Mining rig weirdness

[TenthReality]

Howdy All,  I've been beating my head over this one for 2 days without luck so I'm tagging you guys in.

Machine in question:

Motherboard: Asus M488TD-V EVO
CPU: x6 1090T
PSU: corsair hx1000
GPU1: 5850
GPU2: 5870 (non crossfire, monitors connected to both)
Case: thermaltake element G  (pretty damn high amount of airflow)

The problem:

If mining with GPU1 and I fire up GPU2, immediately I get a loud screech/beep noise that sounds like its coming from the motherboard.

If I fire up GPU2 and not GPU1, no noise.

First thought was thermal issue, so I fired up the usual monitors, and everything appears well inside happy ranges.  When that didn't pan out, I played around some more, and found out if I CPU mine while running either GPU, I can get the screech to occur as well.

So, it is not isolated to just the GPU's, it is not a thermal issue,  powersupply should be more than enough to cover the setup, what am I missing here.  Overvolting the 12v rail because the CPU is a dirty whore?

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[1714174854]

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[[Tycho]]

Do you have any software to check actual voltages ?

[TenthReality]

Do you have any software to check actual voltages ?

Sure do, I toe the line on most voltages, but it looks like when everything is running the +12v runs up to 12.05, which is what leads me to think its an overvolt.

[[Tycho]]

Do you have any software to check actual voltages ?

Sure do, I toe the line on most voltages, but it looks like when everything is running the +12v runs up to 12.05, which is what leads me to think its an overvolt.

0.05 is fine, may be even more. How many 12v rails do your PSU have ? Can you try using different rails for GPUs ?

[TenthReality]

Do you have any software to check actual voltages ?

Sure do, I toe the line on most voltages, but it looks like when everything is running the +12v runs up to 12.05, which is what leads me to think its an overvolt.

0.05 is fine, may be even more. How many 12v rails do your PSU have ? Can you try using different rails for GPUs ?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139007   PSU

1 GPU is connected to the "non-modular" PCIe's that come with it, 1GPU is connected via modular.

Note in another quick test, if I pull card #2 (5870) and CPU mine and GPU mine at the same time with the 5850, I can also make the noise occur.

[dbitcoin]

Do you have any software to check actual voltages ?

Sure do, I toe the line on most voltages, but it looks like when everything is running the +12v runs up to 12.05, which is what leads me to think its an overvolt.

12.05 it's normal voltage value.
Looks more like not enough power from PSU. What your PSU power?

[mrb]

TenthReality: you may be overloading your PSU if you somehow managed to plug the 2 video cards on the same 12V rail as the rest of the system. This Corsair 1000HX is not a single rail 1kW, but has two 12V rails of 480W each. When fully loaded, your system may be over 480W:

151W (5850) + 188W (5870) + 125W (1090T) + ~50W (estimate for rest of the system) = 514W > 480W

However, if you have done your wiring in a standard way, the ATX12V connector for the CPU should be a separate rail. In that case, it is still possible for you to be over 480W if you overclocked the video cards.

Bottom line, check your PSU's manual. Make sure you put the 2 video cards on 2 different rails.

[dbitcoin]

Do you have any software to check actual voltages ?

Sure do, I toe the line on most voltages, but it looks like when everything is running the +12v runs up to 12.05, which is what leads me to think its an overvolt.

0.05 is fine, may be even more. How many 12v rails do your PSU have ? Can you try using different rails for GPUs ?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139007   PSU

1 GPU is connected to the "non-modular" PCIe's that come with it, 1GPU is connected via modular.

Note in another quick test, if I pull card #2 (5870) and CPU mine and GPU mine at the same time with the 5850, I can also make the noise occur.

Well, PSU looks good.
Do you use UPS in your system? If not, try replace PSU (probably this one defective)

And +125W (1090T) probably too much for your system and you need another PSU.

[TenthReality]

Well, PSU looks good.
Do you use UPS in your system? If not, try replace PSU (probably this one defective)

You sir may be on to something here, the UPS is a bit older and already has a heavy load on it.  Sadly i'm fiddling with it via RDP from work so I can't exactly change power plugs here.  I'll try this when I get home later, great suggestion I didn't even consider.

[mrb]

1 GPU is connected to the "non-modular" PCIe's that come with it, 1GPU is connected via modular.

For optimally spreading the load, connect the 5850 (lowest power consumption) to the modular cables to 12V1 (shared with CPU), and connect the 5870 to the non-modular PCIe cables. This will get rid of the PSU noise.

More info: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=89
which says: "Well, the ATX and 8 pin EPS connectors are on 12V1, while the two 6+2 pin PCI-E connectors are on 12V2."

[cdhowie]

You sir may be on to something here, the UPS is a bit older and already has a heavy load on it.  Sadly i'm fiddling with it via RDP from work so I can't exactly change power plugs here.  I'll try this when I get home later, great suggestion I didn't even consider.

Are you sure that the screeching is not coming from the UPS?  As in, an alarm?  My roommate in college had a UPS, and due to the bad power quality in the building, it would trip the alarm whenever he started gaming.

[TenthReality]

1 GPU is connected to the "non-modular" PCIe's that come with it, 1GPU is connected via modular.

For optimally spreading the load, connect the 5850 (lowest power consumption) to the modular cables to 12V1 (shared with CPU), and connect the 5870 to the non-modular PCIe cables. This will get rid of the PSU noise.

More info: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=89
which says: "Well, the ATX and 8 pin EPS connectors are on 12V1, while the two 6+2 pin PCI-E connectors are on 12V2."

Will give this a spin as well.

[TenthReality]

You sir may be on to something here, the UPS is a bit older and already has a heavy load on it.  Sadly i'm fiddling with it via RDP from work so I can't exactly change power plugs here.  I'll try this when I get home later, great suggestion I didn't even consider.

Are you sure that the screeching is not coming from the UPS?  As in, an alarm?  My roommate in college had a UPS, and due to the bad power quality in the building, it would trip the alarm whenever he started gaming.

UPS is about 5 feet away, the noise is very much coming from inside the PC and not the UPS itself.  It is however very old, and nowhere near rated for the power i'm pulling across it, so I'm wondering if its leaning the PC out causing the alarm.

[allinvain]

You sir may be on to something here, the UPS is a bit older and already has a heavy load on it.  Sadly i'm fiddling with it via RDP from work so I can't exactly change power plugs here.  I'll try this when I get home later, great suggestion I didn't even consider.

Are you sure that the screeching is not coming from the UPS?  As in, an alarm?  My roommate in college had a UPS, and due to the bad power quality in the building, it would trip the alarm whenever he started gaming.

UPS is about 5 feet away, the noise is very much coming from inside the PC and not the UPS itself.  It is however very old, and nowhere near rated for the power i'm pulling across it, so I'm wondering if its leaning the PC out causing the alarm.

The UPS could be giving bad power to the power supply due to being overloaded and the power supply is complaining about it? (ie PFC kicked in)

I too have exact same power supply and I got a radeon 5970 overclocked to 850 and before I plugged it in I did some research and ideally what you want is to split the load in two because as I'm sure you know the HX1000W is technically two 500W power supplies joined together. The power supply will actually handle more than 1000W from what I read somewhere because its very similar in design to a much higher rated Thermaltake 1200W unit - both built by the same OEM.

Anyways, this may be helpful:

http://forum.corsair.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70317

First thing I'd recommend to try is to get the UPS out of the picture to rule out that possibility.

I too have an UPS (1000VA) and there is no way it can handle the 5970 at full load. The amount of power this thing sucks is incredible especially if you overclock both the GPU and the memory.

[Mahkul]

I have had EXACTLY the same issue and it turned out it was the UPS. I spent hours running around with multimeter and measuring everything, then I looked at the UPS...

I would recommend connecting your rig directly to the power socket.

[TenthReality]

Got home, yanked the UPS out of the mix, issue gone, both GPU's and CPU are going full bore, well inside thermal levels, no horrific noises of doom involved.  Turned off the CPU since the power/heat isnt worth the effort but its nice to know I can max it all out without issue.

Tycho, allinvain, cdhowie, dbitcoin and Mrb, as soon as the transaction confirms and they are back in my wallet I'm splitting 50btc between you guys for chiming in for the assists.

Need addresses for Tycho, and mrb please in a PM.

Again, thanks guys for prompt, intelligent replies here.

[cdhowie]

Got home, yanked the UPS out of the mix, issue gone, both GPU's and CPU are going full bore, well inside thermal levels, no horrific noises of doom involved.  Turned off the CPU since the power/heat isnt worth the effort but its nice to know I can max it all out without issue.

Tycho, allinvain, cdhowie, dbitcoin and Mrb, as soon as the transaction confirms and they are back in my wallet I'm splitting 50btc between you guys for chiming in for the assists.

Awesome, thanks!  FYI, I would definitely recommend in a beefy, high-quality UPS -- one that cleans up dirty power.  If you're going to run electronics hard on power, make sure it's not going to DoT your equipment.    (Sorry for the WoW reference; couldn't help myself.)

[[Tycho]]

UPS usually are rated with VAs, not Watts, so if you are going to use 1000W 80PLUS grade PSU at 100%, it will drain ~1300W from socket, so you'll need at least 2000VA UPS. And you may need even more if there will be any issues with PFC.

And since mining process is almost stateless, you won't loose almost anything in case of unexpected reboot, so UPS is needed only to protect from power surge.

[allinvain]

Got home, yanked the UPS out of the mix, issue gone, both GPU's and CPU are going full bore, well inside thermal levels, no horrific noises of doom involved.  Turned off the CPU since the power/heat isnt worth the effort but its nice to know I can max it all out without issue.

Tycho, allinvain, cdhowie, dbitcoin and Mrb, as soon as the transaction confirms and they are back in my wallet I'm splitting 50btc between you guys for chiming in for the assists.

Need addresses for Tycho, and mrb please in a PM.

Again, thanks guys for prompt, intelligent replies here.

That is most generous of you! I am glad I was able to help even a bit.

Btw, if you want a good UPS I think you can't go wrong with APC. For a 5970 though I think one with more than 1000VA is what is required. I currently have a 1000VA (650 watts) and it does not have enough juice to sustain the system for more than the minimum preprogrammed amount of time (I think that's like 5 to 7 minutes) at full power. I am in the dillema of having to get a bigger UPS myself. I'm thinking for a system with ONE 5970 a 1200VA UPS should do the trick - at least give me enough juice to keep the system running for a few minutes which is more than enough to deal with typical brownouts and give me enough time to safely shutdown the system.

As [Tycho] mentioned in the post above you definitely need one serious UPS to run your rig. Also be aware that once you got above 1500VA rating then whatever UPS you get above that rating will require a 20 Amp plug!!

All of this kind of underscores why if you're going to dedicated time, money, and energy into bitcoin mining then building a dedicated mining rig that does NOT require power backup may be the best course of action. I would even be tempted to build a system that boots via FLASH or USB drive or something low power directly into a mini linux distro and starts mining right away. Should the power go out the system will reboot and resume mining.

On the desktop side I would still keep say a 5850 in that machine which is not demanding on a reasonable UPS system.

Choices choices

[allinvain]

UPS usually are rated with VAs, not Watts, so if you are going to use 1000W 80PLUS grade PSU at 100%, it will drain ~1300W from socket, so you'll need at least 2000VA UPS. And you may need even more if there will be any issues with PFC.

And since mining process is almost stateless, you won't loose almost anything in case of unexpected reboot, so UPS is needed only to protect from power surge.

You are right, however repeated power loss while the file system is writing to disk could lead to data corruption. I've encoutered many computers that got file (important system files) corruption issues because the user stupidly forcefully turned off the computer instead of going through the proper shutdown procedure (this is in Windows though!)

I guess a really GOOD surge protector with a high joules rating would be what he may need most, no?

A UPS will cleanup power though but one has to wonder how much one is willing to invest in a big UPS system just for the power cleanup feature.

I wonder if there are any power cleaning systems that do NOT have a batter backup..sort of like those fancy double conversion UPSs but without the battery? Then again the system would still have to use some sort of energy storage medium (ie batter) from which to feed the system cleaned up power.