ANTMINER S3+ Discussion and Support Thread

[visdude]

These are stats from B4 S3s after hashing for about 33 hours at stock clock.  To the S3 experts in here, do you see anything that stands out which needs to be addressed other than the hilarious fan speeds or are they pretty much running within spec and performing as expected?






Each is powered by a Corsair CX500 (non-modular version) which seems to be fine.  I first tried its modular sibling, the CX500M, but the single flat modular PCIe harness/cable got hot very quickly.  So, I strongly suggest to not use a Corsair CX500M (modular) to power an S3.

As much as I like Corsair products, I think they dropped the ball on the CX500M.  Instead of having 2 separate modular PCIe harnesses from the PSU, each with a single PCIe power connector like the CX500, the CX500M only has a single PCIe harness that cascades or splits into 2 PCIe power connectors.  It's merely cosmetic (modular - less clutter) rather than functional.  What were they thinking?  But then again, Corsair most likely expected the CX500M to power a mATX or a Mini-ITX HTPC/Gaming platform with a single mid-range GPU that requires 2 PCIe power connectors and not an S3 in a 24/7 operation.

With an 80 Plus Bronze PSU (CX500), power draw at the wall (using Kill A Watt) ranges from 358W at 28C (82F) ambient room temperature to 365W at 35C (95F).

At an ambient room temperature of 35C (95F), the S3 temperature hovers around 45C (113F).  I am not sure how accurate the temperature sensor in the S3 is but a 10C delta is excellent for an air-cooled device.

[1714999127]

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[allcoinminer]

Balance : Change multipool strategy from failover to even share balance.
Load Balance: Change multipool strategy from failover to quota based balance.

Any one tried the Balance and Load Balance options in S3?

I did with crappy results. Lots of rejects and hash rates that did not make sense. I think it's the buggy firmware.  Liking the upgraded unit with the 2 QC stickers,  impressive.

The barcode label is missing.

[allcoinminer]

These are stats from B4 S3s after hashing for about 33 hours at stock clock.  To the S3 experts in here, do you see anything that stands out which needs to be addressed other than the hilarious fan speeds or are they pretty much running within spec and performing as expected?






Each is powered by a Corsair CX500 (non-modular version) which seems to be fine.  I first tried its modular sibling, the CX500M, but the single flat modular PCIe harness/cable got hot very quickly.  So, I strongly suggest to not use a Corsair CX500M (modular) to power an S3.

As much as I like Corsair products, I think they dropped the ball on the CX500M.  Instead of having 2 separate modular PCIe harnesses from the PSU, each with a single PCIe power connector like the CX500, the CX500M only has a single PCIe harness that cascades or splits into 2 PCIe power connectors.  It's merely cosmetic (modular - less clutter) rather than functional.  What were they thinking?  But then again, Corsair most likely expected the CX500M to power a mATX or a Mini-ITX HTPC/Gaming platform with a single mid-range GPU that requires 2 PCIe power connectors and not an S3 in a 24/7 operation.

With an 80 Plus Bronze PSU (CX500), power draw at the wall (using Kill A Watt) ranges from 358W at 28C (82F) ambient room temperature to 365W at 35C (95F).

At an ambient room temperature of 35C (95F), the S3 temperature hovers around 45C (113F).  I am not sure how accurate the temperature sensor in the S3 is but a 10C delta is excellent for an air-cooled device.

Have you done any edit to this post you earlier posted and deleted?
If no changes then all figures look almost ok except the fan speed 15300 and temp 44.

[gigabitfx]

Hey all.  I ordered 4 units and 1 of the four units 8 asics never init; they are not over clocked.  Ive had my fair share of running S1's so was used to the occasional reboot to resolve asics that drop offline.  However these never come online and I've rebooted so many times I'm just ready to send it back for replacement.  

The question i have is, how long does it generally take to receive a response back from bitmain?  My initial question was sent to them using the website form over at bitmaintech.com on july 30th, and also another message sent on august 3rd.  Im starting to worry at this point, thus me questioning the forums.  Has anyone successfully submitted an RMA request and have any comments from experience on the process in general and how long do things take to get moving and to receive replacement?

[visdude]

These are stats from B4 S3s after hashing for about 33 hours at stock clock.  To the S3 experts in here, do you see anything that stands out which needs to be addressed other than the hilarious fan speeds or are they pretty much running within spec and performing as expected?






Each is powered by a Corsair CX500 (non-modular version) which seems to be fine.  I first tried its modular sibling, the CX500M, but the single flat modular PCIe harness/cable got hot very quickly.  So, I strongly suggest to not use a Corsair CX500M (modular) to power an S3.

As much as I like Corsair products, I think they dropped the ball on the CX500M.  Instead of having 2 separate modular PCIe harnesses from the PSU, each with a single PCIe power connector like the CX500, the CX500M only has a single PCIe harness that cascades or splits into 2 PCIe power connectors.  It's merely cosmetic (modular - less clutter) rather than functional.  What were they thinking?  But then again, Corsair most likely expected the CX500M to power a mATX or a Mini-ITX HTPC/Gaming platform with a single mid-range GPU that requires 2 PCIe power connectors and not an S3 in a 24/7 operation.

With an 80 Plus Bronze PSU (CX500), power draw at the wall (using Kill A Watt) ranges from 358W at 28C (82F) ambient room temperature to 365W at 35C (95F).

At an ambient room temperature of 35C (95F), the S3 temperature hovers around 45C (113F).  I am not sure how accurate the temperature sensor in the S3 is but a 10C delta is excellent for an air-cooled device.

Have you done any edit to this post you earlier posted and deleted?
If no changes then all figures look almost ok except the fan speed 15300 and temp 44.

Yep!  I accidentally posted it halfway through.

[allcoinminer]

Hey all.  I ordered 4 units and 1 of the four units 8 asics never init; they are not over clocked.  Ive had my fair share of running S1's so was used to the occasional reboot to resolve asics that drop offline.  However these never come online and I've rebooted so many times I'm just ready to send it back for replacement.  

The question i have is, how long does it generally take to receive a response back from bitmain?  My initial question was sent to them using the website form over at bitmaintech.com on july 30th, and also another message sent on august 3rd.  Im starting to worry at this point, thus me questioning the forums.  Has anyone successfully submitted an RMA request and have any comments from experience on the process in general and how long do things take to get moving and to receive replacement?

In my experience, sometimes they respond with in minutes or hours.
Sometimes even take days and other times never respond to email and pm.
RMA also takes out your precious time earning BTC.
Try to solve the miner issue yourselves as much as possible.
If you go back in this thread you can see the guides to trouble shoot.
In your case, if you are using a sufficient power supply then thermal paste may be the issue.
Unscrew the front heat sink and replace the thermal paste with a new thermal grease of above 3 thermal conductivy.

[visdude]

Yes Batch 4 onward seems more stable with the expense of higher fans speed.
Any one tried backing up the S3 batch4 firmware and load it to the earlier batches?
Also need to look at the hardware components for any changes.
Can any one post the both blade images and control panels of batch 4 or later S3 herE?

I don't think the fan speed figures are accurate.  I'm almost sure that I could tell the difference between a fan that spins at 4000 RPM and one that spins at a whopping 15300 RPM as in my case .

[Biodom]

These are stats from B4 S3s after hashing for about 33 hours at stock clock.  To the S3 experts in here, do you see anything that stands out which needs to be addressed other than the hilarious fan speeds or are they pretty much running within spec and performing as expected?

http://i1330.photobucket.com/albums/w576/visdude/S3-1_zps11b8a00f.jpg


http://i1330.photobucket.com/albums/w576/visdude/S3-2_zps1f13d617.jpg

Each is powered by a Corsair CX500 (non-modular version) which seems to be fine.  I first tried its modular sibling, the CX500M, but the single flat modular PCIe harness/cable got hot very quickly.  So, I strongly suggest to not use a Corsair CX500M (modular) to power an S3.

As much as I like Corsair products, I think they dropped the ball on the CX500M.  Instead of having 2 separate modular PCIe harnesses from the PSU, each with a single PCIe power connector like the CX500, the CX500M only has a single PCIe harness that cascades or splits into 2 PCIe power connectors.  It's merely cosmetic (modular - less clutter) rather than functional.  What were they thinking?  But then again, Corsair most likely expected the CX500M to power a mATX or a Mini-ITX HTPC/Gaming platform with a single mid-range GPU that requires 2 PCIe power connectors and not an S3 in a 24/7 operation.

With an 80 Plus Bronze PSU (CX500), power draw at the wall (using Kill A Watt) ranges from 358W at 28C (82F) ambient room temperature to 365W at 35C (95F).

At an ambient room temperature of 35C (95F), the S3 temperature hovers around 45C (113F).  I am not sure how accurate the temperature sensor in the S3 is but a 10C delta is excellent for an air-cooled device.

strange, I run S1 on CX500M at 275 mhz for more than a month and a half (slightly overclocked; ~400W) and it was OK with wires a bit warm, but not burning, although i had an extra fan providing more airflow around the miner-maybe this was the difference.

[visdude]

These are stats from B4 S3s after hashing for about 33 hours at stock clock.  To the S3 experts in here, do you see anything that stands out which needs to be addressed other than the hilarious fan speeds or are they pretty much running within spec and performing as expected?

http://i1330.photobucket.com/albums/w576/visdude/S3-1_zps11b8a00f.jpg


http://i1330.photobucket.com/albums/w576/visdude/S3-2_zps1f13d617.jpg

Each is powered by a Corsair CX500 (non-modular version) which seems to be fine.  I first tried its modular sibling, the CX500M, but the single flat modular PCIe harness/cable got hot very quickly.  So, I strongly suggest to not use a Corsair CX500M (modular) to power an S3.

As much as I like Corsair products, I think they dropped the ball on the CX500M.  Instead of having 2 separate modular PCIe harnesses from the PSU, each with a single PCIe power connector like the CX500, the CX500M only has a single PCIe harness that cascades or splits into 2 PCIe power connectors.  It's merely cosmetic (modular - less clutter) rather than functional.  What were they thinking?  But then again, Corsair most likely expected the CX500M to power a mATX or a Mini-ITX HTPC/Gaming platform with a single mid-range GPU that requires 2 PCIe power connectors and not an S3 in a 24/7 operation.

With an 80 Plus Bronze PSU (CX500), power draw at the wall (using Kill A Watt) ranges from 358W at 28C (82F) ambient room temperature to 365W at 35C (95F).

At an ambient room temperature of 35C (95F), the S3 temperature hovers around 45C (113F).  I am not sure how accurate the temperature sensor in the S3 is but a 10C delta is excellent for an air-cooled device.

strange, I run S1 on CX500M at 275 mhz for more than a month and a half (slightly overclocked; ~400W) and it was OK with wire a bit hot, but not burning, although i had an extra fan providing more airflow around the miner-maybe this was the difference.

It's not burning but it's hot and not warm.  In fact, it got hot within a minute after it started hashing.  It'd probably be OK but I wouldn't leave it running unattended though.

[Biodom]

These are stats from B4 S3s after hashing for about 33 hours at stock clock.  To the S3 experts in here, do you see anything that stands out which needs to be addressed other than the hilarious fan speeds or are they pretty much running within spec and performing as expected?

http://i1330.photobucket.com/albums/w576/visdude/S3-1_zps11b8a00f.jpg


http://i1330.photobucket.com/albums/w576/visdude/S3-2_zps1f13d617.jpg

Each is powered by a Corsair CX500 (non-modular version) which seems to be fine.  I first tried its modular sibling, the CX500M, but the single flat modular PCIe harness/cable got hot very quickly.  So, I strongly suggest to not use a Corsair CX500M (modular) to power an S3.

As much as I like Corsair products, I think they dropped the ball on the CX500M.  Instead of having 2 separate modular PCIe harnesses from the PSU, each with a single PCIe power connector like the CX500, the CX500M only has a single PCIe harness that cascades or splits into 2 PCIe power connectors.  It's merely cosmetic (modular - less clutter) rather than functional.  What were they thinking?  But then again, Corsair most likely expected the CX500M to power a mATX or a Mini-ITX HTPC/Gaming platform with a single mid-range GPU that requires 2 PCIe power connectors and not an S3 in a 24/7 operation.

With an 80 Plus Bronze PSU (CX500), power draw at the wall (using Kill A Watt) ranges from 358W at 28C (82F) ambient room temperature to 365W at 35C (95F).

At an ambient room temperature of 35C (95F), the S3 temperature hovers around 45C (113F).  I am not sure how accurate the temperature sensor in the S3 is but a 10C delta is excellent for an air-cooled device.

strange, I run S1 on CX500M at 275 mhz for more than a month and a half (slightly overclocked; ~400W) and it was OK with wire a bit hot, but not burning, although i had an extra fan providing more airflow around the miner-maybe this was the difference.

It's not burning but it's hot and not warm.  In fact, it got hot within a minute after it started hashing.  It'd probably be OK but I wouldn't leave it running unattended though.

it's probably better to use CX750M anyway.

[Phosphorous]

hey folks,

I've been looking around for a power supply suitable for overclocking a single unit. I will run the unit stock for a time, then oc it sometime later. I would like a power supply suitable for both modes of operation. So far, I find plenty of 2x pcie units, but very few 4x pcie units (ive been told oc'ing requires all 4 pcie cables to be connected.) Can someone please point me to a suitable product that has 4 pcie connectors for ocing (or point me to a unit that can do it with two cables)? It would be greatly appreciated, this has caused me a great deal of confusion. Pardon if this has been covered before.

~Green

For overclocking to 250Mhz you should be fine with just 2 cables.

[visdude]

These are stats from B4 S3s after hashing for about 33 hours at stock clock.  To the S3 experts in here, do you see anything that stands out which needs to be addressed other than the hilarious fan speeds or are they pretty much running within spec and performing as expected?

http://i1330.photobucket.com/albums/w576/visdude/S3-1_zps11b8a00f.jpg


http://i1330.photobucket.com/albums/w576/visdude/S3-2_zps1f13d617.jpg

Each is powered by a Corsair CX500 (non-modular version) which seems to be fine.  I first tried its modular sibling, the CX500M, but the single flat modular PCIe harness/cable got hot very quickly.  So, I strongly suggest to not use a Corsair CX500M (modular) to power an S3.

As much as I like Corsair products, I think they dropped the ball on the CX500M.  Instead of having 2 separate modular PCIe harnesses from the PSU, each with a single PCIe power connector like the CX500, the CX500M only has a single PCIe harness that cascades or splits into 2 PCIe power connectors.  It's merely cosmetic (modular - less clutter) rather than functional.  What were they thinking?  But then again, Corsair most likely expected the CX500M to power a mATX or a Mini-ITX HTPC/Gaming platform with a single mid-range GPU that requires 2 PCIe power connectors and not an S3 in a 24/7 operation.

With an 80 Plus Bronze PSU (CX500), power draw at the wall (using Kill A Watt) ranges from 358W at 28C (82F) ambient room temperature to 365W at 35C (95F).

At an ambient room temperature of 35C (95F), the S3 temperature hovers around 45C (113F).  I am not sure how accurate the temperature sensor in the S3 is but a 10C delta is excellent for an air-cooled device.

strange, I run S1 on CX500M at 275 mhz for more than a month and a half (slightly overclocked; ~400W) and it was OK with wire a bit hot, but not burning, although i had an extra fan providing more airflow around the miner-maybe this was the difference.

It's not burning but it's hot and not warm.  In fact, it got hot within a minute after it started hashing.  It'd probably be OK but I wouldn't leave it running unattended though.

it's probably better to use CX750M anyway.

A CX750 for a single S3 at stock clock is overkill IMO; even for an OC'd one.  If it's a good deal, sure, why not?  I think it has already been affirmed by someone in here who successfully OC'd an S3 with a CX500 with no issues.

At 85% efficiency, the CX500 with an 80% load (20% headroom) on its single +12V rail draws around 429W at the wall.  Though I don't intend to permanently run my S3s OC'd, I will be testing it sometime and will post my results.  I just hope I have the "lucky" units.

[WheresWaldo]

Just got my first two antminer s3 and just got them set up. So far they hashing at 450 gh/s avg with jumps to 500 gh/s with a avg on nicehash at 950 gh/s for both of them. It's only been 2 hours. I got them at stock clocks.

Nothing below 440 gh/s yet...looks like batch 5 is solid like a rock!

Thanks bitmain!

Also my second batch already shipped! Should have it Wednesday.

Folks use DHL if you are in the USA or Canada!

DHL rocks!

 

Sucks that you don't answer PM's or respond to quotes in the current thread.  

My B3 units are veritable lemons, I need to restart them every 1/2 hour to keep it over 400gh. My B5 units are all hashing 440gh at stock clocks after 4.5 hours.

How do you have batch 5 units already if they ship on August 7th!?

[WheresWaldo]

hey folks,

I've been looking around for a power supply suitable for overclocking a single unit. I will run the unit stock for a time, then oc it sometime later. I would like a power supply suitable for both modes of operation. So far, I find plenty of 2x pcie units, but very few 4x pcie units (ive been told oc'ing requires all 4 pcie cables to be connected.) Can someone please point me to a suitable product that has 4 pcie connectors for ocing (or point me to a unit that can do it with two cables)? It would be greatly appreciated, this has caused me a great deal of confusion. Pardon if this has been covered before.

~Green

I oc'ed one of my units using only 2 cables and is doing 500Gh/s happily. Others have reported issues with using 4 cables and the way I look at it is, the S1 only uses 2 cables and they draw more power so it should be a non-issue.

The issue is what your wires handle. Using 2 seperate 6pins is different than using 1 cable with 2 6pins on the end.

[daddyfatsax]

Using 225 for the clock, the majority of my units barely get 450 GH/s. The ones set to 218.75 are set there because they did worse on 225. 200-204 are batch 1 units and 209-214 are batch 4.

Every unit I have tried to set at 250 was throwing X's or would just hash lower than 440 GH/s. I messed around with the other clocks as well, but none of these units like anything above 225.

All of these are running on 750 watt server PSU's from sidehack. I have 6 PSU's, they are hooked up with 2 S3's for 1 PSU and the last S3 has its own PSU.



                                        5s         Avg                  HW                       

   S1:200   0d 2h 20m 8s   450.45   435.62   0      0.0004%   0   256   U   0.0297   0   3300   3300 3060    51   51 50   219   
   S1:201   0d 2h 21m 11s   452.84   437.54   0   0.0005%   0   256   U   0.1475   0   2880   2880 2520    47   47 47   219   
   S1:202   0d 2h 20m 13s   442.98   453.93   0   0.0002%   0   256   U   0.3198   0   3240   3240 3000    50   50 48   225   
   S1:203   0d 2h 20m 15s   429.61   439.07   0   0.0002%   0   256   U   2.4955   0   2940   2940 2880    49   49 49   219   
   S1:204   0d 2h 20m 11s   448.9   427.5   0   0.001%   0   256   U   0.0922   0   3180   3180 2940    49   49 49   212   
   S1:209   0d 2h 21m 15s   417.3   448.07   0   0.0303%   0   256   U   0.5762   0   9780   6120 9780    49   49 48   225   
   S1:210   0d 2h 20m 14s   424.87   452.97   0   0.017%   0   256   U   0.3723   0   6240   6240 6000    49   49 48   225
   S1:211   0d 2h 21m 13s   437.72   449.65   0   0.006%   0   256   U   0.3497   0   6420   6420 4260    50   49 50   225   
   S1:212   0d 2h 21m 16s   454.23   447.41   0   0.0125%   0   256   U   0.3513   0   6540   6000 6540    48   48 48   225   
   S1:213   0d 2h 21m 18s   471.27   448.77   0   0.0172%   0   256   U   0.5408   0   7620   6840 7620    49   49 48   225   
   S1:214   0d 2h 21m 20s   416.89   449.17   0   0.0721%   0   256   U   0.1986   0   10260 7140       51   49 51   225

[Phosphorous]

hey folks,

I've been looking around for a power supply suitable for overclocking a single unit. I will run the unit stock for a time, then oc it sometime later. I would like a power supply suitable for both modes of operation. So far, I find plenty of 2x pcie units, but very few 4x pcie units (ive been told oc'ing requires all 4 pcie cables to be connected.) Can someone please point me to a suitable product that has 4 pcie connectors for ocing (or point me to a unit that can do it with two cables)? It would be greatly appreciated, this has caused me a great deal of confusion. Pardon if this has been covered before.

~Green

I oc'ed one of my units using only 2 cables and is doing 500Gh/s happily. Others have reported issues with using 4 cables and the way I look at it is, the S1 only uses 2 cables and they draw more power so it should be a non-issue.

The issue is what your wires handle. Using 2 seperate 6pins is different than using 1 cable with 2 6pins on the end.

3 pairs of quality 18 gauge wires (typical PCIe cable) will easily handle the ~16A of 12V power consumed by an S3 at 450Mhz, whether to 1 connector or 2.

[terrapinflyer]

Got my Batch 3 ants today up and hashing like a champ. Thanks gain Bitmain for making it so easy. Both up hashing at 470gh/s and 440gh/s on stock clocks. One got a little damaged during shipping or packaging the exhaust fan had a corner chipped off but everything else seems fine and dandy.

[jfederkins]

I'm running 4 S3s at stock frequency on a single Enermax MAXREVO 1500W.

They all are hashing at 440-445.

Temp are between 43-46C.
 
They are drawing 1402W at the wall, so there isn't much head room.

[bluebottle73]

Not feasible for me as my controller board's Ethernet interface is completely dead - so it's not even possible to get into it with the default IP address to configure anything let alone see the logs. 

Other people have comparatively minor issues and at least get some hashing out of their units.  Mine is completely dead in the water going on a week now, extending to at least another week.

I have 3 S1 units, and thought about swapping the controller from them, but they're still profitable and I don't want to muck anything up that is actually still running.

BITMAIN - PLEASE JUST SEND REPLACEMENT BOARDS TO THOSE WHO NEED THEM AND HAVE ESTABLISHED THAT IS THEIR PROBLEM.  WAITING 2+ WEEKS FOR A SOLUTION KILLS OUR PROFITABILITY.

But apparently the only thing that seems to matter to them is their own profitability.

You could try the wifi.  If you place your S3s right next to your router,  your router should see them.
[/quote]

And how do I configure the wifi if I can't even log in via the Ethernet interface?

There is no link on the ethernet port, and the wifi is disabled by default so there is no way to get into the board to give it any alternate configuration.

[bluebottle73]

Hey all.  I ordered 4 units and 1 of the four units 8 asics never init; they are not over clocked.  Ive had my fair share of running S1's so was used to the occasional reboot to resolve asics that drop offline.  However these never come online and I've rebooted so many times I'm just ready to send it back for replacement.  

The question i have is, how long does it generally take to receive a response back from bitmain?  My initial question was sent to them using the website form over at bitmaintech.com on july 30th, and also another message sent on august 3rd.  Im starting to worry at this point, thus me questioning the forums.  Has anyone successfully submitted an RMA request and have any comments from experience on the process in general and how long do things take to get moving and to receive replacement?

See my earlier post.  I have a unit that is 100% useless because the controller board is shot.  It took a week before they saw fit to send me a shipping label.  I have to send them the faulty part first, and THEN when they receive it they'll send me the replacement.  I'll be 2 weeks+ before I get the bloody thing running.  So much for profitability.