820KHs per 280x - Config + SS

[nonny12]

Where to find this optimized .bin file?

I found them in the reddit comments for sgminer. I'm not sure if these are the same ones OP is referring to.

http://www.reddit.com/r/litecoinmining/comments/1va8g2/ann_sgminer_400_release/ceqvjwn

[Victoo]

Show us the hash rate.

[Dannyboyni]

I have just purchased 4 of the MSI Radeon R9 280X Gaming Edition cards along with the Silverstone strider 1500 watt PSU from Overclockers. Having read about how much power they consume and having spent so much money on the power supply I am very disappointed in my decision to purchase them.

Now I have two options I am considering, I either send them back and buy the 6 of the Sapphire Radeon R9 280X toxic which Amph suggested to buy. The reason I would buy 6 cards instead of 4 is because I have spent the money on the 1500 watt PSU so I may as well make use of it. It should be powerful enough to run 6 of the Sapphire Radeon R9 280X Toxic cards shouldn't it?

My other option is to keep the cards and just live with the higher power costs.

One thing to keep in mind my for my decision is that I can purchase my electricity at 7p a unit, which is half the price of what most people would be paying.

So guys which option should I choose?

[alphacenturion]

I've just done the same as you purchased from overclockers today in fact except I bought 3 of them and a 1250w Seasonic. I wanted the Asus ideally as the Toxic runs so hot but the MSI was the best bet as nothing is available here in the UK for a reasonable price, they are stack at least £50 on the RRP and that all adds up when you're buying several cards. I'm going to stick with mine and see how it goes.

[atp1916]

I have just purchased 4 of the MSI Radeon R9 280X Gaming Edition cards along with the Silverstone strider 1500 watt PSU from Overclockers. Having read about how much power they consume and having spent so much money on the power supply I am very disappointed in my decision to purchase them.

Now I have two options I am considering, I either send them back and buy the 6 of the Sapphire Radeon R9 280X toxic which Amph suggested to buy. The reason I would buy 6 cards instead of 4 is because I have spent the money on the 1500 watt PSU so I may as well make use of it. It should be powerful enough to run 6 of the Sapphire Radeon R9 280X Toxic cards shouldn't it?

My other option is to keep the cards and just live with the higher power costs.

One thing to keep in mind my for my decision is that I can purchase my electricity at 7p a unit, which is half the price of what most people would be paying.

So guys which option should I choose?

If your electric is that cheap i say keep MSI cards.  If you were paying US rates for elec i would definitely consider returning.  Also,  you will also not fit 6 280xs on a single 1500w unit unless you do some very serious undervolting.

[Dannyboyni]

If your electric is that cheap i say keep MSI cards.  If you were paying US rates for elec i would definitely consider returning.  Also,  you will also not fit 6 280xs on a single 1500w unit unless you do some very serious undervolting.

Well you could run 5 cards on that power supply at least.

I take it there will be no way in the future to undervolt the MSI cards.

And alphacenturion, it seems its only the msi cards which are in stock in the whole of the uk. No luck finding any of the others anywhere else.

[atp1916]

If your electric is that cheap i say keep MSI cards.  If you were paying US rates for elec i would definitely consider returning.  Also,  you will also not fit 6 280xs on a single 1500w unit unless you do some very serious undervolting.

Well you could run 5 cards on that power supply at least.

I take it there will be no way in the future to undervolt the MSI cards.

And alphacenturion, it seems its only the msi cards which are in stock in the whole of the uk. No luck finding any of the others anywhere else.

I actually did buy 5 of the 280xs, and that 1500w would not handle all 5.  

Theoretically, you could mod the bios (with vbe7) but after poking around and looking at all the softbrick reports it would appear that MSI did something within the bios framework that vbe7 is somehow messing up.  The thing is, a new version of vbe7 may come out that has official support for the R9 2x cards and at that point your investment in the MSI cards will really shine.  I say shine because that Samsung ram they have is golden!

[Damnsammit]

What PSU are you using?  I am going to be ordering the parts to make my first 280x rig next week, but was thinking a 1350W was going to be enough... guess I need to think bigger!

[atp1916]

What PSU are you using?  I am going to be ordering the parts to make my first 280x rig next week, but was thinking a 1350W was going to be enough... guess I need to think bigger!

SilverStone ST1500 1500w.  I would highly recommend it.  Very good unit for the price.

[Dannyboyni]

I actually did buy 5 of the 280xs, and that 1500w would not handle all 5.  

Theoretically, you could mod the bios (with vbe7) but after poking around and looking at all the softbrick reports it would appear that MSI did something within the bios framework that vbe7 is somehow messing up.  The thing is, a new version of vbe7 may come out that has official support for the R9 2x cards and at that point your investment in the MSI cards will really shine.  I say shine because that Samsung ram they have is golden!

Thanks for supplying that hopefully good news. Would you please update this post if at any stage you do manage to undervolt them. Also I cannot get over how expensive that PSU unit was. I really do hope it has good resale value...

Just to also say I bought a B Grade MSI Z77A-GD65 Intel Z77 motherboard for £70 and that included 8GB of Ram free with it. I take it, it being a completely different motherboard to what you have bought will not effect my attempt to match your hash rate.

[atp1916]

^^ That Silverstone unit is usually ~$329.99, not that 440+ you may be seeing right now.  It's a solid unit with Nippon caps etc.  Should be quite re-sellable.

I will certainly update this post if i can figure out a safe way to undervolt these cards!

[Damnsammit]

What PSU are you using?  I am going to be ordering the parts to make my first 280x rig next week, but was thinking a 1350W was going to be enough... guess I need to think bigger!

SilverStone ST1500 1500w.  I would highly recommend it.  Very good unit for the price.

Thanks, mate!  Going to order one now.

How long have you been running it continuously? 

[atp1916]

What PSU are you using?  I am going to be ordering the parts to make my first 280x rig next week, but was thinking a 1350W was going to be enough... guess I need to think bigger!

SilverStone ST1500 1500w.  I would highly recommend it.  Very good unit for the price.

Thanks, mate!  Going to order one now.

How long have you been running it continuously? 

100% uptime (with 4).  I've taken it down a couple times to mess with physical arrangements, but otherwise it's been rocksteady with 0 issues to speak of.

[sandor111]

In regards to the wattage:  Very high.  

Being locked at 1.2v (thanks MSI  ), Killer-watt indicated the entire rig in that screenshot was pulling 1365w from the wall (on a 1500w PSU).  Minus the ~140w idle from the system, that's good for ~1300 for the 4 cards = 325-330w per card.  Certainly not optimal, and missing the 3:1 khs/watt mark i strive for.  It's big khs, but also big power.  They are basically mini-290s.

Will do more testing later, but being volt-locked maintaining 3:1 khs/watt will be tough.  I would be very, very careful attempting vbe7 bios modding with these R9 cards.  I know they are basically 7xxx architecture, but there's too many brick reports to just plow ahead and mod/flash.

Ouch. Our 280x rigs are undervolted, and pull 1250W at the wall for 5 cards! We're sitting at under 230W/GPU, but we're only getting ~725KHs/GPU.

And yes, all of those R9 280x were undervolted with VBE7.

EDIT: A 100KH/s gain at the expense of adding 100W is still more profitable, but only slightly. You're talking about about $30 of increased revenue over the course of a month, with only about $10-20 of that being profit (after electric costs). Add the costs of buying larger PSUs, and the fact that you won't be able to undervolt much at those high clock speeds, and the increased temps (80C vs 60C), and you might want to reconsider.

My rigs run at 750kh/s per card for a total of 3mh/s and are pulling 985W at the wall, and I think there is still room for more optimization.

[Damnsammit]

My rigs run at 750kh/s per card for a total of 3mh/s and are pulling 985W at the wall, and I think there is still room for more optimization.

Would you mind sharing your settings and which cards you are using?

This is what I was hoping to acheive.  I want to get 4 280x to run on a 1200W 80plus Platinum-rated Corsair PSU.

Just waiting on my paycheck next week to order the rest of the parts.

[bitmiggy]

Looking at using Sapphire 280X Dual-X cards - anyone tried similar settings on these?

[sandor111]

My rigs run at 750kh/s per card for a total of 3mh/s and are pulling 985W at the wall, and I think there is still room for more optimization.

Would you mind sharing your settings and which cards you are using?

This is what I was hoping to acheive.  I want to get 4 280x to run on a 1200W 80plus Platinum-rated Corsair PSU.

Just waiting on my paycheck next week to order the rest of the parts.

Sure, I'm running 4 x Asus 280x dc2t. Using MSI Afterburner undervolted core to 1.064v, clocks: 1050/1500
Using sgminer 4.0 and optimized scrypt130511Tahitiglg2tc8192w256l4.bin
Also undervolted/underclocked Sempron 145 to 1.1v @ 2GHz
PSU are dual Seasonic 1000w platinum

[Damnsammit]

PSU are dual Seasonic 1000w platinum

Hmm...

Maybe I will just do that instead of trying to get it all to fit on one PSU.   Seems like a little overkill on the cost vs hash ratio using two PSUs vs one.  I was hoping to get all 4 of them powered on one of these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194105

Thanks for all of the info.  This will be my first new rig, so I am getting excited.  I've just used 5000 and 6000 series cards on used motherboards and PSUs in the past. Hopefully all the endless hours of tweeking will come in handy

[sandor111]

It's fine to use one PSU imo, I just had 2 of those lying around so why not. But with 2 PSU everything is rock solid stable and running for over a week with no issues what-so-ever.

[Damnsammit]

It's fine to use one PSU imo, I just had 2 of those lying around so why not. But with 2 PSU everything is rock solid stable and running for over a week with no issues what-so-ever.

I'll probably just buy two of the 1350W PSUs and then if the second one isn't needed, then I will just have to buy 4 more GPUs and build a second rig