Lets Solve the unreliable 7970 issues.... (share your observations/input)

[ElBurro]

Vapor 7970 pain in my ass. 550mhs on a good day. 13.3 beta 3. sha - rocks : scrypt - abysmal

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[BBQKorv]

I have found that W7 Aero desktop does suck around 100khs on a 2560x1600 resolution with a dual link DVI. This system has 2x7970s and the GPU having monitor connected to is doing only ~600khs while the other GPU does +700khs.

My completely headless miner does 740khs on all cards. Gigabyte Windforce 3 OC 7970 (GV-R797OC-3GD) rev 2.1 volt locked cards here @ 1060/1460.

cgminer 2.11.4 --scrypt --lookup-gap 2 -I 13 -w 256 -g 2 --thread-concurrency 8192
Catalyst 13.1

[Number6]

I just got in a Gigabyte HD7970 Rev 2.1 card. It is the 1000 MHz core, 1375 MHz memory model found here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125413

I am using the 12.1 driver as I had trouble getting the 13.1 to install properly (kept booting into a flashing screen on Win 8 ).

Anyway, I can get close to 700 Khash/sec using:  -I 13 -g 2 -w 256 --thread-concurrency 8192  leaving the core at 1000 MHz and upping the memory to 1425 MHz.

I would crash after 8 or so hours with memory set even at 1450, but it has been stable at 1425. I didn't see much improvement upping my core clock, although I was able to run it stable at 1050, I chose to keep it at stock as it lowered the temps by about 5 degrees C.

 cgminer version 2.11.4 - Started: [2013-04-13 16:45:08]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 (5s):690.5K (avg):689.5Kh/s | A:15130  R:50  HW:0  U:16.0/m  WU:632.1/m
 ST: 5  SS: 0  NB: 465  LW: 11724  GF: 1  RF: 1
 Connected to stratum.give-me-ltc.com diff 32 with stratum as user XXXXXX
 Block: 987e5b90e3fee78d...  Diff:19.2M  Started: [08:28:57]  Best share: 1.2M
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 [P]ool management [G]PU management [ S]ettings [D]isplay options [Q]uit
 GPU 0:  70.0C 3342RPM | 689.9K/689.5Kh/s | A:15131 R:50 HW:0 U: 16.01/m I:13

[juve4v]

I never get why people are willingly to pay +50% more for a 7970  compared to 7950 while  technically -on paper- they gain 10% more performance. In reality, in LTC/NVC mining  I'm able to boost 700 Mhs on both my -Asus/Sapphire- cards with 2 clicks with moderate OC.
So with a 7950 OCed and  using  --scrypt algo  I can outperform any 7970. Not to mention price....

[Number6]

I have found that W7 Aero desktop does suck around 100khs on a 2560x1600 resolution with a dual link DVI. This system has 2x7970s and the GPU having monitor connected to is doing only ~600khs while the other GPU does +700khs.

My completely headless miner does 740khs on all cards. Gigabyte Windforce 3 OC 7970 (GV-R797OC-3GD) rev 2.1 volt locked cards here @ 1060/1460.

cgminer 2.11.4 --scrypt --lookup-gap 2 -I 13 -w 256 -g 2 --thread-concurrency 8192
Catalyst 13.1

Thanks to your post BBQKorv, I adjusted my settings a bit (added lookup-gap 2 and bumped core up to 1060) and now getting a bit closer to your results, ~ 725khs.

Do you think going from the 12.1 driver to the 13.1 will get me the other 15khs? Anyone else have trouble with buggy installation of the 13.1's like I did?

Thanks

 cgminer version 2.11.4 - Started: [2013-04-14 08:40:42]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 (5s):724.9K (avg):724.2Kh/s | A:1272  R:4  HW:0  U:5.1/m  WU:690.5/m
 ST: 5  SS: 0  NB: 111  LW: 2322  GF: 0  RF: 0
 Connected to us.wemineltc.com diff 209 with stratum as user XXXXX
 Block: 9146cb525115b6d7...  Diff:19.2M  Started: [12:47:19]  Best share: 262K
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 [P]ool management [G]PU management [ S]ettings [D]isplay options [Q]uit
 GPU 0:  72.0C 3346RPM | 726.8K/724.2Kh/s | A:1272 R:4 HW:0 U:  5.07/m I:13
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Also for the last poster, the reason I went for the 7970 over the 7950 is I will occasionally use it for gaming. I do not have a dedicated mining rig, yet.

[tytanick]

I have pretty nice 732Kh/s mining litecoins with 7970.
Below there are my specs and configs.
It is very important that you need to hit the "sweet" spot of Core MhZ and also Memory Mhz.
For me is 1045/1500
If i will change 1500 memory to even 1501, speed goes to about 550KH/s
(Please donate anything if i helped ANYBODY

Ubuntu
Catalyst 13.3 Beta 3
Gigabyte Radeon HD7970 OC 3GB DDR5 384bit (1000/5500) (GV-R797OC-3GD)

GPU 0:  79.0C 3195RPM | 731.7K/732.4Kh/s | A:4134 R:32 HW:0 U: 2.66/m I:13

#!/bin/bash
cd ~/cgminer
export DISPLAY=:0
export GPU_MAX_ALLOC_PRECENT=100
export GPU_USE_SYNC_OBJECTS=0
aticonfig --od-enable
./cgminer --scrypt \
-o ltcmine.ru:3333 -u XXXXXXXXX -p XXXXXXXXX \
-I 13 -w 256 -g 2 --shaders 2048 --thread-concurrency 8192 \
--gpu-engine 1045 --gpu-memclock 1500 --auto-fan --temp-target 75 --temp-overheat 80 --temp-cutoff 85

BTC: 14umHTZJ1dwjts4r5uEdzkFyjrgLEL5TzS
LTC: LZ1APfJWesDugPz1xvgbE8KvU8XT7oTvya
PPC: PWQzdvdg5JubY84JXEPPRtXrsagnSyQ8hW
TRC: 1JZHVDFYjyQtbVaVYq9PG6iabK7iu4WUEQ
NVC: 4H9TCyNMAWfNiKrvEw9evMU63sBVwEj9NM
BTE: 8GFofiaH5rQGi8HhGxP3o7XqKmKiUpMVxm

[mailman]

You stole the words right out of my mouth. I have the exact same card, the Gigabyte HD7970 OC 3GB. I found the same problem. I had to play around for an hour before I stumbled upon these same settings. except I didn't use export display=:0 or GPU_use_sync_objects=0. I used the Gigabyte OC Guru program because I couldn't get MSI afterburner working properly. Did I mention I am using catalyst 13.3 beta drivers?
Hope this helps.

PS. If I run this hotter than 83 C it craps out completely.

I have pretty nice 732Kh/s mining litecoins with 7970.
Below there are my specs and configs.
It is very important that you need to hit the "sweet" spot of Core MhZ and also Memory Mhz.
For me is 1045/1500
If i will change 1500 memory to even 1501, speed goes to about 550KH/s
(Please donate anything if i helped ANYBODY

Ubuntu
Catalyst 13.3 Beta 3
Gigabyte Radeon HD7970 OC 3GB DDR5 384bit (1000/5500) (GV-R797OC-3GD)

GPU 0:  79.0C 3195RPM | 731.7K/732.4Kh/s | A:4134 R:32 HW:0 U: 2.66/m I:13

#!/bin/bash
cd ~/cgminer
export DISPLAY=:0
export GPU_MAX_ALLOC_PRECENT=100
export GPU_USE_SYNC_OBJECTS=0
aticonfig --od-enable
./cgminer --scrypt \
-o ltcmine.ru:3333 -u XXXXXXXXX -p XXXXXXXXX \
-I 13 -w 256 -g 2 --shaders 2048 --thread-concurrency 8192 \
--gpu-engine 1045 --gpu-memclock 1500 --auto-fan --temp-target 75 --temp-overheat 80 --temp-cutoff 85

BTC: 14umHTZJ1dwjts4r5uEdzkFyjrgLEL5TzS
LTC: LZ1APfJWesDugPz1xvgbE8KvU8XT7oTvya
PPC: PWQzdvdg5JubY84JXEPPRtXrsagnSyQ8hW
TRC: 1JZHVDFYjyQtbVaVYq9PG6iabK7iu4WUEQ
NVC: 4H9TCyNMAWfNiKrvEw9evMU63sBVwEj9NM
BTE: 8GFofiaH5rQGi8HhGxP3o7XqKmKiUpMVxm

[Number6]

Well thanks to the tips, I played around with my clocks a bit more and settled upon 1065 core and 1500 memory. This "sweet spot" gets me a pretty steady 138 - 142 khs readings. It is strange, as was with tytanick's case, if I go any higher than 1500 on memory (even 1501, I tried) it drops down to 550 khs.

My only concern now is stability, my temp is up to 73 degrees C, and is only that low as I took the side off my case and have a small desk fan blowing toward it (was pushing 80 when the case was closed up).

I will let this run for awhile before making any more changes. As I mentioned before, I am using the 12.1 drivers, but assuming my rig stays stable may try the 13.3 beta later to see if I get any more out of it. Right now I am pretty happy though, as I doing a good 50 khs more than when I started tweaking.

[tytanick]

About Catalyst version ....
12.1 (stable driver) in minng consums all my CPU power to 100% and lowers GPU power.
13.3 Beta - consumes about 17% o my cpu - that why i am using Beta Catalyst drivers

[Number6]

About Catalyst version ....
12.1 (stable driver) in minng consums all my CPU power to 100% and lowers GPU power.
13.3 Beta - consumes about 17% o my cpu - that why i am using Beta Catalyst drivers

Hmm, I haven't updated my drivers yet, still on 12.1 drivers and my CPU is only at 1%.

From what I been reading, I don't think I would get any noticeable difference in performance, so will leave it alone for now.

[endriuska]

Hey guys i just started mining and was mining BTC, but want to switch to LTC. While mining BTC i get 1.35ghs with 2x7970 MSI Radeon OC'ed. However i just tried to mine LTC but im not getting speeds that i want.

This is my config and setup:


any ideas why i'm only getting 300 on one and 500 on the other? i tried all the settings listed above and khs does not change at all. Am i missing something?

Thanks

[dangil]

I have a Reference XFX card (925/1375)

If I let cgminer compile the kernel at default clocks, and then apply overclock, it reaches ~700kh/s

If I let cgminer compile the kernel overclocked, it won't go past ~500kh/s, with same settings/clocks

so I guess those ghz editions have to be downclocked to default speeds at first, and then overclocked after cgminer compiled the kernel

I ran a diff on both compiled kernels, and found binary differences.

[ElBurro]

Here is the solution for the 7970 Ghz card. Mine is a Sapphire 7970 Vapor.

Flash with this bios  http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/127156/GigabyteHD7970.3072.120905.html
635 kh/s @ 900/1580 -I 13 -w 256 -g 2 TC 11200
Thanks to asmzx for this fix.

Flashing 7970 is a breeze, I'll tell you the steps I took to get it working.

Flash Sapphire 7970 Vapor:

Download Rufus http://rufus.akeo.ie/  or create a bootable USB drive

Get ATIFlash http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/2230/ATIFlash_4.07.html

Copy ATIFlash and the bios to the USB drive

To boot from your USB, just press F8 after you power on your computer and it should bring up the boot menu, if not keep resetting until you get it.
Select your USB from there and it should boot you to DOS/ATIFlash.

Code:

atiflash.exe -i

Gets the device ID of the card

Code:

atiflash.exe -f -p 0 new.bin

Use the number you got from the first step instead of 0 if it is different. Also change the name to whatever you named your BIOS.
For me, I named my BIOS "new.bin". Wait until it is successful and then reboot.

That's it, enjoy 630+ speeds without melting your card!

LTC  Ld19ZpNDcnTKQr1b8K1dWSwRXPd6zSxPkN

[ElBurro]

Gets the device ID of the card

The device ID of the card is given by the atiflash tool ?

Seriously? You really should have a clue before you attempt to flash a GPU.

690+kh/s last night! I was ready to sell these cards 2 days ago, now I love them.

[SubNoize]

If anyone could help i'd love it. I currently have HIS 7970 iceq x2 cards and they're not even hitting 600kh/s with decent overclock and the settings listed in this thread. Anyone have these cards?

[Eric Rye]

Gets the device ID of the card

The device ID of the card is given by the atiflash tool ?

Seriously? You really should have a clue before you attempt to flash a GPU.

690+kh/s last night! I was ready to sell these cards 2 days ago, now I love them.

You should still sell them. My VaporX 7950 gets 660 kh/s and uses 140 W less than my Powercolor 7970 which gets 760 kh/s.

[Eric Rye]

You should still sell them. My VaporX 7950 gets 660 kh/s and uses 140 W less than my Powercolor 7970 which gets 760 kh/s.

Now I get 720Kh/s with the new bios on the vapor x 7970 ghz edition.

At what price and power percentage over the VaporX 7950?

Edit: I'm selling the 7970 because it isn't worth the extra cost, power and noise. I also have a Powercolor 7950 which only gets 550 because it overheats and has shitty RAM which isn't stable at 1500 MHz. I'm selling that too. And buying 7 more VaporX 7950s. The moral of the story: don't use 7970s.

[SubNoize]

can i load msi/gigabyte bios on my HIS cards?

[JimmyFL]

My completely headless miner does 740khs on all cards. Gigabyte Windforce 3 OC 7970 (GV-R797OC-3GD) rev 2.1 volt locked cards here @ 1060/1460.

cgminer 2.11.4 --scrypt --lookup-gap 2 -I 13 -w 256 -g 2 --thread-concurrency 8192
Catalyst 13.1

Yeah! the same here (750@1080/1500). Love this card!!!

[ocminer]

Seriously? You really should have a clue before you attempt to flash a GPU.

I never flashed a gpu.

EDIT : Ok I flash with this bios http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/129658/Sapphire.HD7970.3072.120926.html

I have 670Kh/s with gpu:1050MHZ mem 1500MHZ

setx GPU_MAX_ALLOC_PERCENT 100
setx GPU_USE_SYNC_OBJECTS 1
cgminer.exe --scrypt -o xxx -u xxx -p xxx  --thread-concurrency 11264 -I 13 -w 256 -g 2 --no-submit-stale

Thank you

Same here, works fine on my XFX cards.. had to reflash them all, now they're working...