To overclock or not to overclock, that’s the problem

[msdjaw]

Hello,

I am not new to crypto but new to mining. I have just purchased a Litcoin miner, Antminer L3+. My question is that should I overclock my miner with a view to the fact that this reduces the lifetime of my miner or it is better for me to let it work at its base hash rate that might increase its lifetime and probably my profirs in the long run?

Thanks in advance.

[Metroid]

to troll or not to troll? your garbage of an ASIC was not meant to last, so overclocking is the way to go, just watchout for the temperature.

[abstractHaze]

MetROID injects bull semen into his eyes at times.   give him a moment to calm down.   and u don't overclock. you under clock and get max efficiency. google some key words i used plus mining. im sure ull find some vids.

[nc50lc]

If I had a L3+, I would go for Overclocking at time like this since Market's almost Bullish; so just HODL your litecoins (preferably in Exchange for a quick sell) and cash-out fiat afterwards.
Temperature and extra Power Consumption are problems though, depending on your area.

Don't know if you already know this but: it's not overclocking that's actually degrading the processors, capacitors and the boards, it's the heat and over/under voltage; whether it's under-clocking or over-clocking, it will degrade much faster if you messed up the setting.

[msdjaw]

If I had a L3+, I would go for Overclocking at time like this since Market's almost Bullish; so just HODL your litecoins (preferably in Exchange for a quick sell) and cash-out fiat afterwards.
Temperature and extra Power Consumption are problems though, depending on your area.

Don't know if you already know this but: it's not overclocking that's actually degrading the processors, capacitors and the boards, it's the heat and over/under voltage; whether it's under-clocking or over-clocking, it will degrade much faster if you messed up the setting.

Are you sure that overclocking doesn’t degrade it? Any references for more info?

[nc50lc]

Are you sure that overclocking doesn’t degrade it? Any references for more info?

Sure: https://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php/723980-Truth-about-CPU-degradation

Even not overclocked, it will degrade overtime; reducing the heat (whether overclocked or not) will just decrease the rate.

Take note: It's for a PC forum but most ASICs are basically made of boards with micro-processors used for making mobile phones or hybrid tablets.
Processors are processors whatever the architecture anyways.

[msdjaw]

Are you sure that overclocking doesn’t degrade it? Any references for more info?

Sure: https://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php/723980-Truth-about-CPU-degradation

Even not overclocked, it will degrade overtime; reducing the heat (whether overclocked or not) will just decrease the rate.

Take note: It's for a PC forum but most ASICs are basically made of boards with micro-processors used for making mobile phones or hybrid tablets.
Processors are processors whatever the architecture anyways.

I agree that it degrades overclocked or non-overclocked but the pace at which it degrades should not be the same. Agree?

[nc50lc]

-snip-

I agree that it degrades overclocked or non-overclocked but the pace at which it degrades should not be the same. Agree?

Agreed, in a way.
Overclocked processors usually degrade faster because it requires higher voltages (not the input voltage to PSU, do your research) to be stable and it will surely generate more heat than a stock procie.
But a stock processor can degrade much faster if the cooling system isn't working as it should be or the room temperature is too hot; it's the timeframe when there's "too much heat" that is directly causing to the degradation.
[What's causing cooling problem? Read the replies to your new thread ]

In the end, it depends to the OC setting, cooling, maintenance, PSU quality and the parts of the ASIC/GPU (GPUs have a central processor too).

-Last reply to this thread-

[leowonderful]

Overclocking's just fine so as long as you don't push voltages too far as nc50lc said. Some softwares like Blissz's firmware for the L3+s automatically calibrate to the lowest stable voltage for an overclock, and you can also manually calibrate voltages on software that doesn't do this for best performance. As long as you're running the miner in normal conditions and keeping up with maintenance like occasionally clearing out dust for optimal thermal performance as needed, nothing bad should happen.

[OgNasty]

Don't overclock unless you need the heat or get free electricity.  The name of the game is efficiency.

[msdjaw]

Overclocking's just fine so as long as you don't push voltages too far as nc50lc said. Some softwares like Blissz's firmware for the L3+s automatically calibrate to the lowest stable voltage for an overclock, and you can also manually calibrate voltages on software that doesn't do this for best performance. As long as you're running the miner in normal conditions and keeping up with maintenance like occasionally clearing out dust for optimal thermal performance as needed, nothing bad should happen.

Where can I find more info about periodical maintenance? That was interesting and Blissz software was also interesting.

[leowonderful]

Overclocking's just fine so as long as you don't push voltages too far as nc50lc said. Some softwares like Blissz's firmware for the L3+s automatically calibrate to the lowest stable voltage for an overclock, and you can also manually calibrate voltages on software that doesn't do this for best performance. As long as you're running the miner in normal conditions and keeping up with maintenance like occasionally clearing out dust for optimal thermal performance as needed, nothing bad should happen.

Where can I find more info about periodical maintenance? That was interesting and Blissz software was also interesting.

Bitmain provides a pretty basic guide about what sort of maintenance you should occasionally do on a miner in a subcategory on this page (click here for main page link, and here for Bitmain's provided maintenance page). To summarize what Bitmain says, they suggest to dust out the miners monthly, though I do this per two or three months. Helps to keep temps under control since dust can do a lot to raise temps. The guide shows a person using an air compressor to clean out the miner, but canned/compressed air for computers is good too and what I personally use. If the dust is heavy, you can always disassemble the machine and manually clean out the heatsinks for dust.