S5 and heat

[CrashBitz]

G'day,

So I have my first mining rig up and running, working hard and doing better than 'advertised': One S5 averaging just on 1200Gh/s.

Loving the new topic to learn more and more about, but just a hobby for me.

I have a question on temperature though. The S5 seems to be running quite hot at 65-70 degrees C. It hasn't gotten to the cut-out of 80C yet, but I'm interested in options to reduce the heat, and what effect the heat has on efficiency.

Unfortunately due to the noise, the miner is under the house, which is not secure, and so in a locked box bolted to the wall. There seems to be plenty of vents, and I have an extra exhaust fan on the box, also I have removed the plastic sides of the S5.

Is water cooling a realistic option?
When (if) I get a second rig, the heat will become a real issue to resolve.

Thanks for any advice

Crash

[VirosaGITS]

G'day,

So I have my first mining rig up and running, working hard and doing better than 'advertised': One S5 averaging just on 1200Gh/s.

Loving the new topic to learn more and more about, but just a hobby for me.

I have a question on temperature though. The S5 seems to be running quite hot at 65-70 degrees C. It hasn't gotten to the cut-out of 80C yet, but I'm interested in options to reduce the heat, and what effect the heat has on efficiency.

Unfortunately due to the noise, the miner is under the house, which is not secure, and so in a locked box bolted to the wall. There seems to be plenty of vents, and I have an extra exhaust fan on the box, also I have removed the plastic sides of the S5.

Is water cooling a realistic option?
When (if) I get a second rig, the heat will become a real issue to resolve.

Thanks for any advice

Crash

Yeah, you need air flow, you can't just dump a miner in a closed environment. Get a cheap acoustic panel, build a tunnel around it, open the window, or dump the heat outside or something. Some people use those vinyl tubes to dumb the heat outside or into their central house heating.

And water cooling a S5 is possible but its not worth it considering it does not return that much BTC anymore.

[RichBC]

G'day,

So I have my first mining rig up and running, working hard and doing better than 'advertised': One S5 averaging just on 1200Gh/s.

Loving the new topic to learn more and more about, but just a hobby for me.

I have a question on temperature though. The S5 seems to be running quite hot at 65-70 degrees C. It hasn't gotten to the cut-out of 80C yet, but I'm interested in options to reduce the heat, and what effect the heat has on efficiency.

Unfortunately due to the noise, the miner is under the house, which is not secure, and so in a locked box bolted to the wall. There seems to be plenty of vents, and I have an extra exhaust fan on the box, also I have removed the plastic sides of the S5.

Is water cooling a realistic option?
When (if) I get a second rig, the heat will become a real issue to resolve.

Thanks for any advice

Crash

You should not remove the plastic sides, they are needed to direct the air over the back of the circuit board. I would also be suspicious of the size & number of vents in the Box. Have you tested the miner out of the Box to see how much the box adding to the overall temperature?

Rich

[CrashBitz]

So I have my first mining rig up and running, working hard and doing better than 'advertised': One S5 averaging just on 1200Gh/s.
I have a question on temperature though. The S5 seems to be running quite hot at 65-70 degrees C. It hasn't gotten to the cut-out of 80C yet, but I'm interested in options to reduce the heat, and what effect the heat has on efficiency.

Unfortunately due to the noise, the miner is under the house, which is not secure, and so in a locked box bolted to the wall. There seems to be plenty of vents, and I have an extra exhaust fan on the box, also I have removed the plastic sides of the S5.
Crash

You should not remove the plastic sides, they are needed to direct the air over the back of the circuit board. I would also be suspicious of the size & number of vents in the Box. Have you tested the miner out of the Box to see how much the box adding to the overall temperature?

Rich

Before placing in the box, the miner was operating at 50-55, so there is an increase in temperature; not that it was cool in the first place.
Removing the sides has lowered the temp from 70-75 down to 60-70 (61&66 right now) so it has helped.
Probably would need the sides if I had a stack of the miners right next to each other though.

Crash

[VirosaGITS]

So I have my first mining rig up and running, working hard and doing better than 'advertised': One S5 averaging just on 1200Gh/s.
I have a question on temperature though. The S5 seems to be running quite hot at 65-70 degrees C. It hasn't gotten to the cut-out of 80C yet, but I'm interested in options to reduce the heat, and what effect the heat has on efficiency.

Unfortunately due to the noise, the miner is under the house, which is not secure, and so in a locked box bolted to the wall. There seems to be plenty of vents, and I have an extra exhaust fan on the box, also I have removed the plastic sides of the S5.
Crash

You should not remove the plastic sides, they are needed to direct the air over the back of the circuit board. I would also be suspicious of the size & number of vents in the Box. Have you tested the miner out of the Box to see how much the box adding to the overall temperature?

Rich

Before placing in the box, the miner was operating at 50-55, so there is an increase in temperature; not that it was cool in the first place.
Removing the sides has lowered the temp from 70-75 down to 60-70 (61&66 right now) so it has helped.
Probably would need the sides if I had a stack of the miners right next to each other though.

Crash

The problem i had with doing that myself is that i had cooler air blowing on the sensor, so the temps showed way lower. But the temp sensor is not the chips temp, its just a sensor on the board, so while it showed 50C, the chips at the end were over 80C.

So if you can, double check that this is not happening to you.

[sobe-it]

Get the s3+ heat sinks if you want the best temps and lowest sound output, they help alot. My s5 boards are usually the same temp or one of them is +/- 2 degrees. Stock heat sinks the temps are all over the place.

On one s5 I have the s3+ heat sinks, better thermal compound, 2 fans on it and clock it at 337.5. It still pulls 1,100+ Ghs at a little less wattage and runs a tad cooler, at the time of writing this the boards are 44/45C with the fans locked at 40% in 70F ambient. I can run the fans slower and get the temps up to 60-65 and it will be about s3 loud. 3100 RPM current fan speed

My other stock s5 right next to it has the common s1/s3/s5 style heat sinks and the temps are 65/49 with the fans running how it wants (3600+ RPM)  at 337.5 clock. It still pulls 1,100+ but if I clock it higher the temps go up as well as the fan speed. If I slow the fan speed at this clock the s5 will run hotter. So at this point to get this miner quieter I will have to underclock it more to get the temps and fan speed in an acceptable range.


Idk if every s3+ came with the heat sinks I have on mine but they look something like this.....

[CrashBitz]

On one s5 I have the s3+ heat sinks, better thermal compound, 2 fans on it and clock it at 337.5. It still pulls 1,100+ Ghs at a little less wattage and runs a tad cooler, at the time of writing this the boards are 44/45C with the fans locked at 40% in 70F ambient. I can run the fans slower and get the temps up to 60-65 and it will be about s3 loud. 3100 RPM current fan speed

Given a choice between replacing heatsinks and adding another fan, i think the additional fan sounds easier.
How do you attach a second fan? at the opposite end to the original I'm assuming to 'pull' rather than 'push' the air.
How do you supply power? is it able to be 'plugged' into the S5 controller board?

Replacing heatsinks, with the associated detaching of the originals, the adhesive etc...water cooling then becomes an option, as the complicated/tricky bit of attaching the 'sinks seems to be the same.

Crash

EDIT: Meanwhile, i'll drop the frequency to 337.5 and see how things go.

[VirosaGITS]

On one s5 I have the s3+ heat sinks, better thermal compound, 2 fans on it and clock it at 337.5. It still pulls 1,100+ Ghs at a little less wattage and runs a tad cooler, at the time of writing this the boards are 44/45C with the fans locked at 40% in 70F ambient. I can run the fans slower and get the temps up to 60-65 and it will be about s3 loud. 3100 RPM current fan speed

Given a choice between replacing heatsinks and adding another fan, i think the additional fan sounds easier.
How do you attach a second fan? at the opposite end to the original I'm assuming to 'pull' rather than 'push' the air.
How do you supply power? is it able to be 'plugged' into the S5 controller board?

Replacing heatsinks, with the associated detaching of the originals, the adhesive etc...water cooling then becomes an option, as the complicated/tricky bit of attaching the 'sinks seems to be the same.

Crash

EDIT: Meanwhile, i'll drop the frequency to 337.5 and see how things go.

You add the fan the same way the first one is in, correct, just to pull or push instead of push or pull to keep the airflow going. So both fan will have the same orientation. There are two 4 pin fan connectors so you just plug it right in.

[CrashBitz]

On one s5 I have the s3+ heat sinks, better thermal compound, 2 fans on it and clock it at 337.5. It still pulls 1,100+ Ghs at a little less wattage and runs a tad cooler, at the time of writing this the boards are 44/45C with the fans locked at 40% in 70F ambient. I can run the fans slower and get the temps up to 60-65 and it will be about s3 loud. 3100 RPM current fan speed

Given a choice between replacing heatsinks and adding another fan, i think the additional fan sounds easier.
How do you attach a second fan? at the opposite end to the original I'm assuming to 'pull' rather than 'push' the air.
How do you supply power? is it able to be 'plugged' into the S5 controller board?

Replacing heatsinks, with the associated detaching of the originals, the adhesive etc...water cooling then becomes an option, as the complicated/tricky bit of attaching the 'sinks seems to be the same.

Crash

EDIT: Meanwhile, i'll drop the frequency to 337.5 and see how things go.

You add the fan the same way the first one is in, correct, just to pull or push instead of push or pull to keep the airflow going. So both fan will have the same orientation. There are two 4 pin fan connectors so you just plug it right in.

Thanks Virosa, I'll give this a try.

Crash

[RichBC]

Get the s3+ heat sinks if you want the best temps and lowest sound output, they help alot. My s5 boards are usually the same temp or one of them is +/- 2 degrees. Stock heat sinks the temps are all over the place.

On one s5 I have the s3+ heat sinks, better thermal compound, 2 fans on it and clock it at 337.5. It still pulls 1,100+ Ghs at a little less wattage and runs a tad cooler, at the time of writing this the boards are 44/45C with the fans locked at 40% in 70F ambient. I can run the fans slower and get the temps up to 60-65 and it will be about s3 loud. 3100 RPM current fan speed

My other stock s5 right next to it has the common s1/s3/s5 style heat sinks and the temps are 65/49 with the fans running how it wants (3600+ RPM)  at 337.5 clock. It still pulls 1,100+ but if I clock it higher the temps go up as well as the fan speed. If I slow the fan speed at this clock the s5 will run hotter. So at this point to get this miner quieter I will have to underclock it more to get the temps and fan speed in an acceptable range.


Idk if every s3+ came with the heat sinks I have on mine but they look something like this.....

Very interesting I had always assumed that there was nothing to choose between the one piece heatsinks and the it would be the fan(s) and airflow that would make the biggest difference? That said I always did like the look of the nice rectangular heatsink on the S3+  

Rich

[sobe-it]

Get the s3+ heat sinks if you want the best temps and lowest sound output, they help alot. My s5 boards are usually the same temp or one of them is +/- 2 degrees. Stock heat sinks the temps are all over the place.

On one s5 I have the s3+ heat sinks, better thermal compound, 2 fans on it and clock it at 337.5. It still pulls 1,100+ Ghs at a little less wattage and runs a tad cooler, at the time of writing this the boards are 44/45C with the fans locked at 40% in 70F ambient. I can run the fans slower and get the temps up to 60-65 and it will be about s3 loud. 3100 RPM current fan speed

My other stock s5 right next to it has the common s1/s3/s5 style heat sinks and the temps are 65/49 with the fans running how it wants (3600+ RPM)  at 337.5 clock. It still pulls 1,100+ but if I clock it higher the temps go up as well as the fan speed. If I slow the fan speed at this clock the s5 will run hotter. So at this point to get this miner quieter I will have to underclock it more to get the temps and fan speed in an acceptable range.


Idk if every s3+ came with the heat sinks I have on mine but they look something like this.....

Very interesting I had always assumed that there was nothing to choose between the one piece heatsinks and the it would be the fan(s) and airflow that would make the biggest difference? That said I always did like the look of the nice rectangular heatsink on the S3+  

Rich

Yea I have an s1, 2 s3s and an s3+ sitting here collecting dust and I was doing my bi weekly cleaning of my 2 s5s I have running. After I had the first s5 up and running I just looked in the corner and thought to myself, I wonder if the heatsinks on the s3+ would benefit the s5 like they did on the s3+. Swapped every thing around and I was pretty shocked what a difference it made.

[CrashBitz]

On one s5 I have the s3+ heat sinks, better thermal compound, 2 fans on it and clock it at 337.5. It still pulls 1,100+ Ghs at a little less wattage and runs a tad cooler, at the time of writing this the boards are 44/45C with the fans locked at 40% in 70F ambient. I can run the fans slower and get the temps up to 60-65 and it will be about s3 loud. 3100 RPM current fan speed

Given a choice between replacing heatsinks and adding another fan, i think the additional fan sounds easier.
How do you attach a second fan? at the opposite end to the original I'm assuming to 'pull' rather than 'push' the air.
How do you supply power? is it able to be 'plugged' into the S5 controller board?

Replacing heatsinks, with the associated detaching of the originals, the adhesive etc...water cooling then becomes an option, as the complicated/tricky bit of attaching the 'sinks seems to be the same.

Crash

EDIT: Meanwhile, i'll drop the frequency to 337.5 and see how things go.

You add the fan the same way the first one is in, correct, just to pull or push instead of push or pull to keep the airflow going. So both fan will have the same orientation. There are two 4 pin fan connectors so you just plug it right in.

Thanks Virosa, I'll give this a try.

Crash

So second fan is installed, and I replaced the side covers. Temps are now 55&65. So this has helped one side, but not the other :/
I don't really want to muck with heatsinks, a bit past my skills level at this stage, so I'll leave it for a while, and may under clock a little.

Thanks for your advice guys.

Crash

[notlist3d]

On one s5 I have the s3+ heat sinks, better thermal compound, 2 fans on it and clock it at 337.5. It still pulls 1,100+ Ghs at a little less wattage and runs a tad cooler, at the time of writing this the boards are 44/45C with the fans locked at 40% in 70F ambient. I can run the fans slower and get the temps up to 60-65 and it will be about s3 loud. 3100 RPM current fan speed

Given a choice between replacing heatsinks and adding another fan, i think the additional fan sounds easier.
How do you attach a second fan? at the opposite end to the original I'm assuming to 'pull' rather than 'push' the air.
How do you supply power? is it able to be 'plugged' into the S5 controller board?

Replacing heatsinks, with the associated detaching of the originals, the adhesive etc...water cooling then becomes an option, as the complicated/tricky bit of attaching the 'sinks seems to be the same.

Crash

EDIT: Meanwhile, i'll drop the frequency to 337.5 and see how things go.

You add the fan the same way the first one is in, correct, just to pull or push instead of push or pull to keep the airflow going. So both fan will have the same orientation. There are two 4 pin fan connectors so you just plug it right in.

Thanks Virosa, I'll give this a try.

Crash

Can you take a picture of this "box".  I'm just curious what it looks like.  S5's tend to run hot they were hot and loud in my mind as far as miners go.  If you show the box we might be able to give better ideas.

Also with being "under the house" what is ambient temp?  Is there any airflow down there?   If not you might try something as simple as decent fan to push hot air away from miner.    If that hot air just sits around miner's with nothing moving it that could be part of why it is so hot.

So second fan is installed, and I replaced the side covers. Temps are now 55&65. So this has helped one side, but not the other :/
I don't really want to muck with heatsinks, a bit past my skills level at this stage, so I'll leave it for a while, and may under clock a little.

Thanks for your advice guys.

Crash

[CrashBitz]

On one s5 I have the s3+ heat sinks, better thermal compound, 2 fans on it and clock it at 337.5. It still pulls 1,100+ Ghs at a little less wattage and runs a tad cooler, at the time of writing this the boards are 44/45C with the fans locked at 40% in 70F ambient. I can run the fans slower and get the temps up to 60-65 and it will be about s3 loud. 3100 RPM current fan speed

Given a choice between replacing heatsinks and adding another fan, i think the additional fan sounds easier.
How do you attach a second fan? at the opposite end to the original I'm assuming to 'pull' rather than 'push' the air.
How do you supply power? is it able to be 'plugged' into the S5 controller board?

Replacing heatsinks, with the associated detaching of the originals, the adhesive etc...water cooling then becomes an option, as the complicated/tricky bit of attaching the 'sinks seems to be the same.

Crash

EDIT: Meanwhile, i'll drop the frequency to 337.5 and see how things go.

You add the fan the same way the first one is in, correct, just to pull or push instead of push or pull to keep the airflow going. So both fan will have the same orientation. There are two 4 pin fan connectors so you just plug it right in.

Thanks Virosa, I'll give this a try.

Crash

Can you take a picture of this "box".  I'm just curious what it looks like.  S5's tend to run hot they were hot and loud in my mind as far as miners go.  If you show the box we might be able to give better ideas.

Also with being "under the house" what is ambient temp?  Is there any airflow down there?   If not you might try something as simple as decent fan to push hot air away from miner.    If that hot air just sits around miner's with nothing moving it that could be part of why it is so hot.

The box:
http://imgur.com/1TtbQ9V
A standard secure 'server' cabinet: vents on each side, and at front below glass. I added a fan on top of the box that pulls air up and out.
The underhouse area is a large space, that is open on one side to the elements: rain can't reach the box, but airflow is what ever is around at the time.
Orientating the miner sideways (http://imgur.com/xCLkfZm) so pulling air in through the side vent is about 5-10C cooler than pointing at the glass (http://imgur.com/RYtOnah).

Crash

[sobe-it]

I would be very cautious with the heat of the boards.... the temp reading is basically the temp of the pcb and not the asics themselves. The miner is/can be set up to shut down when the temps reach 80C but as I said thats the pcb and the asics will most likely be hotter. Heat kills these miners, my rule of thumb for myself on the s5 is if you can keep the boards at/below 65C or MAX 70C 24/7 you should be ok. I dunno what others do, its just for my piece of mind.

You do have airflow in and out of that box but its not linear in/out how the fans are set up to push/pull cfm across the heat sinks. The cold climate is most likely in your favor in keeping that thing cool, a underclock will help you control your temps inside that box. Its hard to tell what side of the box is bolted to the wall and how you have it sitting in there all closed up. I think the best solution for your case if/when you get a 2nd rig or you run into temp  issues would be have the air intake side of the miner pointing to one side of the box and cut a hole on the other side just big enough to fit house dryer vent or something similar (2 when you get another) and get some of that flexible ducting and attach it to the miner(s). That way the miners use air from the existing holes as cool inlet air and the hot air leaves the box.

Also make sure you have the miner (mounted or sitting) on something flat the whole length of the miner to force the air to make a full pass on the heat sinks.

[CrashBitz]

I would be very cautious with the heat of the boards.... the temp reading is basically the temp of the pcb and not the asics themselves. The miner is/can be set up to shut down when the temps reach 80C but as I said thats the pcb and the asics will most likely be hotter. Heat kills these miners, my rule of thumb for myself on the s5 is if you can keep the boards at/below 65C or MAX 70C 24/7 you should be ok. I dunno what others do, its just for my piece of mind.

You do have airflow in and out of that box but its not linear in/out how the fans are set up to push/pull cfm across the heat sinks. The cold climate is most likely in your favor in keeping that thing cool, a underclock will help you control your temps inside that box. Its hard to tell what side of the box is bolted to the wall and how you have it sitting in there all closed up. I think the best solution for your case if/when you get a 2nd rig or you run into temp  issues would be have the air intake side of the miner pointing to one side of the box and cut a hole on the other side just big enough to fit house dryer vent or something similar (2 when you get another) and get some of that flexible ducting and attach it to the miner(s). That way the miners use air from the existing holes as cool inlet air and the hot air leaves the box.

Also make sure you have the miner (mounted or sitting) on something flat the whole length of the miner to force the air to make a full pass on the heat sinks.

Thanks Sobe It.
The miner is orientated sideways atm, with the intake quite close to the side vent. The 2nd fan pulls the air out of the miner, and is pointed at the other side, blowing the hot air out. There is also a fan on top of the box, pulling air out.
The miner is on a piece of wood, just as wide as itself, so air can circulate around the entire miner.

My problem now is uneven temps: Chain1 is 59C and Chain 2 is now 74C

I think I need bigger vents, and yes, some ducting may be necessary.

Crash

[sobe-it]

That is how the s5 temps usually are I wouldn't worry too much about the difference. I would underclock it to get it under 70 max temp. When adjusting clock or airflow always use the higher temp as the actual temp.

EDIT: Got a picture of the top and how a fan is sucking air out?

[CrashBitz]

EDIT: Got a picture of the top and how a fan is sucking air out?

The fan in the top of the box:
http://imgur.com/Ml9669V

[notlist3d]

That is how the s5 temps usually are I wouldn't worry too much about the difference. I would underclock it to get it under 70 max temp. When adjusting clock or airflow always use the higher temp as the actual temp.

EDIT: Got a picture of the top and how a fan is sucking air out?

The only thing is I'm guessing he is still having winter weather.  OP is that correct? I could be wrong.   But if 74c is with winter weather he really needs to solve it a little more before summer heat's up.

I'm still thinking he might need a fan or something to push air.  I'm thinking in a box with vent's likely is not moving hot air away from miner.  One PC fan is not moving much air.  I'm talking about like a box fan or something with decent CFM.

[CrashBitz]

That is how the s5 temps usually are I wouldn't worry too much about the difference. I would underclock it to get it under 70 max temp. When adjusting clock or airflow always use the higher temp as the actual temp.

EDIT: Got a picture of the top and how a fan is sucking air out?

The only thing is I'm guessing he is still having winter weather.  OP is that correct? I could be wrong.   But if 74c is with winter weather he really needs to solve it a little more before summer heat's up.

I'm still thinking he might need a fan or something to push air.  I'm thinking in a box with vent's likely is not moving hot air away from miner.  One PC fan is not moving much air.  I'm talking about like a box fan or something with decent CFM.

So' I'm in South Eastern Australia: Middle of summer, but currently very mild, only 20C. Likely to be much higher, although it is a little insulated from heat under the house.

I've added a duct to the exhaust fan on the miner:
http://imgur.com/LbTI6iK
(hey, I've now used cable ties AND duct tape! )

63C now is highest, but its only had a few minutes to warm up

Crash

EDIT: Seems to have settled at 66C