Hacking The KNC Firmware: Overclocking

[crashoveride54902]

See DC/DC numbers 0 and 1 are hot:

I was afraid of that, they can most likely be hacked to run faster using the spi just like the Nov but those VRMs simply don't have much headroom, it looks like they scrimped on this design to maximize profits unlike the margins they built into the November boards.. The VRMs used have a thermal shutdown so they shouldn't cook themselves, within 10C of thermal shutdown (starts in the high 90s if I remember right) it will start throwing a FAULT 4 indicating it's hot..

They put heatsinks on the VRMs, which was a great move but with stock clocks have them at almost 50A they simply may not have a lot left.. With that said the GE VRMs run about 40% over spec with no issues so perhaps the Ericsson VRMs have a lot of headroom designed in, there might be hope..

I need a system for a few days to figure something out but I cancelled my order so best I could do is customize something and send it for testing but without being able to read the bus it will be tough unless by chance they didn't change things at all..

Hi Padrino,
I found a way to solve the 105+ C readings. I have modified one box (will do 2 more) and now the DC/DC 1 is at the same levels as the others (around 90).  I'm sure that with some better and additional Fans we can lower the temps of all VRM's.

oh elenelen..i wish i had that neptune it should be easy to lower the temp on vrm...buy little square copper heatsinks for the vrms...scrap the crappy thick thermal pad that doesn't do crap and then just take the yeller sticker off vrm n put copper on...also get some heatsinks for the bottom...take it out the case...raise board off table an inch or so and have fan blow on it...i have nov. mods oc'd really high and highest vrm temp is around 80c all with heatsinks top n bottom raised n 140mm fan blowing on it

Can you give us a picture please??

[tzortz]

Underneath??

[daddyfatsax]

Underneath??

He just has the modules raised up so the fan on the right of the pic is blowing on the bottom of each unit. That will drastically reduce your VRM temps.

[Elenelen]

Underneath??

He just has the modules raised up so the fan on the right of the pic is blowing on the bottom of each unit. That will drastically reduce your VRM temps.

OK, I understand. But the current KnC solution with the large aluminum plate might work as well as the little copper things. If that is the case we only need a better air-flow with Fans positioned the way like in the picture.

The plate is 45 C hot, so cooling it better might help...

[crashoveride54902]

Underneath??

ya just picture the copper heatsinks on the bottom...don't really need a picture for that well the heatsinks will help even more on bottom too...spec. with neptunes since they are already oc'd so much it'll help you get the most outta it i think

you can't do both i don't think...ya the plate is alittle hot, but the reason its hot is cause the vrms are screaming hot...i really don't think its sucking up the heat from the vrms..i think its hot just from being around the vrms...oh and those gray things block air flow and trap heat in...and so does the case hope this helps

also i made the mistake of leaving the grey pad on 4 of my modules and only been ran for few weeks like that but you can see the damage it did...the caps are dark...i mean almost black now so i picture in a week or so with all those neptunes heating up, all vrms will be toast and probably break...that grey thing does nothing but heat up the vrms more...or maybe it just transfers the heat to the smd caps...idk but if i was a neptune owner i wouldn't be running them in a knc designed case...they may make a good 28nn chip but they suck at designing cases or heat management

[tzortz]

Here is how I did it.


I could see a difference but cannot reach 1.5T per 6 boards.
I am on 1.25T.

My ambient is 35C.

[crashoveride54902]

*snip*




Here is how I did it.


I could see a difference but cannot reach 1.5T per 6 boards.
I am on 1.25T.

My ambient is 35C.

that is why...you thought the chips needed the cooling when they don't...the fans blowing on bottom n top will get you 1.5th/s per 6 or close to it...my 6 were doing 1.436th/s cause i had 1 vrm that didn't like to go that high and would drop out...now putting together my new system i messed up my controller board 1 module is all wonky now and the fans blowing in front still get air flow thur heatsink...my chip heatsink isn't even that hot

and wow link for those heatsinks? wish i got those instead...they are huge...if you move those fans down like mine you'd get more then 1.5th/s cause you could push'em faster i bet

[daddyfatsax]

Here is how I did it.


I could see a difference but cannot reach 1.5T per 6 boards.
I am on 1.25T.

My ambient is 35C.

With proper cooling and 1.01-padrino FW you should be able to reach 1.5 TH/S. My modules have heatsinks on the VRM's and I have fans blowing on the bottom of each board.

Not sure how to change the date on the stats page, but I just took this screenshot.

[Elenelen]

Underneath??

ya just picture the copper heatsinks on the bottom...don't really need a picture for that well the heatsinks will help even more on bottom too...spec. with neptunes since they are already oc'd so much it'll help you get the most outta it i think

you can't do both i don't think...ya the plate is alittle hot, but the reason its hot is cause the vrms are screaming hot...i really don't think its sucking up the heat from the vrms..i think its hot just from being around the vrms...oh and those gray things block air flow and trap heat in...and so does the case hope this helps

also i made the mistake of leaving the grey pad on 4 of my modules and only been ran for few weeks like that but you can see the damage it did...the caps are dark...i mean almost black now so i picture in a week or so with all those neptunes heating up, all vrms will be toast and probably break...that grey thing does nothing but heat up the vrms more...or maybe it just transfers the heat to the smd caps...idk but if i was a neptune owner i wouldn't be running them in a knc designed case...they may make a good 28nn chip but they suck at designing cases or heat management

Thanks for the info.... Now I think of it: the plate is heating up from the Tower (and ASCI chip) as well... but removing the plate will also tumble down the Tower >> that's a major DIY project...

[padrino]

Here is how I did it.


I could see a difference but cannot reach 1.5T per 6 boards.
I am on 1.25T.

My ambient is 35C.

With proper cooling and 1.01-padrino FW you should be able to reach 1.5 TH/S. My modules have heatsinks on the VRM's and I have fans blowing on the bottom of each board.

Not sure how to change the date on the stats page, but I just took this screenshot.

You need to set the NTP time source up in the config, point it to something like pool.ntp.org and it will flip to the right time..

[daddyfatsax]

You need to set the NTP time source up in the config, point it to something like pool.ntp.org and it will flip to the right time..

Fixed it. Thanks!

[crashoveride54902]

Underneath??

ya just picture the copper heatsinks on the bottom...don't really need a picture for that well the heatsinks will help even more on bottom too...spec. with neptunes since they are already oc'd so much it'll help you get the most outta it i think

you can't do both i don't think...ya the plate is alittle hot, but the reason its hot is cause the vrms are screaming hot...i really don't think its sucking up the heat from the vrms..i think its hot just from being around the vrms...oh and those gray things block air flow and trap heat in...and so does the case hope this helps

also i made the mistake of leaving the grey pad on 4 of my modules and only been ran for few weeks like that but you can see the damage it did...the caps are dark...i mean almost black now so i picture in a week or so with all those neptunes heating up, all vrms will be toast and probably break...that grey thing does nothing but heat up the vrms more...or maybe it just transfers the heat to the smd caps...idk but if i was a neptune owner i wouldn't be running them in a knc designed case...they may make a good 28nn chip but they suck at designing cases or heat management

Thanks for the info.... Now I think of it: the plate is heating up from the Tower (and ASCI chip) as well... but removing the plate will also tumble down the Tower >> that's a major DIY project...

or you can try and do what someone else said is remove the grey pad and use some paste and the metal bracket directly on top of vrms...dunno if the screw will screw all the way down thou...

anyone have a idea of why a controller would all a sudden ramp up volts on vrms? I've tried everything i can think of to try n get this module back up n running...and its not the module cause i swapped it out for another and same problem...all i did was rearrange to a new setup and now i have this problem...tried different plug on psu..tried different psu all together...the spot that is messing up is a new solder connector to make it a 6 mod controller...even redid the solder and no dice...what could i have done to piss it off?

I can get 3 cores to stay on @ 1000mhz and -0.1245...but the 4th will ramp up volt turn off, come back on at half then after a bit ramp back up n turn off etc...that seems low volts for 1000mhz and no cores are off...if i try a higher OC it'll go back to usually 2 ramp up n 2 work fine...it'll also flip which 2 work or ramp...the higher the oc the faster the ramp up n shut off...it was fine at 0x335 n 0.000 volts Sad I just don't get it...it was working fine for few weeks Sad anyone? I'll tip ya if i get working module again...oh even tried different wire too...wish i had another 6 module nov. jup to try it out

also get fault 16 n fault 81 on bertmod sometimes...but i don't see how it could be the module since i've tried a different one

[tzortz]

Here is how I did it.


I could see a difference but cannot reach 1.5T per 6 boards.
I am on 1.25T.

My ambient is 35C.

With proper cooling and 1.01-padrino FW you should be able to reach 1.5 TH/S. My modules have heatsinks on the VRM's and I have fans blowing on the bottom of each board.

Not sure how to change the date on the stats page, but I just took this screenshot.

Whats your ambient?

Also, can you post a screenshot of the advanced page with the vrm temps?

Thanks.

[tzortz]

*snip*




Here is how I did it.


I could see a difference but cannot reach 1.5T per 6 boards.
I am on 1.25T.

My ambient is 35C.

that is why...you thought the chips needed the cooling when they don't...the fans blowing on bottom n top will get you 1.5th/s per 6 or close to it...my 6 were doing 1.436th/s cause i had 1 vrm that didn't like to go that high and would drop out...now putting together my new system i messed up my controller board 1 module is all wonky now and the fans blowing in front still get air flow thur heatsink...my chip heatsink isn't even that hot

and wow link for those heatsinks? wish i got those instead...they are huge...if you move those fans down like mine you'd get more then 1.5th/s cause you could push'em faster i bet

I bought off ebay , here it is:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/370852348071?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649


Also I bought thermal adhesive pads of 0.5mm and cut in small pieces with scissors.

[crashoveride54902]

Here is how I did it.


I could see a difference but cannot reach 1.5T per 6 boards.
I am on 1.25T.

My ambient is 35C.

With proper cooling and 1.01-padrino FW you should be able to reach 1.5 TH/S. My modules have heatsinks on the VRM's and I have fans blowing on the bottom of each board.

Not sure how to change the date on the stats page, but I just took this screenshot.

Whats your ambient?

Also, can you post a screenshot of the advanced page with the vrm temps?

Thanks.

ambient is room temp 70F  the other 3 look the same...well except the non working one

[fubly]

Hi tzortz,

how did you glue the little heatsinks?

[tzortz]

Hi tzortz,

how did you glue the little heatsinks?

Hi fubly,

I bought through ebay thermal pads of small thickness 0.15mm, and cut it into 11mm x 11mm pieces with a scissor.

Here it is:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/111341731505?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

[crashoveride54902]

found the problem asic...silly me was looking at wrong side...turns out it is a board...while putting together the new setup i kinda lost my balance on step ladder and leaned on one module doh...oh well least it still hashing some...dam me

[dogjunior]

This is probably off topic so please forgive me. My KNC Jupiter case is all scratched up and looks like hell. I was wondering if anyone has powder coated their case? I called up a company and got a quote for $60 to do a flat black exterior power coat. I would remove all fans and modules and give them the case. What do people here think about the idea? Please don't hate on me  

[Ski72]

Underneath??

ya just picture the copper heatsinks on the bottom...don't really need a picture for that well the heatsinks will help even more on bottom too...spec. with neptunes since they are already oc'd so much it'll help you get the most outta it i think

you can't do both i don't think...ya the plate is alittle hot, but the reason its hot is cause the vrms are screaming hot...i really don't think its sucking up the heat from the vrms..i think its hot just from being around the vrms...oh and those gray things block air flow and trap heat in...and so does the case hope this helps

also i made the mistake of leaving the grey pad on 4 of my modules and only been ran for few weeks like that but you can see the damage it did...the caps are dark...i mean almost black now so i picture in a week or so with all those neptunes heating up, all vrms will be toast and probably break...that grey thing does nothing but heat up the vrms more...or maybe it just transfers the heat to the smd caps...idk but if i was a neptune owner i wouldn't be running them in a knc designed case...they may make a good 28nn chip but they suck at designing cases or heat management

Thanks for the info.... Now I think of it: the plate is heating up from the Tower (and ASCI chip) as well... but removing the plate will also tumble down the Tower >> that's a major DIY project...

Elenelen,
  I'm sure you know all about the "Super Jup" fiasco.  It looks (from the pics you posted and the info. KnC has show on their site) that the boards are the same dimensions as the 28nm boards.
  I made "bars", the same size and with exact location of all the mounting holes on the bars used on the Jupiters, "Super Jup" etc.  
  PM me and I'll send you a set of materials to mount the radiators (w/o all the foam and huge plate covering the VRMs), and risers to keep the board off the base.  One item though, which brand radiator did they use - Arctic or Cooler Master?
  I know i'm a newbie, but if you look on the KnC forum, http://forum.kncminer.com/forum/next-generation/hardware-designs/39700-mounting-hardware, you can see what I put together, as well as everyones input.



  I hope I can help ...

(Sorry the pic is so big  )