[Review] Avalon 6 Miner - Winter Mining - Notlist3d - Also FAQ and Help

[notlist3d]

Thanks Oregonmine.com  .  I'm using the 2 x Dell 750W PSU on 120V outlet.  It's showing as using 12V and the results are pretty much the same as when using the EVGA.  I'm now curious as to whether people were getting 3.7-3.9TH by using 240V outlets for higher efficiency.  The Dell 750Watts on the 120V outlet is showing only 12V so it's not increasing the voltage at all on it's own.  I'll wait until others who have tried this chimed in.

You should be able to do it on 120 to.   I have not used the Dell 750's but a lot of the ones that do have something to adjust it and voltage goes up or down depending on adjustment.

Anyone use the 750's and know if they have a voltage adjustment?

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[sabercatt]

they should. whats the model.

[nhando]

This is the Dell PSU and breakout board that I bought.  It's a Dell 750W PSU that powers Dell PowerEdge 2950 see link below.

http://holybitcoin.com/product/dell-750w-server-psu-breakout-adapter-board/

http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Redundant-HotSwap-Poweredge-Z750P-00/dp/B001EM608Y/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1450416085&sr=8-2&keywords=dell+750w+psu

I see others posting very good Hash rate using these PSU so I ordered 2 of them but my results are actually showing only 12V and slightly lower hash rate then my EVGA.  The breakout board is pretty cool as it does have FAN control so I was able to reduce the noise level greatly due to FAN not needing to be on 100% power when it's freezing in garage now.

[kilo17]

Thanks Oregonmine.com  .  I'm using the 2 x Dell 750W PSU on 120V outlet.  It's showing as using 12V and the results are pretty much the same as when using the EVGA.  I'm now curious as to whether people were getting 3.7-3.9TH by using 240V outlets for higher efficiency.  The Dell 750Watts on the 120V outlet is showing only 12V so it's not increasing the voltage at all on it's own.  I'll wait until others who have tried this chimed in.

You should be able to do it on 120 to.   I have not used the Dell 750's but a lot of the ones that do have something to adjust it and voltage goes up or down depending on adjustment.

Anyone use the 750's and know if they have a voltage adjustment?

Also higher voltage on the 800's, I will check the model but it is a common PSU (having a senior moment right now).  The one that is labeled 800w at 100, 900w at 110 and 1000w at 220+.

[philipma1957]

Here is something for the electronically enabled:

Here is an obscure thread regarding the mod of a power supply to adjust the bus voltages. Discussed in this thread is the fact that some power supplies have onboard pots to tweak the 3.3, 5 and 12 DC outputs

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=765175


Now opening up an ATX power supply is a potentially hazardous endeavor and messing about inside could kill you, so the responsibility is your own.

The big capacitors must be discharged WITH THE UNIT OFF AND UNPLUGGED from everything.

 If there are multiple pots, you have to figure out which one controls the +12V output. You will also have to figure out which one increases or decreases the 12V output.  

This will upend power supply selection somewhat if there are particular brands that have a board level pot to adjust the +12V output.

The thread has useful safety information which should be consulted.

The thread is 11 years old.  The safety info is okay but most likely  the psu's mentioned are not for sale or they have been redesigned.

I have yet to find a 2014 ,2015, 2016 model atx with a  pot for sale in the USA.  

Someone linked one but it was not available in the usa.  If you have 120 volt power you just won't be able to overclock.

There are more factors with the avalon  it has 4 pcie jacks  you need to supply 275-300 watts a jack to get close to  3900 ghs.

This means 16 or even 15 gauge cables  not many atx psu's give you 16 gauge cables.

Right now it has been hot again in NJ it is 55f  my garage is 87f my bedroom is 81f  so I had to lower the 4000 watt dual psu  from 12.55 to 12.23

I get 3500 for each avalon 6 and I get strange volt readings.

12.2 and 12.0  power comes from same psu's with same length cables

I am pulling 2300 watts to get  7150gh  about .32 watts a gh  I have  a lot of overhead on the psu's

say 2300/4000 = 57.5% used  if you are pulling 1100 watts  on your 2 psu's  you are 1100/1500 = .733%  and your psu may be 750 watts at 240 volts and only 700 watts at 120 volts  so you could be 1100/1400 = .7857%
 that is a safe number but may result in volts sag.

can you measure your volts?  and not the software one since I really do not trust the software readings mine should be = and they are not.

[kilo17]

Another issue I have seen and is reproducible is that some of the J4bberwok boards will not supply 12 volts.  I have one that I have tried on several different 1200's and they all read 11.3v when used with that particular board.

[philipma1957]

Another issue I have seen and is reproducible is that some of the J4bberwok boards will not supply 12 volts.  I have one that I have tried on several different 1200's and they all read 11.3v when used with that particular board.

that is possible as solder could be off.

[kilo17]

Another issue I have seen and is reproducible is that some of the J4bberwok boards will not supply 12 volts.  I have one that I have tried on several different 1200's and they all read 11.3v when used with that particular board.

that is possible as solder could be off.

I thought about adding a little solder to each pin- just to darn lazy --

[64dimensions]

Here is something for the electronically enabled:

Here is an obscure thread regarding the mod of a power supply to adjust the bus voltages. Discussed in this thread is the fact that some power supplies have onboard pots to tweak the 3.3, 5 and 12 DC outputs

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=765175


Now opening up an ATX power supply is a potentially hazardous endeavor and messing about inside could kill you, so the responsibility is your own.

The big capacitors must be discharged WITH THE UNIT OFF AND UNPLUGGED from everything.

 If there are multiple pots, you have to figure out which one controls the +12V output. You will also have to figure out which one increases or decreases the 12V output.  

This will upend power supply selection somewhat if there are particular brands that have a board level pot to adjust the +12V output.

The thread has useful safety information which should be consulted.

The thread is 11 years old.  The safety info is okay but most likely  the psu's mentioned are not for sale or they have been redesigned.

I have yet to find a 2014 ,2015, 2016 model atx with a  pot for sale in the USA.  

Someone linked one but it was not available in the usa.  If you have 120 volt power you just won't be able to overclock.

There are more factors with the avalon  it has 4 pcie jacks  you need to supply 275-300 watts a jack to get close to  3900 ghs.

This means 16 or even 15 gauge cables  not many atx psu's give you 16 gauge cables.

Right now it has been hot again in NJ it is 55f  my garage is 87f my bedroom is 81f  so I had to lower the 4000 watt dual psu  from 12.55 to 12.23

I get 3500 for each avalon 6 and I get strange volt readings.

12.2 and 12.0  power comes from same psu's with same length cables

I am pulling 2300 watts to get  7150gh  about .32 watts a gh  I have  a lot of overhead on the psu's

say 2300/4000 = 57.5% used  if you are pulling 1100 watts  on your 2 psu's  you are 1100/1500 = .733%  and your psu may be 750 watts at 240 volts and only 700 watts at 120 volts  so you could be 1100/1400 = .7857%
 that is a safe number but may result in volts sag.

can you measure your volts?  and not the software one since I really do not trust the software readings mine should be = and they are not.

What I neglected to mention is that opening up the power supply will most likely void any warranty.

I think you are being somewhat too literal minded. I theoretically believed that some manufacturers may have built in fine adjustments to the output voltages. The above link is just evidence.

The point of the post was to stimulate the idea that there is perhaps some board level adjustment, on some power supplies, that could up the voltage on the +12V power bus. This would be a viable option instead of buying a new power supply. Being able to bump the voltage upwards by a few tenths at almost no cost is a big deal for ROI for the A6 owner.

 I would have reported some vendor data but every power supply I have is running a miner.

 Most modern AXT power supplies may not have a pot controlling the 12V bus voltage but some sort of precision resistor network which could be externally modded or some values in a ROM chip that program the PS for a 12V output. As a poster pointed, many user communities are hacking ATX power supplies to obtain voltages applicable to their application. Mining is unique in that we just need a few extra tenths increase at the original current output specs.

[nhando]

Using a MultiMeter, the 2 x Dell PSU shows 12.1V even though Avalon shows 12V.  Don't see anywhere on the breakout board including the document provided by Holybitcoin / Gekkoscience where I can change the voltage.  Also not planning on opening any PSU.  

Also did anyone upgrade the firmware for these Avalon yet?  The readme seems to indicate that it allows better changes to voltage support.   Chatting with Scott from Holybitcoin and he said these boxes have random behaviors and it doesn't necessary have to do with voltage as he have many running on 12 and 12.2V and they still range from 3200-3800.  He show some examples below from his NW Data Center boxes.

HolyScott
3705.52
3240
12.2V

3830.72
12.2V

3480
12.1V

3800
12.1V

3758.32
3180
12.0V

3750 on 12.0V

[philipma1957]

Using a MultiMeter, the 2 x Dell PSU shows 12.1V even though Avalon shows 12V.  Don't see anywhere on the breakout board including the document provided by Holybitcoin / Gekkoscience where I can change the voltage.

it may have an internal pot

some do. 

  I personally never opened that psu..

[notlist3d]

Using a MultiMeter, the 2 x Dell PSU shows 12.1V even though Avalon shows 12V.  Don't see anywhere on the breakout board including the document provided by Holybitcoin / Gekkoscience where I can change the voltage.

it may have an internal pot

some do. 

 I personally never opened that psu..

Here is a good example of one inside.  A lot are not known till opened like phil mentioned opening PSU's. 

The Bitmain server PSU Goxed opened up ... and found one - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1060439.msg13156624#msg13156624 .  No one even knew it was in there but by opening it up he found one and now this PSU could adjust voltage.  But also if you open up a PSU be very careful... electricity can be dangerous.

[philipma1957]

Using a MultiMeter, the 2 x Dell PSU shows 12.1V even though Avalon shows 12V.  Don't see anywhere on the breakout board including the document provided by Holybitcoin / Gekkoscience where I can change the voltage.

it may have an internal pot

some do. 

 I personally never opened that psu..

Here is a good example of one inside.  A lot are not known till opened like phil mentioned opening PSU's. 

The Bitmain server PSU Goxed opened up ... and found one - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1060439.msg13156624#msg13156624 .  No one even knew it was in there but by opening it up he found one and now this PSU could adjust voltage.  But also if you open up a PSU be very careful... electricity can be dangerous.

As someone that ran a charge from my right hang to my left hand passing through my cheat and heart listen to and read the blue bolding.  BTW It felt like a hot hand squeezed my heart pretty hard. I no longer work on hot circuits  for the sake of safety.

[-droid-]

Using a MultiMeter, the 2 x Dell PSU shows 12.1V even though Avalon shows 12V.  Don't see anywhere on the breakout board including the document provided by Holybitcoin / Gekkoscience where I can change the voltage.

it may have an internal pot

some do. 

 I personally never opened that psu..

Here is a good example of one inside.  A lot are not known till opened like phil mentioned opening PSU's. 

The Bitmain server PSU Goxed opened up ... and found one - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1060439.msg13156624#msg13156624 .  No one even knew it was in there but by opening it up he found one and now this PSU could adjust voltage.  But also if you open up a PSU be very careful... electricity can be dangerous.

As someone that ran a charge from my right hang to my left hand passing through my cheat and heart listen to and read the blue bolding.  BTW It felt like a hot hand squeezed my heart pretty hard. I no longer work on hot circuits  for the sake of safety.

even if PSU is unplugged? guess it can still be holding a charge

[philipma1957]

Using a MultiMeter, the 2 x Dell PSU shows 12.1V even though Avalon shows 12V.  Don't see anywhere on the breakout board including the document provided by Holybitcoin / Gekkoscience where I can change the voltage.

it may have an internal pot

some do. 

 I personally never opened that psu..

Here is a good example of one inside.  A lot are not known till opened like phil mentioned opening PSU's. 

The Bitmain server PSU Goxed opened up ... and found one - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1060439.msg13156624#msg13156624 .  No one even knew it was in there but by opening it up he found one and now this PSU could adjust voltage.  But also if you open up a PSU be very careful... electricity can be dangerous.

As someone that ran a charge from my right hang to my left hand passing through my cheat and heart listen to and read the blue bolding.  BTW It felt like a hot hand squeezed my heart pretty hard. I no longer work on hot circuits  for the sake of safety.

even if PSU is unplugged? guess it can still be holding a charge

Did not say it was a psu.


  It was a 4 foot florescent bulb powered on while I trouble shot what was wrong.  I had put in a new ballast. I was sweating a lot standing on a chair and I managed to touch both ends of the bulb.

Felt the power run down one arm to the other.  I was lucky my heart is a sound heart.  As I basically paddled it with the power from the ballast.

The key with power work is keep one hand out of it.  The you won't do what I did run the charge across you heart..

As for caps in power supplies shocking me yeah but one handed which is not as bad.  I never knew what a really good or bad shock was until I did it with that 4 foot florescent.

[notlist3d]

Thread has slowed down.  To be honest I have a feeling it has to do with Bitmain's recent price drops. 

As far as this miner still have the 2 running.  Both run very reliable, I still have 1 PSU that seems to run a little around 11.9.  I honestly suggest to go with nice server PSU with voltage adjustment if possible.  Although I am enjoying the efficiency though still.  Below is pick of them running currently:

[philipma1957]

Thread has slowed down.  To be honest I have a feeling it has to do with Bitmain's recent price drops.  

As far as this miner still have the 2 running.  Both run very reliable, I still have 1 PSU that seems to run a little around 11.9.  I honestly suggest to go with nice server PSU with voltage adjustment if possible.  Although I am enjoying the efficiency though still.  Below is pick of them running currently:

yeah you get numbers I got with ATX psu's  6500gh for 2

the server kit from finksy that let me boost to 12.55 volts give me 7700gh for 2    I am happy with that.

[nhando]

That's like getting almost 3 S3 in term of Hashing power increase with the voltage change.  I can't wait to get my hands on those boards!  =) 

[shillier]

the server kit from finksy that let me boost to 12.55 volts give me 7700gh for 2    I am happy with that.

can you share how you've "boosted" to 12.55v with finksy kits? We have about a dozen of them, all running smoothly around 11.9-12v... wouldn't mind getting a little more out of our avalons.  Maybe I missed something here.  thanks

[kilo17]

the server kit from finksy that let me boost to 12.55 volts give me 7700gh for 2    I am happy with that.

can you share how you've "boosted" to 12.55v with finksy kits? We have about a dozen of them, all running smoothly around 11.9-12v... wouldn't mind getting a little more out of our avalons.  Maybe I missed something here.  thanks

This thread
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1284563.0