Undervolting 69XX series

[jjshabadoo]

Read a few threads but didn't feel like there was a definitive method to undervolt these cards. I have 2 6970's and two 6990's in a machine right now and would like to increase their efficiency as much as possible.

Looking for lowest stable voltage no matter what the clocks need to be and of course lowest possible memclock.

I'll post what I can if I get anywhere on my own.

[1714864510]

1714864510

[1714864510]

1714864510

[BitBlitz]

I have a box with 2x6990 and 1x6970 on stock BIOS, running at:
500MHz core / 450MHz memory @ 1.0V for the 6990s
500/400 @1.0V on the 6970

1120MH/s - 480W at the wall.  Oh, and having fans running below 40% is nice! 

There is another small voltage step to 0.95V if you drop all the way down to 275/150, but I saw not reason to run that low.

[Grinder]

I have 2 6950 that I run at 758/150 MHz, 0.95v, fans at 30%, and I get about 335 MH/s from each. They've been running like that since last summer, so they're pretty stable.

[ummas]

You undervolt by bios or by afterburner or cgminer ??
whats the wattage of that card with that configuration ??

[TurboK]

I'd wager Afterburner, since custom clocks are blocked by the driver.

I'm interested in your wattage too, I run a 6950 and it would be nice to cut back on the electric bill. It's for gaming though, so memory runs at full clocks.

[n4l3hp]

I dont know about 69xx as I don't have one. I'm assuming the 69xx also act like the 68xx. The 68xx will auto-adjust its voltage depending on the core clock.

Voltage range that will auto-adjust: 0.95-1.175 (can overvolt using Trixx but cannot undervolt)

6870 @ Core:
776-up = 1.175v
601-775 = 1.1v
401-600 = 1.0v
150-400 = 0.95v

Using CGMiner 2.3.1.2 Intensity 6:
950/134 = 310MH/s (Athlon II X4 + 2x 6870 + IGP as primary display = +/- 350w)
775/134 = 248MH/s (                             "                                  = +/- 270w)
600/134 = 195MH/s (                             "                                  = +/- 200w)
400/134 = 125MH/s (                             "                                  = +/- 145w)

I play online games with the IGP (900 core) while mining. Motherboard is Gigabyte 890GPA-UD3H.

* The power readings are from the wall excluding the monitor, while an online game called Granado Espada is running minimized in the background.



 

[malevolent]

I have a box with 2x6990 and 1x6970 on stock BIOS, running at:
500MHz core / 450MHz memory @ 1.0V for the 6990s
500/400 @1.0V on the 6970

1120MH/s - 480W at the wall.  Oh, and having fans running below 40% is nice! 

There is another small voltage step to 0.95V if you drop all the way down to 275/150, but I saw not reason to run that low.

At such a low clocks you should be able to reduce the voltage much, much more.
Not sure which software will work though without BIOS flash but you can give a try to all the tools available.
For me barelyclocked works well for undervolting/overvolting all cards.

HD 6770 - works 24/7 stable @ 775/180 with 0.82V (stock was 775/1000 and 1.125V). This way temperatures decreased by 27C (the card is in a very hot place).

[TurboK]

I tried underclocking my 6950 with MSI Afterburner, but it seems the memory will not underclock at all. At 1v and 700/1250 mhz the card is mostly stable but sometimes rarely it hangs up. I'm running it at those speeds with 1.025v, seems stable so far. Load temps dropped a good 10c (using a scythe cooler + noctua fan).

At 0.975v the card ran fine for about a day before locking up. At 0.950v it locked up outright when I launched a game.

I'm aiming to reduce my power bill as much as possible, without having to part with this awesome card and without giving up too much of its performance.

[ummas]

You can mine with those settings: 700/575 - mem cannot be less than core-125Mhz. Works for me.
I cannot change V in cgminer
no other tool for that....

[Beaflag VonRathburg]

I've been fighting with my 3 6870s over these same issues. At this point I've tried ATI tray tools, Trixx, CGminer, and CCC. None of them will adjust the voltage and I'm stuck with the memory 100 mhz below the clock speed. I was having heat issues until I pulled my wireless card and added an extra 80mm that I had laying around. I'd like to be able to drop the memory and voltage though to increase efficiency. I'm going to try afterburner next and see if that will unlock them.

[ummas]

i`ll try to grab somme bioses from my 6970 and 6990 today for testing...
Maybe it will give me somme power consumption loss.

[ummas]

I`ll did 3/4 of my planned work.
I have flashed seccesfully 6970 - mem@150 and Vcore@1.1 - i hope.
6990 gave me strange ERROR.
atiflash -p X nameofthebiosfile.bin -fs -fa -fm -fp
"EPROM not erased" if i remember correctly....

Bios switch on card is covered by sticker of somme kind with "CHECK USERS MANUAL" on it, but manual says nothing.
I`ll dig more on the web and try tomorrow.

EDIT:
aprox 50W power loss: mem 770->150 and 1.167-> 1.1
I changed CPU A64 6400+ (!!!!!) -> sempron 145
summary rig was taking 1050 from the wall, and now it takes 930.
5870-5850-6990-6970