Scrypt mining with xfx 7970 GHZ, low hashrate

[kosmarnik]

Hi,
might as well do my introduction with a proper post.

So I got an XFX 7970 Gigahertz edition, double dissipation. non-reference board with two dvi, hdmi and two dp ports. No bios switch too.

The sticker on the board says: 797G-TD  FX-797G-TDF VA1
GHZ DD RADEON XT2 1050M WITH BOOST

Atiflash product name: Tahiti B0 XT2 C38620 GDDR5 3GB 500e/150m
BIOS P/N: 113-797TDF70-101
BIOS ver: 015.022.000.001.000000
BIOS date: 07/18/12

No matter how I configure cgminer I can only get ~520kh/s out of the card.

Reading around, it seems a different BIOS would help, so I tried a bunch with crappy results.
None of the XFX ones will even boot, gigabyte won't load drivers, sapphire will load drivers but crashes. All were different 7970 BIOSes.
I tried one xfx r9 280x but that one wouldn't even flash for some reason (flashing failed).

I welcome any suggestion as to what BIOS might work for this card.

[bazarimajom]

Hello!

I'd suggest trying playing with different switches in cgminer. I have 2 280xs which are basically 7970s. Here is what you should try: --gpu-engine 1098,1084 --gpu-memclock 1500,1500 --thread-concurrency 11200 -I 13. First i set gpu-memclock to 1500 which helped me to get above 600 then, thread concurrency, then set gpu-engine clock and try a few values between 1050-1100, and wait a few seconds for the hashrate to stablize. Hope this help, i  don't think flashing new bios will help. Also try it on a fresh windows, it helped me a lot too.

[kosmarnik]

Hello!

I'd suggest trying playing with different switches in cgminer. I have 2 280xs which are basically 7970s. Here is what you should try: --gpu-engine 1098,1084 --gpu-memclock 1500,1500 --thread-concurrency 11200 -I 13. First i set gpu-memclock to 1500 which helped me to get above 600 then, thread concurrency, then set gpu-engine clock and try a few values between 1050-1100, and wait a few seconds for the hashrate to stablize. Hope this help, i  don't think flashing new bios will help. Also try it on a fresh windows, it helped me a lot too.

Thanks, but I systematically went over a lot of combination of switches, cgminer versions, driver versions, SDK versions.
I tried it on linux just to be doubly sure.

On the other hand it's been confirmed that XFX and some other cards have mining crippled firmware.
Some folks can flash their cards and get normal hashrates ~700-750kh/s.
I'm just unlucky as this is a non-ref design.

[infinitybo]

@Kosmarnik Everyone should use the same stuff because this hardware mining looks so powerful !

[makafeli]

try this: http://infinitecointalk.org/index.php?topic=36.0

[kosmarnik]

try this: http://infinitecointalk.org/index.php?topic=36.0

Try what?
The poster did not say what BIOS he flashed?
As I mentioned in the OP, I already tried a bunch of BIOS from different cards/mfgs but no luck yet.

[nongdanvoz]

1080/1500
TC 8192
I 13

750kh/s

[JamesBolivar]

I tried one xfx r9 280x but that one wouldn't even flash for some reason (flashing failed).

Flashing a 7970 with a 280X BIOS needs to be done from command prompt using "-f" (force option) because of different sub ids.

[Davidbc]

Without any overclock, a 7970 should be getting more than 520 khash/s easily. I have a 7950 boost (925/1250) and I'm getting more than 520 khash/s.

[kosmarnik]

Without any overclock, a 7970 should be getting more than 520 khash/s easily. I have a 7950 boost (925/1250) and I'm getting more than 520 khash/s.

I know.
It's a known problem with some cards, especially GHZ edition. mine is 1050/1500 stock, and is only 500-520kh/s.
Lots of people solved it by flashing non-GHZ BIOS, but I can't find one that will work with my card
Hopefully someone with the same card will share a good BIOS for mining.

[ArcticWolfie]

Without any overclock, a 7970 should be getting more than 520 khash/s easily. I have a 7950 boost (925/1250) and I'm getting more than 520 khash/s.

I know.
It's a known problem with some cards, especially GHZ edition. mine is 1050/1500 stock, and is only 500-520kh/s.
Lots of people solved it by flashing non-GHZ BIOS, but I can't find one that will work with my card
Hopefully someone with the same card will share a good BIOS for mining.

Did you try any other miner? Like bfgminer (or reaper...)?

[makafeli]

this is the bios I used..
http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/131592/gigabyte-hd7970-3072-121214.html

[fishbone]

I have the same problem With XFX 7970 DD Ghz card too. It has 2 dvi ports.

The sticker says:

FX - 797A - TD FX- 797A - TDBC V3.1


Any got a suggestion to a BIOS that Works and gives good hashing?


-edit:

This bios Works:

http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/133826/gigabyte-hd7970-3072-121106.html

[iTunesStats]

cgminer switches will be easiest way, bios last option

[DogeNukem]

I have this same exact card OP, and I can't get any BIOS to flash.  I tried using ATIflash in dos, and unlocking the BIOS then using /f switch.  No go.

Winflash fails as well.

I can't even get it to top 450 most of the time

[TranZer]

I tried one xfx r9 280x but that one wouldn't even flash for some reason (flashing failed).

Flashing a 7970 with a 280X BIOS needs to be done from command prompt using "-f" (force option) because of different sub ids.

I pesonally did the same... I had 7970 Matrix and it didnt get over 520khash/s. After flashing it with BIOS of 280x I get 750.

Do not forget to set GPU clock to 1080Mhz and mem to 1500Mhz.