LTC Mining General Questions - Radeon 7950s, Proxies, Pools, Rig [Loaded thread]

[xwebnetwork]

First off, hello world! Name is John and I've just gotten into mining LTC. I had known about crypto-currencies for a while, but kind of dropped the ball on initial investments--especially with BTC (I had considered buying a $1000 worth when they were sitting at $1).

Anyways, unfortunate events aside, I have some questions and just some general inquiries I'd like to get out there. For starters, I am mining right now with 1 x Radeon 7950 which gets me about 550Khs. On top of that, I have 4 HP Proliant DL servers CPU Mining which gives me about another 100Khs. Now, here is where it gets interesting. I have access to around 50 desktops (work) but I have them sitting behind a Forefront TMG proxy/firewall server via port 8080 set in IE. For some reason though, I can't get those units to connect out, even if I disable the firewall and allow ALL traffic through. I know the KHs won't be much, but some of the units have dedicated GPUs and I could probably generate an additional 100-200KHs, total. Any ideas for mining behind a proxy? And trust me, I have looked and tried MANY things. From setting the http_proxy in cmd, to rerouting ports. I couldn't even connect to a pool at port 80 (p2pool.org). So, thoughts?

Moreover, I have been examining and testing out different pools and I feel like I am getting screwed. For example, coinotron.com and p2pool.org. I have been using both and coinotron rarely reports the numbers I see via CGminer and p2pool.org rarely seems to send me transactions (and it now appears to be down). I have looked over the comparison charts, but, I'd like to hear some recommendations, if possible. Like everybody here, I'd like to maximize profit (electricity is not an issue). For reference, the 7950's stats are below. Also, for that particular run, I can see that 100% of coinotron's requests were denied. But for p2pool, I only generated .1, which is definitely low.

And one odd thing I noticed with CGminer (yes, I know reaper is better for 7 series )--if I directly launch cgminer and input the paramters, it yields no HW errors BUT, if I cd to the directory and launch it like this:

cgminer -o stratum+tcp://198.23.129.176:80 -u LRbLqovmDU4qaQuQuiXgrX1Q5EAoG3DuRE -p p2pool.org --scrypt

And then increase the intensity of the GPU, I get thousands of HW errors but a much higher accepted vs rejected. I also get a steady hashrate of 580-600. I am using the beta catalyst drivers, for reference. Any ideas?

Code:

[2013-04-06 09:12:47]
Summary of runtime statistics:

 [2013-04-06 09:12:47] Started at [2013-04-06 01:24:26]
 [2013-04-06 09:12:47] Runtime: 7 hrs : 48 mins : 21 secs
 [2013-04-06 09:12:47] Average hashrate: 519.7 Megahash/s
 [2013-04-06 09:12:47] Solved blocks: 19
 [2013-04-06 09:12:47] Best share difficulty: 2.53K
 [2013-04-06 09:12:47] Share submissions: 1203
 [2013-04-06 09:12:47] Accepted shares: 327
 [2013-04-06 09:12:47] Rejected shares: 876
 [2013-04-06 09:12:47] Accepted difficulty shares: 327
 [2013-04-06 09:12:47] Rejected difficulty shares: 3797
 [2013-04-06 09:12:47] Reject ratio: 72.8%
 [2013-04-06 09:12:47] Hardware errors: 0
 [2013-04-06 09:12:47] Utility (accepted shares / min): 0.70/min

 [2013-04-06 09:12:47] Work Utility (diff1 shares solved / min): 7.25/min
 [2013-04-06 09:12:47] Stale submissions discarded due to new blocks: 1
 [2013-04-06 09:12:47] Unable to get work from server occasions: 49
 [2013-04-06 09:12:47] Work items generated locally: 12029
 [2013-04-06 09:12:47] Submitting work remotely delay occasions: 1
 [2013-04-06 09:12:47] New blocks detected on network: 206

 [2013-04-06 09:12:47] Pool: http://198.23.129.176:80
 [2013-04-06 09:12:47] SOLVED 4 BLOCKS!
 [2013-04-06 09:12:47]  Share submissions: 1180
 [2013-04-06 09:12:47]  Accepted shares: 327
 [2013-04-06 09:12:47]  Rejected shares: 853
 [2013-04-06 09:12:47]  Accepted difficulty shares: 327
 [2013-04-06 09:12:47]  Rejected difficulty shares: 853
 [2013-04-06 09:12:47]  Reject ratio: 72.3%
 [2013-04-06 09:12:47]  Stale submissions discarded due to new blocks: 1
 [2013-04-06 09:12:47]  Unable to get work from server occasions: 1
 [2013-04-06 09:12:47]  Submitting work remotely delay occasions: 1

 [2013-04-06 09:12:47] Pool: http://coinotron.com:3334
 [2013-04-06 09:12:47] SOLVED 15 BLOCKS!
 [2013-04-06 09:12:47]  Share submissions: 23
 [2013-04-06 09:12:47]  Accepted shares: 0
 [2013-04-06 09:12:47]  Rejected shares: 23
 [2013-04-06 09:12:48]  Accepted difficulty shares: 0
 [2013-04-06 09:12:48]  Rejected difficulty shares: 2944
 [2013-04-06 09:12:48]  Reject ratio: 100.0%
 [2013-04-06 09:12:48]  Stale submissions discarded due to new blocks: 0
 [2013-04-06 09:12:48]  Unable to get work from server occasions: 48
 [2013-04-06 09:12:48]  Submitting work remotely delay occasions: 0
 [2013-04-06 09:12:48] Summary of per device statistics:
 [2013-04-06 09:12:48] GPU0                | (5s):528.8M (avg):519.7Mh/s | A:327
 R:876 HW:0 U:0.7/m I:16

Now, onto GPU settings. I understand there are many different ideas for the proper GPU settings. Honestly, at 550-600 KHs, I think for one 7950, that's good. Correct me if I am wrong. However, I do alwasy think there is room for improvement. So, for my Gigabyte 7950, any thoughts? I have read over some threads and some people recommended undervolting,  overclocking, auto gpu/fan, etc. The above output is using auto-gpu/fan and intensity 16. For some reason, 17+ auto jumped to 20 and killed performance. Any ideas? I have yet to give reaper a shot with a properly functioning pool...

Lastly, for now, I'd like to discuss a rig, and remember, electricity is not a factor here. I'll be placing this in my server room at work.

Mobo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16813128514
GPUs x 4: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16814161420 (already have the 1 Gigabyte 7950)
Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16811233053
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16817103089  <- 80+ Gold Cert w/ 8 6 pin PCIE connectors, single rail
Processor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16819103996
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820231474  <-- May not even buy this, have some lying around at work
Risers 16x-16x: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0057M16Q8/ref=gno_cart_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A37NR3TXTEOVBF
Risers 1x-16x: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0094DFSHY/ref=gno_cart_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1THAZDOWP300U  <--In case I want to add more GPUs, though I'll need to adjust the PSU
HDD: Have plenty of those lol

This will run me about $1500 for the above config. Thoughts?

And I think that is it for now. I will most probably be adding more. Thanks in advance!

[xwebnetwork]

Interestingly enough, I've been messing with reaper to no avail. Doesn't seem to actually use my GPU...



And when I try to use CGMiner via GUIMiner Scrypt for coinotron.com, it just says "Starting..."

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

EDIT: Now back to CGMiner for coinotron:

cgminer -o stratum+tcp://coinotron.com:3334 -u USER -p PASS --scrypt

Changed intensity to 16 but still yielding HW. In fact, 16 in just 6 minutes...

 

Code:

cgminer version 2.11.4 - Started: [2013-04-06 11:48:48]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 (5s):551.7K (avg):420.7Kh/s | A:0  R:0  HW:0  U:0.0/m  WU:0.0/m
 ST: 2  SS: 0  NB: 4  LW: 43  GF: 0  RF: 0
 Connected to coinotron.com diff 128 with stratum as user xwebnetwork.xwebminer
 Block: 27ad35985b83ea50...  Diff:13.5M  Started: [11:52:24]  Best share: 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 [P]ool management [G]PU management [S]ettings [D]isplay options [Q]uit
 GPU 0:  77.0C 3171RPM | 549.8K/422.6Kh/s | A:0 R:0 HW:16 U:0.00/m I:16
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 [2013-04-06 11:52:24] Stratum from pool 0 detected new block

[xwebnetwork]

Sorry for the bump. Any ideas?

[furuknap]

And one odd thing I noticed with CGminer (yes, I know reaper is better for 7 series )--if I directly launch cgminer and input the paramters, it yields no HW errors BUT, if I cd to the directory and launch it like this:

cgminer -o stratum+tcp://198.23.129.176:80 -u LRbLqovmDU4qaQuQuiXgrX1Q5EAoG3DuRE -p p2pool.org --scrypt

And then increase the intensity of the GPU, I get thousands of HW errors but a much higher accepted vs rejected. I also get a steady hashrate of 580-600. I am using the beta catalyst drivers, for reference. Any ideas?
[/b]

I have this exact issue, with three 7950s, however I haven't figured out how to avoid HW errors by directly launching cgminer (I'm assuming you mean by double-clicking). If I do, it doesn't do scrypt, and if I create a shortcut to cgminer with --scrypt added, I still get HW errors continuously.

Catalyst Version: 13.1
CGMiner Version 2.11.4

Of other interest; I have a 6950 on my regular workstation, and that's running fine for several days without a hitch or HW error. It's also running Catalyst 13.1, although it's running CGMiner 2.11.3 instead.

No idea how to solve, though, but I'll keep working.

[furuknap]

Of other interest; I have a 6950 on my regular workstation, and that's running fine for several days without a hitch or HW error. It's also running Catalyst 13.1, although it's running CGMiner 2.11.3 instead.

Downgrading to 2.11.3 solved the issue and I'm now hashing at a comfortable 1.4Mhash/second and not a single HW error.

Someone may want to tell the author that .4 causes massive HW errors on 7950. This isn't the only thread I've seen where people have the exact same problem, but I'm still a newbie so I can't let them know.

Moderators?

.b

[xwebnetwork]

I'll have to give that a shot then, thanks! I was also using the 13.3 beta drivers because the 13.1 had been causing the system to crash.

On an unfortunate side note, I think the HW errors finally caught up. The unit is no longer powering on despite me keeping it well within the temperature range. I had been running the regular GUIMiner (not scrypt) and the desktop crashed/rebooted. Once up, the 7950 was no longer functioning. Good thing its still under warranty!

[furuknap]

Let me know how it works out. I'll blog something about it if it's a workable solution for you too.

[samurai1200]

Ugh, subscribed. I just picked up a Sapphire 7950.

I was able to set it up where my hash rate was ~550 kh/s (slightly overclocked), no hardware errors, but only ~2.5 shares/minute (U:2.5).

Now it seems like no matter what I do I'm getting nothing but hardware errors.

Changing out my drivers to 13.3......

[Oshero]

I've been having HW problems with 2.11.4 on my 5830's also.

I'll switch down, and update in this thread if 2.11.3 fixes it.

Thanks for the heads up!

[furuknap]

Again, if up have issues witrh 2.11.4 and it is resolved by downgrading to 2.11.3, please let me know and I'll blog the details. I've yet to see anyone come back after having the problem and verifying that downgrading fixes it like it did for me.

.b

[samurai1200]

In the middle of all this I downgraded drivers and now cgminer crashes with almost any settings I throw at this card.

Upgrading back to 13.1 isn't helping so it looks like I'm gonna have to clean out my drivers =(

Are there known issues in running a 7950 with a (couple of) 6950(s)?

[xwebnetwork]

By chance, is there a KDB???.exe failing each time you start up? Can't remember the exact name but it has to do with the APP SDK. My buddy had the same issue and eventually just reformatted and reinstalled (because he didn't have system restore enabled). Try a system restore?

[Liberatus]

I tied my cluster of 7950 to P2Pool and was getting tons of HW errors as well but then pointed it to the litecoin client for solo mining and recieved none. I am hashing at 700KHash on all my cards but am a little paranoid that they are getting HW errors. None are showing up in cgminer and I have it set to intensity 20 with no issues. I will try downgrading as well and see if that works better with the P2Pool though.

[phr0stbyt3]

FWIW I'm having a similar issue with CGminer with msi twin frozr 7950's.
When I mine in pools with I>13, i get nothing BUT HW errors so I can't get more than ~200kh / gpu.
When I mine solo I get 0 HW errors and I can jack the intensity all the way up to 20 and get about 600kh / GPU.

[pendula032]

I don't have issues with 2.11.4 and msi 7950 but its only one card

[Bagpipe]

Just for reference: anyone who finds his/her HD7950 or HD7970 running at 1.25V set in bios should shoot this BIOS maker, as the TSMC 28nm process is set for 0.97-1.07V standard, and is best at 1.17V.

I have Sapphire Tahiti Pro2 and when the BIOS switch is off, the Vcc is fixed at 1.25V, the card self-resets at ~1000MHz, which I believe is the overcurrent protection on the card.