roux Posted October 4, 2006 Report Share Posted October 4, 2006 It looks like MXM, it smells like MXM, it taste like MXM... but it is likely to be a new Quanta proprietary MXM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice-Tea Posted October 4, 2006 Report Share Posted October 4, 2006 It looks like MXM, it smells like MXM, it taste like MXM... but it is likely to be a new Quanta proprietary MXM. These words sound strangely familiar :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice-Tea Posted October 4, 2006 Report Share Posted October 4, 2006 Got some new info. Looks like the cable goes to a temp sensor on top of the heatsink, so no problems :) Also: it looks like they are using a desktop 7600GT, which means plenty 'o' juice for notebook parts :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabrice Roux Posted October 4, 2006 Report Share Posted October 4, 2006 *rolls eyes* thermal sensor on the heatsink... why o why... now that the GPU comes with throttling capability there is no point in hardwiring the thermal sensor logic at that stupid position. The best would be to use the internal thermal diode which gives more accurately the chip temperature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice-Tea Posted October 4, 2006 Report Share Posted October 4, 2006 *rolls eyes* thermal sensor on the heatsink... why o why... now that the GPU comes with throttling capability there is no point in hardwiring the thermal sensor logic at that stupid position.The best would be to use the internal thermal diode which gives more accurately the chip temperature. I dont't know whether desktop GPU's feature the same throttling as notebook parts do :) Perhaps that's why? Or maybe it's just Apple being Apple :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice-Tea Posted October 25, 2006 Report Share Posted October 25, 2006 Cleaned up some spam. Figured I might update the thread while i'm at it :) So, normal MXM cards do not work in Apples. Send a card to a 24" owner, no dice. Basically, while it seems close enough, it's not a MXM card. It's just another Aplle format. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Renee Cousins Posted October 29, 2006 Report Share Posted October 29, 2006 Cleaned up some spam. Figured I might update the thread while i'm at it :) So, normal MXM cards do not work in Apples. Send a card to a 24" owner, no dice. Basically, while it seems close enough, it's not a MXM card. It's just another Aplle format. It's the ROM, the MXM cards do work in BootCamp - verify if the Flash is 64K or 128K and if its 128K flash it with a ROM ripped from a Mac consumer line equivalent card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice-Tea Posted October 29, 2006 Report Share Posted October 29, 2006 It's the ROM, the MXM cards do work in BootCamp - verify if the Flash is 64K or 128K and if its 128K flash it with a ROM ripped from a Mac consumer line equivalent card. Isn't it the other way around? Anyways, shipped him a 6200. Has 64k ROM as far as I can see. Problem is I don't have any bioses handy for mobile nVidia GPU's for Apples :) I'm perfectly willing to work with anybody who wants to give it a go, but this is basically above ly head. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted October 29, 2006 Report Share Posted October 29, 2006 Isn't it the other way around?Anyways, shipped him a 6200. Has 64k ROM as far as I can see. Problem is I don't have any bioses handy for mobile nVidia GPU's for Apples :) I'm perfectly willing to work with anybody who wants to give it a go, but this is basically above ly head. Hmm, I think the 128K was only needed historically. I'll check in a minute, but it seems my 7300GT ROM image is only 61KB - I'll put it here for anyone who wants to disect it. My guess is that the problem is EFI support. When booting to Windows through Bootcamp, the Mac will run the EFI-BIOS extensions that are in the 200MB partition, allowing Windows to boot, and, again I'm guessing, also allowing the video card to initialize through normal BIOS calls. When it boots into OS-X, it skips this initialization step, and does not initialize the BIOS extensions, and therefore the graphics card does not have the chance to start up because it does not have the code to operate through EFI. I'm sure someone who's savy with ROMs and assembly code would know the difference. Considering the crappy performance of the 7300GT (and the so-so performance of the 7600GT in the "high end" iMac), it would be nice to have the choice of upgrading to a better card. mac7300GT.rar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice-Tea Posted October 30, 2006 Report Share Posted October 30, 2006 I only understand about half of what you're saying :) But I'd say that if you have a 7600GT, you'd better wait untill DX10 cards before even considering an upgrade. A desktop 7600GT probably is not thát much worse as a Go7900GS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anewsome Posted February 2, 2007 Report Share Posted February 2, 2007 Any update on this? We are certain that iMac 24 inch does not use MXM card? Has anyone been able to source an upgrade for 24 inch iMac that does work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hisse Posted February 18, 2007 Report Share Posted February 18, 2007 It doesn't seem to be a very active topic, From what i understand from this thread it seems(if I read correctly) that mxm cards work fine under bootcamp to windows since it uses a system bios to run windows thus enabling the graphics card to run. But under OS X using EFI only mac cards will work(justifiably since they're the only ones made to handle it). Is this correct or has some of the stuff in here been inaccurate? If that is true it is also reasonable to assume that you could switch an apple card with an apple card if you could get your hands on one? So like order with 7300gt upgrade to 7600gt later(not really worth it). But for example say a model or two down the road if they still use MXM and they have new DX10 cards in the imacs wouldn't it also be reasonable to assume based on this information that one of those cards would work in the current 24". Now this is just an assumption based on what I've read in this thread. Getting your hands on one of the cards may be a pain in the arse if it was possible to do the switch but I could almost guarantee that Apple isn't making the cards so who is? And if you could find that out would they be willing to sell the chips? Please correct me if I'm wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice-Tea Posted February 19, 2007 Report Share Posted February 19, 2007 That sums it up pretty nicely :) While you are right to assume Apple does not make their own cards, chances of acquiring one directly at the source are nil. Two reasons. 1) In Taiwan they laugh their arses off if you go ask them a single card. Actually, they are still laughing when you ask one hundred. Around 1k+ they start to wake up. 2) These cards are made for Apple. They are not allowed to sell cards to anyone but Apple. It would be the same thing as going to Foxconn to get some iPods. Doesn`t work. So, two options: 1) Upgrade with an Apple card, if they stick to the format and if they are compatible. 2) Get a non-Apple card and find/engineer a suitable bios Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 it looks like the new imacs have MXM radeons, hopefully someone will find some supply of those for swapping... I got a refurb 24" so didnt have the video option, but would love to try if it's possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest -TiLT- Posted November 2, 2007 Report Share Posted November 2, 2007 I wonder, if parts of the osx86-project could help here. They figured to have full HW-support on non-Apple gfx-cards on their hacked osx. Maybe, these drivers could help to make normal MXMs run in Apples 24" iMac. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asbjørn Ulsberg Posted November 19, 2007 Report Share Posted November 19, 2007 As I wrote in the topic Upgrade the Apple iMac's ATI Radeon HD2600 Pro, I'm thinking of buying a new iMac equipped with a Radeon HD2600 Pro. I probably won't upgrade the video card instantly, but if a better card becomes available and isn't close to impossible to install, I'll do it eventually. I'd love more information about whether it's possible to upgrade, if the recent EFI update perhaps fixes some issues and whether a better MXM-based card even exists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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