[Guide] Dogie's Comprehensive Bitmain Antminer S3 Setup [HD]

[TrekRider]

Dogie, do you have instructions on how to change the frequency?  Seeing reports they're running better at 212.5. 

Thanks in advance, appreciate the great guides. 

[1715058911]

1715058911

[dogie]

Dogie, do you have instructions on how to change the frequency?  Seeing reports they're running better at 212.5. 

Thanks in advance, appreciate the great guides. 

I don't have the hex values for non standard frequencies and I wouldn't really try them. I would wait until we know more about the stability of the S3s first.

[TrekRider]

I don't have the hex values for non standard frequencies and I wouldn't really try them. I would wait until we know more about the stability of the S3s first.

Appreciate the advice!

[Pjones]

How does the control board get power?

[ZiG]

How does the control board get power?

Internal cables...

[Beastlymac]

Dogie, do you have instructions on how to change the frequency?  Seeing reports they're running better at 212.5. 

Thanks in advance, appreciate the great guides. 

Goxed has a thread on over/under clocking here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=699064.0

[Pjones]

How does the control board get power?

Internal cables...

Is there a picture?  Is there a connector on one of the hashing boards on the large heat sink side?

[dogie]

Dogie, do you have instructions on how to change the frequency?  Seeing reports they're running better at 212.5. 

Thanks in advance, appreciate the great guides. 

Goxed has a thread on over/under clocking

Still don't have the hex's for the non standard clocks.

[dogie]

How does the control board get power?

Internal cables...

Is there a picture?  Is there a connector on one of the hashing boards on the large heat sink side?

Its the white ribbon cables.

[Aukoue]

Hey dogie. This tutorial looks incredibly useful, thank you so much for creating it! I am new to Bitcoin mining, so I just want to get this straight. If I buy the Antminer S3 and the PSU (this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ALK3KEM/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER) I will be good to go, right? I will just need to connect the S3 to the PSU and an ethernet cable. I am really sorry about my lack of knowledge, but please have patience for me. I will do my best to find out more and more about Bitcoin mining.

[Beastlymac]

Hey dogie. This tutorial looks incredibly useful, thank you so much for creating it! I am new to Bitcoin mining, so I just want to get this straight. If I buy the Antminer S3 and the PSU (this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ALK3KEM/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER) I will be good to go, right? I will just need to connect the S3 to the PSU and an ethernet cable. I am really sorry about my lack of knowledge, but please have patience for me. I will do my best to find out more and more about Bitcoin mining.

That is all the hardware you need. You also need a pool account for connecting your miner and mining on. The setup for the S3 is very simple.

[Biodom]

Dogie, do you have instructions on how to change the frequency?  Seeing reports they're running better at 212.5.  

Thanks in advance, appreciate the great guides.  

I don't have the hex values for non standard frequencies and I wouldn't really try them. I would wait until we know more about the stability of the S3s first.

There are right there in bitmain's own asic-freq file:

config 'asic-freq' 'default'                  
                                              
        #option 'freq_value'    '0982'  #225M  
        #option 'chip_freq'     '250'          
        #option 'timeout'       '16'          
                                              
        #option 'freq_value'    '1286'  #237.5M
        #option 'chip_freq'     '237.5'        
        #option 'timeout'       '17'          
                                              
        #option 'freq_value'    '0882'  #225M  
        #option 'chip_freq'     '225'          
        #option 'timeout'       '18'          
                                              
        option 'freq_value'    '1106'  #218.75M
        option 'chip_freq'     '218.75'        
        option 'timeout'       '18'            
                                              
        #option 'freq_value'    '1086'  #212.5M
        #option 'chip_freq'     '212.5'        
        #option 'timeout'       '18'    
      
        #option 'freq_value'    '0782'  #200M  
        #option 'chip_freq'     '200'          
        #option 'timeout'       '20'          
                                              
        #option 'freq_value'    '1f07'  #196M  
        #option 'chip_freq'     '196'          
        #option 'timeout'       '20'          
                                              
        #option 'freq_value'    '0f03'  #193M  
        #option 'chip_freq'     '193'          
        #option 'timeout'       '20'          
                                              
        #option 'freq_value'    '0d83'  #175M  
        #option 'chip_freq'     '175'          
        #option 'timeout'       '23'          
                                              
        #option 'freq_value'    '0b83'  #150M  
        #option 'chip_freq'     '150'          
        #option 'timeout'       '27'          
                                              
        #option 'freq_value'    '0983'  #125M  
        #option 'chip_freq'     '125'        
        #option 'timeout'       '33'    

[Aukoue]

Hey dogie. This tutorial looks incredibly useful, thank you so much for creating it! I am new to Bitcoin mining, so I just want to get this straight. If I buy the Antminer S3 and the PSU (this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ALK3KEM/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER) I will be good to go, right? I will just need to connect the S3 to the PSU and an ethernet cable. I am really sorry about my lack of knowledge, but please have patience for me. I will do my best to find out more and more about Bitcoin mining.

That is all the hardware you need. You also need a pool account for connecting your miner and mining on. The setup for the S3 is very simple.

Alright. Thank you. I just have one more question. Why do I need a 750W PSU if the miner only uses about 350W? Wouldn't getting a 500W  Corsair PSU make more sense?

[newguy05]

Hey dogie. This tutorial looks incredibly useful, thank you so much for creating it! I am new to Bitcoin mining, so I just want to get this straight. If I buy the Antminer S3 and the PSU (this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ALK3KEM/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER) I will be good to go, right? I will just need to connect the S3 to the PSU and an ethernet cable. I am really sorry about my lack of knowledge, but please have patience for me. I will do my best to find out more and more about Bitcoin mining.

That is all the hardware you need. You also need a pool account for connecting your miner and mining on. The setup for the S3 is very simple.

Alright. Thank you. I just have one more question. Why do I need a 750W PSU if the miner only uses about 350W? Wouldn't getting a 500W  Corsair PSU make more sense?

I have the same question, I have a bunch 400w UL certified power supply can I just use one for each miner?

From my understanding the bronze to gold level is the efficiency of power draw from the outlet but they all should deliver the rated power? IE 400W power supply should deliver 400W ?

[klondike_bar]

Hey dogie. This tutorial looks incredibly useful, thank you so much for creating it! I am new to Bitcoin mining, so I just want to get this straight. If I buy the Antminer S3 and the PSU (this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ALK3KEM/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER) I will be good to go, right? I will just need to connect the S3 to the PSU and an ethernet cable. I am really sorry about my lack of knowledge, but please have patience for me. I will do my best to find out more and more about Bitcoin mining.

That is all the hardware you need. You also need a pool account for connecting your miner and mining on. The setup for the S3 is very simple.

Alright. Thank you. I just have one more question. Why do I need a 750W PSU if the miner only uses about 350W? Wouldn't getting a 500W  Corsair PSU make more sense?

I have the same question, I have a bunch 400w UL certified power supply can I just use one for each miner?

From my understanding the bronze to gold level is the efficiency of power draw from the outlet but they all should deliver the rated power? IE 400W power supply should deliver 400W ?

your 400W is likely spread across 12V, 5V, 3.3V so that 12V is actually only ~300W.  If it has two rails, 150W may be for the motherboard cable and only 150W over PCIe
on top of that, you should not load PSUs past 80% for 24/7 operation like bitcoin mining. It reduces efficiency and cheaper models will burn out within months

[Aukoue]

Hey dogie. This tutorial looks incredibly useful, thank you so much for creating it! I am new to Bitcoin mining, so I just want to get this straight. If I buy the Antminer S3 and the PSU (this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ALK3KEM/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER) I will be good to go, right? I will just need to connect the S3 to the PSU and an ethernet cable. I am really sorry about my lack of knowledge, but please have patience for me. I will do my best to find out more and more about Bitcoin mining.

That is all the hardware you need. You also need a pool account for connecting your miner and mining on. The setup for the S3 is very simple.

Alright. Thank you. I just have one more question. Why do I need a 750W PSU if the miner only uses about 350W? Wouldn't getting a 500W  Corsair PSU make more sense?

I have the same question, I have a bunch 400w UL certified power supply can I just use one for each miner?

From my understanding the bronze to gold level is the efficiency of power draw from the outlet but they all should deliver the rated power? IE 400W power supply should deliver 400W ?

your 400W is likely spread across 12V, 5V, 3.3V so that 12V is actually only ~300W.  If it has two rails, 150W may be for the motherboard cable and only 150W over PCIe
on top of that, you should not load PSUs past 80% for 24/7 operation like bitcoin mining. It reduces efficiency and cheaper models will burn out within months

Thank you, you guys are really helpful! Just one more question (I promise that I will make sure it's the last one). Certain guy said that I should get the S3, but I should wait for the Batch 4 to come out. I'm not sure, however what that it, what it does, when it comes out, and how much more it will cost.
EDIT: okay, it turns out that the one in my eBay card is a Batch 4

[dogie]

Dogie, do you have instructions on how to change the frequency?  Seeing reports they're running better at 212.5. 

Thanks in advance, appreciate the great guides. 

I don't have the hex values for non standard frequencies and I wouldn't really try them. I would wait until we know more about the stability of the S3s first.

There are right there in bitmain's own asic-freq file:

config 'asic-freq' 'default'                   
                                               
        #option 'freq_value'    '0982'  #225M 
        #option 'chip_freq'     '250'         
        #option 'timeout'       '16'           
                                               
        #option 'freq_value'    '1286'  #237.5M
        #option 'chip_freq'     '237.5'       
        #option 'timeout'       '17'           
                                               
        #option 'freq_value'    '0882'  #225M 
        #option 'chip_freq'     '225'         
        #option 'timeout'       '18'           
                                               
        option 'freq_value'    '1106'  #218.75M
        option 'chip_freq'     '218.75'       
        option 'timeout'       '18'           
                                               
        #option 'freq_value'    '1086'  #212.5M
        #option 'chip_freq'     '212.5'       
        #option 'timeout'       '18'   
       
        #option 'freq_value'    '0782'  #200M 
        #option 'chip_freq'     '200'         
        #option 'timeout'       '20'           
                                               
        #option 'freq_value'    '1f07'  #196M 
        #option 'chip_freq'     '196'         
        #option 'timeout'       '20'           
                                               
        #option 'freq_value'    '0f03'  #193M 
        #option 'chip_freq'     '193'         
        #option 'timeout'       '20'           
                                               
        #option 'freq_value'    '0d83'  #175M 
        #option 'chip_freq'     '175'         
        #option 'timeout'       '23'           
                                               
        #option 'freq_value'    '0b83'  #150M 
        #option 'chip_freq'     '150'         
        #option 'timeout'       '27'           
                                               
        #option 'freq_value'    '0983'  #125M 
        #option 'chip_freq'     '125'       
        #option 'timeout'       '33'     

Okay, I hadn't looked in the file itself - was looking in supporting documentation. I will set this up soon.

[dlasher]

For those of us setting up more than (1) box, is there any info on how to avoid having to piddle through through the GUI for all the settings?

Maybe once DHCP is forced, SSH is enabled, set the rest via CLI?

- cgminer settings
- DHCP enabled
- hostname
-timezone

etc?

EDIT: I'm an idiot : /etc/config holds it all.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=699064.20


(now if it would only check a URL on bootup for its' config like the KNC's do)

[J4bberwock]

Dogie, any chance you could take a picture of the upper left area from this picture so I could read the resistor value?

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2900/14713993833_d214627e56_o.jpg

The 2 resistors on the right of the heat ducts should be the ones for over/under volting
The one connected to the ground (heat ducts) should be 10k, another one will probably be around 2.4k and connected to the coil. It's probably the one next to the capacitor."c472" if I read it correctly.

[nunyabiz]

Great post... thanks! 

Is it possible to power two Antminer S3's with a single PSU?
 
If so, which unit would you buy for that purpose?

If I am not over-clocking is there an advantage to using all 4 PCI-e connections, instead of just 2, on an S3?