What SDK and drivers for 5870 in cgminer?

[the joint]

Currently I'm getting only 404 m/hash on my 5870 in cgminer with 990/350.  I know I should be getting much higher, but I'm not sure what SDK and drivers are needed.  I know I remember reading about this before, I'm just not sure where.

[someone703]

From what I've read posted by others, SDK 2.1 is best for 5xxx series.

As for what version of drivers, possibly one of the Catalyst 11.x versions.  I'm using 12.1 though with SDK 2.1 and my  hash rates seem to be fine.

[the joint]

From what I've read posted by others, SDK 2.1 is best for 5xxx series.

As for what version of drivers, possibly one of the Catalyst 11.x versions.  I'm using 12.1 though with SDK 2.1 and my  hash rates seem to be fine.

Can anyone confirm this?  Is it as simple as downloading and installing SDK 2.1 or is removal/modification of other files needed?

[someone703]

Here's an old post of mine where I asked a similar question when I first started into bitcoin mining (which wasn't very long ago):

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=62239.msg730227#msg730227

And here is the download page for the older versions (official AMD site):

http://developer.amd.com/sdks/AMDAPPSDK/downloads/pages/AMDAPPSDKDownloadArchive.aspx

I've read that you have to go to the CCC setup and tell it to remove the older SDK but the very first time I just installed SDK2.1 and it worked for me so YMMV.

Once you get the SDK program, open it using something like WinRAR and go into \Packages\AppsATIStreamSDK_Dev_win764a\ and run ATIStreamSDK_dev.msi to install SDK2.1.

I went from getting like 650-700 mhash/s to 750-800 mhash/s on my 5970 by doing so.  Other people posted in my post saying that it helped them too.  There's a pretty big consensus from what I've seen that SDK2.1 is the go to version for 5xxx series.

[the joint]

Here's an old post of mine where I asked a similar question when I first started into bitcoin mining (which wasn't very long ago):

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=62239.msg730227#msg730227

And here is the download page for the older versions (official AMD site):

http://developer.amd.com/sdks/AMDAPPSDK/downloads/pages/AMDAPPSDKDownloadArchive.aspx

I've read that you have to go to the CCC setup and tell it to remove the older SDK but the very first time I just installed SDK2.1 and it worked for me so YMMV.

Once you get the SDK program, open it using something like WinRAR and go into \Packages\AppsATIStreamSDK_Dev_win764a\ and run ATIStreamSDK_dev.msi to install SDK2.1.

I went from getting like 650-700 mhash/s to 750-800 mhash/s on my 5970 by doing so.  Other people posted in my post saying that it helped them too.  There's a pretty big consensus from what I've seen that SDK2.1 is the go to version for 5xxx series.

Can I just go to CCC setup -->  Uninstall, then install SDK 2.1?

[someone703]

I believe you can uninstall whatever version of SDK you currently have by going to CCC then uninstall.

But for whatever reason, you'll have to go into open up the SDK2.1 package as an archive and go to the specific file to install it.  Don't ask me why since I don't know but I'm guessing that there's a reason why I was told to install SDK2.1 that particular way and it worked for me and others apparently.

[the joint]

I believe you can uninstall whatever version of SDK you currently have by going to CCC then uninstall.

But for whatever reason, you'll have to go into open up the SDK2.1 package as an archive and go to the specific file to install it.  Don't ask me why since I don't know but I'm guessing that there's a reason why I was told to install SDK2.1 that particular way and it worked for me and others apparently.

Thanks!  Can anyone confirm this?  I'll try it later.

[P4man]

I thought you had to manually delete (or rename) opencl.dll in system32. Uninstalling the sdk doesnt get rid of it, or so I heard. Easy to check, if after uninstalling this dll is still there, get rid of it before installing 2.1

Also be sure to let us know what results you get. My best 5870 result on sdk 2.4 is ~461 MH/s @ 1000/170. Havent tried 2.1.

[someone703]

I thought you had to manually delete (or rename) opencl.dll in system32. Uninstalling the sdk doesnt get rid of it, or so I heard. Easy to check, if after uninstalling this dll is still there, get rid of it before installing 2.1

Also be sure to let us know what results you get. My best 5870 result on sdk 2.4 is ~461 MH/s @ 1000/170. Havent tried 2.1.

Beats me, you're probably right.  Personally I had no issue though when I just installed SDK2.1 without deleting any .dll files and I definitely noticed an instant improvement in my hash rates.

Was running Windows 7 64-bit if that matters any.

Is there a way to check what version of SDK2.1 is being run at the moment?  I recall reading that there might be but didn't really ever find out.  Will look into that in the meantime.

[the joint]

I thought you had to manually delete (or rename) opencl.dll in system32. Uninstalling the sdk doesnt get rid of it, or so I heard. Easy to check, if after uninstalling this dll is still there, get rid of it before installing 2.1

Also be sure to let us know what results you get. My best 5870 result on sdk 2.4 is ~461 MH/s @ 1000/170. Havent tried 2.1.

So, it seems the steps I need to take are:
1)  Go to CCC setup --> Uninstall
2)  Check to see if opencl.dll is still in system 32.  If it is, delete that.
3)  Download and install SDK 2.1 (or sdk 2.4 if sdk 2.1 doesn't work)
4)  Reap benefits

Yay or nay?  

BTW im running cgminer 2.2.1 on win 7 64-bit

[P4man]

So, it seems the steps I need to take are:
1)  Go to CCC setup --> Uninstall
2)  Check to see if opencl.dll is still in system 32.  If it is, delete that.
3)  Download and install SDK 2.1 (or sdk 2.4 if sdk 2.1 doesn't work)
4)  Reap benefits

Yay or nay?  

5) post results.


edit: important.
Delete (or move/rename) the BIN files in cgminer folder! They are named something like
phatk110817Cypressbitalignv2w256long4.BIN

If you dont remove them, nothing will change, they contain code compiled with the SDK you had when you first ran cgminer.

[the joint]

So, it seems the steps I need to take are:
1)  Go to CCC setup --> Uninstall
2)  Check to see if opencl.dll is still in system 32.  If it is, delete that.
3)  Download and install SDK 2.1 (or sdk 2.4 if sdk 2.1 doesn't work)
4)  Reap benefits

Yay or nay?  

5) post results.


edit: important.
Delete (or move/rename) the BIN files in cgminer folder! They are named something like
phatk110817Cypressbitalignv2w256long4.BIN

If you dont remove them, nothing will change, they contain code compiled with the SDK you had when you first ran cgminer.

Pardon my ignorance, but if I delete the BIN files in the cgminer folder first, will I need to replace them with something else after I install SDK 2.1?

I will def. post results.

Edit:  It sounds like you're saying that if I delete the BIN files, install SDK 2.1 and run cgminer, cgminer will compile new BIN files.

[P4man]

No, cgminer will recreate them when they are not there. Rather than deleting, back them up.

[the joint]

 

Looks like it's settling ~451 m/hash at 990/350  with i=9  voltage = 1.13  running at a cool 53.5C with 60% fan

An extra 50 m/hash ain't too bad at all

Thanks for the help!

Edit:  Copied the old opencl.dll and the old BIN file to a USB stick, just in case.

[P4man]

Looks like it's settling ~451 m/hash at 990/350  with i=9  voltage = 1.13  running at a cool 53.5C with 60% fan

An extra 50 m/hash ain't too bad at all

Thanks for the help!

Edit:  Copied the old opencl.dll and the old BIN file to a USB stick, just in case.

You can do better. Try lowering your ram speeds. See here:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=63464.0

Note, those results were obtained with 2.4 SDK, I assume you have 2.1, so no guarantee how they will carry over, but I would love to find out. 2.1 is supposedly faster than 2.4.

[the joint]

Looks like it's settling ~451 m/hash at 990/350  with i=9  voltage = 1.13  running at a cool 53.5C with 60% fan

An extra 50 m/hash ain't too bad at all

Thanks for the help!

Edit:  Copied the old opencl.dll and the old BIN file to a USB stick, just in case.

You can do better. Try lowering your ram speeds. See here:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=63464.0

Note, those results were obtained with 2.4 SDK, I assume you have 2.1, so no guarantee how they will carry over, but I would love to find out. 2.1 is supposedly faster than 2.4.
[/quote

I'll try again, but lowering the mem seemed to make the drivers unstable before.  I'll check it out now.

[P4man]

I found that changing the memory clock often makes the driver crash. Its not the speed, its the changing.
Best bet is quitting cgminer, change the values in your config file, wait 10 seconds or so, then relaunch cgminer.

Doing it on the fly from within cgminer, or changing too quickly  quite often it would crash, even at speeds that are completely stable otherwise.

Note: I am doing this on a dedicated linux rig, I have no idea if running windows and Aero spoil the fun, but it could.

[the joint]

I found that changing the memory clock often makes the driver crash. Its not the speed, its the changing.
Best bet is quitting cgminer, change the values in your config file, wait 10 seconds or so, then relaunch cgminer.

Doing it on the fly from within cgminer, or changing too quickly  quite often it would crash, even at speeds that are completely stable otherwise.

Note: I am doing this on a dedicated linux rig, I have no idea if running windows and Aero spoil the fun, but it could.

Dropping mem to 170 seems to give about 456 m/hash with core at 990.  About a 5 m/hash boost for me.

[P4man]

Dropping mem to 170 seems to give about 456 m/hash with core at 990.  About a 5 m/hash boost for me.

So thats exactly the same result as I got with 2.4 sdk when corrected for clockspeed. Good to know. 
Enjoy the extra MH and lower powerconsumption

[the joint]

Dropping mem to 170 seems to give about 456 m/hash with core at 990.  About a 5 m/hash boost for me.

So thats exactly the same result as I got with 2.4 sdk when corrected for clockspeed. Good to know. 
Enjoy the extra MH and lower powerconsumption

Nice

Have you fudged around with the intensity or is i=9 considered ideal for the 5870?