Another 7970

[Steffer]

Hi there!

With the recent rise in BTC value I'm thinking of adding another 7970 to my rig.
I've been running a 4x 5850 rig before wich was sold in order to build a gaming/mining machine with the 7970.

Another upgrade got me thinking of the CPU bug that plagued many and also myself. It wasn't a big deal as it was a dedicated rig back then.
But I use this computer in a daily basis also so wanted to hear if the CPU bug is still a problem?

I'm running the new 12.8 driver at this time and of course Windows 7.

Thank you :-)

[crazyates]

CPU bug hasn't existed for many months now. I'm on 12.8 with a 7970 and it mines with no issues at a solid 600-650MH/s, depending on OC.

[Steffer]

As I remember it the CPU bug was only present when mining with 2 or more GPU (or cores).

But if it's been fixed then that is great news and I may just have to order another 7970

[crazyates]

I have a 7970 and a 7770 both mining, so I do have 2 cores. I used to have a few 5970s with 12.6, and I didn't have it then either.

I think if still shows up under certain conditions like if you have your "I" set waaaay to high (think 17 or something). I have it set to 6, and I still get 99% GPU usage, so I don't see why you would need to go higher.

[Steffer]

That is just wonderfull news

I'll be ordering another 7970 in a couple of days.

Thank you

[goxed]

That is just wonderfull news

I'll be ordering another 7970 in a couple of days.

Thank you

Good luck with your new acquisitions

[jjiimm_64]

I have a 7970 and a 7770 both mining, so I do have 2 cores. I used to have a few 5970s with 12.6, and I didn't have it then either.

I think if still shows up under certain conditions like if you have your "I" set waaaay to high (think 17 or something). I have it set to 6, and I still get 99% GPU usage, so I don't see why you would need to go higher.

on windows 9 is top I.. after that you get cpu.

[ssateneth]

I have a 7970 and a 7770 both mining, so I do have 2 cores. I used to have a few 5970s with 12.6, and I didn't have it then either.

I think if still shows up under certain conditions like if you have your "I" set waaaay to high (think 17 or something). I have it set to 6, and I still get 99% GPU usage, so I don't see why you would need to go higher.

on windows 9 is top I.. after that you get cpu.

I set mine to 14 no prob. I use windows. I don't have any cpu bug. But I also only use 5850/5870/5970

[Stephen Gornick]

With the recent rise in BTC value I'm thinking of adding another 7970 to my rig.

Taking BFL at their word, in about 90 days difficulty will be skyrocketing due to their shipping of ASIC models.  In less than thirty days after that (early December) the block reward drops in half to 25 BTC per block.

Just out of curiosity, since you decided to add capacity using GPU is this because you still think you can mine profitably by the end of the year, or do you plan to just mine on it while the profits are possible and then sell it without taking too much of a hit since there still is demand for it?

(Or, are you betting ASICs really are further out and won't see them in 2012, perhaps?)

[Unacceptable]

I'm with him,getting a 7970 (on its way now) & will get a 7950 to run in a smaller PC I have.Might as well mine while BTC is high.

I'll sell them later or use them in gamer builds for someone,either way I make a few bucks with them for a few months  

BTW,I do have ASICS on order with BFL too  

[muqali]

CPU bug hasn't existed for many months now. I'm on 12.8 with a 7970 and it mines with no issues at a solid 600-650MH/s, depending on OC.

Same here, driver 12.8, 620MH/s at 1066MHz. I got a good price on an ASUS DirectCUII, which are of course voltage locked. It's a shame this card can't do 1150MHz and be stable. This particular PCB/GPU combination that I have aside, GCN is a nice bit of hardware.

[ralree]

CPU bug hasn't existed for many months now. I'm on 12.8 with a 7970 and it mines with no issues at a solid 600-650MH/s, depending on OC.

Same here, driver 12.8, 620MH/s at 1066MHz. I got a good price on an ASUS DirectCUII, which are of course voltage locked. It's a shame this card can't do 1150MHz and be stable. This particular PCB/GPU combination that I have aside, GCN is a nice bit of hardware.

The Visiontek that Tigerdirect has been selling for around $365 is currently in my basement pulling around 710mh clocked at 1200/750.  Windows 8, Catalyst 12.8, cgminer 2.7.0.  It's not volt locked, and the VRMs stay a LOT cooler than my Diamond 7970.  I'd recommend it.

[goxed]

It may have more to do with ASIC quality of the chip and not the card manufacturing company.
The leakage power of Tahiti chips (28nm) is hideous, so much so that a 50% ASIC quality 7970 chip can draw almost 1.8X more power than a 90% ASIC quality chip during hot days (same voltage, clock, etc.).

[meebs]

With the recent rise in BTC value I'm thinking of adding another 7970 to my rig.

Taking BFL at their word, in about 90 days difficulty will be skyrocketing due to their shipping of ASIC models.  In less than thirty days after that (early December) the block reward drops in half to 25 BTC per block.

Just out of curiosity, since you decided to add capacity using GPU is this because you still think you can mine profitably by the end of the year, or do you plan to just mine on it while the profits are possible and then sell it without taking too much of a hit since there still is demand for it?

(Or, are you betting ASICs really are further out and won't see them in 2012, perhaps?)

Honestly everything with BTC is a huge gamble. If I was to buy 20 btc today for ~$200 USD who knows if it'll be worth $50 or $500 at the end of the year.

If I spend some money on GPU's now, who knows if they will be profitable for another 1-2 months or even for another year (that would assume BFL doesnt come through and price of a BTC increases enough partially offset the halving).

It is this uncertainty that is actually kind of fun about the whole gig. It is similar to investing in riskier stocks that can either burn you or reward you for the risk.

At least, if nothing else, at the end of the day a new 7970 is going to still be worth quite a bit of money in 2-6 months.

[crazyates]

It may have more to do with ASIC quality of the chip and not the card manufacturing company.
The leakage power of Tahiti chips (28nm) is hideous, so much so that a 50% ASIC quality 7970 chip can draw almost 1.8X more power than a 90% ASIC quality chip during hot days (same voltage, clock, etc.).

Could that be why my VRM temps are so high? On my card, Gigabyte locks the voltage at a higher-than-normal 1.256V to maintain the 1100 OC, and my ASIC quality is 67.9%. Maybe the VRMs just have more power than normal pumping thru them, and it creates a lot of heat?