Bitcoin Forum

Hello,

So, I just set up my new gaming/mining rig.  I'm running Windows 7 64-bit, and currently my 3 6970's are connected via crossfire bridges.

When I launch GUIminer with crossfire enabled, all 3 cards generate the output of 1 card (about 370-380 m/hash at stock speeds.  If I turn off crossfire in Catalyst Control Center, one card gets all 370-380 m/hash and the other 2 generate 1 m/hash.

My questions:
1)  Do I need to take off the crossfire bridges?
2)  Will I need HDMI dummy plugs for the other 2 cards?

Thanks in advance :)

I have heard that the 6970 doesn't work well with guiminer.  But that it works great with diablo miner.

I prefer GUIminer due to familiarity.  Anyone else?

Update:  Tried disconnecting Crossfire bridges and still have the same problem.


Advice please? Anybody who can fix this for me gets .5 BTC

I think you should try diablo miner.

Also what is your CPU usage like while you are mining?

I have not tried mining with multiple cards but I might be able to help. Have you tried different miners in guiminer and what kernel are you using? I find the phatk kernels with polcbm to be vastly superior to my 6950 which is a 6970 with locked cores but that is only with one.

One more thing to try is to reduce the aggression on the mining as this may be causing a limitation

[EDIT]

Also try just running 2 cards to see if you have the same problem. I would assume you have a 1000W P/S you are powering these cards with. I dont think that would be a problem though as likely the power supply would blow up if it were overloaded.

Honestly, I'm exhausted at the moment (haven't sat down in 18 hours) and I don't really know anything about kernals, aggression settings,  and have never experimented with other miner programs.

I have a 1050W PSU.

If you have any other advice, leave it here and I will check it tomorrow or Friday when I get a chance.  Bounty is still on the table and it may be increased if this is really a pain in the ass.

Thanks so far :)

(BTW, an explanation of kernals and aggression would be awesome!)

 Have you tried to run 3 different instances of guiminer? I can't even get it to work with 2nd tab opened in one instance.

Check your driver version (I like 11.8, no dummy plugs needed).
Make sure you are selecting the appropriate DEVICES in GuiMiner (Cayman 0-1, 1-1, 2-1 etc), when setting up the 2nd and 3rd card mining Tabs.
No Crossfire Fire.

Try installing OpenCL manually (I had to on all my computers):
C:\ATI\Support\11-12_vista64_win7_64_dd_ccc_ocl\Packages\Apps\OpenCL64

Was my location for 11.12...also no need for dummy heads.

Also, make sure python is installed [if you are using poclbm or something].

Good site for automatic installs:

http://www.ninite.com

My 3x6970 rig drew right about 800w at the wall doing 1.2gh/s.

That sounds about right. You should always design for about 80% with PSU so you have some headroom. Have you tried a BIOS update to see if it is just a firmware issue?

Bounty goes to BitLane :)

BitLane, please send me your BTC address and I will send you .5 BTC.  Be advised that I will not be able to send until later today because I need to buy a new network cable.  After you post your address, I will post again after I have sent the .5 BTC. 

I think you got lucky :)  I was very tired last night and made the dumb mistake of opening 3 tabs but NOT changing the devices from Cayman-0 to Cayman-1 and Cayman-2.

Thanks for the easy fix!

Glad to see you got it fixed. Although I didn't offer up the advise for the bounty, I will accept it none the less ;)
Thanks.

1WgDXsc8b9QjnyV74Q2wMGzrz5AK4zod1

If I could offer up 1 more small, but hopefully relevant piece of advise ? (no charge....unless you think it's worth something...lol)

Ditch GUIMiner and get on the CGMiner train.

I use it on all my Win7 x64 machines and it rocks. It has the ability to use a config file, but I still find it easier to launch it from a BAT file.

1- Create a new TXT file in Windows.

2- Paste in the following (change where needed)


3- Close TXT File, SAVE, RENAME the file something.BAT (have 'hide known file extensions' disabled, or it will remain a TXT file, regardless of extension)

4- Right-Click the BAT file, choose EDIT (opens in Notepad), Make the required changes, adding your POOL, USERNAME, PASSWORD, GPU Clock Speed (replace XXX). CLOSE/SAVE

5- DOWNLOAD the latest CGMiner (2.1.2) for Win32 (no x64 version, doesn't matter, runs fine). Unzip it anywhere you like.
Thread - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=28402.0  .........  Direct Download Link (From Developer) - http://ck.kolivas.org/apps/cgminer/cgminer-2.1.2-win32.zip

6- CUT/PASTE the something.BAT file into your CGMiner directory and Double-Click it.....VOILA!


The above CMD is set to run MEM @ 300Mhz and your Target Temp with Auto Fan control at 69C, but these values can be changed also.
Regardless of whatever driver, the CMD is also set to run on a single CPU core, rather than 100%, or all 4 cores of your Quad Core, if that's what you have (affinity = quick fix for 100% CPU Bug).

This will automatically control all 3 of your cards and give you 2 mining threads per card (default setting). Once you get your 'feet wet' with it, you can explore more options.
What I provided above is a basic (pretty much what I use exactly) setup for most of my cards, including my quad 6950 Miners (using I=9 Intensity as above).

Give it a try....you WON'T be dissapointed.

CGMiner replaces Overclocking Software, Fan Control and Miner - ALL IN ONE ;)

.5 BTC sent about 10 seconds ago :) 

BTW, Ill try out the CGMiner sometime soon.

GOT IT ! thanks.

As far as CGMiner, make sure and give it a try. You will LOVE IT.

No problem :)

agreed, but I still use the config file:

start /affinity 1 cgminer -c myconfigfile.conf

+1 made the switch a few months ago and will never look back.

works great.

would you mind repeating these Win 7 instructions for a solo miner?  thanks in advance.

The above will work with SOLO or POOL mining.

Do you already have your Bitcoin APP running in SERVER mode (Server=1) in the bitcoin.conf file ?

Before you do anything, make sure you have a proper bitcoin.conf file setup.

Are you planning to run 1 wallet/app for multiple machines to connect to on your private network ? (personal mini-pool type of setup, which is what I do) ?

I run 4 mining rigs pointed at a single wallet/app for SOLO mining.

Clarify a bit and I will help you get setup.

I have 4 6970's, with guiminer I get 386 mhash. With cgminer I get 420-440 mhash. You definitely don't want the crossfire bridges connected.
And no dummy plugs are needed thats for linux. Are you sure the miner is not set to mine on one gpu, it can auto reset itself sometimes.
 I would start with removing the cards. Put one in run it, install another reboot and so on.
I would also uninstall catalyst. And just install the cc drives without the full catalyst. Make sure its version 1.11 or lower.
If you try cg miner, make sure to use this shortcut to run it, or all your cpu's will be maxed out. Put this phrase into the target of the shortcut C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /c  start "cgminer.exe" /affinity 1 "C:\cgminer\cgminer.exe" (assuming cgminer is located in your c:  folder)

Its clearing a driver issue if you are indeed selecting the proper devices in guiminer. It is not a setting that can be changed. Also your power supply is going to be working overtime. I burned up a 1000 watt with 2x 5970's which draw about the same as your setup.
 

bitcoin.conf for Solo Mining. REPLACE BOLD with your own. Pay close attention to RED BOLD for further setup required.
This file needs to go on the Bitcoin(D) server/app location/machine that others will be pointing to.....

Win7 botcoin.conf default location = C:\Users\USER\AppData\Roaming\Bitcoin\


Once this is in place, run your Bitcoin App on your Server and point all miners to it's internal IP address using the previous instructions above.

Problem solved, bounty paid....you are late unfortunately.

Thanks but problems already been solved.

PSU is doing just fine with 3 of them.  I underclock, not overclock.

first off, let me say that b/c i'm a non techie, i bought this 4 computer setup from a mining machine company that went out of business, so if you're wondering why i might be vague on the components/setup its b/c i didn't put it together.

with that said, i have 3 Win7 miners, 1 with 3 Sapphire 6970's, 1 with 3 Powercolor 6970's, 1 with 1 Sapphire and 1 Powercolor 6970.  all are generating in the low 300 Mh/s sometimes high 200 Mh/s with relatively high temps in the 80C's and high fan speeds.  the miners are controlled with AMD Vision Engine Control/Overdrive using GUIminer.  they all feed wirelessly to a Ubuntu server with the Bitcoin wallet which then connects out to my router and internet.

the AMD software's lowest memory clock setting allowed is 1370 Mhz.  i'm clocked at btwn 900-950 depending on the miner. fan speeds are 75-100%, with power control at 0.  temps are in the 80's.


the system is up and running but with high temps, high fan speeds of 80-100%, and lowish Mh/s per card.  i'd like to get them optimized.

My 3 6970's are currently at about 360 m/hash at 888 core, 750 mem, 95% fan.  Temps are around 70C for the first two cards and 76C for the last card.  Currently using GUIminer and MSI Afterburner.

Why did you under-clock them? for electricity savings?

Actually no, all utilities are paid as part of my rental agreement.  I'm doing it for card longevity and reduced heat (there's literally like no space between the cards).  Plus, I have a 4-year in-store warranty on all cards and I think overclocking can void warranties. 

4 6970s side by side. You can have space between the cards:
http://ck.kolivas.org/pictures/Mining/IMG_1240.JPG

LOL, what a lovely ghetto solution you've found Conman  ;D

That's a Raven rv03, right?
In my rv02 I jury-rigged a 140mm exhaust fan at the connector side of the GPUs sucking the air from between them cards.
Great, moddable cases those Ravens. Goodness incarnated.

Heh yes it is. Great case for when it all must be in a case. The cards dropped a good 15 degrees or 25% fanspeed with those half-pegs.

so does that mean the cards are twisted somewhat?

That's the whole point of jamming the pegs between the cards.
Just be careful not to overload your definition of "somewhat"  ;D

I believe the standard defines 1.5cm of movement or something like that. This is only .5cm yet makes a massive difference to temperatures.

what are those pegs made of and where can i get some?  i'm having temp issues.

i got cgminer installed and working!

Great!

They're... pegs... as in clothes pegs, for a clothes line. I just pulled them apart. You get them... everywhere and these particular ones are made of... plastic.

i don't know how you're keeping your temps under control with cards that close.  i have 2 cards that close and the top one is running 102C using cgminer with fan at 100%. 

Take a good look at the pic of the case being used:
http://ck.kolivas.org/pictures/Mining/IMG_1048.JPG

(ignore the crossfire bridges, they've been removed).

All the heat in that case goes out vertically upwards with reference cards that blow in that direction.
The case fan underneath is 180mm (there are 2) and blows directly into the cards with no obstruction whatsoever when closed.
The PSU is not even effectively *in* the case, having its own section so not contributing to case heat nor having to suck any heat out of its own accord.
The back is massively ventilated as well.
The case is a full sized tower, not a mini or midi tower.
The cards have spacers between them as shown in the earlier photo.
All the cards have their memory underclocked to exactly 125 below their optimal engine clock speeds (the cards run engines from 950-1005).
The cards were ordered so that the fastest ones were put in slot 0 and 3 since they generated the most heat they needed the best ventilation.
cgminer basically ran in all its auto settings to keep the fans running optimal.
Virtually all GPU fans ran in the 45-75% range during winter and most ran at 85% in summer (none ever needed to go to 100%), yet the temps were targetted and kept at 75 degrees.
This is all I can remember offhand.


...All in all this is a purpose built rig with a lot of thought into making it work within a case, and the case was carefully chosen. It is not just components slapped together. It ran 6 months without a single hiccup. What *has* taken this rig down, though, is a dead motherboard. Not sure what I could have done to prevent that one though.

Perhaps the GPUs were drawing more juice than the mobo could feed them using the thin PCB lines?
It wouldn't be one of those mobos with an extra molex connector just for powering the PCI-E slots?

Maybe. That's what I was wondering about too. The perennial mining favourite, the GD70.

Conman, there is a reason the new LGA2011 ATX-size boards all sport the additional molex connector.
Those are quite possibly the first consumer-grade boards designed with heavy multi-GPU action on the radar.

A traditional mobo gets only two 12V lines with the 24-pin connector.
The ATX standard defines up to 75W power usage per PCIE slot but the manufacturers never envisioned such a scenario for all the slots.
Two, perhaps even three devices but not a power hungry monster in each and every single PCIE slot.

There have also been reports of the 24-pin connector burning down.
Those pins can carry up to 13 A of juice (the HCS variation) but the el-cheapo phosphor bronze variety maxes out as 8 A.There are two of those so 16 A * 12 V = 192 W total.
With the HCS pins, you're safely at 26*12 = 312 W.

The question stands, however, what levels of electromigration does 300 W of juice subject the thin PCB traces to in 24/7 mode?
I'm betting high and I'm also betting that's what brought your board on its knees.
I went with Gigabyte boards for those double-thickness traces they're boasting about. When I need another board I'll do the research again - perhaps more manufacturers are using thicker PCB traces now.

The gd70 is the favourite because it's the most cost-effective board, not necessarily the best. Also, you're doing (like me) one thing differently than most miners seem to be doing: you're packing the rigs into PC cases and that means no extenders. More specifically, no POWERED extenders. All the juice flowing through the mobo.

on my cards the fans would blow to the left using your picture, not vertical.

what cards are you using?  is it possible to do this config with 4 6970's?

do you usually leave the side panel off?  do you use any additional external fans?

edit:  just figured out one of my fans failed...

Vertical orientation on the motherboard, FTW. Those raven cases are pretty spiffy. Venting heat out of the top makes a hell of a lot more sense than trying to work it out the back, past a bunch of things that are  sucking it up again.

i agree.  where do you get Raven cases?

Silverstone RV02 (http://www.silverstonetek.com/raven/products/index.php?model=RV02) and RV03 (http://www.silverstonetek.com/raven/products/index.php?model=RV03) "Raven" to be precise.
Both models rock; I'm very happy with my RV02's performance as Con is with his RV03's. RV03 is smaller and comes with one fan less but is also a tad cheaper.
You can jury-rig fans aplenty to either of those cases with a few zip ties and some duct tape.
Try NewEgg (http://www.newegg.com/)

I've also got the RV02. It looks ultra sharp, and having the whole bottom lined with 180mm fans that have speed switches is awesome. It also has dust filters, which are like maintenance gold. I haven't found a single dog or cat hair in my box, I just pull the filters and shop-vac them off and I'm golden. Also, as jake pointed out, because of the vertical orientation, the PSU draws air from outside the case (with another filter!) and exhausts it outside the case. And there's a fancy window to show off you tri-fired liquid cooled goodness.

with cgminer, how do i tell which card slot corresponds to GPU 0,1,2?

Actually, there is no surefire way except for setting the GPU core speeds to something like "200,400,600,800" in the config file and looking at the actual hash rates and temperatures.
Another route would be setting one of the fans, say at GPU0, to 100% and observing which card is hyperventilating  ;)

you'd think that such a comprehensive slick piece of software would have this.

Blame AMD for opencl and the ATI display library having no sure fire way of telling me so that I could tell you via cgminer.

sorry; not complaining.  your software improved my hashrate by 33%.

btw, i'm sending you some BTC right now.

This thread inspired me to fool with cgminer a bit. I used the config info from this thread and fixed it up for my purposes. Wow...I am friggin' impressed.


What I have found, though, is that it doesn't completely throttle to maintain the designated temperature. I ran it on a card that has a fan out and runs hot...~85-95c. I set the temp at 70 expecting the software to throttle the core to run at 70 and it worked for a while, but alas, when I left it for a few hours, it was running hot...

I am a little simple when it comes to command prompt stuff like this. I need my fat-american GUI. How can I verify that it is throttling as it should? I was hesitant to run another monitoring program with it after reading some stuff about ridiculous voltage spikes in some cards from running two sets of clocking tools.

heh Randy, i have a card that has several blades knocked off the 2 fan rotors. don't ask how.  is it ok to run it anyway?  how would u cool it?

Since you probably can't get warranty service on it with the blades busted, I would probably just replace it/them. Fans are cheap, and it beats a fried card. That MSI TwinFrozr-II 6870 that I was referring to in my post above doesn't seem to overheat with only one of the two fans running, but who knows...it could be cooking the VRAM or something that I can't monitor as easily. It's under warranty still, so I didn't just swap the fan out...figure I can get a card that is less beat to hell by RMA'ing it.

so why exactly are u using cases?  an open architecture allows more spacing of cards and less chance of overheating right?  if you're not going to be moving the rig around why not make it open and save the money on buying a case?

Eesthetics mostly, I think.
I don't have a huge garage to fill up with rigs and since I can't totally hide them from sight, I want the rigs to look decent.
The days I enjoyed seeing naked PCBs and wires sticking out of open cases have long been gone, along with my teenage years.

The 69xx cards are running at about 77°C with average 55% fan speed. Acceptable temps and bearable noise levels if you know what you're doing.
The Rv02, with its rotated mobo, seems to be just good enough. Mind you, I've yet to see my first mining-related GPU failure.
I'd never use a traditionally designed case, though, as barring some serious modding the middle cards get no airflow worth mentioning.

would the rv03 be better since it has 3 180mm fans at the bottom?

Uhmmm... you've got it wrong: the Rv03 has only two pre-installed intake fans (http://www.silverstonetek.com/raven/products/r-spec.php?model=RV03&area=en) as opposed to Rv02's three 180mm fans (http://www.silverstonetek.com/raven/products/r-spec.php?model=RV02&area=en).
Basically, RTFM  ;)

So I tried installing CGminer on my laptop first before I try it on my mining rigs.  Two questions:

1.)  Is it natural that my computer is trying to tell me that CGminer is a trojan horse?
2.)  When I click on the something.BAT file, why does it open a command prompt that immediately closes?

i never got a trojan horse warning.

your .bat file needs modifying.  it did that to me also at first.

Ok, I got it to work.  But how do I flash my BIOS to allow for 300 mem clock?  I have 3 x 6970.  Lowest it's letting me get is around 770 mem.  Also, I can't adjust the voltage.

you got me as to how to actually do it but the bios flash is here:

http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/2040/ATIFlash_3.89.html

the fact that the Accepted and Rejected columns have 0's in them, is this a cause for concern?

https://i.imgur.com/YBCw0.png

There is no concept of a share when you're solo mining.
You either have or don't have the correct hash for current difficulty.

In pooled mining, shares are merely being used to measure miners' hash rate, hence their rewards.

thanks Jake.

looks like i have to install Ubuntu on one of my miners whose Win 7 is corrupted.  can you point me to the relevant info on how to set this up?  i did RTFM from the beginning of this thread but want to make sure i do this right. ;)

*shrugs* how 'bout just following a guide like this one (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=7514.0)?
I never followed any of those guides, thus can't vouch for them but what Inaba wrote looks sensible enough.

Every guide boils down to:
(1) setting up the OS itself. That step is usually very easy and boils down to following the installer. Make sure to set up the ssh access here.
(2) installing AMD drivers and SDK, using "aticonfig --initial  --adapter=all" to generate a valid X configuration.
(3) setting up your miner of choice and its config file.
(4) enabling automation so that the machine can be run unsupervised.

AFAIK you can't get the 6XXX to run a drastically lower memory. Even if you edit the bios the clocks are hashed, within windows it will BSOD as soon as the driver loads if you alter them. In linux you can change them to whatever you want. It's a gotcha bulilt into the driver by dear old AMD. With cgminer you can use the memdiff paramter to auto adjust the ram speed to be slower, I think 125 or 150 is the limit.

So if you are running your gpu core at 900 mhz, the ram can go as low as 750 or 775.