7 7970 on MSI Z77A-GD65 ---

[BryceMiner]

Just built out a LTC Rig with:

1 x Intel Celeron G1610 Ivy Bridge 2.6GHz LGA 1155 55W Dual-Core Desktop Processor BX80637G1610

1 x MSI Z77A-GD65 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

1 x CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B

1 x APEVIA Model CVTPWSW 25" Power switch cable for computer cases that connects to the motherboard

2 x Rosewill LIGHTNING-1300

7 x GIGABYTE GV-R797OC-3GD Radeon HD 7970 3GB

CGMINER 2.11.4 :: cgminer -o stratum+tcp://us3.wemineltc.com:3333 -u user -p pw --scrypt -I

13 -w 256 -g 2 --shaders 2048 --thread-concurrency 8192 --gpu-engine

1050,1040,1050,1050 --gpu-memclock 1500 --auto-fan --temp-target 75 --temp-

overheat 80 --temp-cutoff 85

I first started this setup with 4 7970 and with the above config I was getting steady 733 kh/s I added 3 more 7970's and for some strange reason even when I go back to 4 GPU's I still have lost about 10 kh/s ..


I've been reading on the forums for about 2 weeks before diving in. I know win7 x64 wont recognize 7 GPU,s but I couldn't get it to see more than 4. Will this MB actually handle 7 GPU's in win 8 x64? Why do you think it wont see the 5th card in win 7?

My 2nd thought was 2 MSI Z77A-GD65 LGA and 5 7970's each. However, not sure if a 1300w would hold 5 7970's?

Any help would be more than appreciated.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/101146189/20130827_235017.jpg

Win7 will only show 4 cards https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/101146189/specs%207970.jpg

[Queegeh]

Hey, few things to try, I have these cards and they do about 737Kh/s each.

1. remove --shaders, if you specify a --thread-concurrency its pretty much pointless.
2. use --gpu-engine 1042 / --gpu-memclock 1500 on all the cards
3. try a --thread-concurrency of 8521 as well as 8191 (odd numbers i know but it works for some!)
4. try -g 1 as well as -g 2
5. make sure each card is using two --gpu-threads

Let me know how you get on, hope this works for you.  

[Patches OHulahan]

How much?

[pontiacg5]

There's no way you are running 7 7970's on 1300W 

 I doubt you will even get 5 stable.



About 1200W for 4 7970's. This power supply will do 1500W, but only on 240V.

[luckyman]

There's no way you are running 7 7970's on 1300W  

 I doubt you will even get 5 stable.

http://i879.photobucket.com/albums/ab357/pontiacg5_2010/cd9d7003-cd81-4843-afa5-a040a6db0956_zps724c49c7.jpg

About 1200W for 4 7970's. This power supply will do 1500W, but only on 240V.

We is using two 1300W power suplies.

[pontiacg5]

Doh' My bad

Good luck with that Rosewill. I had one, then I got this EVGA. I couldn't get the Rosewill to stay stable, and eventually it wouldn't work with any more than three cards at a time. Mining would instantly power cycle the rig, after working fine for a few weeks.

I never should have been pushing more than 1200W, so if anything it's just over rated and you might be fine.

[Voidlord]

5x7970 plus the CPU and the folks (ram, hd, heat) > 1450 w.

i saw a GPU running at 97°C... -> "Farewell and adieu to you, Spanish Ladies, Farewell and adieu to you, ladies of Spain...

[BryceMiner]

How much?

$2900

[BryceMiner]

Hey, few things to try, I have these cards and they do about 737Kh/s each.

1. remove --shaders, if you specify a --thread-concurrency its pretty much pointless.
2. use --gpu-engine 1042 / --gpu-memclock 1500 on all the cards
3. try a --thread-concurrency of 8521 as well as 8191 (odd numbers i know but it works for some!)
4. try -g 1 as well as -g 2
5. make sure each card is using two --gpu-threads

Let me know how you get on, hope this works for you.  

Your magic worked like a  charm!!! Thanks, because this was literally driving me nuts..lol..

You wouldn't happen to have some more magic to enable 5 or more cards in win 7 64??

[Queegeh]

Your magic worked like a  charm!!! Thanks, because this was literally driving me nuts..lol..

You wouldn't happen to have some more magic to enable 5 or more cards in win 7 64??

Yay! happy to help.

Sadly I've only got 3 GPU's myself so had no experience with trying to get 5 GPU's working on win7 64.

I know that for multi GPU setups the PCIe bus latency setting can have an effect on getting multiple GPU's to play nice. Check your BIOS/UEFI settings, the most common latency settings are 32, 64 and 128.

I personally got best PCIe performance and least system lag while mining using a latency of 64. At 32 I could only get two cards to mine at the same time, the 3rd would always crap out or slow down. Different motherboard manufacturers set different defaults for this so best to have a play and see if it helps.

Good luck!

** Update. Just to check are you using Windows 7 Pro and not Home? Home edition can only address up to 16GB total memory, if I remember right GPU RAM is also addressed in the same space (if I'm wrong would be happy for someone to correct me because I can't really remember all that well) which means 5x 3GB = 15GB + your 8GB RAM could mean the GPU simply cant address enough of its RAM to be used.

Does the card even show up in the device manager? Or is it only cgminer that cant see it?



 

[pontiacg5]

5x7970 plus the CPU and the folks (ram, hd, heat) > 1450 w.

i saw a GPU running at 97°C... -> "Farewell and adieu to you, Spanish Ladies, Farewell and adieu to you, ladies of Spain...

You'd think, but you'd be wrong 

[BryceMiner]

Your magic worked like a  charm!!! Thanks, because this was literally driving me nuts..lol..

You wouldn't happen to have some more magic to enable 5 or more cards in win 7 64??

Yay! happy to help.

Sadly I've only got 3 GPU's myself so had no experience with trying to get 5 GPU's working on win7 64.

I know that for multi GPU setups the PCIe bus latency setting can have an effect on getting multiple GPU's to play nice. Check your BIOS/UEFI settings, the most common latency settings are 32, 64 and 128.

I personally got best PCIe performance and least system lag while mining using a latency of 64. At 32 I could only get two cards to mine at the same time, the 3rd would always crap out or slow down. Different motherboard manufacturers set different defaults for this so best to have a play and see if it helps.

Good luck!

** Update. Just to check are you using Windows 7 Pro and not Home? Home edition can only address up to 16GB total memory, if I remember right GPU RAM is also addressed in the same space (if I'm wrong would be happy for someone to correct me because I can't really remember all that well) which means 5x 3GB = 15GB + your 8GB RAM could mean the GPU simply cant address enough of its RAM to be used.

Does the card even show up in the device manager? Or is it only cgminer that cant see it?



 

Only 4 cards show up in windows. I just upgraded to win8pro64 and 6 show (not 7 unfortunately) but its so unstable its even hard to get a clean boot into win8 and it crashes with slightest effort..

[Domionbtc]

Hey, few things to try, I have these cards and they do about 737Kh/s each.

1. remove --shaders, if you specify a --thread-concurrency its pretty much pointless.
2. use --gpu-engine 1042 / --gpu-memclock 1500 on all the cards
3. try a --thread-concurrency of 8521 as well as 8191 (odd numbers i know but it works for some!)
4. try -g 1 as well as -g 2
5. make sure each card is using two --gpu-threads

Let me know how you get on, hope this works for you.  

Your magic worked like a  charm!!! Thanks, because this was literally driving me nuts..lol..

You wouldn't happen to have some more magic to enable 5 or more cards in win 7 64??

Why you want so badly windows? It will probably work in linux
Btw powered risers should be powered from the same psu as motherboard. You can't run 7 7970 with one psu.
Secondly why 7970? You can have 7950 (which are much cheaper) with almost same hash rate (possible 680kh)

[elor70]

I think something is wrong with your motherboard

[Queegeh]

I think something is wrong with your motherboard

If you cant get it to work on Linux either then I'd agree with this. I have an MSI board in my own machine and regretted it ever since but cant afford to replace it yet :p

[showtimex]

Windows 7 X64 supports up to 8 GPU's. You'll have to use 12.6 or older drivers. 12.8 and later only support up to 4 GPU's. Use the catalyst removal tool before installing the new driver. You may also need to "jumper wire" your individual PCIE slot in order for it to work.

[Batshit]

Won't the OP's setup be obsolete when the ACIS boxes zerg the network between now and end of October?  Seems like a lot of effort and money to end up with a loss...

...but I'm just a Noob. 

[showtimex]

Won't the OP's setup be obsolete when the ACIS boxes zerg the network between now and end of October?  Seems like a lot of effort and money to end up with a loss...

...but I'm just a Noob.  

Yes, bitcoin GPU mining is long dead. But GPU's are still used (and profitable) for scrypt mining like Litecoin, Feathercoin and other altcoins. Also depends greatly on your local electricity costs.

As a followup to the ops question I was able to get 6 GPU's working on my gigabyte board with a "little" messing around in win7 x64. I'll be getting the exact same board as you next week so I will be shooting to hit 7 too. http://www.gobitgo.com/articles/1002/How-to-Mine-with-6-GPU/ has similar info that may be a helpful reference. In the link above the author is using windows 8 but the procedure is the same and works just as well in windows 7 x64.

Here's my version of how to get 7 cards working on win7x64:

1) Install 12.6 drivers. - shutdown
2) Unplug all risers, then plug in 1, boot to windows, insure the card shows up in device manager. After its detected and confirmed there, shutdown and plugin the next riser closest (left to right or right to left) and verify in device manager. If the card last plugged in does not show up it most likely means you will need to make a jumper to short the pcie pins. There is a thread on these forums outlining the procedure if needed.
3) Continue verifying all the cards and jumper the ones as needed. After you make it past card 5 you will see cards 6 and above show the yellow exclamation showing a problem. No worries on to the next step.
4) Download 13.1 drivers and double click to extract.
5) Do not install drivers after initial extraction. Click cancel to exit the installer.
6) Back to device manager and we need to update the driver on the devices with the yellow exclamation marks
7) Manually update the driver using the the 13.1 drivers which extracted to C:\amd\13.1... (you can follow the instructions in the link above if you need more specific details)
8 ) This installation/update does take a few minutes so be patient and don't try and close the device manager or updater.
9) On to the next one, same procedure if you have 7 cards.
10) DONE
10) Start Mining already!  

[BryceMiner]

I think something is wrong with your motherboard

I think I may need a new board. slot 5 and 7 seems to have went out...Cant get them to work in win 8

[showtimex]

Its doubtful that it would be a physical problem with your board. Maybe have a look at this older thread with a similar board to your. I think I remember reading somewhere the G45 can do 6 cards, while the G65 can do up to 7...https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=97154.20]Gigabyte%20Z77A-G45
but might be wrong and its the higher model that can do up to 7.  I'll find out later next week when I get a G65 to play with.