Avalon Overclocking Thread - Share Your Results and Tips for others

[GenTarkin]

whoa that wire mod looks sick...
do you think w/o an overvolt that more consistent voltage will help HW% errors drop and thus a bit higher clock even at stock voltage? cuz that mod seems simple enough.

From what I have read from others on Burnins board thread they are seeing big changes in performance with just a 10mv difference.  

a 16awg wire should be good for 10a without much voltage drop.  

it will be a couple of days before I can finish up on the watercooling stuff before I can fire the boards up and take some measurements.

Doh! Im anxious .. oh u already did volt mod huh, thats why gotta wait till WC setup is good...?

Where were the voltage readouts listed, tried finding them in this thread - didnt find them, was it in the avalon users thread?

[1715351673]

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[1715351673]

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[1715351673]

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[S M I L Y]

whoa that wire mod looks sick...
do you think w/o an overvolt that more consistent voltage will help HW% errors drop and thus a bit higher clock even at stock voltage? cuz that mod seems simple enough.

From what I have read from others on Burnins board thread they are seeing big changes in performance with just a 10mv difference.  

a 16awg wire should be good for 10a without much voltage drop.  

it will be a couple of days before I can finish up on the watercooling stuff before I can fire the boards up and take some measurements.

Doh! I'm anxious .. oh u already did volt mod huh, that's why gotta wait till WC setup is good...?

Where were the voltage readouts listed, tried finding them in this thread - didn't find them, was it in the avalon users thread?

Bunch of stuff here and the next few pages after.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=179769.msg2927914;topicseen#msg2927914

They are running at 1.4v and higher it seems!!!  These are old chips at 110nm i believe!  they will run into signal integrity issues with high clock rates long before we burn one out due to over voltage.    Going too high will just waste a bunch of energy.  

Mine is modded to 1.34v which seems like a good place based on what I have read on Burnin's thread.

[tarui]

Batch#:  1
Modules:4
PowerSupply: 1250w Seasonic Gold Modular
Extra CoolingSetup:  $20 Box Fan directed at the hotter side.
27-28 degC Ambient A/C Room Temp.
added 36 small heatsinks to the hotter side.
added 2 panaflo 120mm 104cfm fans at the back (psu is external)
added some electrical tape to help funnel air to heatsinks instead of going above/over the heatsinks.
[Firmware Version] => 20130723
Chip Frequency(Default: Advance):  350(insane); 354 is actual read out.
More Options(Default: --quiet):--avalon- 52 or 54
HashRate:   105-120gh/s
Additional Info(whatever I may have missed): added rubber grommets to the rear fans. not done to the front fans as it involves total shutdown of unit.
Uptime:  depends. i occasionally let it cool down for a moment or i shut it down to perform mods or changes,etc

future mods:
adding thermal paste between heatsinks and case
changing thermal paste between the chips and heatsinks to something better like mx-4?
adding grommets to the front fans
cutting the side panel to mount an acrylic window for viewing/monitoring and easy access if needed.
lining edges of panels with rubber lining for noise insulation
lining internal panels with noise absorbent mats.

[GenTarkin]

whoa that wire mod looks sick...
do you think w/o an overvolt that more consistent voltage will help HW% errors drop and thus a bit higher clock even at stock voltage? cuz that mod seems simple enough.

Yup.  JFET transistors act like tiny capacitors when they're closed - the current doesn't actually stop flowing until the capacitor is 'charged'.  And of course more volts means faster charge time.

On the other hand, of course, it means more heat, and more risk of damaging your chips...

Just the wire mod for consistent voltage risks damaging the chips?! ... I would think the more consistent voltage has little / no chance of damage to chips w/ stock cooling..

I know its obvious a mod like 1.34v risks damaging / overheating chips if not properly cooled, but wasnt thinking about doing that. Just the wire mode for tad more clockspeed cuz of the more consistent voltages.
I think my cooling setup should handle it fine (5k rpm 250cfm fans)

[S M I L Y]

whoa that wire mod looks sick...
do you think w/o an overvolt that more consistent voltage will help HW% errors drop and thus a bit higher clock even at stock voltage? cuz that mod seems simple enough.

Yup.  JFET transistors act like tiny capacitors when they're closed - the current doesn't actually stop flowing until the capacitor is 'charged'.  And of course more volts means faster charge time.

On the other hand, of course, it means more heat, and more risk of damaging your chips...

Just the wire mod for consistent voltage risks damaging the chips?! ... I would think the more consistent voltage has little / no chance of damage to chips w/ stock cooling..

I know its obvious a mod like 1.34v risks damaging / overheating chips if not properly cooled, but wasnt thinking about doing that. Just the wire mode for tad more clockspeed cuz of the more consistent voltages.
I think my cooling setup should handle it fine (5k rpm 250cfm fans)

Just adding a wire (assuming done correctly) will have no chance of damaging your chips.    However if you have never soldered to electronics before I recommend leaving the board as is.

[S M I L Y]

Wire and voltage mod preliminary results:  Successful!   

              300Mhz      350Mhz        400Mhz
Inductor   1.299v       1.299v         1.299v
 
Middle      1.290v       1.290v         1.288v

Bottom     1.291v       1.291v         1.289v
chip

Before the 16awg wire I was seeing 50mv drop from top to bottom.


Only one module of 10 chips was powered up. 

400Mhz was perfectly stable.  I only ran for 10 minutes due to thermal reasons(my watercooling solution is not active yet)

From the Burnin thread SebastianJu is getting 450MHz@1340mV
I suspect I should get close to that if the VR can provide the current.

Note 400Mhz at 1.3v is a LOT hotter than at 300Mhz!!! if you do this mod you MUST upgrade the stock cooling!!!!   Thermal paste on the back of the chips at the MINIMUM!!!!! 

[tarui]

whoa that wire mod looks sick...
do you think w/o an overvolt that more consistent voltage will help HW% errors drop and thus a bit higher clock even at stock voltage? cuz that mod seems simple enough.

Yup.  JFET transistors act like tiny capacitors when they're closed - the current doesn't actually stop flowing until the capacitor is 'charged'.  And of course more volts means faster charge time.

On the other hand, of course, it means more heat, and more risk of damaging your chips...

Just the wire mod for consistent voltage risks damaging the chips?! ... I would think the more consistent voltage has little / no chance of damage to chips w/ stock cooling..

I know its obvious a mod like 1.34v risks damaging / overheating chips if not properly cooled, but wasnt thinking about doing that. Just the wire mode for tad more clockspeed cuz of the more consistent voltages.
I think my cooling setup should handle it fine (5k rpm 250cfm fans)

Just adding a wire (assuming done correctly) will have no chance of damaging your chips.    However if you have never soldered to electronics before I recommend leaving the board as is.

where exactly have you soldered the 2 points? i dont see the r10 resistor anywhere on the first pic.

[GenTarkin]

Wire and voltage mod preliminary results:  Successful!   

              300Mhz      350Mhz        400Mhz
Inductor   1.299v       1.299v         1.299v
 
Middle      1.290v       1.290v         1.288v

Bottom     1.291v       1.291v         1.289v
chip

Before the 16awg wire I was seeing 50mv drop from top to bottom.


Only one module of 10 chips was powered up. 

400Mhz was perfectly stable.  I only ran for 10 minutes due to thermal reasons(my watercooling solution is not active yet)

From the Burnin thread SebastianJu is getting 450MHz@1340mV
I suspect I should get close to that if the VR can provide the current.

Note 400Mhz at 1.3v is a LOT hotter than at 300Mhz!!! if you do this mod you MUST upgrade the stock cooling!!!!   Thermal paste on the back of the chips at the MINIMUM!!!!! 

Very good results, I love the voltage consistency! ... wish someone could test the same mod w/o overvolt and just the wire mod... Im curious to see how much this could improve clocks...
If ya could guess, what do you think? 370mhz maybe?

[S M I L Y]

Stability comes from 2 ways.   Voltage and cooling.

Overclockers have been using liquid nitrogen to reach insane speeds for years.   To say weather you can hit a specific speed depends on voltage and cooling. 
I certainly think that if you can do 370mhz stable(no total crashes) with a lot of errors the wire will probably reduce the error rate by boosting the marginal chips voltage. 

Whenever I overclock the first thing I workout is my thermal solution.    You have to do something with the extra heat or it will kill your chips.   Running cooler also helps with stability and error rates.

[S M I L Y]

whoa that wire mod looks sick...
do you think w/o an overvolt that more consistent voltage will help HW% errors drop and thus a bit higher clock even at stock voltage? cuz that mod seems simple enough.

Yup.  JFET transistors act like tiny capacitors when they're closed - the current doesn't actually stop flowing until the capacitor is 'charged'.  And of course more volts means faster charge time.

On the other hand, of course, it means more heat, and more risk of damaging your chips...

Just the wire mod for consistent voltage risks damaging the chips?! ... I would think the more consistent voltage has little / no chance of damage to chips w/ stock cooling..

I know its obvious a mod like 1.34v risks damaging / overheating chips if not properly cooled, but wasnt thinking about doing that. Just the wire mode for tad more clockspeed cuz of the more consistent voltages.
I think my cooling setup should handle it fine (5k rpm 250cfm fans)

Just adding a wire (assuming done correctly) will have no chance of damaging your chips.    However if you have never soldered to electronics before I recommend leaving the board as is.

where exactly have you soldered the 2 points? i dont see the r10 resistor anywhere on the first pic.

If you look closely the resistor in the exact center of the image is R10.   It is an 0603 size resistor with a 0402 sitting on top. << look closely, its there.

[greaterninja]

Wire and voltage mod preliminary results:  Successful!   

              300Mhz      350Mhz        400Mhz
Inductor   1.299v       1.299v         1.299v
 
Middle      1.290v       1.290v         1.288v

Bottom     1.291v       1.291v         1.289v
chip

Before the 16awg wire I was seeing 50mv drop from top to bottom.


Only one module of 10 chips was powered up. 

400Mhz was perfectly stable.  I only ran for 10 minutes due to thermal reasons(my watercooling solution is not active yet)

From the Burnin thread SebastianJu is getting 450MHz@1340mV
I suspect I should get close to that if the VR can provide the current.

Note 400Mhz at 1.3v is a LOT hotter than at 300Mhz!!! if you do this mod you MUST upgrade the stock cooling!!!!   Thermal paste on the back of the chips at the MINIMUM!!!!! 

   What hash rate are you getting at 400Mhz @ 1.3v for only 10 chips?   Right now the most I've OC my Avalon is 358Mhz.

[S M I L Y]

   What hash rate are you getting at 400Mhz @ 1.3v for only 10 chips?   Right now the most I've OC my Avalon is 358Mhz.

I dont recall exactly.  I believe It was a bit over 4ghs

[el_rlee]

whoa that wire mod looks sick...
do you think w/o an overvolt that more consistent voltage will help HW% errors drop and thus a bit higher clock even at stock voltage? cuz that mod seems simple enough.

From what I have read from others on Burnins board thread they are seeing big changes in performance with just a 10mv difference.  

a 16awg wire should be good for 10a without much voltage drop.  

it will be a couple of days before I can finish up on the watercooling stuff before I can fire the boards up and take some measurements.

Interesting.
Is the existing voltage supply going to be able to deliver enough current?

[1PFYcabWEwZFm2Ez5LGTx3ftz]

I have a batch #2 unit, currently set at 350 mhz and giving 82 gigahashes.

Is it possible to make it run even faster, just by managing the temperature, but without modifying the hardware?

What I mean is - can I manage to make it work on 400 mhz, just by cooling the room where it's standing?

[Ytterbium]

I have a batch #2 unit, currently set at 350 mhz and giving 82 gigahashes.

Is it possible to make it run even faster, just by managing the temperature, but without modifying the hardware?

What I mean is - can I manage to make it work on 400 mhz, just by cooling the room where it's standing?

No. You need to do a voltage mod, it sounds like.

[lastbit]

whoa that wire mod looks sick...
do you think w/o an overvolt that more consistent voltage will help HW% errors drop and thus a bit higher clock even at stock voltage? cuz that mod seems simple enough.

From what I have read from others on Burnins board thread they are seeing big changes in performance with just a 10mv difference.  
a 16awg wire should be good for 10a without much voltage drop.  
it will be a couple of days before I can finish up on the watercooling stuff before I can fire the boards up and take some measurements.

Interesting.
Is the existing voltage supply going to be able to deliver enough current?

Probably yes.

[GenTarkin]

I have a batch #2 unit, currently set at 350 mhz and giving 82 gigahashes.

Is it possible to make it run even faster, just by managing the temperature, but without modifying the hardware?

What I mean is - can I manage to make it work on 400 mhz, just by cooling the room where it's standing?

You could at least try the wire mod for voltage stability across miner boards ... this may yeild some increase in mhz and maintain lower HW error rate. But, probably not to 400mhz.
I would gather somewhere between 365-375mhz...maybe? Past that ya need to do resistor voltage mod.

[Ytterbium]

I have a batch #2 unit, currently set at 350 mhz and giving 82 gigahashes.

Is it possible to make it run even faster, just by managing the temperature, but without modifying the hardware?

What I mean is - can I manage to make it work on 400 mhz, just by cooling the room where it's standing?

You could at least try the wire mod for voltage stability across miner boards ... this may yeild some increase in mhz and maintain lower HW error rate. But, probably not to 400mhz.
I would gather somewhere between 365-375mhz...maybe? Past that ya need to do resistor voltage mod.

Is there a high-res photo or more detailed instructions on where to connect the wiring to stabilize voltage?

[GenTarkin]

I have a batch #2 unit, currently set at 350 mhz and giving 82 gigahashes.

Is it possible to make it run even faster, just by managing the temperature, but without modifying the hardware?

What I mean is - can I manage to make it work on 400 mhz, just by cooling the room where it's standing?

You could at least try the wire mod for voltage stability across miner boards ... this may yeild some increase in mhz and maintain lower HW error rate. But, probably not to 400mhz.
I would gather somewhere between 365-375mhz...maybe? Past that ya need to do resistor voltage mod.

Is there a high-res photo or more detailed instructions on where to connect the wiring to stabilize voltage?

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=271575.msg2968737#msg2968737

I think SMILY plans on making a complete writeup soon as well for his mods.

[Ytterbium]

I have a batch #2 unit, currently set at 350 mhz and giving 82 gigahashes.

Is it possible to make it run even faster, just by managing the temperature, but without modifying the hardware?

What I mean is - can I manage to make it work on 400 mhz, just by cooling the room where it's standing?

You could at least try the wire mod for voltage stability across miner boards ... this may yeild some increase in mhz and maintain lower HW error rate. But, probably not to 400mhz.
I would gather somewhere between 365-375mhz...maybe? Past that ya need to do resistor voltage mod.

Is there a high-res photo or more detailed instructions on where to connect the wiring to stabilize voltage?

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=271575.msg2968737#msg2968737

I think SMILY plans on making a complete writeup soon as well for his mods.

So I can kind of tell where the wires go from that image, I don't think I'd feel comfortable going by that alone, though