Nicehash miner and 2 GPUs not performing as expected

[portreathbeach]

Hi,

I have just got into mining and obviously using NiceHash for an easy start.

OK. I have an old Gigabyte motherboard and 2 x GTX1060 3Gb (Samsung memory). With one card installed and limits set in AfterBurner to 70% TDP, +100 Core and +300 memory, I was getting about 265 sols/s on Equihash. With 2 of these cards installed, I am getting anywhere from 470 - 500 sols/s on Equihash.

The trouble is, in NiceHash miner, it shows the sols/s for the 2 cards combined. Is there a way of seeing what the cards are doing individually.


Should I be using different mining software and mine just Equihash. I am right in thinking I can still use my Nicehash pool and wallet if I did this?


Thanks

[1714159924]

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[1714159924]

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[cryptodadach]

is there not a window that opens that shows each card individual stats?

[portreathbeach]

If you click 'Mining Details' it shows under hardware 'GPU1, GPU2' then the algorithm its working on and then the combined total.


What I have noticed is that in MSI Afterburner, my first GPU is running at 70% power as expected, but the second one is running at 50% power, even though they are both set to limit at 70%.

Is this a problem with the NiceHash software or something else?

Both cards are brand new and individually get nearly the expected hash rate, but as said, with both together the hash rate is lower than expected and I suspect it's due to the 2nd card not using as much power as the first.

Any help would be great


Craig

[portreathbeach]

Just went back after an hour and now I'm getting 525 sols/sec and both GPUs are running at their 70% limit. Very strange.

[portreathbeach]

OK. So I checked again this morning. GPU2 is only running at about 55% when viewing the AfterBurner software. GPU1 is running at 70% which I expect as that's the TDP I have set. Why is GPU2 not running to 70%?

[philipma1957]

OK. So I checked again this morning. GPU2 is only running at about 55% when viewing the AfterBurner software. GPU1 is running at 70% which I expect as that's the TDP I have set. Why is GPU2 not running to 70%?

there is an option  in settings to use nicehash  to override any

i fan controls and tdp 


look for it and make sure it is off.

then your msi settings will stick.

[portreathbeach]

I can only find an option that has a tickbox box that says 'GPU fan control', that box is unticked and it doesn't mention anywhere about TDP


I do have a monitor plugged into one of the GPUs and also running TeamViewer, but the monitor is plugged into the top PCI-e slot which I assume is GPU1 in MSI Afterburner. But I'm sure that it should still try and use 70% power as the fans are only at about 40%


EDIT:

Just deleted the benchmark files in NiceHash miner, restarted again for it to do the benchmarks. The lower card in my case is actually GPU1 and when benchmarking, the power limit is hit (when looking at the graphs in Afterburner). GPU2 (which is plugged into the first PCI-e slot) never got benchmarked! Am I to assume that because I have TeamViewer installed and have a monitor connected that this could be the issue?

Should I get a cheap PCI VGA card to use for the monitor as my motherboard does not have an internal graphics adapter on it.

[Xazax310]

No need for a display card just use integrated(if you have Intel CPU) or the 1060's it makes no difference.

[portreathbeach]

So why is one card only getting to 50% usage.

If I set 80% power limit for the cards, GPU1 goes up to 80%, GPU2 stays at 50%. Is it Nicehash miner not trying to use the card or a problem with Afterburner?

[portreathbeach]

Here's a screenshot...

www.csmithsoftware.com/Misc/GPU.jpg


Notice that GPU2 is at 53%

[portreathbeach]

SOLVED!!!

I swapped both cards over, re-installed drivers and then let NiceHash benchmark the cards again. Still the same. GPU2 only running up to 50%.

I solved the problem by pressing the 'link' icon that's between the power limit and the Temp limit. As soon as I applied this, both cards run up to the 70% limit.

The strange thing though, is that the temp limit stayed the same when I clicked the link. The settings are exactly the same, but now the cards are working as expected.




Maybe it's just me, but I thought that the power limit limits the power the card uses and the temperature limit would control the speed of the fan to keep the temperature under the limit. It seems as though when you get near the temperature limit, the power is limited to the card.

[Didi CC]

Overclocking the core will make the GPU hotter.
You have a 65 degree limit, if it gets there, the power will be cut to stay at that temp.
Since both cards can have different temperatures with the same settings, you should set the 1 that is holding back a bit higher, lets say 70 degrees.

So yes, temp limit will ultimate ( if it gets around the set temp ) lower the power.
And my advice, don't use auto fan, set them yourself  If it's get warmer, a little bit more, but with your cards, a fan speed of 65 70 % will keep them cool enough, just find the setting that suits you, more fan is more noise 

[portreathbeach]

I'm going to build a rig so the cards have more air around them.

I have also been playing around with custom fan curves on MSI Afterburner. I have both cards running at about 55deg C with the fans at about 60% while in the pc case, should be a lot better in an open air case. In the case there is only about 10mm of space between them, so that's why the top card is getting a little warmer than the bottom one.

Thanks for the help

[portreathbeach]

Got the parts to build a rig now, will build it this weekend with my 5 year old, a bit of a father and son project.

I ran the GPU-Z software and found out that my GPUs have Samsung memory which is nice, and the price of the cards have gone up dramatically in the last week. I have noticed that the profit per day seems to be slowly dropping, but I guess I'll keep running the rig and see what happens. At least the second hand PC tower I bought was only £65, which included motherboard, CPU, 4Gb RAM and a Gigabyte 800W PSU with built in monitoring via USB plug on the motherboard. So if it all goes belly up, I wouldn't have lost a fortune.