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Topic: GekkoScience Compac BM1384 Stickminer Official Support Thread - page 106. (Read 268015 times)

legendary
Activity: 1456
Merit: 1000
I've run 400mhz for 72 hours with 0 HW. It is just a matter of fine tuning voltage until you hit the sweet spot. Btw, USB ports are ver VERY picky, and keep them cool with an attached fan to that heatsink.

I would agree if you are running OC'ed use a fan it makes a big difference compare to just heat sink.  I run my the production at around 15 GH's with no issues of heat, I did above and just seemed a little hotter but I'm sure some are fine with that I just like it cool.

I used some PC fan's in a row to push air and they do good.  Nothing special about them just have USB mounted close enough it will get a good amount of air from them.  And I have some U3's down the row that benefit from the cool fan air past the compacs.  So works quite good for me.
legendary
Activity: 872
Merit: 1010
Coins, Games & Miners
I've run 400mhz for 72 hours with 0 HW. It is just a matter of fine tuning voltage until you hit the sweet spot. Btw, USB ports are ver VERY picky, and keep them cool with an attached fan to that heatsink.
legendary
Activity: 4256
Merit: 8551
'The right to privacy matters'
Has anyone noticed some "sweetspots"? My sticks runs @150 MHz with a few HW errors (about 3-5/day) but with the same setup @160 MHz with no errors for days!

you realize

A) tweaking the volts will raise or lower your hw
B) quality of hub matters as well


So far every stick I have can do 350 without errors but some sticks will use more power to get to 0 hw





I didn't change anything besides freq. More HW with lower freq @ same voltage and cooling.

Have some fun repeat the test.
Go back to freq 150 run for 2 hours.
Then go to freq 160 run for 2 hours.
See if the results repeat..

You could have had a condition change and the test won't do the same
member
Activity: 115
Merit: 10
Tip: 1JBSwRgm7iMzc7uyhnJdxH7hSECdJkdMoj
Has anyone noticed some "sweetspots"? My sticks runs @150 MHz with a few HW errors (about 3-5/day) but with the same setup @160 MHz with no errors for days!

you realize

A) tweaking the volts will raise or lower your hw
B) quality of hub matters as well


So far every stick I have can do 350 without errors but some sticks will use more power to get to 0 hw





I didn't change anything besides freq. More HW with lower freq @ same voltage and cooling.
legendary
Activity: 4256
Merit: 8551
'The right to privacy matters'
Has anyone noticed some "sweetspots"? My sticks runs @150 MHz with a few HW errors (about 3-5/day) but with the same setup @160 MHz with no errors for days!

you realize

A) tweaking the volts will raise or lower your hw
B) quality of hub matters as well


So far every stick I have can do 350 without errors but some sticks will use more power to get to 0 hw



legendary
Activity: 2576
Merit: 1186
Has anyone noticed some "sweetspots"? My sticks runs @150 MHz with a few HW errors (about 3-5/day) but with the same setup @160 MHz with no errors for days!
I run at 275 MHz with <0.01% hw errors...
member
Activity: 115
Merit: 10
Tip: 1JBSwRgm7iMzc7uyhnJdxH7hSECdJkdMoj
Has anyone noticed some "sweetspots"? My sticks runs @150 MHz with a few HW errors (about 3-5/day) but with the same setup @160 MHz with no errors for days!
legendary
Activity: 872
Merit: 1010
Coins, Games & Miners
... Unless it get knocked off somehow, that would be too bad. I guess we could use those thermal switch thing i forgot the name.

But they were recommended for the S5 when people were panicking about the firmware shutting down fans but not hashing when they lost internet connection ....

Thermocouple is the word you're looking for.
legendary
Activity: 3374
Merit: 1859
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
If the stick is provided with stable power over 4V

This means input. Crappy hub will drop voltage when current increases. If it goes below about 4V the core voltage buck resets. You are right, you don't want to get to 4V because it means your hub is probably overheating.
legendary
Activity: 1302
Merit: 1068
Actually it's novak's OP. I know cgminer can have issues with USB3 but some folks have tested 2.0 hubs with 3.0 power availability with good results. I don't have anything USB3 to play with.

The power bottleneck in any system is more likely to be your hub or cooling than anything on the Compac itself. If the stick is provided with stable power over 4V, it'll push enough current to melt your ASIC without adequate cooling. Voltage drop within the hub, and burst current requirements causing input voltage ripple, can result in instability of the stick. With my modified hub and a modified stick (increased voltage range, extra caps on the buck circuit) we got 488MHz out of it and it was probably drawing close to 4A through the jack. At that point the input power was dropping too low and the core voltage was unstable. For most people, the power bottleneck will be the USB hub.

Woops, sorry Novak.

Sound good, that means it would not be particularly hard to draw power from 4 jacks and feed it to one usb stick. And i'm not sure i want to get to 4V, but can the turn-knob even go over 0.8V, by doing more than a 360degree turn?

Nope that is something I thank sidehack for.   It has a range where you could turn circles on the voltage knob but with the set range it wont go out of it.

1st or 2nd page has a good picture of it showing range.

OP has a picture that show up until 0.8 volt, which seem fairly low and reasonable and i doubt i would melt my stick with that with the airflow i have available. Unless it get knocked off somehow, that would be too bad. I guess we could use those thermal switch thing i forgot the name.

But they were recommended for the S5 when people were panicking about the firmware shutting down fans but not hashing when they lost internet connection.

So if the max voltage is 0.8 then i'll oc to the max with 0.8 Smiley
legendary
Activity: 1456
Merit: 1000
Actually it's novak's OP. I know cgminer can have issues with USB3 but some folks have tested 2.0 hubs with 3.0 power availability with good results. I don't have anything USB3 to play with.

The power bottleneck in any system is more likely to be your hub or cooling than anything on the Compac itself. If the stick is provided with stable power over 4V, it'll push enough current to melt your ASIC without adequate cooling. Voltage drop within the hub, and burst current requirements causing input voltage ripple, can result in instability of the stick. With my modified hub and a modified stick (increased voltage range, extra caps on the buck circuit) we got 488MHz out of it and it was probably drawing close to 4A through the jack. At that point the input power was dropping too low and the core voltage was unstable. For most people, the power bottleneck will be the USB hub.

Woops, sorry Novak.

Sound good, that means it would not be particularly hard to draw power from 4 jacks and feed it to one usb stick. And i'm not sure i want to get to 4V, but can the turn-knob even go over 0.8V, by doing more than a 360degree turn?

Nope that is something I thank sidehack for.   It has a range where you could turn circles on the voltage knob but with the set range it wont go out of it.

1st or 2nd page has a good picture of it showing range.
legendary
Activity: 1302
Merit: 1068
Actually it's novak's OP. I know cgminer can have issues with USB3 but some folks have tested 2.0 hubs with 3.0 power availability with good results. I don't have anything USB3 to play with.

The power bottleneck in any system is more likely to be your hub or cooling than anything on the Compac itself. If the stick is provided with stable power over 4V, it'll push enough current to melt your ASIC without adequate cooling. Voltage drop within the hub, and burst current requirements causing input voltage ripple, can result in instability of the stick. With my modified hub and a modified stick (increased voltage range, extra caps on the buck circuit) we got 488MHz out of it and it was probably drawing close to 4A through the jack. At that point the input power was dropping too low and the core voltage was unstable. For most people, the power bottleneck will be the USB hub.

Woops, sorry Novak.

Sound good, that means it would not be particularly hard to draw power from 4 jacks and feed it to one usb stick. And i'm not sure i want to get to 4V, but can the turn-knob even go over 0.8V, by doing more than a 360degree turn?
legendary
Activity: 3374
Merit: 1859
Curmudgeonly hardware guy
Actually it's novak's OP. I know cgminer can have issues with USB3 but some folks have tested 2.0 hubs with 3.0 power availability with good results. I don't have anything USB3 to play with.

The power bottleneck in any system is more likely to be your hub or cooling than anything on the Compac itself. If the stick is provided with stable power over 4V, it'll push enough current to melt your ASIC without adequate cooling. Voltage drop within the hub, and burst current requirements causing input voltage ripple, can result in instability of the stick. With my modified hub and a modified stick (increased voltage range, extra caps on the buck circuit) we got 488MHz out of it and it was probably drawing close to 4A through the jack. At that point the input power was dropping too low and the core voltage was unstable. For most people, the power bottleneck will be the USB hub.
legendary
Activity: 1302
Merit: 1068

Sadly, i do not see how to measure amperage to figure out what the maximum clock i should set it to with a y-splitter on an USB3.0 hub. I only have a multi meter.

Get a usb tester: http://www.amazon.com/DROK-Multimeter-Capacity-Charging-Alignment/dp/B00J3JSEG6

I just ordered 4 sets of Y cables so I can really start playing with my sticks.  Highest freq. I can get on hub right now is 262.5 without exceeding the amp rating for each port.

Yeah i know about those, but i don't want to pay 20$(I'm in Canada) to test around with my 20$ toy. I through i could check the amp with the first and 4th pin, but that didn't work out. And i don't know enough about circuits to guess how to do it without frying stuff.

I would suggest taking a look at ebay then.  If money and not timeline is the big concern you can get very low priced ones (Here is one example: http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-Charger-Doctor-Voltage-Current-Meter-Mobile-Battery-Tester-Power-Detector-NE-/131214096046?hash=item1e8cf836ae:g:MtUAAOSwmrlUvcj9 )

But you can get it cheap just takes a while to get from China.  I'm not sure on Canada shipping but I imagine it still will be a few bucks total for one if your willing to wait.

Ah, thanks. I thought those only read Voltage. I got one for 3$ free shipping. 1 month ETA so i'll just wait until i do it before doing crazy clock on this thing. Smiley

Not a problem that is part of what I love about this compac group is the sharing of info.  I got Y cables off ebay thanks to phil for cheap that I waited on, and worked awesome.

I also got those Y cables off the link Phil gave. Smiley As soon as i receive that meter, i guess i'll try to OC it to the max. I wonder how high these things can go. I'm wondering what the bottleneck would be, the stick's own USB port?

Most likely I think it would be the power provide by the usb hub.  If you had a modified hub with more power I predict that would be highest "OC".

I could be wrong though.  But I'm guessing that is most common.

I see, but i don't know. Sidehack's OP says a USB3.0 should support 900mA. And now we have two and maybe we can even daisy chain the splitters to get even more? I'm not sure how much current the splitter themselves can support.

I should be able to reach the 1.5A limit easily, going higher for short time might be fun to do, but i would not risk it 24/7.
legendary
Activity: 1456
Merit: 1000

Sadly, i do not see how to measure amperage to figure out what the maximum clock i should set it to with a y-splitter on an USB3.0 hub. I only have a multi meter.

Get a usb tester: http://www.amazon.com/DROK-Multimeter-Capacity-Charging-Alignment/dp/B00J3JSEG6

I just ordered 4 sets of Y cables so I can really start playing with my sticks.  Highest freq. I can get on hub right now is 262.5 without exceeding the amp rating for each port.

Yeah i know about those, but i don't want to pay 20$(I'm in Canada) to test around with my 20$ toy. I through i could check the amp with the first and 4th pin, but that didn't work out. And i don't know enough about circuits to guess how to do it without frying stuff.

I would suggest taking a look at ebay then.  If money and not timeline is the big concern you can get very low priced ones (Here is one example: http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-Charger-Doctor-Voltage-Current-Meter-Mobile-Battery-Tester-Power-Detector-NE-/131214096046?hash=item1e8cf836ae:g:MtUAAOSwmrlUvcj9 )

But you can get it cheap just takes a while to get from China.  I'm not sure on Canada shipping but I imagine it still will be a few bucks total for one if your willing to wait.

Ah, thanks. I thought those only read Voltage. I got one for 3$ free shipping. 1 month ETA so i'll just wait until i do it before doing crazy clock on this thing. Smiley

Not a problem that is part of what I love about this compac group is the sharing of info.  I got Y cables off ebay thanks to phil for cheap that I waited on, and worked awesome.

I also got those Y cables off the link Phil gave. Smiley As soon as i receive that meter, i guess i'll try to OC it to the max. I wonder how high these things can go. I'm wondering what the bottleneck would be, the stick's own USB port?

Most likely I think it would be the power provide by the usb hub.  If you had a modified hub with more power I predict that would be highest "OC".

I could be wrong though.  But I'm guessing that is most common.
legendary
Activity: 1302
Merit: 1068

Sadly, i do not see how to measure amperage to figure out what the maximum clock i should set it to with a y-splitter on an USB3.0 hub. I only have a multi meter.

Get a usb tester: http://www.amazon.com/DROK-Multimeter-Capacity-Charging-Alignment/dp/B00J3JSEG6

I just ordered 4 sets of Y cables so I can really start playing with my sticks.  Highest freq. I can get on hub right now is 262.5 without exceeding the amp rating for each port.

Yeah i know about those, but i don't want to pay 20$(I'm in Canada) to test around with my 20$ toy. I through i could check the amp with the first and 4th pin, but that didn't work out. And i don't know enough about circuits to guess how to do it without frying stuff.

I would suggest taking a look at ebay then.  If money and not timeline is the big concern you can get very low priced ones (Here is one example: http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-Charger-Doctor-Voltage-Current-Meter-Mobile-Battery-Tester-Power-Detector-NE-/131214096046?hash=item1e8cf836ae:g:MtUAAOSwmrlUvcj9 )

But you can get it cheap just takes a while to get from China.  I'm not sure on Canada shipping but I imagine it still will be a few bucks total for one if your willing to wait.

Ah, thanks. I thought those only read Voltage. I got one for 3$ free shipping. 1 month ETA so i'll just wait until i do it before doing crazy clock on this thing. Smiley

Not a problem that is part of what I love about this compac group is the sharing of info.  I got Y cables off ebay thanks to phil for cheap that I waited on, and worked awesome.

I also got those Y cables off the link Phil gave. Smiley As soon as i receive that meter, i guess i'll try to OC it to the max. I wonder how high these things can go. I'm wondering what the bottleneck would be, the stick's own USB port?
full member
Activity: 223
Merit: 100
Assuming you turned the voltage up, since that's one of those things you have to do to overclock it?

What points do I measure the voltage?

I plan on doing some OCing soon. On the far left and right pin of the usb connector?

I find that I only have only two opposing thumbs and this gets in the way when holding probes to the contact pads, reading the multi-meter, and turning the screw. ( I know, turn the screw and re-check, repeat..) Does anyone use alligator clips or mini-grabbers on these pads so you can fine tune on the fly?  Can I safely solder a wire to each of the two pads for easy access to a meter?
legendary
Activity: 1456
Merit: 1000

Sadly, i do not see how to measure amperage to figure out what the maximum clock i should set it to with a y-splitter on an USB3.0 hub. I only have a multi meter.

Get a usb tester: http://www.amazon.com/DROK-Multimeter-Capacity-Charging-Alignment/dp/B00J3JSEG6

I just ordered 4 sets of Y cables so I can really start playing with my sticks.  Highest freq. I can get on hub right now is 262.5 without exceeding the amp rating for each port.

Yeah i know about those, but i don't want to pay 20$(I'm in Canada) to test around with my 20$ toy. I through i could check the amp with the first and 4th pin, but that didn't work out. And i don't know enough about circuits to guess how to do it without frying stuff.

I would suggest taking a look at ebay then.  If money and not timeline is the big concern you can get very low priced ones (Here is one example: http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-Charger-Doctor-Voltage-Current-Meter-Mobile-Battery-Tester-Power-Detector-NE-/131214096046?hash=item1e8cf836ae:g:MtUAAOSwmrlUvcj9 )

But you can get it cheap just takes a while to get from China.  I'm not sure on Canada shipping but I imagine it still will be a few bucks total for one if your willing to wait.

Ah, thanks. I thought those only read Voltage. I got one for 3$ free shipping. 1 month ETA so i'll just wait until i do it before doing crazy clock on this thing. Smiley

Not a problem that is part of what I love about this compac group is the sharing of info.  I got Y cables off ebay thanks to phil for cheap that I waited on, and worked awesome.
legendary
Activity: 1302
Merit: 1068

Sadly, i do not see how to measure amperage to figure out what the maximum clock i should set it to with a y-splitter on an USB3.0 hub. I only have a multi meter.

Get a usb tester: http://www.amazon.com/DROK-Multimeter-Capacity-Charging-Alignment/dp/B00J3JSEG6

I just ordered 4 sets of Y cables so I can really start playing with my sticks.  Highest freq. I can get on hub right now is 262.5 without exceeding the amp rating for each port.

Yeah i know about those, but i don't want to pay 20$(I'm in Canada) to test around with my 20$ toy. I through i could check the amp with the first and 4th pin, but that didn't work out. And i don't know enough about circuits to guess how to do it without frying stuff.

I would suggest taking a look at ebay then.  If money and not timeline is the big concern you can get very low priced ones (Here is one example: http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-Charger-Doctor-Voltage-Current-Meter-Mobile-Battery-Tester-Power-Detector-NE-/131214096046?hash=item1e8cf836ae:g:MtUAAOSwmrlUvcj9 )

But you can get it cheap just takes a while to get from China.  I'm not sure on Canada shipping but I imagine it still will be a few bucks total for one if your willing to wait.

Ah, thanks. I thought those only read Voltage. I got one for 3$ free shipping. 1 month ETA so i'll just wait until i do it before doing crazy clock on this thing. Smiley
sr. member
Activity: 453
Merit: 250
I put a huge heat sink on one and I cant get it to start over 300 clock, it produces noise. I can get it to run at 275 for a little then it does the same thing, 250 is no issue.
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