AMD/ATI Overclocking on Linux (Ubuntu)?

[homeminer]

Wanted to see if folks have tips on how to overclock AMD cards on Linux.  I'm using aticonfig and it doesn't let me push my card as far as I see it is being pushed in the hardware list.    I've found rovclock, but it is OLD and I'm concerned it is too old for my system.  Any better options available?

Thanks!

[gmannn]

I had to flash my 5830s bios' in windows to overcome the AMDOverdriveCtrl limits.

[boss cat]

yep, i had to flash my 5870's to overclock more
be sure to back up the bios before you flash or config them

[ovidiusoft]

Well, I hope I don't get banned for this, since this is my 2nd post . I wrote a blog post 2 weeks ago about it, you can read it at:

http://blog.mybox.ro/2011/07/14/overclocking-the-radeon-hd-5830-for-fun-and-profit/

In a nutshell, you will download the BIOS from your card, edit it with a BIOS editor and burn it back to the card. It's fairly easy and the only risk that I see is having a power cut while flashing (use a UPS). I was able to push my card to 1060 Mhz (the factory default was 800 and the hardcoded limit 900). Works very stable at 1040 for more than 3 weeks.

Hope it helps!

[Bert]

I downloaded the latest ati driver (ati-driver-installer-11-6-x86.x86_64.run) and was able to use aticonfig to overclock beyond 900 MHz.

DISPLAY=:0 aticonfig --od-enable --adapter=all
DISPLAY=:0 aticonfig --od-setclocks=1000,347 --adapter=all

aticonfig still claims that the limit is 400-900MHz, but it does allow me to overclock further. The clocks on my 5870's cards are currently 1000/347.

Before that I was using AMDOverdriveCtrl with a config file to over/underclock outside of AMD/ATI recommended limits.
DISPLAY=:0 AMDOverdriveCtrl -i 0 -b mining.ovdr
DISPLAY=:0 AMDOverdriveCtrl -i 3 -b mining.ovdr
DISPLAY=:0 AMDOverdriveCtrl -i 6 -b mining.ovdr

[homeminer]

Thanks all who responded.  The hardware flashing solutions I would like to avoid, so I'll start with the software based ones.

Bert - are you running in Ubuntu?  I had previously installed that package and even after re-installing, it remain unable to go beyond the 960MHz GPU clock and cannot lower Memory clock below 1200MHz.   Reason I ask for Ubuntu  is that on Ubuntu, I need to build a custom package for the distribution.  Did you use the default driver for X.org?  Would be interesting to know if this makes a difference.

I'll investigate AMDOverdriveCtrl.

Thanks!

[Bert]

Ubuntu 11.04, using an install guide that I found there, sorry but I can't find the exact forum post.
Maybe it is a hardware issue, I'm using Sapphire 5870 with 1GB of VRAM.

EDIT: I followed most of this guide - http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=9239.0
Substituting

Code:

wget http://www2.ati.com/drivers/linux/ati-driver-installer-11-5-x86.x86_64.run
sudo sh ati-driver-installer-11-5-x86.x86_64.run --buildpkg Ubuntu/natty
sudo dpkg -i *.deb
sudo apt-get -f install
sudo aticonfig -f --initial --adapter=all

With

Code:

wget http://www2.ati.com/drivers/linux/ati-driver-installer-11-6-x86.x86_64.run
sudo sh ati-driver-installer-11-6-x86.x86_64.run --buildpkg Ubuntu/natty
sudo dpkg -i *.deb
sudo apt-get -f install
sudo aticonfig -f --initial --adapter=all

And I stopped following it when I hit "Setup Headless Bitcoin Mining"

[Dargo]

Here is a page with most of the commands you will need. The "Display=..." bit isn't needed except to get or set fan speeds.

https://github.com/secmff/Diskless-miner/wiki/Overclocking

[blinklightbox]

Extract, modify, and then flash BIOS within Windows for Linux

RBE

http://www.techpowerup.com/rbe/

Winflash

http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1967/ATI%20Winflash%202.0.1.14.html

[homeminer]

Thanks Bert. Reinstalling the graphics driver and following the specific steps you highlighted work the trick. Now I can overclock beyond limits shown by aticonfig --od-getclocks.

I'm using a 6770.

Thanks!!!

[Bert]

If you are really grateful, when you are up and mining throw a Bitcent on to dukejer @ 19oQLN2v1auiGqBDFfxSDUfu8Ax6ooT6xs . He wrote and shared the Ubuntu 11.04 Natty 64bit install guide, it was his info that helped you.

[blinklightbox]

What is your avg. MHash rate on the 6770?

[homeminer]

I most certainly will send a quick thank you.  I'm still trying to get the kinks worked out of the system, but things are looking up. 

For the 6770, I'm getting 226MHash/sec reliably at 1010MHz GPU Core and 300MHz memory.  System is stable at 64C with no changes to default fan.   Screen responsiveness is poor (GPU is at 99%, so go figure).   My enclosure has good air flow.  I cannot (yet) get the 230MHash/sec listed on the bitcoin.it page for the card (likely due to my monitors that are powered from the same card).   

HTH

[Yeti]

Why not use AMDOverdriveCtrl? It works like a charm for me and does not require any BIOS flashing or other hardware mod.

If you want to thank me for this tip, join the pyramid (see signature).

[kano]

I've been playing with AMDOverdriveCtrl (1.2.1) today with a 6950
(just got a second 6950 now ... still cant' get xubuntu to see it - though I haven't connected xfire)

Anyway, it seems to have some rules about GPU vs Mem clock speeds.
My (default) for GPU is 870, Mem is 1250
At GPU 870 it would only go down to 745 on the Memory (saving 30W) and Mh/s from about 335 down to about 325

(and I tried a lower - GPU=600 allows Mem down to 475)

Is that new in 1.2.1? Or is that a card thing?

[ovidiusoft]

@yeti, amdoverdrivectl will NOT go over a certain hardcoded limit in some cards. My example: Sapphire 5830 Xtreme. The high level profile was set to 800 Mhz for the GPU, but there was a overdrive limit of 900. I could NOT set the GPU frequency over 900 with either amdoverdrivectl or aticontrol. I had to edit the BIOS to increase the limit to 1100 Mhz, so I could run the card's GPU at 1040 Mhz.

[UrbanAdventurer]

Thanks for the BIOS flash guide.

[BitcoinPappi]

This works like a charm, thanks, no need for flashing

Ubuntu 11.04, using an install guide that I found there, sorry but I can't find the exact forum post.
Maybe it is a hardware issue, I'm using Sapphire 5870 with 1GB of VRAM.

EDIT: I followed most of this guide - http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=9239.0
Substituting

Code:

wget http://www2.ati.com/drivers/linux/ati-driver-installer-11-5-x86.x86_64.run
sudo sh ati-driver-installer-11-5-x86.x86_64.run --buildpkg Ubuntu/natty
sudo dpkg -i *.deb
sudo apt-get -f install
sudo aticonfig -f --initial --adapter=all

With

Code:

wget http://www2.ati.com/drivers/linux/ati-driver-installer-11-6-x86.x86_64.run
sudo sh ati-driver-installer-11-6-x86.x86_64.run --buildpkg Ubuntu/natty
sudo dpkg -i *.deb
sudo apt-get -f install
sudo aticonfig -f --initial --adapter=all

And I stopped following it when I hit "Setup Headless Bitcoin Mining"