Experiment 1.

I wanted to direct more dense airflow between the radiator fins, so I pasted an insulation tape stripes on side gaps under the fan, in this way:



Well, it looks that there is nothing that needs cooling (because there are no any heatsinks ore something like that, right?  ), so more dense airflow should cool down the chips under the big main heatsinks more effectively, right? That's how I was thinking then...

The fan remains the same as before - Navipower HDB-1212UA. With that blue stripes on side gaps S5 became a bit more noisy and started to mine. BUT:



Investigating this I found that air blowing through that side gaps cool down that little elements (I am not familiar with electronic components) which seems to be a power-operated element.



They are very hot, something about 80-90C. It means that I should find some little (copper, I believe)  radiators like those being sold im many places:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2RP14G1571&cm_re=chips_radiator-_-0Z5-000E-00003-_-Product

and stick it with thermal glue. Anyway it is a good mod to make.   And I recommend it to all who buy the S5. The more heat removal - the less failures of your miners...

p.s. now my S5 is OK and waiting for another experiments.  


Experiment 2.

Still have no time to describe it, but I replaced the thermal compound, twice, and with AlSil-3 my results are not so good as I expected (too low thermal conductivity...). And with Arctic MX-4 I just achieved the same temperature as with stock thermal grease... Seems that Bitmain use GOOD thermal grease. )

 More details will be here later.

Well, I have replaced the fan with Navipower HDB-1212UA as I promised before. It's 3-pin fan and I have connected it to controller board instead of stock fan (there it is, laying on the floor).





There is no need to cut something or to find any special ethernet cables:  



1 hour and 30 minutes of silence:





Sure the temperature is a bit higher than we want to see, but the only noise S5 generates now is like a noise of a PC under some load.   If I place it to more cool environment the values will be 1-2 degrees lower.

Later I'll try some another fans as they arrive.



Update: here are the results of another fan change, this time to another cheap fan Gembird DC120SF-12AS3 (120x120x38 mm, 3000 rpm, 124.74 CFM) for air intake:



S5 became much louder than with Navipower HDB-1212UA, but still a little quieter than S3. Now let's take a look at temperature:



From 6 C to 7 C less! Good, but still not enough.

Later we will try two fans configuration (2 Gembird DC120SF-12AS3 and 2 another inexpensive fans NaviPower HDS-1212MA). I remind you that goal is to strike the happy medium between noise and temperature of the blades.  

Now several words about overclocking.

At frequency 400 we can see average speed at miner's side about 1.3 Th, and 1.36 Th at BTCGuild side:





Comparable values we see at Slush's pool (they are a bit lower again - why?..):





Further increasing of frequency (to 412.5) gives us almost same hashrate while the temperature slightly rising up (about 1 degree on each blade; but it looks that it's just because of opening and closing the door):





If we can trust to M's Ant Monitor, there is no any huge HW error rate at 412.5 frequency. So why S5 can't increase the hashrate?..  



The same at Slush's, nothing new.







Further increasing of frequency (to 425) gives us completely nothing but more HW errors:





So we can conclude that 400 MHz is a limit for in some way effective overclocking in the hashrate rising sense.

I don't care about power efficiency, my opinion is that I should mine as many BTC as possible and as soon as possible. And come what might!  

P.S. after all that I made some additional measurements at miner's side (I started to measure HWE with M's Ant Monitor a bit later, after measurements for frequency values 356.25 and 375), about 1 hour and more for each frequency:

Frequency 350 (default) - 1157+ Gh/s, 0.0001% HWE (1 HW per hour), 616 Wt
Frequency 356.25 - 1160+ Gh/s, 616 Wt
Frequency 362.5 - 1200+ Gh/s, 0.0004% HWE, 626 Wt
Frequency 368.75 - 1200+ Gh/s, 0.0004% HWE, 639 Wt
Frequency 375 - 1220+ Gh/s, 647 Wt
Frequency 381.25 - 1250+ Gh/s, 0.0045 HWE, 657 Wt
Frequency 387.5 - 1270 Gh/s, 0.0093 HWE, 665 Wt
Frequency 393.75 - 1270+ Gh/s, 0.0156 HWE, 677 Wt (upd: 1288 Gh at PMpool.net, diff 4096)
Frequency 400 - 1300 Gh/s, 0.0258 HWE, 687 Wt

At frequency 400 and with PSU Corsair RM1000 80+ Gold power consumption at the wall is about 666 Wt (peak value), hashing speed is 1301 Gh/s (after 11+ hours of running), and HWE is 0.013%.

Interesting thing is that temperature of blades remains almost the same at each frequency while the fan's speed is constant (4080 in my case)... For last value it's equal to 53 and 57 С.




p.s. I found one strange fact. At frequency 400, right after power up power consumption is about 100 Wt (at the wall with 80Plus Bronze PSU I mentioned before):



After a while in idle mode (here I mean that ethernet cable is not connected to S5) power consumption is... Guess how much?..



It's an upsetting fact... After ethernet cable connection power consumption increases a little, and finally at 400 MHz frequency it's about:



Why S5 doesn't became REALLY idle of it has no connection to Internet?..  

Greetings, miners!

Finally I got my test unit, later than all others, so let's try to play with it. ))

All of you have seen the S5 many times, so here is only one S5 photo, from an unusual point of view...  


I've unpacked my new toy, and what do I see? Dust!



Oh, it's a test unit, so it doesn't matter. Besides... Never look the gift horse in the mouth.  

And that plastic side panels looks so... Unreliable...  

I found that the controller board is not neatly connected, but it looks that this is the only possible position:





Also I found a slot for a flash card, and it's empty.



I thought that "now I need to buy a card, flash it with some image..." But S5 started to work without any of that actions.  

Well, PSU is connected (Chieftec APS-850CB if any - 850 W, 80+ Bronze, two 12V rails, and it has 4 (!) separate PCI-E power cables). Let's go!

...After switching a PSU on I realized what does it mean when other forum members writing in their reviews that S5 is loud. YES, IT IS.   Especially right after powering on. It became a very little bit quieter after several minutes, but I still can hear it from another room even if the door to where S5 placed is closed. It's like a vacuum cleaner, someone already told this before... I have no a noise meter (and I doubt that I'll measure any new values, they all has been measured before me), but if anyone need, I'll take a noise meter for a while.

Right out of the box, at stock frequency 350 it gives about claimed 1.1 Th/s at Slush's pool:



Average speed in miner's GUI is a little less...

Working on BTCGuild pool the numbers are the same:



At BTCGuild's side:



Power consumption at the wall is 616 Wt with my PSU and at stock frequency.

Well, same value claimed at BITMAIN's website:



It's all on stock firmware:



Now let's try to update the firmware to newest version (in my case it's SD-S5-20150107.tar.gz) and see what will change. I've upgraded FW strictly according to S5's manual, and everything has been finished quickly and fine:



After a while I found that cgminer uses only half of controller's CPU time - before upgrade it was 90:



May be it's OK, I don't know, probably only Bitmain knows...  

Hashing speed seems to be the same with this new FW, but there is appearantly less discarded shares quantity (calculating to discarded shares per hour). Sure ckolivas knows why. )) May be it's because of newer cgminer version (4.8.0 in this firmware)?

After 47 minutes on BTCGuild:





With normal temperature in the living room the boards of S5 are 51 C and 55 C with this stock fan. And it looks like huge part of air from the fan is blowing away upward from this open semi-case (since my S5 is placed at the glass shelf for TV and audio equipment), so the idea of making a kind of cover is looking not so useless...

I have the Navipower HDB-1212UA fan (it's very medium-priced but... 2800 RPM... 105.81 CFM...), will try it later. Another fans are coming too but not yet in my hands...



If S5 be able to work with reasonable temperatures using that fan - it would be great.

Later I'll share another results of testing and experiments. ))

Now I got it, and right out of the box, at stock frequency 350 it gives about 1.1 Th/s at Slush's side. Firmware version:



It IS LOUD. Especially right after power on. ) I have no noise meter (and I doubt that I'll measure any new values, they are all measured before me), but if anyone need, I'll take a noise meter for a while.

With normal temperature in the living room the boards of S5 are 51 C and 55 C with this stock fan. And it looks like huge part of air from the fan is blowing away upward from this open semi-case (since my S5 is placed at the glass shelf for TV and audio equipment), so the idea of making a kind of cover is looking not so useless...

I have an unpacked Navipower HDB-1212UA fan (veeery cheap but... 2800 RPM... 105.81 CFM...), will try it later. If S5 be able to work with reasonable temperatures using that fan - it would be great.

Later I'll share another results of testing and experiments.  

Slush's. Definetely Slush's.   And BTCGuild also. )

Looks like this pool is dead...

No, any other PSUs of corresponding power capabilities are too expensive (because of falling of RUB/USD ratio...) or are available only for order with delivery date 14th Jan and later, but I need a PSU today. )

Anyway most (if not all) PSU manufacturers "use" third-party platforms, so in a certain sense many of PSUs are "similar". Sure you already know it.

My experience of using Chieftec APS-1000CB in the rig with two R9290 is positive, it's working under load for about 1 year. So it looks that I haven't very wide choice, especially now...

OK, I've ordered that PSU with 4 separate PCI-E cables. It's safer I gues.  

Now I am choosing between Chieftec GPM-850C (850 W, 80+ Gold, single 12V rail, but only 2 PCI-E power cables with 2 connectors each, totally 4, just what we need for S5) and Chieftec APS-850CB (same 850 W, 80+ Bronze, 2 12V rails, but it has 4 (!) separate PCI-E power cables). Both has the same price. I would like to combine them and buy a PSU with 850 W, 80+ Gold, Single 12V rail and 4 separate PCI-E power cables. For same price... But we are living in non-ideal world...

So the question is: will it be OK to use Chieftec GPM-850C with S5, keeping in mind that it has 2 PCI-E cables instead of 4?.. Cables looks solid, but...

I've updated a wallet to latest available Onyx v3 (0.10.17.24). Wallet itself think that he is "v0.10.17.24-gee8174a-beta". 

That PC has two GPUs which are mining DRK in solo. I found after couple of hours after wallet upgrade that GPUs blowing away cold air. I've connected to that PC and found that the wallet is running and synchronized, but cgminer can't connect to it. After restart of the wallet mining resumed. WTF? On prevoius version of the wallet mining lasted for weeks without any wallet-related interrupts!

Does anyone know how to make it work? User guide is unavailable (following the link on ehash.com), Avalon nano software for Windows is in Chinese and even if I install it I can't find a GUI...

p.s. it's not for me, one newbie asked for help to make it mine... 

He told me that test unit will be sent to dogie... Dogie still keeps silence about it...

Damn... I was planning to do this (close the top of S5 case to provide more directed airflow) with my test unit that arrived much later than to other forum members...

But I still have a couple ideas on how to play with S5.   Can't wait to get it in my hands (it's not depends on me unfortunately......).

Not so excellent. Janet, please provide us also with airflow (in CFM) of these fans.

What do you guys think about Scythe DFS123812H-3000 Ultra Kaze 120mm x 38mm Case Fan?

I am planning to order 2 of them for S5. That Delta by RchGrav is OK maybe, but for me here in Russia that Scythe Ultra Kaze 120 mm is quite cheaper.....

Oh, I have already offered them this via PM. Still no any response on my offer. So looks like we can just forget about this "manufacturer"...


I am ready to receive their BTCs too. I will use them for some good things, trust me.   I'm serious!  

16Yr4vWg7zj8TLQ5pjZQLeKE7LtsSCASmm

 

Oh, that's what we have just beside the window. )

Is there a connector on the controller board to connect a WiFi antenna?

Dogie, it's an absurdity. Let's ship it without fan maybe?.. Or without heatsinks? Less weight will be shipped around the world...

The product should work out of the box, and this S5 needs reworking in most cases (if home miner can't place it in the basement of in the data center).

When I speak about closed case it's not about 'retailish' look, I mean only better cooling (and less noise) if the case is closed.

What are the models of those fans?