Thanks Aries! I actually had just found that video a few minutes before you posted it. I had been watching some other vids from that same guy and stumbled across that one. Will definitely give that mod a shot after I get everything else squared away. That extra 5 per card is going to equate to a full extra card on my 5-card rig.  Did you notice any extra power efficiency from that mod as well? Or would something else need to be employed to accomplish that?



Thanks Citronik!  I looked up that -ethi command in the CDM readme file and understand that it is set at a default of 8, so hoping that uping that will indeed increase the speed.  The thing is, I cannot figure out how to enter that command. I was thinking that it is just typed directly into the command window where CDM is running. But, when i try that by starting with the "-", it actually decreases the DCR hash-rate. I also found out the the "+" increases DCR hash-rate and even bumping it from default 30 to 32 does increase hash-rate about 10%, which is encouraging.

But... how do I get that -ethi command to take?  I even tried pasting it in but it did not work either.

On the driver update, I simply am baffled lol.  I downloaded the exact packet i needed directly from the AMD site... actually has Crimson 16.9.2 in the title, as well as in the header when I launch the installer.  I triple checked and made sure that I downloaded the correct version for W7 x64, but after installing the display driver in this packet, my driver now only shows as v16.40.  Not sure how this is possible or how to actually get 16.9.2.  I ran as Admin and even uninstalled the v16.30 that was on my box before this, but to no avail.

Any suggestions on how to get 16.9.2 installed?

Thanks both for your tips!  I have just tried to update my drivers to Crimson 16.9.2. Downloaded that exact package from AMD and did Run as Admin on my W7 box.  But... when the AMD update box appears, the version next to AMD Display Driver, it shows the version as 21.19.137.1.  Shouldnt this say 16.9.2?  Has anyone else run into this?  I triple checked to make sure that I had downloaded to the correct update.

Yup... totally agree with Citronik, that rig looks sweet! And nice breakdown on the components and ROI.

I really like that metal frame you used... did you build that yourself or buy it somewhere?  If/when I build a 2nd rig, I wanna do it like that so I can easily move it around if needed.

In addition, can you share how you got these GPUs running at 23.5?  I have 3 of the exact same cards and they are getting 20.7 each using Claymore 7.2.  This is similar to the initial 20.5 you mentioned being the out of the box speed, but I am looking for the easiest way to increase the speed of mine up to the mid-20's like yours.  Was it something you did in the settings in Claymore or did you mod/overcloud the cards in some way?

Hello all!  So, I just got Claymore 7.2 up and running on my first mining rig. I am dual mining ETH & DCR.  I am not quite getting the hash rate i was hoping for on ETH, so wanted to reach out for some expert advice here.  This is my setup:

- Windows 7 Pro x64
- ASRock x99 Extreme4 Mobo
- i7-6800k CPU (I know it's not needed for most mining but it was free so I used it;)
- 3 MSI RX 470 4GB GPUs  (1 on Mobo and 2 connected via powered USB risers/connectors)
- AMD driver v16.30
- ETH Pool:  ethermine.org

I was running this on Minergate the last ~2 weeks and was getting about 19.4 Mh/s per card on ETH.

Since starting to run Claymore about 2 hours ago, each GPU is getting 20.7, so just over 62 for all 3.  While I am still very new at this, I was hoping/expecting to get 23-24 per card before messing with anything like modding bios, rom, overclocking, etc.

So, my question is, what settings can I work with within Claymore to try to increase this speed?  I do understand that mining DCR simultaneously may have a  very slight impact on ETH hash-rate but I doubt it's accounting for the 3-4 gap that I am seeing. Note that I have not tweaked any settings in Claymore, aside of course from replacing the default info in the .bat file with my personal info.

Any suggestions would be welcomed... but please keep in mind that I am completely new to this type of "programming", so no level of dumbing down can be too much for me 

Thanks YIz!! I thought I was going a bit crazy there not being able to find where to register on that site lol.

I understand that part about replacing "YOUR ADDRESS" with my own ETH wallet address, but what about the "WORKER" name after the period?  Do I just leave that as is?  If not, what do I replace it with?

Actually, when I look at my start.bat file in the Claymore folder i downloaded a few days ago, there is no worker name after the ETH wallet address, so maybe that is not needed at all for ETH?

Thanks also for the tip about myetherwallet.com.  I was going to just use the address of my ETH wallet on Bittrex, but I will check out what you recommended shortly.  Do you see any advantage of using that over an exchange wallet?

Thanks again!

I have just built a mining rig and looking to start using Claymore's dual ETH & DCR miner.  I have already joined the Suprnova DCR pool and created my worker name to paste into the Claymore .bat file, but am having trouble figuring out how to do the same for the ETH piece.

When I go the ethminer.org, I cannot figure out how to join or register.  Do you even need to do so?  If registration is needed, could someone please provide basic instructions on how to do so?  If it is not needed, then how exactly are you supposed to create the worker name that is needed in the code after the ETH wallet address?

Thanks in advance for any tips!

Thanks to all for the input and validation. I just checked and all of the blocks from the 36-hour period I was mining ETH via MinerGate have indeed been orphaned. They did since have a run of 5 straight Unlocked blocks but then another 2 orphaned.  Since this debacle I have just pointed my 3 GPUs to Monero via Minergate to at least get something, but even that has been a joke, averaging a paltry 130-140 H/s per card over the past few days! These cards should be pulling AT LEAST 500 H/s on Monero but are getting 1/3rd of that via this bad software, so as soon as the weekend hits, I am going to go heads-down in order to start mining with Claymore!

I still will need to find a good pool for ETH and probably XMR as well.  For ETH, someone recommended Ethermine.org.  As some here have mentioned, they actually do have a section on their main screen with specific set-up scripts for Claymore, so hopefully I can figure it out.  But, if anyone has any other recommendations I would be happy to hear them. 

From looking at the setup script, it seems apparent that in addition to the miner and pool, I will need a specific ETH wallet (and eventually XMR too).  I have a question about this... I actually have a Coinbase account and in addition to a BTC wallet, it also shows that I have an ETH wallet.  However, when I click on it to get the address, it shows a disclaimer saying something to the effect that "do not use this address for ETH mining rewards".  Does this mean that this wallet will not work with a Claymore/Ethermine combo?  If not, then can someone recommend a good ETH wallet as well? 

Thanks!

I doubt it will be affected dramatically one way or the other, but logically, you could expect a slight upswing if Trump is elected (mainly due to his "anti-governmental-control" platform), whereas Hillary's election could result in a downswing since she is all about big government controlling every aspect of people's lives. Can't imagine she's a big can of anything that the government can't take a huge chunk out of, and some may speculate that she could eventually crack down on the crypto seen, or at least try to control or tax it somehow. FWIW, i hate both candidates and find it pathetic that we have to choose between a multiple-time serious criminal socialist and a disrespectful, insulting, bigot/racist pompous as$.

Thanks for the info!  Indeed there is a big issue with this pool, as now 4 blocks in a row from late Sunday/early Monday have been orphaned and still the 11 blocks mined since then are still pending!  So, no confirmed blocks in almost 3 days now, which is unacceptable.  I am already looking to get into another pool (leaning towards EthPool) and a better miner (probably Claymore's) so this kind of nonsense will be at least minimized.

Update on my 6800k-based rig:  got the 3rd MSI GPU up and running last night and got the same 19.4 H/s as the other 2, so good news on that front.

However, my ASRock x99 Extreme4 Mobo apparently requires extra power to it to support anything past 2 GPUs, so I had to use my 2nd molex cable to provide that needed power. Since my other molex cable is dedicated to GPUs #2 & #3, I am now in need of at least 1 additional molex cable.

Question #1:  can I buy any add-on molex cable, or does it have to be one exactly made for my modular Rosewill Quark series 1000w Plat PSU?  It seems that these cables/extensions are generic one-size-fits-all, but I thought i remembered reading somewhere that with modular PSU's, you must have the cables made exactly for the specific PSU.

I can't seem to find any of these online so Im probably calling it the wrong thing... but it's the on that has 6-pins on the PSU side (for peripherals) and 4-pin molex power on the other end.


In addition, since adding GPU #3, GPU #2 has been running hot. It's been averaging about 72 while the #1 & #3 are in the 59-62 range.  I'm assuming this is because #2 has #3 about 3 inches to its left (from its fan side), so I want to extend that gap by a few inches in the hopes it will help with ventilation.

Question #2:  similar to q1, can i just use a generic extension like this?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/8-Pin-PCIE-Power-Extension-Cable-for-GPU-Video-Card-PCI-Express-PCI-E-8-20CM-/141930636051?hash=item210bb9a313%3Ag%3AJhEAAOSwzaJX8Y6Z

Yes, XMR is probably the only profitable coin to mine via CPU.  

The most important CPU characteristic appears to be # of threads and total MB of cache, because mining Monero requires 2MB per thread.

My old personal system running an i7-2600k (8 threads but only 4 usable due to cache requirements) gets about 145 H/s on XMR,

My new mining rig with an i7-6800k (12 threads but only 7 usable due to 15MB of cache) has been getting about 250-260 H/s on XMR since I launched it over the weekend.

Note that these results were via MinerGate, so using a better miner should yield an increase, at least to some degree.

Hello everyone... I just built a mining rig that will eventually have 4-5 MSI RX 470's running. I currently have 3 hooked up, all mining ETH via MinerGate at an average hash-rate of 19.4 Mh/s each, so a total hash-rate of just over 58 Mh/s.

Over the weekend, I had this rig mining ETH with 1-2 470's and the mined amounts were in-line with what I expected at that hash-rate... overnight running 2 470's yielded in the range of .08-.10 ETH.

However, in the last 10 hours, despite running that whole time at ~58 Mh/s, I have essentially seen no increase in my mined amount of ETH. Last night it was about .26x and now stands at .2653... so not even .01 in 10 hours!  It also seemed slow during the day yesterday but I chalked it up to the fact that my rig was offline of a couple of hours. But, with a 50% increased hash-rate vs the previous night, I expected to be seeing around .13-.14 and it didn't even come close to that.

So, my question is... is this normal for ETH mining?  I have only been mining XMR via CPU the past 4-5 weeks and it provides relatively smooth results. Does ETH have huge peaks and valleys like this?  Or, is this something that is more likely due to using MinerGate?

Any thoughts would be appreciated as at this point, it feels like I am just using electricity for nothing.

FYI for those that may have missed it... MSI has extended their rebate offering that was originally only valid the last week of September throughout the end of October.

470's have a $15 rebate making the net cost only $185 and the 480's have a $20 rebate.

Thanks Phil... much appreciated. I will be running 4-5 identical MSI RX 470 4GB on this ASRock x99 Extreme4 Mobo:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157543

Just wanted to update this thread on my rig status since Phil, Vapour and so many others have helped me immensely in getting this thing launched!

So, I finally got it all hooked up and started with 1 MSI 470 plugged into PCIe slot #1.  Since this is my first solo build of any kind, I half expected the thing to either blow up or not start on the first attempt, but to my amazement, it booted up fine... GPU lit up, all fans spinning, subsequent install of both W7 x64 and the MSI/AMD drivers went smoothly.

Downloaded MinerGate to start mining... starting out with this since that is what I have been using and want to make sure I get all the hardware working first before trying other miners and possibly tweaking the GPUs.

Many of you know that I originally had high expectations for CPU mining of XMR with the i7-6800k this system is built on. Well, the first results are lackluster to say the least. This CPU is only achieving about 250-260 H/s on XMR.  I realize that I can probably squeeze more out of it by using a better miner like Claymore, but just bench-marking to my old 2600k (140 H/s) using the same MinerGate software is disappointing. In fact, I would almost argue that on a "per thread basis", there is essentially no difference in these CPU, even though they are 6th gen vs 2nd gen.  The best performance with the 2600k is using 4 threads, resulting in about 35 H/s per thread.  The sweet spot on the 8600k appears to 7 threads, which makes sense given the 2MB of cache needed per for mining, since this CPU has 15MB of cache. So, this results in an essentially flat 36 H/s vs the 2600k. So, all in all, unless i can get a significant bump from using another CPU miner, I might end up re-purposing this CPU/Mobo to build a higher-end personal system down the road.

On the GPU side, my first try was to mine XMR with the 1 470 but for some reason, it was making the software buggy and actually crashed it a couple of times. So, i decided to leave the CPU on XMR and start the GPU on ETH.  After solving the DAG, it quickly leveled off at right around 19.4 Mh/s.  I know that most people are getting low to mid 20's with these GPUs but most since I'm using MingerGate at this point, I wasn't too shocked to be coming in around 15-20% below that average hash-rate.

So, I let it run like that overnight. Checked it this morning and was still running perfectly with no issues noted. So, this afternoon, I added a 2nd 470.  On the first attempt, I plugged it into slot #2, which is a PCIe2 x16/x4 slot, via USB powered x1-x16 riser. Install went fine, GPU lit up and showed up in the device mgr along with the other GPU in slot #1.  The weird thing though was that after starting this 2nd GPU on ETH via MinerGate, it was only getting 4 Mh/s.  Tried rebooting and same result. Powered off and plugged the riser into slot #1 (2nd full x16 slot). Powered on and GPU#2 was getting pretty much the exact 19.4 Mh/s GPU#1 was getting.

So, that's how I have it running now.  I have 2 more USB powered risers due to arrive tomorrow or Tuesday, at which time I will attempt to install my 3rd and 4th 470's.  The one thing I'm now a bit worried about is the fact that slot #2 only provided about 25% of the hash-rate as slot 1 & 3. I certainly expect slot #5 (full x16) to work fine via riser, but not sure why slot #2 had that issue... which makes me worry that slot #4 (x1 slot) could also have that problem. Is it possible that all PCIe3 x16 slots have to be occupied before the other 2 slots can achieve full bandwidth/power?  Seems weird to me but something in the Mobo's manual does lead me to believe this might be possible.

Anyway, thanks again to everyone! It's a great feeling to finally be up and running!

thanks again Vapour. I just ordered 3 more of those so should be able to get my rig going with 2 GPU's this weekend and add 2 more after Monday.

I did want to clarify something you mentioned before about the 4-pin molex/2-per string comment. I just inventoried the cables that were included with my PSU and I have 2 with molex connectors... 1 has 3 and the 2nd has 2.  So, what you were saying is to ONLY use a max of 2 per string, correct?  This should work fine since I will at max have 4 off-board cards, so I will just leave the 3rd molex empty on the cable that has 3.

The other thing that I was wondering about was the 8 pin (6+2) power cables that plug into the top of the GPU's. For instance, I know that I certainly need to connect this 8-pin to my on-board GPU in slot #1. But, will the other 3-4 GPU's connected via the USB x1 to x16 adapters also need this 8-pin power connected?  If both these and the molex are required for each of the off-board GPU's, will this increase to total power draw per card by a considerable amount?

Thanks again for enduring these noob questions :-)

ahhhh! light bulb moment lol!  So, i can just use 3 more of the x1 to x16 USB-powered I currently have plugged into my one 1x slot for my additional 3 x16 slots?  I guess if this is the case, that x8 to 16x ribbon i got could technically work at least... but i still have the problem of it being too short to reach the side of my rig, so I will just order 3 more of those x1 to x16 USB.  Thanks again for the help!

Thanks Vapour & Phil, your comments were very helpful! So, I actually found the x1 to USB adapter piece buried in the bag in came it, so am actually good with that one now (except for the fact it wont fit with a GPU plugged into PCIe slot #3 lol.

As for the ribbon riser... firstly, I just think i got the wrong one because if I was going that route, it seems this would be the one (x16 to x16):

https://www.amazon.com/PCIE-Micro-Express-Flexible-Extension/dp/B00D79EV0G/ref=pd_sbs_147_2?ie=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00D79EV0G&pd_rd_r=5T5M5AQX9J6XBWWVWFS1&pd_rd_w=9IOqu&pd_rd_wg=wFz0a&psc=1&refRID=5T5M5AQX9J6XBWWVWFS1

... not the x8 to x16 that I got.  But, aside from the fact that you (and others i have seen in this forum) have had less than stellar results with the ribbon risers, I also don't like the fact that they really do limit you to rising the cards directly above your rig, which my open-air rig will not be able to support unless I make some unwanted major additions to it.  I would highly prefer to go the route Phil has and use only USB extenders so I can mount them to the side of my rig, which is much easier than building something to suspend them above it.

The problem is, I cannot seem to find and USB powered risers that plug into a full length x16 slot.  In Phil's 2nd photo above, he has 2 plugged into the Mobo but they are both going into 1x slots, not x16.  Do they even make such a thing?  I searched ebay, amazon & newegg and didn't find any but maybe I am using the wrong search terms.

Unfortunately, I have now come to the realization that the only way I will be able to get more than 2 GPU's running off this board is if I use 4 riser/adapters, so am really hoping I can get a hold of three x16 USB adapters that are similar to the 1x adapter I have, so I can move them off-board to the side and mount on plywood a la Phil's rig in the pics.

So, can anyone recommend a good x16 to x16 USB powered adapter/riser?

I wanted to chime in again and firstly thank everyone who contributed feedback to my first mining rig build. So, I finally got my heatsink, installed it today along with the CPU, RAM and the 1st MSI 470!  I have yet to do anything with the power supply/cables since I wanted to get the layout built and tested before that final step, but everything including the test bench assembly and mounting/hooking up the SSD & Optical Drive went well.

So... once I realized how absolutely HUGE these GPUs are compared to the MoBo, I now totally get when Phil and others stick to a 4-GPU build lol    I was able to plug in the first 470 into PCIe3 x16 slot #1 no problem at all (no blockage issues, etc).  However, after plugging in GPU #2 into PCIe3 x16 slot #3 (slot 2 is PCIe2 x4 slot, so i skipped that for now as I understand that will need a riser cable), I realized that it actually blocks PCIe slot #4, which is the short PCIe2 x1 slot. From Phil's previous advise on risers for this board, I purchased this PCI-E 1x to 16x riser adapter cable:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CU1U2XG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The first problem is that the short PCIe 1x slot is blocked. Only an extremely low profile plug/adapter could possibly fit in there underneath the GPU.

The 2nd problem is that I can't even figure out HOW this adapter is supposed to work because even if there were space above this slot on the MoBo, there is nothing in the product above that could fit in this slot. Aside from the converter board itself there is only a 4-pin molex to wide sata power cable (i don't even have any of the wide sata slots on this Mobo, only 10 regular sata) and also a 2-ended USB cable.  Am I crazy or is this adapter even meant to plug into that 1x slot at all? Either way, i cant figure it out so would appreciated some advice.

GPU #3 inserted fine into PCIe slot #5 (the 3rd and final PCIe3 x16 slot). Unfortunately, the GPU blocks a bunch of headers/jumpers, but it seems like possibly none of these will be required for this build (BIOS/CMOS stuff, COM & TPM headers, front panel audio, & USB headers).

GPU #4, which arrives tomorrow would therefore have to go into either slot #2 or slot #4 (already described the issues with slot #4 above, so not even sure that is usable at this point).  Slot #2 is PCIe2 x4, so I got this adapter/riser cable:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00H8VVD00/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

But, although the short end of this cable fits within slot #2, there's a lot of empty space since the adapter pin section is shorter than the overall slot length.

Bottom line is that I've never used this kind of risers/adapters before so I figure either there is something I am missing, or, i simply bought the wrong adapters.

As always, any feedback is appreciated!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157543

Thanks for the info on heatsinks. I probably thought that in the back of my head but when I see most people listing their components for a bare-bones build, heatsink is rarely mentioned, so I think that's why I questioned it... along with the fact that I have never used a Mobo with built in heatsinks before but... I will either order that one Phil recommended or pick it (or rough equivalent) up at a local PC shop today.

Regarding citronick's statement above... I don't believe this is accurate. All indications are that an RX 470 GPU can get around 750 H/s on XMR, correct?  My current very old 2600k CPU is gettng 150 H/s on XMR, so the GPU:CPU ratio is only 5:1, not 10+:1.  While the school is still out on what hashrate that 6800k is going to pull, it almost assuredly will not be any worse than 300 H/s, which is a 2.5:1 ratio.  My original expectation was that it might get in the 500-600 range (very close to 1:1), but that is seeming more unlikely given a benchmark with a 5960x. Still, with a fixed cost of ~$400-$500 for setting up a rig before GPU's, it was worthwhile for me to pursue any road to extra XMR hashrate, given the 8600k was free.  But, even a cheap g4400 can pull ~120 H/s on XMR and while certainly that 6:1 ratio vs GPU won't get you rich, it's a bit of an incremental bonus since you already have the fixed cost of building the rig. Granted, this will only work with XMR currently but since that is mainly what I will be mining with this rig, it makes sense to factor in the CPU's capabilities... at least to me