BITMAIN Antminer S3 support and OverClocking thread

[gentacomp]

Well since the chips name not different I thought it would has similar architecture and how its works. Then again if I downclock/volt S3 has same efficiency, then the only way is go up as high as I can. Anyone tried 600GH+ ? Since Im still 40C right now so its 10C spare before burn

The chip names (numbers) are different and so is their manufacturing process. If you look at the S1, it has 32 chips on each blade (64 chips in total) that deliver a stock speed of 180 Gh/s, whereas the S3 has 16 chips per blade (32 in total) delivering a stock 441 Gh/s. the only similarity is that they are made by the same company.

I am sure if you ventilate the latter batches' S3's properly (as in either cutting the blue wires or replacing the stock fans with un regulated 150+ CFM's), and power it up with a decent PSU, you can easily surpass 600 Gh/s without much ceremony. Another cooling method would be dismounting the blades from their stock vulcan-grip layout, and installing fans blowing on both heatsinks; this coupled with at least a 750 watt PSU (and of-course the correct frequency settings) can get you well into the 650 Gh/s, again, without much ceremony.

PS. untested and do at your own risk!

Yeah typo, I mean just a little different in chips number BM1382 and BM1380. Looks like easier then S1. Ok maybe I will try in the next batch since I already bought 500 watt PSU for now, thanks

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[Darthswan]

So I overclocked both of my S3s to 250.

One is consistent around 480G
the other one is only around 450 to 460G.

What am I missing?  HW are extremely low.  I don't want to try and overclock it more, but these things are all over the place.  Curious about your overclocking experience.....

Thanks

[eddyann]

looks like we are in the same boat.

both clocked at 250 MHz. one is consistent 490-500G, the other unit 450-470G. all chips are 0000 and HW error is also very low.

[pekatete]

So I overclocked both of my S3s to 250.

One is consistent around 480G
the other one is only around 450 to 460G.

What am I missing?  HW are extremely low.  I don't want to try and overclock it more, but these things are all over the place.  Curious about your overclocking experience.....

Thanks

The S3 takes a while to come to speed, so you have to leave it running at least several hours to a day to get definitive numbers. if that then:
1. What wattage (and efficiency) is your PSU?
2. What batch was this if you know? (the latter batches seem to overclock better)
3. What are the speed you mention here? Are they pool speeds or machine (luci) speeds?
You'll also notice that the hashing speed by the minute / hour is, like you say, all over the place but also bear in mind that the "jobs" being hashed are never the same! Thus, the average hashing spped by both your miner and the pool you are hashing with take a while to settle.

[Darthswan]

So I overclocked both of my S3s to 250.

One is consistent around 480G
the other one is only around 450 to 460G.

What am I missing?  HW are extremely low.  I don't want to try and overclock it more, but these things are all over the place.  Curious about your overclocking experience.....

Thanks

The S3 takes a while to come to speed, so you have to leave it running at least several hours to a day to get definitive numbers. if that then:
1. What wattage (and efficiency) is your PSU?
2. What batch was this if you know? (the latter batches seem to overclock better)
3. What are the speed you mention here? Are they pool speeds or machine (luci) speeds?
You'll also notice that the hashing speed by the minute / hour is, like you say, all over the place but also bear in mind that the "jobs" being hashed are never the same! Thus, the average hashing spped by both your miner and the pool you are hashing with take a while to settle.

1.  Both of them are on their own HX 750 80 plus Gold
2. B6
3.  Pool speed (Slush) currently 466G and 432G respectively. 

The first miner (7hr 25m 15s)
GH/S (5s) 437.16 
GH/S (avg) 458.16

The second miner (7hr 26m 15s)
GH/S (5s) 432.29
GH/S (avg) 481.99

[pekatete]

1.  Both of them are on their own HX 750 80 plus Gold
2. B6
3.  Pool speed (Slush) currently 466G and 432G respectively. 

The first miner (7hr 25m 15s)
GH/S (5s) 437.16 
GH/S (avg) 458.16

The second miner (7hr 26m 15s)
GH/S (5s) 432.29
GH/S (avg) 481.99

1. HX 750 should be more than adequate to overclock a single S3 to the maximum speeds in the asic-freq file confortably. i am not conversant with the connections on this particular PSU, but if you have all four populated on the S3 then, on both ends, you should be hitting the advertised speeds. If not, you probably drew the short straw as they are both B6 (of which I have a couple doing as advertised on a 550W psu)!
2. Slush hourly speeds displayed on the My Account page SHOULD be higher than the LUCI speeds (at least one of mine pointed there does) since you have been running for over an hour.

Having said that, I think the unit does not use the full extent of the advertisied wattage at the over-clock speeds if it does not hit them. Small consolation probably (and even smaller decrease in consumption), but thats how the chips fall. though I have to say, for batch 6, at least both miners should be hitting 480Gh/s.

[Darthswan]

So I messed around and how to restore to factory settings.  So back at factory settings consistently at 440~G.  I went back to overclock them.  After SSHing into the miner, changing the settings, confirming the settings were changed, the GUI still shows the stock frequency.  Any clue to why this is?

Putty shows me having marked 250hz, but the GUI only shows stock(218.75).

Thanks in advance

[whonesta]

Noticed that new firmware also resets the "queue" back to 4096, so if you lowered that to reduce discards you will need to mod that again in:

vi /etc/init.d/cgminer

been running a B3 @ 256.25 for 30 minutes will update after a few hours..

[tutorialevideo]

I had made one video hope to help you!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90aaFWLIdaw

[aarons6]

i have a question, i have 2 s3s. i think batch 6.

anyways, i updated the FW of them to the newest one and they are happily running away at 237Mhz @ 478Ghs.

im running them with a single Seasonic x850 PSU.. each one has 4 PCI-E plugged in.. 4x2 pci-e plugs. no adapters or anything..

i was wondering if i should get another psu and run each on their own psu or if 1 850 is ok.. its been about a week with no problems.


also, i was wondering if i should edit the new menu and add 225?

i dont know how to do that but if 1 850w psu with 2 s3s running at 237 is too much maybe running them at 225 is better?

i get a few hw errors.. about 50 per hour.. one gets more then the other.. i know its not a lot, like .005% but could the psu be causing it?

[pekatete]

i dont know how to do that but if 1 850w psu with 2 s3s running at 237 is too much maybe running them at 225 is better?

i get a few hw errors.. about 50 per hour.. one gets more then the other.. i know its not a lot, like .005% but could the psu be causing it?

General rule of thumb: Make sure the power draw exerted on the PSU is within 80% of its rated output. If the PSU is a gold or platinum, I'd stretch that to 85%. This is for both the longevity of the PSU and the ability to efficiently power-up your rig.

In your case, the PSU is rated @ 850 watts * 0.8 = 680 watts
Thus should have each of your S3's setup at speeds that will consume a maximum of 340 watts each.
According to info on this thread, @ chip_freq '225', power draw is approx 346 watts and at chip_freq '237.5', power draw is approx 375 watts.

So now you know why you are getting a high HW error rate. You gain NOTHING from HW errors, but in the medium to long run, you could lose some of your chips.

[aarons6]

hmm it seems i am right at the edge then.

i have 850 gold psu.
so if i run them at 225 that would be better..

how do i add 225 to the menu?

a few pages back it says what file to edit, but how do i get to that file?


i do have an old 600w psu laying around, think that would be better to use for one of the until i can get another 850?
its not the best psu tho, its a ocz brand

[pekatete]

how do i add 225 to the menu?

a few pages back it says what file to edit, but how do i get to that file?

SSH into the S3 and un-quote to your required frequency. If you are not familiar with this process, read earlier in this thread, it is well explained.
I am not conversant with changing frequencies in the new firmware as I see no need to update mine, they are not broken so why fix anything?

hmm it seems i am right at the edge then.

i have 850 gold psu.
so if i run them at 225 that would be better..

i do have an old 600w psu laying around, think that would be better to use for one of the until i can get another 850?
its not the best psu tho, its a ocz brand

Your PSU will run both S3's confortably at 225. If you want to overclock above that, then you'd ideally put each S3 on a separate PSU that can supply the required power. If I was in your place, I'd be happy to run both off the single 850 or even use the spare one and crank up the speeds on both. Getting another 850 PSU would NOT be on my radar.

On a side note, I run my S3 overclocked to 256.25 (approx 420 watts) at the moment off a 550 watt server PSU and it is running OK for a day now with just 140 HW errors. I am planning on cranking it up to higher speeds since my PSU can pump out approx 440 - 460 watts, so in your case, the 850 for each will be a bit of an overkill.

[aarons6]

ill try the 600w for a few and see if the hw errors go down.

i dont mind them at 237 they run good at that speed.

[pekatete]

So I messed around and how to restore to factory settings.  So back at factory settings consistently at 440~G.  I went back to overclock them.  After SSHing into the miner, changing the settings, confirming the settings were changed, the GUI still shows the stock frequency.  Any clue to why this is?

Putty shows me having marked 250hz, but the GUI only shows stock(218.75).

Thanks in advance

Did you remember to power cycle or type reboot in putty? I am not sure if these settings can be picked up simply by restarting cgminer, but you can try that too, else, after changing the values in the asic-freq file, you have to restart the rig.

[orviwan]

So I messed around and how to restore to factory settings.  So back at factory settings consistently at 440~G.  I went back to overclock them.  After SSHing into the miner, changing the settings, confirming the settings were changed, the GUI still shows the stock frequency.  Any clue to why this is?

Putty shows me having marked 250hz, but the GUI only shows stock(218.75).

Thanks in advance

I had problems with the asic-frequency file being used, even though I was using the new advanced frequency setting in the GUI. I just renamed asic-frequency to .old then rebooted.

[Darthswan]

I rebooted and no change at all.  Do I need to upgrade the firmware?  It was working fine until I updated the firmware.  Then I didn't get any speeds over 100G on both of them.  I reset the miner back to factory and started over.  Now it's mining at 218 on the GUI, but 250 when I ssh into the miner. 

this is interesting

[finlof]

many people dont understand the power supply watt rating.  just because a power supply is 650 watts doesnt mean it can provide that much power on the 12v (which is what the miners use).  in order for you to know how much 12v power your power supply is capable of providing.  you can either look at it in terms of amps or watts as most power supplies show both.  if it only shows the amps available to the 12v rail you can calculate the watts it will provide by multiplying that number by 12v (amps x volts = watts).

take the Corsair 850RM for example - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011.  if you click on the link and click the specifications tab it tells you it has a max of 70A available for 12v.  70 x 12 = 840 watts total.  the rosewill 850 watt power supply cannot provide that much wattage for the 12v rail - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182072.  note that they show 64A max for 12v which only comes out to 768 watts total.

as some have suggested just because the power supply CAN handle 840 watts you wouldnt want to have it running at 100% load (kinda similar to always running your car at max RPM) as that will cause it to fail more quickly, especially if you are using a cheap-o brand PS.

so bottom line - do your homework before thinking an 850w PS can run 2 overclocked S3's because the power usage is supposed to only be 375w per miner.

[finlof]

I rebooted and no change at all.  Do I need to upgrade the firmware?  It was working fine until I updated the firmware.  Then I didn't get any speeds over 100G on both of them.  I reset the miner back to factory and started over.  Now it's mining at 218 on the GUI, but 250 when I ssh into the miner. 

this is interesting

post your asic-freq file from \etc\config.  if you dont have one (since you said you renamed the file to .old) then that's your 1st problem.

[Darthswan]

I rebooted and no change at all.  Do I need to upgrade the firmware?  It was working fine until I updated the firmware.  Then I didn't get any speeds over 100G on both of them.  I reset the miner back to factory and started over.  Now it's mining at 218 on the GUI, but 250 when I ssh into the miner. 

this is interesting

post your asic-freq file from \etc\config.  if you dont have one (since you said you renamed the file to .old) then that's your 1st problem.

I went into the miner config>advance settings tab, to make the change.  Putty not needed.