Claymore's Dual Ethereum AMD+NVIDIA GPU Miner v15.0 (Windows/Linux)

[d57heinz]

@Claymore

small glitch i notice in the new version.  EthDcrMiner64.exe -epool us1.ethermine.org:4444 -ewal 0xXXXXXXXXXXX.... -eworker Amd8350 -epsw x -dpool stratum+tcp://decred.eu.nicehash.com:3354 -dwal 1XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX....

that command if given at the prompt only shows 3 out of 4 gpu statistics.  all 4 cards mine properly just no temp stats on one out of 4.. No biggy for me just making you aware.. let me know if you need anything.

Best Regards
d57heinz

[1714855516]

1714855516

[1714855516]

1714855516

[melloyellow]

The problem with mininghub is that they support several stratum versions but don't say which stratum is supported and at which port. I still cannot make 12020 work (even with genoil), but port 17020 works for me:

EthDcrMiner64.exe -epool europe.ethash-hub.miningpoolhub.com:17020 -ewal Redhex.rig1 -epsw x -allcoins 1 -esm 2

I'm mining on 12020   Looks like you need the worker specified as well

POOL: us-east.ethash-hub.miningpoolhub.com:12020, WALLET: login.worker, PSW: x, WORKER: login.worker, ESM: 2, ALLPOOLS: 1

I don't have allcoins specified.  When you use 12020 you have to set which coin you want to mine at the hub workers page https://miningpoolhub.com/?page=account&action=hubworkers  Additionally on that page you can set it to auto-mine etc or eth based on profitability.

The 17020 port also mines the most profitable, you just don't have to set it up on the hub workers page.

Your method works for me (at least miner starts mining on mininghubpool) I wonder if it works how smooth as described..
I have to similar rigs (about 30mhs each) and I mine one ETC on nanopool (yes I know ETH is more profitable now but I am lazy now ..) and second I mine on mininghub.. 

I've been switching back and forth between etc and eth with no problems.  Just log in to the hub workers page and choose which coin you want to mine.  Easy, no messing with restarting the miners or changing configs. 

[gribgo]

The problem with mininghub is that they support several stratum versions but don't say which stratum is supported and at which port. I still cannot make 12020 work (even with genoil), but port 17020 works for me:

EthDcrMiner64.exe -epool europe.ethash-hub.miningpoolhub.com:17020 -ewal Redhex.rig1 -epsw x -allcoins 1 -esm 2

I'm mining on 12020   Looks like you need the worker specified as well

POOL: us-east.ethash-hub.miningpoolhub.com:12020, WALLET: login.worker, PSW: x, WORKER: login.worker, ESM: 2, ALLPOOLS: 1

I don't have allcoins specified.  When you use 12020 you have to set which coin you want to mine at the hub workers page https://miningpoolhub.com/?page=account&action=hubworkers  Additionally on that page you can set it to auto-mine etc or eth based on profitability.

The 17020 port also mines the most profitable, you just don't have to set it up on the hub workers page.

Your method works for me (at least miner starts mining on mininghubpool) I wonder if it works how smooth as described..
I have to similar rigs (about 30mhs each) and I mine one ETC on nanopool (yes I know ETH is more profitable now but I am lazy now ..) and second I mine on mininghub.. 

I've been switching back and forth between etc and eth with no problems.  Just log in to the hub workers page and choose which coin you want to mine.  Easy, no messing with restarting the miners or changing configs. 

Could you please.. provide the full string as in the .bat file?
What version of Claymore miner you use?
Thank you
peace

[tolazy]

Claymore I have a weird issue since yesterday:

I was running the latest AMD driver build (16.7.3) and when I was starting the miner, only one card was running (two were detected) and after a minute or two I would get a BSOD saying "driver_irql_not_less_or_equal".

Tried to rollback to an older driver version, now the computer is freezing as soon as the miner reaches the "Create GPU buffer for GPU #0" stage.

You must use 15.12 AMD drivers with this miner

cant say it true. i've used 15.12 to latest i still get BSOD with diffrent error msg. had it with 15.12 to

[fredeq]

Anyone got their hands on rx470?
This card has the same memory bandwidth as 480, smaller TPD and costs less.

Edit: Looks like sp already did some tests 24Mhash per 470@110W
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1464999.msg15799401#msg15799401

[melloyellow]

The problem with mininghub is that they support several stratum versions but don't say which stratum is supported and at which port. I still cannot make 12020 work (even with genoil), but port 17020 works for me:

EthDcrMiner64.exe -epool europe.ethash-hub.miningpoolhub.com:17020 -ewal Redhex.rig1 -epsw x -allcoins 1 -esm 2

I'm mining on 12020   Looks like you need the worker specified as well

POOL: us-east.ethash-hub.miningpoolhub.com:12020, WALLET: login.worker, PSW: x, WORKER: login.worker, ESM: 2, ALLPOOLS: 1

I don't have allcoins specified.  When you use 12020 you have to set which coin you want to mine at the hub workers page https://miningpoolhub.com/?page=account&action=hubworkers  Additionally on that page you can set it to auto-mine etc or eth based on profitability.

The 17020 port also mines the most profitable, you just don't have to set it up on the hub workers page.

Your method works for me (at least miner starts mining on mininghubpool) I wonder if it works how smooth as described..
I have to similar rigs (about 30mhs each) and I mine one ETC on nanopool (yes I know ETH is more profitable now but I am lazy now ..) and second I mine on mininghub.. 

I've been switching back and forth between etc and eth with no problems.  Just log in to the hub workers page and choose which coin you want to mine.  Easy, no messing with restarting the miners or changing configs. 

Could you please.. provide the full string as in the .bat file?
What version of Claymore miner you use?
Thank you
peace

I'm using 5.1 beta 2. I don't use a bat file. I use the config files.  What you see above is really all you should need. But here goes

config.txt
-wd 1
-r 0
-allpools 1
-estale 1
-ftime 5
-mport 3333
-tstop -100
-mode 0
-dcoin sc
-etha 0
-ethi 16
-dcri 40

epools.txt
POOL: us-east.ethash-hub.miningpoolhub.com:12020, WALLET: Login.Worker, PSW: 1234, WORKER: Login.Worker, ESM: 2, ALLPOOLS: 1
POOL: us-east1.ethereum.miningpoolhub.com:20535, WALLET: Login.Worker, PSW: 1234, WORKER: Login.Worker, ESM: 2, ALLPOOLS: 1

dpools.txt
POOL: http://siamining.com:9980/miner/header?address=YourAddress&worker=Worker

You might have to set up your workers first here https://miningpoolhub.com/?page=account&action=hubworkers but I can't remember.  You don't have to set them up on each coin's page.  You won't need all the parameters I use and I'm not sure why I have allpools in there twice but whatever.

[pwpwpw]

I'm using 5.1 beta 2. I don't use a bat file. I use the config files.  What you see above is really all you should need. But here goes

config.txt
-wd 1
-r 0
-allpools 1
-estale 1
-ftime 5
-mport 3333
-tstop -100
-mode 0
-dcoin sc
-etha 0
-ethi 16
-dcri 40

epools.txt
POOL: us-east.ethash-hub.miningpoolhub.com:12020, WALLET: Login.Worker, PSW: 1234, WORKER: Login.Worker, ESM: 2, ALLPOOLS: 1
POOL: us-east1.ethereum.miningpoolhub.com:20535, WALLET: Login.Worker, PSW: 1234, WORKER: Login.Worker, ESM: 2, ALLPOOLS: 1

dpools.txt
POOL: http://siamining.com:9980/miner/header?address=YourAddress&worker=Worker

You might have to set up your workers first here https://miningpoolhub.com/?page=account&action=hubworkers but I can't remember.  You don't have to set them up on each coin's page.  You won't need all the parameters I use and I'm not sure why I have allpools in there twice but whatever.

what is -etha ? also can you tell me why if I put -r 1 in config, it randomly changes value, like 10minutes ago it was -r 1d, now its -r 19. I want it to work as written in readme

"-r 1" closes miner and execute "reboot.bat" file ("reboot.bash" or "reboot.sh" for Linux version) in the miner directory (if exists) if some GPU failed.
   So you can create "reboot.bat" file and perform some actions, for example, reboot system if you put this line there: "shutdown /r /t 5 /f".
but it keeps changing, also doesn't do anything if failover pools fail. Can you make the miner execute reboot.bat when either gpu fails or all pools fail ?

[Mark02]

I'm using 5.1 beta 2. I don't use a bat file. I use the config files.  What you see above is really all you should need. But here goes

config.txt
-wd 1
-r 0
-allpools 1
-estale 1
-ftime 5
-mport 3333
-tstop -100
-mode 0
-dcoin sc
-etha 0
-ethi 16
-dcri 40

epools.txt
POOL: us-east.ethash-hub.miningpoolhub.com:12020, WALLET: Login.Worker, PSW: 1234, WORKER: Login.Worker, ESM: 2, ALLPOOLS: 1
POOL: us-east1.ethereum.miningpoolhub.com:20535, WALLET: Login.Worker, PSW: 1234, WORKER: Login.Worker, ESM: 2, ALLPOOLS: 1

dpools.txt
POOL: http://siamining.com:9980/miner/header?address=YourAddress&worker=Worker

You might have to set up your workers first here https://miningpoolhub.com/?page=account&action=hubworkers but I can't remember.  You don't have to set them up on each coin's page.  You won't need all the parameters I use and I'm not sure why I have allpools in there twice but whatever.

what is -etha ? also can you tell me why if I put -r 1 in config, it randomly changes value, like 10minutes ago it was -r 1d, now its -r 19. I want it to work as written in readme

"-r 1" closes miner and execute "reboot.bat" file ("reboot.bash" or "reboot.sh" for Linux version) in the miner directory (if exists) if some GPU failed.
   So you can create "reboot.bat" file and perform some actions, for example, reboot system if you put this line there: "shutdown /r /t 5 /f".
but it keeps changing, also doesn't do anything if failover pools fail. Can you make the miner execute reboot.bat when either gpu fails or all pools fail ?

I was amazed on how you know that thing guys, I am no kowledgeable when it comes to mining as I dont't mine due to some reasons. I dont have that capital to start and our place i not suited for mining. It is very hot and I think rigs can withdstand this kind of environment. Anyways, good luck to you all guys. Someday Im gonna learn it too. I hope it is not too late for me .

[melloyellow]

I'm using 5.1 beta 2. I don't use a bat file. I use the config files.  What you see above is really all you should need. But here goes

config.txt
-wd 1
-r 0
-allpools 1
-estale 1
-ftime 5
-mport 3333
-tstop -100
-mode 0
-dcoin sc
-etha 0
-ethi 16
-dcri 40

epools.txt
POOL: us-east.ethash-hub.miningpoolhub.com:12020, WALLET: Login.Worker, PSW: 1234, WORKER: Login.Worker, ESM: 2, ALLPOOLS: 1
POOL: us-east1.ethereum.miningpoolhub.com:20535, WALLET: Login.Worker, PSW: 1234, WORKER: Login.Worker, ESM: 2, ALLPOOLS: 1

dpools.txt
POOL: http://siamining.com:9980/miner/header?address=YourAddress&worker=Worker

You might have to set up your workers first here https://miningpoolhub.com/?page=account&action=hubworkers but I can't remember.  You don't have to set them up on each coin's page.  You won't need all the parameters I use and I'm not sure why I have allpools in there twice but whatever.

what is -etha ? also can you tell me why if I put -r 1 in config, it randomly changes value, like 10minutes ago it was -r 1d, now its -r 19. I want it to work as written in readme

"-r 1" closes miner and execute "reboot.bat" file ("reboot.bash" or "reboot.sh" for Linux version) in the miner directory (if exists) if some GPU failed.
   So you can create "reboot.bat" file and perform some actions, for example, reboot system if you put this line there: "shutdown /r /t 5 /f".
but it keeps changing, also doesn't do anything if failover pools fail. Can you make the miner execute reboot.bat when either gpu fails or all pools fail ?

I'm not sure if you're asking me but -etha 0 is optimized for fast cards and 1 is for slow cards.  I don't know what it does technically.  As far as -r 1 in the config, where does it randomly change?  Are you saying you save your config, start the miner, and then open your config back up and it's different?  Or does it change in some other place.  Also, just curious, why do you want to reboot your computer if all the pools fail?  Pools will most likely still be down right and the miner automatically reconnects every 30 minutes to the main pool or something different if you specify ftime?

[thevictimofuktyranny]

I'm using 5.1 beta 2. I don't use a bat file. I use the config files.  What you see above is really all you should need. But here goes

config.txt
-wd 1
-r 0
-allpools 1
-estale 1
-ftime 5
-mport 3333
-tstop -100
-mode 0
-dcoin sc
-etha 0
-ethi 16
-dcri 40

epools.txt
POOL: us-east.ethash-hub.miningpoolhub.com:12020, WALLET: Login.Worker, PSW: 1234, WORKER: Login.Worker, ESM: 2, ALLPOOLS: 1
POOL: us-east1.ethereum.miningpoolhub.com:20535, WALLET: Login.Worker, PSW: 1234, WORKER: Login.Worker, ESM: 2, ALLPOOLS: 1

dpools.txt
POOL: http://siamining.com:9980/miner/header?address=YourAddress&worker=Worker

You might have to set up your workers first here https://miningpoolhub.com/?page=account&action=hubworkers but I can't remember.  You don't have to set them up on each coin's page.  You won't need all the parameters I use and I'm not sure why I have allpools in there twice but whatever.

what is -etha ? also can you tell me why if I put -r 1 in config, it randomly changes value, like 10minutes ago it was -r 1d, now its -r 19. I want it to work as written in readme

"-r 1" closes miner and execute "reboot.bat" file ("reboot.bash" or "reboot.sh" for Linux version) in the miner directory (if exists) if some GPU failed.
   So you can create "reboot.bat" file and perform some actions, for example, reboot system if you put this line there: "shutdown /r /t 5 /f".
but it keeps changing, also doesn't do anything if failover pools fail. Can you make the miner execute reboot.bat when either gpu fails or all pools fail ?

I'm not sure if you're asking me but -etha 0 is optimized for fast cards and 1 is for slow cards.  I don't know what it does technically.  As far as -r 1 in the config, where does it randomly change?  Are you saying you save your config, start the miner, and then open your config back up and it's different?  Or does it change in some other place.  Also, just curious, why do you want to reboot your computer if all the pools fail?  Pools will most likely still be down right and the miner automatically reconnects every 30 minutes to the main pool or something different if you specify ftime?

You do need to set "-r" to something normal, like 720 minutes (12 hours) and not 1 minute, because you will simply keep reboot Claymore software every minute.

[pwpwpw]

I'm using 5.1 beta 2. I don't use a bat file. I use the config files.  What you see above is really all you should need. But here goes

config.txt
-wd 1
-r 0
-allpools 1
-estale 1
-ftime 5
-mport 3333
-tstop -100
-mode 0
-dcoin sc
-etha 0
-ethi 16
-dcri 40

epools.txt
POOL: us-east.ethash-hub.miningpoolhub.com:12020, WALLET: Login.Worker, PSW: 1234, WORKER: Login.Worker, ESM: 2, ALLPOOLS: 1
POOL: us-east1.ethereum.miningpoolhub.com:20535, WALLET: Login.Worker, PSW: 1234, WORKER: Login.Worker, ESM: 2, ALLPOOLS: 1

dpools.txt
POOL: http://siamining.com:9980/miner/header?address=YourAddress&worker=Worker

You might have to set up your workers first here https://miningpoolhub.com/?page=account&action=hubworkers but I can't remember.  You don't have to set them up on each coin's page.  You won't need all the parameters I use and I'm not sure why I have allpools in there twice but whatever.

what is -etha ? also can you tell me why if I put -r 1 in config, it randomly changes value, like 10minutes ago it was -r 1d, now its -r 19. I want it to work as written in readme

"-r 1" closes miner and execute "reboot.bat" file ("reboot.bash" or "reboot.sh" for Linux version) in the miner directory (if exists) if some GPU failed.
   So you can create "reboot.bat" file and perform some actions, for example, reboot system if you put this line there: "shutdown /r /t 5 /f".
but it keeps changing, also doesn't do anything if failover pools fail. Can you make the miner execute reboot.bat when either gpu fails or all pools fail ?

I'm not sure if you're asking me but -etha 0 is optimized for fast cards and 1 is for slow cards.  I don't know what it does technically.  As far as -r 1 in the config, where does it randomly change?  Are you saying you save your config, start the miner, and then open your config back up and it's different?  Or does it change in some other place.  Also, just curious, why do you want to reboot your computer if all the pools fail?  Pools will most likely still be down right and the miner automatically reconnects every 30 minutes to the main pool or something different if you specify ftime?

The -r 1 changed randomly only in the remote manager, so thats just a bug in it but -r 1 is supposed to launch reboot.bat when the miner isn't hashing. I wanted -r 1 because while dual mining sia, I got this error
13:48:49:091   1360    SC: http error #28.
13:48:49:091   1360    SC: Failed to connect to pool (sia-eu1.nanopool.org:9980), retry in 10 sec...

and then after alot of tries this

 SIA: incorrect job data size
SIAD invalid http response, wrong number of bytes received: 36
Response: {"message":"404 - Refer to API.md"}
I thought the -r 1 would restart the pc if sia mining hangs but nothing happend, a few failovers but the incorrect job data size error didn't stop till I restarted the miner. Maybe its just something with http, I switched to the new version which has stratum on sia, no errors yet.

As I understand from the readme, -r 1 means launch reboot.bat at gpu fail and -r >20 means restart after >20minute of miner hang.

[dannygroove]

Im experiencing some weird witchcraft with my 5 XFX R9 390: Whenever I set -mode 1 (no dual mining), they'll mine happily at 31.2 MH/s, Afterburner displays correct clocks of 1100/1500. But here's whats making me scratch my head, whenever I set -mode 0 (dual mining), my computer  wont let my clocks go above 1000 reporting as little as ~950/1500 clocks, mining (of course) 15% slower than the previous -mode 1 config, why is that? Has this issue been reported before with these cards?

Equipment:
5 XFX R9 390
Asrock LGA 1150 H97
2 Rosewill 1000w PSUs
5 USB 3.0 powered risers
4 GB RAM
Intel G3220 CPU

On windows 10 64b.
15.12 AMD drivers.

[fr4nkthetank]

Im experiencing some weird witchcraft with my 5 XFX R9 390: Whenever I set -mode 1 (no dual mining), they'll mine happily at 31.2 MH/s, Afterburner displays correct clocks of 1100/1500. But here's whats making me scratch my head, whenever I set -mode 0 (dual mining), my computer  wont let my clocks go above 1000 reporting as little as ~950/1500 clocks, mining (of course) 15% slower than the previous -mode 1 config, why is that? Has this issue been reported before with these cards?

Equipment:
5 XFX R9 390
Asrock LGA 1150 H97
2 Rosewill 1000w PSUs
5 USB 3.0 powered risers
4 GB RAM
Intel G3220 CPU

On windows 10 64b.
15.12 AMD drivers.

XFX 390 work great, there is nothing wrong with the cards.  When you switch to dual mode, depending on -dcri, it uses a lot more power.  Has your house been cursed recently ?  Try it with 4 cards, see if its a power issue/riser issue.  Im doing dual 31.5mhs 1100/1100.  maybe try lowering memory clock.  Although afterburner doesnt always change the clocks in reality.

[Vegetablepin]

is there a way to use 6 cards with integrated graphics? i thought that a 16x16 riser was needed for the main card as well if you wanted to use 6, but i now have seen 16x1 riser with display plugged into card?

[melloyellow]

Im experiencing some weird witchcraft with my 5 XFX R9 390: Whenever I set -mode 1 (no dual mining), they'll mine happily at 31.2 MH/s, Afterburner displays correct clocks of 1100/1500. But here's whats making me scratch my head, whenever I set -mode 0 (dual mining), my computer  wont let my clocks go above 1000 reporting as little as ~950/1500 clocks, mining (of course) 15% slower than the previous -mode 1 config, why is that? Has this issue been reported before with these cards?

Equipment:
5 XFX R9 390
Asrock LGA 1150 H97
2 Rosewill 1000w PSUs
5 USB 3.0 powered risers
4 GB RAM
Intel G3220 CPU

On windows 10 64b.
15.12 AMD drivers.

XFX 390 work great, there is nothing wrong with the cards.  When you switch to dual mode, depending on -dcri, it uses a lot more power.  Has your house been cursed recently ?  Try it with 4 cards, see if its a power issue/riser issue.  Im doing dual 31.5mhs 1100/1100.  maybe try lowering memory clock.  Although afterburner doesnt always change the clocks in reality.

"Has your house been cursed recently ?"

I just spit out my drink.  Funniest thing I have read in this thread.  You're doing a good job living up to your namesake.

dannygroove, start lowering the core voltage and change the memory to 1125 or 1250.  It sounds counter intuitive but it works.  Some of my 390s have to run at -44mv when dual mining.  On some cards you may have to lower the core but slightly increase the power limit to 5%.  I'm not sure why this happens but the theory we came up with in the ether forums was that the vrm was getting too hot.  Give it a shot.

[fredeq]

is there a way to use 6 cards with integrated graphics? i thought that a 16x16 riser was needed for the main card as well if you wanted to use 6, but i now have seen 16x1 riser with display plugged into card?

AMD cards generally dont like it, when either Intel or Nvidia is the main card initialized at login.
It is possible to run your main card on 16x1, but honestly I dont like the setup, had some troubles with it in the past.
Personally I use 16x16 for a main card (AMD in priority if mixed rig).

[Kaller]

Im experiencing some weird witchcraft with my 5 XFX R9 390: Whenever I set -mode 1 (no dual mining), they'll mine happily at 31.2 MH/s, Afterburner displays correct clocks of 1100/1500. But here's whats making me scratch my head, whenever I set -mode 0 (dual mining), my computer  wont let my clocks go above 1000 reporting as little as ~950/1500 clocks, mining (of course) 15% slower than the previous -mode 1 config, why is that? Has this issue been reported before with these cards?

Equipment:
5 XFX R9 390
Asrock LGA 1150 H97
2 Rosewill 1000w PSUs
5 USB 3.0 powered risers
4 GB RAM
Intel G3220 CPU

On windows 10 64b.
15.12 AMD drivers.

You need to set the power limit in the MSI Afterburner to be 20% or higher. That is due to the power throttling.

[dmwardjr]

is there a way to use 6 cards with integrated graphics? i thought that a 16x16 riser was needed for the main card as well if you wanted to use 6, but i now have seen 16x1 riser with display plugged into card?

Could be a dumb suggestion...

Depending on your mobo, you may need to go into Bios [If you haven't already] and set your PCI-e slots for Gen1 and CPU to x8/x4/x4 to get all PCI-e slots going for 6 GPU's with USB risers in every slot like my own.  My MSI gaming boards require Bios changes for PCI-e slots to run more than 4 GPU's stably with USB risers without shutting down the rig periodically.

I was fortunate enough to find this out from a good friend.

[Vegetablepin]

is there a way to use 6 cards with integrated graphics? i thought that a 16x16 riser was needed for the main card as well if you wanted to use 6, but i now have seen 16x1 riser with display plugged into card?

Could be a dumb suggestion...

Depending on your mobo, you may need to go into Bios [If you haven't already] and set your PCI-e slots for Gen1 and CPU to x8/x4/x4 to get all PCI-e slots going for 6 GPU's with USB risers in every slot like my own.  My MSI gaming boards require Bios changes for PCI-e slots to run more than 4 GPU's stably with USB risers without shutting down the rig periodically.

I was fortunate enough to find this out from a good friend.

I might try setting the slots to gen 1, but the cards are detected. The problem is that I cannot change the overclock/voltage/fan settings, and I think hashrate is slightly lower as well. I see a lot of 6 card rigs using just x1 risers that have the DVI cap off with no dummy plug on ( just the maincard ). Can you even plug a monitor into the main card with a x1 riser??. Has the main card been on the board to set the rig up and install teamviewer etc, but then put on a riser after? I still don't understand how hashrate would be at the normal levels. I think clock speeds and voltage would be reset as well.

[dmwardjr]

I might try setting the slots to gen 1, but the cards are detected. The problem is that I cannot change the overclock/voltage/fan settings, and I think hashrate is slightly lower as well. I see a lot of 6 card rigs using just x1 risers that have the DVI cap off with no dummy plug on ( just the maincard ). Can you even plug a monitor into the main card with a x1 riser??. Has the main card been on the board to set the rig up and install teamviewer etc, but then put on a riser after? I still don't understand how hashrate would be at the normal levels. I think clock speeds and voltage would be reset as well.

My PCI slots were factory set to "Auto" instead of Gen 1.  Yet, all 6 were still detected.  However, the rig would mine for a few minutes with all 6 then stop hashing.  I would not be surprised if this could be why you are having issues.  Had to set the CPU to x8/x4/x4 as well.

Yes, all of my GPU's are using x1 risers.  I can use my monitor with HDMI and DVI-D cords with no issues.  I have never had to install a GPU straight on the mobo to set up a rig.