BITMAIN Antminer S3 support and OverClocking thread

[CapnBDL]

Whelp...never thought I'd be saying this....I think I mighta bricked my control board! Damn!!!

hey bud your talking about an s3 right? if so I got mine unbricked so if you want could help you with the process you need that usb i was talking about though.

Yup...getting ready to check fleabay. He's been outa stock but was expecting more this week. I saved the seller link you sent me. Thanks. Sounded like the best/usd to me. I'll let ya know. It was a stupid mistake. My fault.

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[Moria843]

I think I have a bad controller card on one of my S3s. Can I use the card from an old S1?

[CapnBDL]

I think I have a bad controller card on one of my S3s. Can I use the card from an old S1?

Why do you think you have a bad controller? Don't know about an S1 card but I doubt it. Probably not the right interface. So...don't know. Sorry.

[luthermarcus]

I think I have a bad controller card on one of my S3s. Can I use the card from an old S1?

I heard people saying that it is the same card you should get away with it. It takes the same firmware I'm not sure if you should upgrade firmware before you put it on the s3.

[cenicsoft]

I think I have a bad controller card on one of my S3s. Can I use the card from an old S1?

I heard people saying that it is the same card you should get away with it. It takes the same firmware I'm not sure if you should upgrade firmware before you put it on the s3.

The S1 and S3 control boards should be interoperable. When purchasing the upgrade kit from S1 to S3, you were required to use the same controller. Also, you can upgrade the firmware after replacing the card.  The unit simply won't hash until you flash it to use S3 firmware.

[goodgryphon]

has anyone tried higher freq's like these in an S3?
        #option 'freq_value'    '0f82'  #400M
        #option 'chip_freq'     '400'
        #option 'timeout'       '10'

        #option 'freq_value'    '0e82'  #375M
        #option 'chip_freq'     '375'
        #option 'timeout'       '10'

        #option 'freq_value'    '0d82'  #350M
        #option 'chip_freq'     '350'
        #option 'timeout'       '11'

        #option 'freq_value'    '0c82'  #325M
        #option 'chip_freq'     '325'
        #option 'timeout'       '12'

        #option 'freq_value'    '0b82'  #300M
        #option 'chip_freq'     '300'
        #option 'timeout'       '13'

        #option 'freq_value'    '0a82'  #275M
        #option 'chip_freq'     '275'
        #option 'timeout'       '14'
   
        #option 'freq_value'    '0982'  #250M
        #option 'chip_freq'     '250'
        #option 'timeout'       '15'

just playing with oc'n my use s3.

[CapnBDL]

has anyone tried higher freq's like these in an S3?
        #option 'freq_value'    '0f82'  #400M
        #option 'chip_freq'     '400'
        #option 'timeout'       '10'

        #option 'freq_value'    '0e82'  #375M
        #option 'chip_freq'     '375'
        #option 'timeout'       '10'

        #option 'freq_value'    '0d82'  #350M
        #option 'chip_freq'     '350'
        #option 'timeout'       '11'

        #option 'freq_value'    '0c82'  #325M
        #option 'chip_freq'     '325'
        #option 'timeout'       '12'

        #option 'freq_value'    '0b82'  #300M
        #option 'chip_freq'     '300'
        #option 'timeout'       '13'

        #option 'freq_value'    '0a82'  #275M
        #option 'chip_freq'     '275'
        #option 'timeout'       '14'
   
        #option 'freq_value'    '0982'  #250M
        #option 'chip_freq'     '250'
        #option 'timeout'       '15'

just playing with oc'n my use s3.

On an s3 you'll be lucky to get it at the 243, you might go 225. You'll find a bunch of x's or -'s for your asic chips. I have a s3+ that doesn't like it past the 250. Also remember to adjust your voltage. If you play too much...the saying goes ya pay to play.

Good Luck and Happy Mining!!

[CapnBDL]

Help...anybody know what kind of serial communication the s3+ uses. Has anyone tried to use a rPi as the controller?

[goodgryphon]

any tips on the volt moding? is there a good gui to do it or a file to change? or is it old school and time to break out the old no.2 ?
P.S. have adj the file to 325 and it boots
ran 1 hour got stats of
27 hw     1397accpt/5148discard        avg. Gh/s 425.40      temps 41/44

[CapnBDL]

any tips on the volt moding? is there a good gui to do it or a file to change? or is it old school and time to break out the old no.2 ?
P.S. have adj the file to 325 and it boots
ran 1 hour got stats of
27 hw     1397accpt/5148discard        avg. Gh/s 425.40      temps 41/44

The info you search is within this thread. Sorry tho...I don't remember what page. Do a quick scan starting about 10 back. Don't know for sure tho. Look at your GUI.

[stonehedge]

Hi.

I have a few basic S3 questions if I may.

I have decided that I want a very small mining rig hashing at ~200Ghs with lowest possible power consumption for a bit of bitcoin solo mining lottery fun or occasional use on a multipool to pay out a handful of altcoins.  I stupidly tried some U3s and after a week of soul draining inconsistency I have given up and will be giving them as paperweights.

I used to have an S3+ that I ran maxed out but sold it some time ago.  Luckily, I still have a suitable PSU.

My questions are: 

• Would it be viable to purchase another S3 and adjust the operating frequency so that it would hash at ~200Ghs?
• If so, what is power consumption and fan noise like at this hashrate?  Would it be better than the claimed U3 rate of 0.8 Watt/GH?

I'm not really keen to go down the pencil mod route as I quite honestly can't be bothered...this is only supposed to be a bit of money wasting fun

Cheers in advance.

[Moria843]

Changing the frequency alone won't significantly increase the efficiency. You have to also reduce the chip voltages through the pencil mod or adding resistors (using voltage setting available with some firmware does nothing). I reduced by adding 8 resistors to each hash board of 4 S3s. I set each to the frequency that was the most efficient. The slowest hashes at 250 and the fastest at 390 Gh/s. I'm now averaging 0.62 J/Gh, which is still profitable.

[stonehedge]

Changing the frequency alone won't significantly increase the efficiency. You have to also reduce the chip voltages through the pencil mod or adding resistors (using voltage setting available with some firmware does nothing). I reduced by adding 8 resistors to each hash board of 4 S3s. I set each to the frequency that was the most efficient. The slowest hashes at 250 and the fastest at 390 Gh/s. I'm now averaging 0.62 J/Gh, which is still profitable.

Thanks for that info.  I was hoping it would be as simple as lowing the frequency.

This hasn't put me off though.  I'm confident to make the electronic changes necessary as I have a background in electronics.  I'll give it some thought.

Thanks again.

[CapnBDL]

Changing the frequency alone won't significantly increase the efficiency. You have to also reduce the chip voltages through the pencil mod or adding resistors (using voltage setting available with some firmware does nothing). I reduced by adding 8 resistors to each hash board of 4 S3s. I set each to the frequency that was the most efficient. The slowest hashes at 250 and the fastest at 390 Gh/s. I'm now averaging 0.62 J/Gh, which is still profitable.

Thanks for that info.  I was hoping it would be as simple as lowing the frequency.

This hasn't put me off though.  I'm confident to make the electronic changes necessary as I have a background in electronics.  I'll give it some thought.

Thanks again.

May I suggest that for what you want, instead of going the s3 route, maybe the r-Box110 would be more inline with your needs. Just a thought. Good Luck.

[stonehedge]

Changing the frequency alone won't significantly increase the efficiency. You have to also reduce the chip voltages through the pencil mod or adding resistors (using voltage setting available with some firmware does nothing). I reduced by adding 8 resistors to each hash board of 4 S3s. I set each to the frequency that was the most efficient. The slowest hashes at 250 and the fastest at 390 Gh/s. I'm now averaging 0.62 J/Gh, which is still profitable.

Thanks for that info.  I was hoping it would be as simple as lowing the frequency.

This hasn't put me off though.  I'm confident to make the electronic changes necessary as I have a background in electronics.  I'll give it some thought.

Thanks again.

May I suggest that for what you want, instead of going the s3 route, maybe the r-Box110 would be more inline with your needs. Just a thought. Good Luck.

One or two of those would indeed fit the bill but they are like hens teeth at the moment.  Everywhere is out of stock.

I won't divert this thread with talk about other units but thanks for the suggestion, much appreciated.

The thing I like about the S3 is that that they are cheap and numerous.  It was also a rock solid machine when I was using it for more serious mining in the past 

[RichBC]

Changing the frequency alone won't significantly increase the efficiency. You have to also reduce the chip voltages through the pencil mod or adding resistors (using voltage setting available with some firmware does nothing). I reduced by adding 8 resistors to each hash board of 4 S3s. I set each to the frequency that was the most efficient. The slowest hashes at 250 and the fastest at 390 Gh/s. I'm now averaging 0.62 J/Gh, which is still profitable.

I am also in the middle of some decision making on which system to go for with a key factor being efficiency. I have modified a board in my S3 with digital pots to make experimenting easier.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1127340.msg12040549#msg12040549

The best I have seen was at 125Mhz, 0.64V Core Voltage, giving a hash of about 254GH which is J/GH of 0.48


Rich

[RichBC]

Core voltage for150 & 175MHz are not covered in the data sheets there is only voltage information down to 225Mhz with 0.72V. Best voltage for lower frequencies has to be found by seeing what works.

Rich

[-droid-]

Core voltage for150 & 175MHz are not covered in the data sheets there is only voltage information down to 225Mhz with 0.72V. Best voltage for lower frequencies has to be found by seeing what works.

Rich

Yeah you gotta try to start low then step it up gradually to see what works best

[RichBC]

Here is what I have found works, by trial & error, at the lower clock frequencies.

Code:

MHz	V Core	GH	W	J/GH
175	0.685	350	197	0.56
150	0.66	300	154	0.51
125	0.64	254	120	0.47
100	0.63	200	96	0.48

The J/GH at 100MHz should be better but I cannot get the Core voltage low enough as am now very close to the TPS53355 DC-DC Converter 0.6V reference voltage.

Rich

[Zeta0S]

http://www.bitcoinupdate.nl/home/here-is-the-newest-antminer-s5

Sickening 7.7Terrahash