New 2x7950 - GPU temp @ 83C w/ 1.14Mh/s on LTC - setup suggestions or feedback

[FredDag]

Hi all, just set up my new twin 7950 Frozrs and thought i'd share the result, maybe see if anyone has suggestions to improve the setup.

Setup:
2 x Radeon HD 7950 Frozr (Not in Crossfire mode)
Seasonic 1050 Gold PSU
ASRock Extreme4 MB
8Gb Corsair RAM
AMD FX 8350 CPU
Win7 64
Catalyst 13.4
AMD-APP-SDK-v2.8-Windows-64

Solo mining LTC

CGMiner 3.1.0  ( config adapted from many forum thread examples for the 7950 )
cgminer --scrypt -o http://127.0.0.1:9332 -u xxxxxxx -p yyyyy -g 1 -I 19 -w 256 --lookup-gap 2 --shaders 1792 --auto-gpu --auto-fan


This gives me approx 575Kh/s on each GPU, with one GPU temp around 76C, and the other  80C occasionally reaching 83C.
0 HW errors. GPU Fans @ 85%. Ambient temp is 22C.

I can get around 615 Kh/s on each card by adding these settings, but the GPU Temps hover around 82C & have reached 85C.
--gpu-engine 1100 --gpu-memclock 1500

The plan is to run this 24/7, except for the odd time when I'll play some games on it, so trying to find a config that won't burn the GPUs out early.

Am I flogging a dead horse trying to increase the hash rate further while keeping the GPU temp maxed at 83C?
Is 83C still too hot?

What do you think?

FD

[AzureEngineer]

I would suggest undervolting them if you want to see the heat disappear. Not only is less heat a good thing, but you'll save a lot of money on electricity. MSI Afterburner should be able to modify the VDDC, since it is an MSI card.

[mt_bird]

As long as the temps are 85C or less, I think that is fine.

[zrn]

if you need to mine 24h/day for several days 80C will be too hot

[FredDag]

I would suggest undervolting them if you want to see the heat disappear. Not only is less heat a good thing, but you'll save a lot of money on electricity. MSI Afterburner should be able to modify the VDDC, since it is an MSI card.

OK... I hadn't touched that before as it's new to me and didn't realise the effect it could have on temp.
Changed to 980mV and restarted Afterburner & CGMiner... Instant drop to 65C on both GPUs with Hashrate the same, and GPU fans now only running at 45% (85% before). It also dropped the RPM right back, although 1 card is still running at alot faster than the other... 1700RPM vs 2800RPM. Is that normal ? Driver crashed after 10mins @ 980mV so changed to 1000mV which looks more stable.
Thanks for that pointer.

I also, before that change, went into Control Panel > System > Advanced > System Performance & changed it to 'Best Performance'.
That resulted in an almost instant 2C drop on the GPUs... Or at least it seemed to.

Seems to be running alot smoother now at 69C. Definitely a lot quieter.
Looks like there is still some room for more tweaking, so I will see how that goes and report back.


FD

[Fallout]

if you need to mine 24h/day for several days 80C will be too hot

80C is not too hot, GPUs are designed to be working at upto 100C and even more. 80C for 24/7 is fine, even 85C should be no problem.

[CynosureEPR]

Max suggested temp for 7950's (at least the Sapphire ones I own) are listed as 85*C on Tom's Hardware and [H]ard Forums.

I've let my cards hit that a few times in testing intensities until my risers come.  I would not feel comfortable with them running that high for more than a couple of minutes.

You should be able to hit sub 80*C temperatures (and I would call that stable).  I won't run mine at 80*C or above.  You need to find a new cooling method.

[hodgson]

pls dont let your rig get too hot.

[Shinodan]

This might seem really cheap to some folk haha but i have one of these attached to a fan on my rig with the other end out the window to bring in constant cool fresh air  It tottaly works, but i might add im in scotland and its always cold and windy here.

[MinerLT]

if you need to mine 24h/day for several days 80C will be too hot

80C is not too hot, GPUs are designed to be working at upto 100C and even more. 80C for 24/7 is fine, even 85C should be no problem.

You forget about vram temps in script mining.  85C gpu = 107C varm 

[pgbit]

You could try getting a Watt Meter (they are relatively cheap and available easily online, or in the UK from Maplin). Unless you are using your PC for other stuff too at times, you may be able to remove 4Gb RAM if you have split modules and save about 16W.