Would be great to get to the bottom of what variants there are to the S3 & S3+ hashing boards & which ones support Variable Voltage & which ones do not. The pictures I have added two posts back show a section in the middle top of the board, where the power connectors are & 2 of the DC-DC converter stages, they are very different as you can see.
The one on the right uses the TPS533355 DC-DC converter as the S1 and definitely does not support variable voltage. The one on the left is from this thread by adaseb and also appears to not support Variable Voltage?
With my 20140804 S3+ Build, changing the Voltage in the Advanced Settings does absolutely nothing.
The "key" component will be the DC-DC converter IC in these pictures numbered U32 & U35, the spec for this should reveal if it could support variable voltage.
Can I suggest that if you have a different board that does or does not support Variable Voltage that you add a picture here along with the IC type so that others can tell if their unit will support VV?
I am still very new to mining, but we are at a stage IMHO where efficiency and hence a need to adjust for best J/GH is of paramount importance. My S3 on my electricity tariff in the UK on the standard settings is now only just better than break even.
I have risked buying an S3+ from ebay in the hope that it allows VV, but am also about to start work on a mod to add VV to any S3.
Rich
Hey Rich,
Sorry nobody has gotten back to you. I just don't come here often anymore.
I'm not sure about the converters you are referencing or the difference in boards. Needless to say, not much help today. My s3+'s (2 of 'em) are due for a cleaning in the middle of the month so when I take those off-line, I will be more than happy to get back to you with more info. I am answering now so you didn't think you were being ignored.
IMHO, you are really spinning your wheels tho. I mean, does it really matter? We already know what the s3+ can/cannot do. I can only speak to the 'plus' (as in the thread title). These miners are a beast, rough, & tough and can take a lickin' & keep tickin' (as long as you don't 'brick' it). We DO know that voltage is adjustable in .0005 increments. That is a fact straight from a Bitmain guru. However, it is sort of an unwritten piece of info that the s3+ is a 'sail in the wind'. Meaning, they have some common settings but each one 'acts' just a little different. Like a fickle woman. You need to test the waters and find out what each one likes. Furthermore, make sure you are running the latest flash/software.
The pool I and some others mine on is
www.kano.is. Not advocating for the pool, just backround info for ya (I won't mine anywhere else). They (kano & ck) are the coders/creators of cgminer...blah..blah (no dis meant, total respect). Anyway, very good ppl and have written an upgrade to the cgminer that comes in the 'flash' for the s3/s3+ you get from Bitmain. I can't find the link, right now. (shoutout to mikestang...have you got it handy) I'll get back with that if you need it. I will check back in here to see if I can assist further and update what my converters are for you. Or, you can PM me if you need any help sooner as I'm usually somewhere in BCT, just not this thread as much.
Best of Luck, Happy Mining
CapnBDL