840 MHash on 5970 - Good or Bad?

[QiVX]

Hi I'm relatively new to Bitcoin Mining and was wondering if about 840 mhashes is good for a 5970?

I'm currently at 910 mhz core, and 375 mhz memory. Stock voltage. Cgminer reports voltage as being 1.050, so I believe that is stock? Or is that too high of a voltage?

Also with such a high clock with this hurt my card? Eg will it reduce the life of my card?

Thanks.

[QiVX]

If you have a look here https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_hardware_comparison#AMD_.28ATI.29 You'll see that 840mh/s for a 5970 is quite a high mh/s for that card. What sort of temp is it mining at?

I'm not sure if that 110 C temp is the VRM?

I'm hoping it is. Because if it's not the VRM is probably smoking hot.

Also what is a safe range for the VRM temp? Under 120 C?

Thanks

[smracer]

Looks too hot to me.

[QiVX]

Looks too hot to me.

How hot should it be max?
It's been running like that for 2 days straight. Is that bad?

[MXRider]

Too hot. I keep my cards under 65 but most of us run them between 70 and 80 I think?

How much do you pay for electricity? Do you have a kill-a-watt?
http://tradebtc.net/bitcalc.php
Try different numbers and see what gives you the best ROI.

I would try settings around 800/150 or 850/150. You have to find the right voltage.

Over 100C is simply too much.

[QiVX]

Too hot. I keep my cards under 65 but most of us run them between 70 and 80 I think?

How much do you pay for electricity? Do you have a kill-a-watt?
http://tradebtc.net/bitcalc.php
Try different numbers and see what gives you the best ROI.

I would try settings around 800/150 or 850/150. You have to find the right voltage.

Over 100C is simply too much.

It's running at 45C. How is that too hot?
112C is the VRM temp I presume? CGMiner says I'm at 45C, same with MSI AfterBurner, etc. I'm not sure where this 112C temp came from, thus me thinking that it is the VRM?

EDIT:
I've made them be 890 Core, and 375 Memory. 1.050 Voltage. Every thing seems fine now, VRMs seem to be about 105C.

Also I had a look at this, my current on the card sometimes bounces, or throttles, is this bad?

[zvs]

Hi I'm relatively new to Bitcoin Mining and was wondering if about 840 mhashes is good for a 5970?

I'm currently at 910 mhz core, and 375 mhz memory. Stock voltage. Cgminer reports voltage as being 1.050, so I believe that is stock? Or is that too high of a voltage?

Also with such a high clock with this hurt my card? Eg will it reduce the life of my card?

Thanks.

840mhash seems slow, for 910/375.  Probably using a crappy SDK.

I have no clue as to how you can run it stable at 910/375 @ 1.050v, either.  Only two GPUs out of 10 of mine can run stable at 850/150 @ 1.050v.  The rest are lower.

At 850/150, it gets 800mhash.

(well, I just noticed that your screenshot actually shows that you have increased your voltage past stock, which would explain the 910)

ed:  and your card wouldn't be running at 43.5o, either

[QiVX]

Hi I'm relatively new to Bitcoin Mining and was wondering if about 840 mhashes is good for a 5970?

I'm currently at 910 mhz core, and 375 mhz memory. Stock voltage. Cgminer reports voltage as being 1.050, so I believe that is stock? Or is that too high of a voltage?

Also with such a high clock with this hurt my card? Eg will it reduce the life of my card?

Thanks.

840mhash seems slow, for 910/375.  Probably using a crappy SDK.

I have no clue as to how you can run it stable at 910/375 @ 1.050v, either.  Only two GPUs out of 10 of mine can run stable at 850/150 @ 1.050v.  The rest are lower.

At 850/150, it gets 800mhash.

(well, I just noticed that your screenshot actually shows that you have increased your voltage past stock, which would explain the 910)

ed:  and your card wouldn't be running at 43.5o, either

Well it's running in the garage.
I live in Melbourne and it's about 5C outside. Bloodly freezing but good for the GPUs.
The GPU also has an Artic Accelero Cooler, running at 100% at all times.

Also is that current throttle bad for the life of the GPU?

[MXRider]

I was just about to say that he might be using AC Xtreme. It tends to keep core temperature very low but the VRMs are way too hot. That's a known problem with that cooler.

45C for core is perfect but 100C for VRMs will fuck them up in the long run. Underclock that rather than overclock.

[Aseras]

According to the guy who designed the 5970 the vrms are safe to 150c and throttle over 125c. That's an internal reading unrelated to what you see in gpuz or other monitors however.

The stock heats sinks are far far better than the artics. The TIM they use is the best money can buy.  I have 2 article 5970 xtreme colers in my desk drawer. They are crap for the vrm. The back vrm is adequately cooled and has enough mass and surface area. The front vrm heat sink is a thin plate no surface area or cooling. There a huge empty spot under the front fan that should have been used with a similar setup as the rear or a heat pipe but was poorly designed.

Add to that the fact that if you over tighten the gpu x plates with the artic you'll kill DVI out. The artics are essentially worthless.

I get 10-20 c cooler vrm and within 10 c core with the stock coolers.

My 5970s run 900 core 300 memory stock voltage. The vrms stay just under 100c and the cores are 55c.  I get about 810 mhash per card.

[zvs]

According to the guy who designed the 5970 the vrms are safe to 150c and throttle over 125c. That's an internal reading unrelated to what you see in gpuz or other monitors however.

The stock heats sinks are far far better than the artics. The TIM they use is the best money can buy.  I have 2 article 5970 xtreme colers in my desk drawer. They are crap for the vrm. The back vrm is adequately cooled and has enough mass and surface area. The front vrm heat sink is a thin plate no surface area or cooling. There a huge empty spot under the front fan that should have been used with a similar setup as the rear or a heat pipe but was poorly designed.

Add to that the fact that if you over tighten the gpu x plates with the artic you'll kill DVI out. The artics are essentially worthless.

I get 10-20 c cooler vrm and within 10 c core with the stock coolers.

My 5970s run 900 core 300 memory stock voltage. The vrms stay just under 100c and the cores are 55c.  I get about 810 mhash per card.

What is "stock voltage"?  I have 3 performance levels, the max is 1.05.  I know some BIOSes have 1.10 as "stock", there may be some others even higher.

[DILLIGAF]

What is "stock voltage"?  I have 3 performance levels, the max is 1.05.  I know some BIOSes have 1.10 as "stock", there may be some others even higher.

I have a sapphire card that had 1.18v as the default in it.

[Aseras]

Mine are 1.05v that's "stock". Most 5970 need 1.125 or higher to get over 900mhz. 5870 stock voltage is 1.162

The vrms fry at that voltage the 5870 is 4 phase the 5970 is 3 phase there too much leakage and they overheat.

And learned and the 6990 has the vrm split better and better cooled not sandwiched in the middle.

[MrTeal]

A word of warning, the 5970s throttle when the average VRM temperature if above 125. If you have two at 110, the other can be at 140 and it will not throttle.

What are your fan speeds? If you're not forcing the fan to a specific level, it will base it on the core temperature with no regard for VRM temps. Better to force the fan a little higher and even if the core is staying cool.

[Aseras]

It's not average. If any one hits 125c it will throttle including a couple that don't report to gpuz or other monitors. the guy who designed the 5970 posted on some board a few years back and covered it all I'll try to find his posts.

[MrTeal]

It's not average. If any one hits 125c it will throttle including a couple that don't report to gpuz or other monitors. the guy who designed the 5970 posted on some board a few years back and covered it all I'll try to find his posts.

Are you sure on that in practice? I've had one where one VRM reached 137 while the others stayed around 100-110C, without throttling the card.

[QiVX]

A word of warning, the 5970s throttle when the average VRM temperature if above 125. If you have two at 110, the other can be at 140 and it will not throttle.

What are your fan speeds? If you're not forcing the fan to a specific level, it will base it on the core temperature with no regard for VRM temps. Better to force the fan a little higher and even if the core is staying cool.

I have an Accelero Xtreme.
100% Fan at all times.
Core temps are around 45C to 50C.
VRM is MAX 110C.

Is that bad?
Or should I try to lower it to ALWAYS be under 100C?

Thanks

[juhakall]

I wouldn't be comfortable with running anything over 100C. I'd be surprised if any large scale miner allowed their cards to run so hot.

[Aseras]

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?242892-EK-5970-vs-stock-cooler-tests/page2

see post 32

he's also posted a ton of stuff on that site, it's very useful.

[MrTeal]

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?242892-EK-5970-vs-stock-cooler-tests/page2

see post 32

he's also posted a ton of stuff on that site, it's very useful.

Are you talking about this?

5970 Cooling Details

    The 5970 reference design uses the *best* available components for both board and heatsink construction - I mean that quite literally.

    It is critical that if the cooling solution is replaced, VRM cooling is seriously taken into consideration when selecting a replacement cooling solution. The Volterra regulator slaves (small shiny silicon components) must be kept cool for proper operation (125C rated, 150C shutdown) and to prevent the board from throttling clocks (typically at 125C).

That doesn't really sound definitive one way or another.