Undervolting can "potentially" cause issues, because...

Lower voltage = higher amps @ "any wattage"
Regulators direct voltage to "dump" it as heat. The higher the voltage, the less it is "dumping", thus, cooler regulators.

However... using any card for "x-hours" is what ultimately kills it. When you use it in a game-system, you are using it intermittently. Thus, it may take three years to get one years worth of "circuit-wear" on the board. As opposed to using it "constant duty cycle", where a year of wear happens in 9-12 months.

Also, these are CMT chips. They use small amounts of "low lead" solder-paste, to mount the chips to the board. This type of solder is prone to "shearing", or "pulling-off", from cold-shock cycling. Thus, try applying a SMT solder-temp heat source to the chip to "rebond" the "cold-welds" that have pulled off the contacts. (That is the "x-box" oven trick. However, do NOT put these in your oven. Not all the components are "oven safe". The boards are later populated with non SMT components that will be destroyed if you attempt to oven-bake them.)

Also, as stated above... the heat from the GPU, is stupidly spread to the VRM's by the heat-sink, and the hot air is also blown directly onto all the components of the board. That will degrade capacitors, resistors, and any other non-sunk transistor that normally would not be exposed to these higher and constant heat levels.

Also, there is the issue of "bios corruption". Bios flashes are not that great. They still use cheap programmable memory, which decays in heat. (Thus the use of many "removable" and "reflashable" bios roms.) If the bios is corrupt, it can make it seem as if portions of the card are not functioning correctly, when they are perfectly fine.

However, this is the first time I have ever heard (with serious conviction), of "one card" having this issue. So, it may be realistically related to a design fault, or physical stress fault. As it has been confirmed over and over, that "mining", does not "cause damage". You don't have that much actual control over the cards components. With the exception of physical failures, which would kill an unmodified card, without any discrimination to user settings.

If there was a 100% "yes, this killed my card", then I would worry. However, I have barely seen 5% with this issue, which is actually indicative of "manufacturing error" and "physical hardware failure". Completely unrelated to "mining", other than the issue about "constant duty" and "cold shock", which happens when you play a game for 4-20 hours in a row also.

Not to mention, you have no idea if the cards had a previous bios-mod, or "driver glitches", that could have contributed to the shortness of life. (On anything other than the cards you purchased from the store directly.)

The number one killer of video-cards, is running them trapped inside of a heat-trap box, called a CPU tower. (That and water-coolers, which do not adequately cool the "rest of the components", and contribute to heat-stress-shearing, which fans reduce by keeping everything a constant temperature.)

I keep my phone in my jock-strap... will this protect me from testicular cancer from EMF if I use the earbud?

How about EMF from powerlines... from AM/FM broadcats towers... from space/sun... from my dashboard... from my EMF-emitter implanted in my heart, on my wrist, in front of my face (computer-screen), in my pocket (another WiFi/3G tablet)?

I'll stick with my foil helmet and vest and underwear! It is cheaper and makes me look like a space-man

Unless you "turn-on" the "no minimum" switch.

You do NOT "have" to pay a fee. The program you are using is making you pay a fee, which seems vampireistic to the original purpose of the coins.

However, there is a "hidden" command to remove that "leeching" of your funds. The cost is longer wait times for acceptance into a block. (That will fade away once all the ASIC's are here. They will have to take free transactions, just to have enough transactions to fill a block, or they will be sitting around not processing anything.)

The "fee" was added as a courteous gesture, to reduce "abused" micro-transactions, and "stimulate economy"... lol.. just like the real taxes you are trying so hard to avoid, by using bitcoins in the first place. Kind of self-defeating to the cause, and that alone, is stopping people from using bitcoins. Ironic, the wallet programmers are shooting themselves in the foot. Use another program that doesn't leech your funds, or find that hidden command to unlock the leeching. (It is hidden, as in, no GUI option to turn it off. But it IS clearly in the documentation and the HELP in the console.)

There is no "need" for transactions fees, now, or in the future. Pools already take 3-10% (3-10 of every 100BTC made. They make more than they spend, so taking the transactions fees is just a bonus for them, that they "hide" from the people in the pool. Like some do with namecoins, saying they are not mining them, but they actually are. Pools are on the way out, with the new ASICs coming.)

Yes, it is. That is why it has 0.00000001 decimals.

WE decided to LIMIT micro-transactions. It was DESIGNED for micro-transactions, WE simply agreed to limit them with code.

Yes, it will take longer to go through, but it will eventually go through. Most servers don't even check or care about "free" or "micro"... However, they are the last ones to get done, since higher paying customers have paid for transactions to go through faster. The priority is set in code, and reinforced on servers.

Not MADE for micro-transactions, my ass... lol. That was the whole purpose of bitcoins. To be "bits" (micro).

Removed... thought you were talking about a graphics card. I should have looked-up ztex. lol. Thought it was a ghetto card manufacture.

Sounds like a "powered-hub" failure on the mobo... Try adding a real powered hub. The onboard hubs are crap. Could also be an issue related to "turn off USB devices not in use"... if the devices are that low powered, or failing to communicate, the hub may turn them off, and "fail to wake on USB activity". (Just shooting in the dark for common things.)

Also, USB 1,2 or 3

With less and less "solo miners" and actual "constant online wallets" being used, there are less and less "sources for downloading". This will get worse after the ASIC's come and dominate the market, making pool mining the only option. Also with more and more people using "online and paper" for wallets, instead of using the low-security installed wallets.

They also updated the database to a slightly compressed format. You should be able to delete the older huge database files. I would be willing to bet that the wallet was just having a hard time trying to locate the "less available", but faster and smaller wallet data files.

But, but, I has firewall on, an router... I are safe, and I got stolen coins!

Obviously you didn't encrypt your wallet... Obviously a firewall is about as much protection as a sticky-note on your screen... Obviously you are using your normal computer for things it should not be doing... (Hope you don't bank with that same computer, or buy things with your credit-cards!)

Nothing is safe, unless YOU MAKE IT SAFE... what did YOU DO to MAKE IT SAFE? Nothing, you just expected it to be safe, and expected your firewall and router to make it safe. That is NOT the purpose of a WALLET program, or a FIREWALL or a ROUTER.

Besides, firewalls have not worked since they were created. They only STOP legitimate programs from doing legitimate things, not illegitimate programs from doing illegitimate things. They don't talk to firewalls, they go around them, through holes you ALLOW. Your router has nothing to do with security, it simply stops others from joining your internet if they are not allowed... you protected the internet from strangers using your wifi, and that protection was defeated years ago.

Don't tell me... you also have a virus scanner! That won't find crap that is just made, only crap that is old, and possibly a generic virus... but not a real, new virus/trojan/web-page-key-logger/html-5-virus or any other real serious threat... like downloading a non-virus program that just takes things off your computer or activates remote snapshots of your screen, or uses any other common low-tech method to take your crap. Like reading your COPY-PASTE clipboard... many people copy long passwords from a file, and paste them into the password field... but NEVER remove it from the clipboard once pasted. The next site can READ that from your computer, without being a virus.

Stop using your computer for cheap entertainment, and stop browsing all over to strange sites, that are obviously infecting your computer. (Like sites related to bitcoins.)

puddingpop is a "type" of pool setup. (It does EXTRA checking, to confirm your actual work. It may just use special drivers that handle this "different" style of work.)
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Remote_miner

If you installed the program (some special form of miner)... or joined a puddingpop format server... then it is NOT a trojan.

However, if you didn't install a miner, and you just woke-up after visiting facebook and playing some farmville style game, and got that warning the next day... then it IS a trojan, because you didn't put it there.

The warnings are because someone "added a miner" to an unsuspecting game/website/flash and was using everyone's computers to earn them money. Thus, "virus", the "Trojan" component is the auto-update, which downloaded a "special" update to deliver coins to a special wallet, and run the program in stealth service mode, while giving the hacker access with the RPC commands.

All these programs use PRC commands, but unless you enable them, they do not communicate with the outside world. The virus scanners do not check to see if RPC is being used, just that RPC exists, and same with the miner. It is not seeing if YOU installed it, or set it up, or looking to see if it runs with a "GUI". (non hidden).

I assume you are fine and safe. Since the program is "expected".

That may just be puddingpop-support, should you need to connect to that special type of server. Even if you didn't use it, the "support" for that miner style is there.

They said another 80 were delivered... total now is 30 + 80 = 110 out of ?20,000 orders... only took them a year, and took three weeks to get 80 out, after the 30...

I have not read ONE SINGLE post about these "delivered", "running", boxes. And you KNOW as soon as someone got one, and got it working, they would post a "look what I got" thread, defending BFL.

You would not notice 110 5GHs machines online. That is only 550GHs or 0.55THs, which would look like any 6-card 7970 system online. (There are a lot of those added every day. I know, because that is the majority of the new posts online, and those are the only cards constantly "selling out" on every online and local shop in the world.)

Once they release 80 of the 60/50GHs machines, then you will notice a bigger change. Though, I am sure everyone getting one, will attempt solo-mining for a few days, just because they can, and think they may strike it rich... then realize they are only 0.00001% of the whole hash-rate, and jump back into a pool. That will be a total of 4.8THs, or 4.0THs, but that will be like <1THs per major pool.

When they release all the 1.5THs machines... 80 of those (120THs)... that will instantly knock us down by 5-10% across the board, and another 30% of the lower-end will leave, headed to scrypt-based coins. (That is the only thing stopping the new 7970 guys from loosing more... all the <5xxx guys retire to scrypt-coins. Next will be the 6xxx rigs... and the FPGA guys... (BFL just screwed their previous customers, only gave them a year to live with the purchase of the FPGAs, before pushing them out of the bitcoin market. That is what they are going to do to Jalapenos... You won't even get 6-months, before you are squashed by your own sales-men/creators... Now that is the spirit of "honest sales-men".)

The answer is NO... and the 25/30GHs and 50/60GHs are also not worth it... since they are just a bunch of Jalapenos, with price matched speed. The only saving is in wires to connect them. You don't need 10 wires for 10 jalapenos to equal the one wire of the 50/60GHs machines. You would think that they would offer a slightly lower price per hash, but they are milking the market, and trying to ADD more money to the jalapeno orders, selling you firmware for unlocking the faster speed. LOL, that will be the first thing people do, is give the firmware away free... why pay, it already does 7GHs, once you update it. Don't get tricked into paying for that upgrade that was their mistake, and will be unlocked free once the first person gets the firmware and shows you how to flash it with the USB.)

Did you cleanly remove the drivers after changing them?

May also have to do with slots... Not all 16x slots are 16x... that is just the size of them.

Using 1 card, any of those MAY be 16x... but add another card, and chances are, they drop to 8x each.... or one 16x and one 8x, etc...

Thus, running "both the same", they are limited to 8x speeds/bus...

However, scrypt mining is temperamental, and highly dependent on reverse settings from bitcoin mining. (Must have higher memory clocks, lower core clocks, and they must be tuned... Just making one higher is not "tuned". They have a specific "balance" that has to be found... This is NOT the same for every card/mobo, and is unique for almost every setup.)

EG... core/mem
800/950 fail
800/1000 crap
800/1024 ok
800/1048 great
800/1100 perfect
800/1110 great
800/1120 crap
800.1125 fail

For bob, with the same setup... 800/1024 might be the best...

Also, workload I=13 G=1 is the "best" speed... less or more, and it degrades.

Minecraft... 30FPS... Mine all the Coal, Iron, Redstone, Gold, Diamond, and Obsidian you want...

You can mine with an android phone... so I know it is possible. Just not sane!

I am sure someone out there actually knows how to program nVidia cards to do what needs to be done. But most just copy-paste "known code", and don't try anything beyond that.

I was one of the first to propose the use of the GPU's super-fast memory mods, to do complex math with one instant POP, by simply using a graphical overlay that was actually a math formula, as a layered set of images. While others were still trying to push individual "commands", without success. Funny, you can ADD, MULTIPLY, SUBTRACT, (limited divide), and SHIFT, all with a single image-buffer and an overlay, onto another image, which is actually a giant array of a bunch of numbers. Lightning fast, and great for using numbers that are longer than a 64-bit, or even 1024-bit, or 32,000-bit variable/array.

We are at the mercy of the coders... The coders are at the mercy of what they are familiar with... What they are not, they initially copy-paste (or recycle), so they do not keep reinventing the wheel. However, the wheel sometimes need to be reinvented for racing on an oval track, in the desert, on dust, by crappy drivers in sloppy cars.

There is also the issue of "memory speed", and "buffers", and "controller chips", and "bus-speeds", and all sorts of other motherboard/bios/hardware related potential issues... "turbo-boosting", "shared-channels", "spread-spectrum", "voltage limits", "throttling from heat"... yadda, yadda, yadda... lol. Oh, and PSU power quality, under-loaded, and over-loaded.

Most higher priced MoBo's tend to have better/faster/tuned controls and functions that cheap motherboards skimp-on, to save a buck.

(Odd fact... Memory, although it says one speed... may default to the "real speed", as the "advertised speed" is an "overclock-stable" speed. You usually have to manually set that speed/clock and the times. Otherwise the BIOS simply uses the "safe" settings that the memory was "designed" for, internally. Also note, some memory speed/voltage is locked to the CPU speed/voltage clocks, since CPU's now have internal memory controllers available.)

I set all my clocks 15 minutes behind.. didn't help.. just got me to work late!

JK

Note on the "numbers"... You have to remember that "shares" have ID's... and a DIFF 1 share may come back solved after DIFF 1, or 2, or 30, or 458, or 1.4K.... Thus, it arrives "late"... sooo... initially it will be added to the count when it "arrives", in the "next block"... but when "calculated" hours later, it is sorted by ID#... thus, it moves back into the correct block below. So your adjustment is correct, sort-of... (It should be half and half, but that is a little more complex to process. Starting in block 222, but finishing in block 223, and in block 222 you had 0.000021% of the work-load, but in block 223 you had 0.000032% of the workload, so it looks like you lost a little as it moves back to where it should have been, in the lower share-stack.)

If the SHARE identified itself as the ID, in the "final results" or the "final results" were what was recorded for you to see... you would never notice it.

P.S. that is also how you get strange hash-rates... because you "are still solving" a share from the last-update... which comes back with a crazy-high number in the next update of your hash-rate. Like returning a DIFF 380/1... thus your prior hash calculation is short by 380, and the hash estimate now is +380 more than it should be, on the new hash-rate.

That plus network lag... delivering late packets. But TCP always delivers... so you ALWAYS get credit. It resends until it makes it home.

P.S. "Best share" should be correctly labeled "worst share"... It took LONGER, and thus, was "bad"... a "best", would be finding a 1/1 on every DIFF 1 share... not finding a DIFF 1 after 380 share-times (DIFF 380/1)

Move the computers outside...

Put a fan in the window, and seal-off the AC to that room... (Two fans, one blowing in, one sucking-out... move the computer exhaust right near the one exhausting out the room. To a computer 100F(38c) is nice and cool! Compared to the 176F (80c) of the GPU.)

I beg to differ on the "outlook of alt-coins".
http://dustcoin.com/mining

Value in coins = DEBT, our DEBT/LOSS (For buying cards, for processing transactions with power, and for maintnance.)

When BTC goes ASIC... THEY will have less debt, less loss, and "can sell for a lower price, because it is not a loss to them." However, the majority of all coins have already been mined by (DEBT/LOSS), and thus, the price is highly resistant to negative change. (I said resistant, not immune.)

However, once we move to ALT-COINS, the first thing we do is cash-out the BTC, which leaves even less for them to be able to "cash out", since we (the majority), will not be participating in the promotion of something we can't make, and since we (the majority), were clearly pushed-out and the only real major purchasers of the coins. (Us and our friends.) Plus, our debt is "in hand", they still have to MINE for the debt they just created for themselves.

Thus, the value, will shift from the "easy to earn" (for them), BTC... to the "harder to earn", alt-coins (for us). Well, the alt-coins that they can't effectively participate in.

Or, we simply come up with a whole new set of code, that better secures a place for ASIC's, GPU's, and CPU's... and we all win.

When it is down to "3-top-dogs" running the market, with no effort put forth to securing the network, the users, or those who built the foundation... Then the only thing they will end-up with is pure DEBT, and a bunch of worthless coins that no-one wants to use.

Do you want to use a dollar that doesn't maintain its value? A dollar that you can't cash-in, or exchange for another purposeful currency? A dollar that was created by smothering greedy thieves, who openly used and manipulated everyone into believing that they would be doing THEMSELVES good, by giving them money, which was going to be used to smother them out of the market?

I doubt it.

The community (majority), has spoken, and people are listening. Bitcoin is now hitting the "news" in a new light, due to ASICs... At this moment, I wouldn't want to be in any ASIC users shoes. Though I have one shoe coming, sometime this year, I hope... but not enough to threaten the state of the market.

I am all for adding value to debt. There are plenty of ways to add value to our "processing network", besides JUST mining for coins, to get coins. (Hint hint... "render farms", "cloud super-computing", "Formulated compression", etc... The hard part is convincing them to PAY us in BTC or an ALT-COIN of choice... instead of "cash". Thus, supporting the "exchange".)

To date, I think they can formulate about the first 10 digits, effectively with a standard computer, of any sha2-cypher. Beyond that, you have to just use brute-force, and "hope" for a solution, or a collision.

But as for ASICs... all they will do is squash out anyone with lower hash-rates, just as the GPU miners did to CPU miners. There is still only x-number of coins made per day, so the market will go from having several thousands of miners, down to about a few hundred, and then down to about three. The last three will be the ones who actually manufacture the ASICs... and I doubt that will be the ASIC producers we see here today. (BFL, AVALON, ASIC-Miner)... but it could be them... in the end, fighting over the same devalued coins they caused to devalue. (Using our money to make them what they are today. While they leave us behind.)

Funny thing is... once they all have 50THs each... that will make 49THs more than is required to "process" the few actual transactions that are trying to get in to the list, to be processed... (See, that will be three individual "processing gateways/servers", because there will be no more of the thousands of "GPU servers", running to collect the orders. Thus, even if the price does not fall, few will actually be able to get an actual transaction done. Unless they scatter the machines all across the world, and buy lots of internet connections, and then they will be in massive debit.)

Once the price hits $1000 per BTC... All the GPU's will have moved-on, and all the mini-ASICs below 1.5THs will be gone too. I am guessing, by income-tax time... next year. (It was already up to about 1/4 of that price, and people paid it...)

Then they will be forced to do a pump-and-dump of BTC into every other still-thriving alt-coin on the market. (Where all the GPUs will be mining... and they will try to rape us again... It will not work. We will just make a new system, that avoids all this horrible loss, and has a little more stability. Then they can come back and use the machines to HELP us instead of RAPE us.)

ASIC = AIDS
(Just like GPU was AIDS to CPU's)

But AMD didn't turn around and build mining rigs for themselves, and then stop selling us video cards... They made us more video cards! ASIC manufactures are building 1000 for them, and 1 for us... thus, selling us back 0.1% of the market, that we helped them build, with our cash.

You MAY not be able to use your integrated graphics chip, with a video-card plugged-in. That will depend on the motherboard.

If you don't go crazy overclocking, and set a modest "interval" for mining, than you should be able to do modest multi-tasking. Just be aware that consuming your CPU, will slow-down your GPU processing. Since it will use some RAM, and requires CPU threads to "respond", in time. (You may see a lot of stale-work, or just a non-constant hash-rate.)

However, once you stop doing other things, the GPU will fly like normal.

My only concern is if the "university" funds were used to purchase the computer/software... That "makes anything produced on the computer", "property of the university"... (Including work, study, or mining-funds.) That is a standard clause/agreement, so that you couldn't sue them for "your work", and take ownership of "your work", that was created with the "tools" they provided.

I am sure it will not be an issue, unless someone decides to be a jerk, and rat you out... and another jerk decides to "pull legality", to make himself a few bucks from your efforts. (That wouldn't be an actual issue, as you can freely "say it is research", as the bitcoin page even says, "this is an experiment"... and move any funds instantly to a private account. As opposed to keeping them on a wallet, on that computer.)

I say, hash away.

However, if you did like a guy that I read about, throwing together 400 of a universities "old computers" for a giant mining network... Then I am sure you would get more than just a "warning". But one little computer making a modest $5-$10 a day... I doubt they will be up to the fight, if it even shows on the radar at all.

You fail to see the point, if your intentions are this...

1: Use overly-priced CPU that requires TONS of electricity to MINE to create a WORTHLESS coin that you intend to GIVE AWAY for a BARTER-ITEM.
2: Limit those who can participate, to being the ONES WITH THE FASTEST CPU, that WASTES THE LEAST POWER.

You will not be able to control any "pooling", which would hide the mining-tools. Thus, you would have to MANIPULATE/CONTROL the market/mining, to people YOU BELIEVE deserve the coins they mined...

Here is what you want to do...

1: Make a coin that represents a individual "offering" of a bartered item. This simply requires a "bank" system to "accept" that JOE gave SUE x-coins worth of things. (But now you are back to money. Thus, not a barter.) SUE is the one who decides what JOE gets for coins, not YOU.
2: JOE should be able to give those coins to SUE for the GOODS that he gave her. (But that makes the coin useless, without any "value". JOE would have to get LESS than what he gave to SUE, or SUE did not make anything, she just wasted his time in the process, and SUE still has no food in the end, only her worthless coins back. If she KEPT some food, thus, giving JOE less food for the coins then SUE made money/value/coin.)

Thus, what is the point? You just like wasting electricity, thus, loosing value with every coin you make, giving DOLLARS to the power-company, instead of to those who are bartering? You want them to constantly loose, the more they trade?

Why are they getting coins? They just give stuff to the person doing nothing... then have to spend them on what... electricity?

You do realize "bartering" is a taxable "gain", right... Only you have to pay taxes on the "value" that the IRS thinks is the value, which is MSRP, not "Actual traded value". Only unprepared food can be bartered without taxes, because it can be SOLD without taxes. (Thus, you are just creating more waste.)

Do you work for the power company? Is that why you want this horrible system in place?

I am going to tattoo my QR code on my ass... Then I only have to fear the doctor seeing it.

I'll do it with a mirror, so it doesn't work for him, if he scans it!

Hope I don't slide down a mountain and rub my ass-skin off!

Why such a complex thing, for something that should be so uncomplex?

Adding more layers just makes people NOT want to use it MORE.

I got a bank, you have to bring three body-guards, a camera, five forms of ID, your mother, the doctor who birthed you, and the person you want to give money to, also has to do the same. You both talk to me, not to each other, and give the money to Guido, who will run to your secret-tree in the woods, and bury it, then tell Sarah where he put it, in code, so she can tell the person who gave the money to you, that the money is really there...

You want proof of a deposit, just look at the address in the block-chain. They gave you the address, and you know yours, so it is already "confirmed". If you are trying to stop others from spending your coins, how exactly will that stop them from jacking your phone, or your credentials, after you submit them on the "device you use to submit"...

In the end, you are not protecting crap, because your layer is NOT PART OF THE TRANSACTION, it is a layer prior to a transaction. Nothing stops the actual transaction process that exists, from being manipulated. Just use cash and a real bank.

No, wait... convince everyone to do this... I want those lost coins to stay lost forever, when the phone breaks, when the sim fails, when the dog eats it, when a thief jacks the smart-phone, when you forget how to unlock it, when the battery dies and it can't be replaced, when the program you use to protect the code fails due to some memory corruption and completely locks you out and has no possible chance to unlock your funds...

Bitcoins could use another boost like that.

All the more reason to keep it where you can "use the heat", if needed.

Best to place your rig on a table, next to a window, that you can "vent out", if needed.

Drywall is fire-retardant. However, electrical fires do not usually burn-on after the device shorts and the power is removed from the "source". Remember, unless you have ill-matched hardware, then you are about 98% safe. Thanks to UL standards. As long as you don't hang your clothing or curtains above it, which will easily burn-up.

If you must place it in the attic, be sure that it is still getting adequate air, and venting. (Even a simple window-duct will work, but remember that water can rain sideways into an open window. Not wise for an unattended machine.)

How many cards, and which cards, are we talking about here? (having only 3 cards is not a major concern, that is what is inside most hard-core gamers computers. Even six cards is not that big of a deal... but 60 to 600 is a good reason to fireproof your attic.)

Also note... Can your WIRES handle the power? The further you get from the power-box, the greater your risk of an in-wall electrical fire. (More if you have older aluminum wires, or just ONE breaker or FUSE for the whole attic to use. They don't normally "power" attics, only with enough wires to run a light or two, momentarily. Not to power a 1500W to 3000W heater, 24/7)