Bitcoin Forum

Hello everybody guys! :D

I just bought some hardware for my new rig project so i'm here asking which is the best configuration (software) for it!

This is what i bought:

1 ea.    G. Skill DDR3 1333 2GB
1 ea.    AMD Sempron 140 2.7GHZ AM3
1 ea.    BIOSTAR A870U3
1 ea.    OCZ ModXStream Pro 700W
2 ea.    Sapphire Radeon 5830 Xtreme 1GB

So, first of all..Are these componets ok or i need some other hardware to start mining?

I haven't bought an HD becouse i'm planning to run everything from an USB stick (with LinuxCoin?!), but if i can get more Mhashes with Winzozz  i have some unused HDs to install it.

What you guys think about configuring this rig?
LinuxCoin, Ubuntu, Winzozz or whatelse?
Any tutorial on how to setup everything?
How much Mhashes/s may i get with this rig (and the best software configuaration also)???

Last question: Should i need a dummy plug for the second 5830? if yes is this tutorial good for setup the dummy plug? -> http://www.overclock.net/folding-home-guides-tutorials/384733-30-second-dummy-plug.html

Thanks a lot in advance for the help you could provide to me ;) I will make some donations if i found your reply worth for me :)

Sent you a message via PM.

The forums are dying, so hopefully this goes through.

I run a very similar configuration.  I went with Windows 7 as I have more experience setting that up.

I'm running 11.5 Catalyst drivers, 2.4 SDK

Phoenix miner with the following settings

BFI_INT VECTORS WORKSIZE=256 AGGRESION=13 FASTLOOP=false -k phatk

Overclocked via MSI Afterburner after adding the following to the cfg file

[ATIADLHAL]
UnofficialOverclockingEULA   = I confirm that I am aware of unofficial overclocking limitations and fully understand that MSI will not provide me any support on it
EnableUnofficialoverclocking = 1
UnofficialOverclockingMode   = 2
AccessibilityCheckingPeriod   = 0

Settings in Afterburner are 1025 Core clock, 325 Memory.  You can't just bring the memory down to 325 in 1 go, and you can't ever set it between 500-600 or it will lock up.  Set it to 650, close afterburner, reopen afterburner, set it to 325.

Fan speeds manually set to 90%

I get 314-317 MHash/s per card.  GPU temps are between 53-56C (basement, so ambient is very low)

This is faster than I ever achieved with any other combination of software, miner, and SDK version with these cards.  Memory cannot be easily underclocked in linux so you'd have to bios flash the cards using windows first if you went the linux route (if you want the benefits of lower temps and slightly higher MHash/s that comes with lower memory clocks)

If you need any additional help PM me or respond here.

Edit: In windows a dummy plug is not exactly necessary, but it does make things easier.  Without a dummy plug you'd overclock 1 card, and start mining on it.  Then switch the cable to the other card, overclock it, and start mining on it.

The 30 second dummy plug will work, but the 5 second dummy plug is quicker and just as reliable.  http://blog.zorinaq.com/?e=11

I do NOT recommend you overclocking to 1025.

Information:
==========
1) 5830 uses more energy/wattage than almost any other card, specially @ 90% fan and overclock
2) Stick to 975/340 and you'll easily get 301 mhash/s with 70% fan speed.
3) 1025/325 is expensive ($$ pay for electricty)
4) Fans in general have only a certain # of life cycles (The more they spin, the less life-time they have) 90% way too much.

Fan's only have so many cycles, by upping the speed to 90%, you are reducing the life of your card.
Overclocking already voids the warranty, I wouldn't do anything further unless you really don't care about the GPU.


I speak from experience:
===================
I have 6x5830's setup with the above settings (975/340).
Anything over really is not worth it.
I've tried XFX and Sapphire cards, same setup works for bot chip-sets.

I keep my cards cool to 55-60 celcius, sometimes hits 62 but hey, it works just well.
Anything over 975 for me made everything just unstable.

Hope this helps.

TDP * ( OC MHz / Stock MHz) * ( OC Vcore / Stock Vcore )^2

Since I don't touch the core voltage it's essentially TDP * (1025/800) vs TDP * (975/800).  Or, 5% extra wattage for an increase of 5% to my hash rate.

Power draw difference on a fan spinning at 3600RPM vs 3100RPM is not much of a difference.  The major issue with that, like you said, is the extra wear on the fans and the noise.

I get about 5-6C difference from 75-100% fan speed.  I have my money being on wear and tear from sustained thermal exposure being more detrimental to the life of a card than the shortening of the fan life.  I still have my 9800GT that was running for 4 years at 100% fan speed.  The card gave out before the fan did.

I will agree though, for most users 1025MHz will be unsustainable and unstable.  I got very lucky on the cards I received.  It's all in what you are comfortable running at vs life you expect to get out of the cards.  I have a feeling that mining will not be profitable long before I wear the cards out, and I want to squeeze as much out of each one as I can.

Edit: Also, the 100% is a software limit on the fans.  If you really want to see how fast they'll spin, wire them directly to a 12V line of your PSU.. I wouldn't put money on them lasting for more than a few weeks at those speeds though.

i am running a dual 5830 setup, i get 301 on each card

975/320 running phoenix with phatk
i use custom fan setting of 1% per 1 degree until it hits 65degrees then i go up 2% per degree.
they are running around 65 and 61, 68 and 63 today but it was 105 outside and was a little warmer than normal in here.

my setup is the basic cheap one from newegg
the dual slot asrock mobo http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157226
the sempron cpu http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103698
some psu that was on sale the week i ordered, 650w with nice amps on each rail http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817339024
2gigs of mem i had laying around here already
laptop harddrive i had laying around here
win 7 aero off

i use the 11.1 drivers though as for some reason the 11.5 and 11.4 drivers give me boot loops when i install them, didnt try .2 or .3

Software overclocking doesn't void warranty.

yes it does, although there's no real way to prove that you did overclock.

So Sapphire, a graphics card manufacturer releases a tool that will void your warranty on their card?  I find that hard to believe.

No. It doesn't.

They all do essentially! CCC OC's

Thank you!  You just solved my mystery of locking up when lowering RAM speed.  You just helped out 3 people I know with this post.

I really recommend going with the Ubuntu 11.04 guide and installing it on a 4GB usb. I tried getting both Win 7 and XP to install to USB and it ended up just not working or being worth the effort.
For overclocking, I highly suggest 975/~320; anything more and you risk stability and heat issues which is not worth the extra 10MH/s.
For the the software I reccomend RBE, it's surprisingly easy to use: Acquire bios, back it up, change one of the clock setting then flash the modded bios, this makes it so that you don't need to mess with any overclocking in Ubuntu.