How should I cool my 5970 VRMs? - page 2.

ssateneth

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Quote from: ace24 on February 16, 2012, 02:02:12 AM

Quote from: P4man on February 15, 2012, 07:28:30 PM

Higher clocks at equal voltage == better energy efficiency.

Well, no. Voltage is only one part of power usage, higher clocked cards use more current than lower clocked cards at the same voltage. That's why overclocked cards get hotter even when not overvolted.

No, he's right, when taking the whole computer into the power efficiency picture. 10% more core frequency = 10% more power used (and generally mhash scales linearly with core speed), but the system has a baseline watts, so do some math with some assumed numbers...

100w baseline, 1000w used from video cards doing 2000 mhash. 1.8181 mhash/watt.
Increase core speed by 10% without increasing volts, system is now at...
100w baseline, 1100w used from video cards doing 2200mhash. 1.8333 mhash/watt.

ace24

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Quote from: P4man on February 15, 2012, 07:28:30 PM

Higher clocks at equal voltage == better energy efficiency.

Well, no. Voltage is only one part of power usage, higher clocked cards use more current than lower clocked cards at the same voltage. That's why overclocked cards get hotter even when not overvolted.

ssateneth

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Quote from: humanage on February 15, 2012, 10:55:14 PM

Alright, got down to 800Mhz Core/ 300MHz memory. I'm getting 49c and 47c on the GPU cores, so that's not a problem.
The VRMs are at 82c/81c//81c for the first core, and 74c/75c/73c on the 2nd core. Lets say I don't raise the voltage above stock, would a high clock speed damage/degrade the card?

Nope, high core speeds won't kill a card.

Temperatures are really the only thing that'll kill a card if you overclock smart. Most overvolting for mining is minor (maybe +0.025 to 0.075 in even the most extreme cases) and won't hurt the card either, anything above is generally overkill for 24/7 and generates too much heat to remain stable at the clock speed you may have aimed at. An example is one of my 5870's is stable at 1100 core and 1.200 volts with temperatures currently around 40c core and 68c VRM since it sits outside in the winter air. It requires more volts to hit a higher clock speed than 1100, but the higher temperature renders the higher speed unstable. I see a lot of gamers use even higher volts of 1.25+, probably because the cards aren't at 100% load with the games they're playing and temperatures are lower as a consequence.

humanage

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Alright, got down to 800Mhz Core/ 300MHz memory. I'm getting 49c and 47c on the GPU cores, so that's not a problem.
The VRMs are at 82c/81c//81c for the first core, and 74c/75c/73c on the 2nd core. Lets say I don't raise the voltage above stock, would a high clock speed damage/degrade the card?

jjiimm_64

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Quote from: humanage on February 15, 2012, 06:47:49 PM

Quote from: cablepair on February 15, 2012, 04:12:58 PM

i think 910 is a bit high and excessive

I can get 380 mhash per core at 825

I'm getting 410MH/s on 910MHz.

I never run my 5970's over 820. most are at 800. Mine will still be hashing in a year!

The only reason I restarted this rig on the 4th was to upgrade cgminer to the better rpc-api

Code:

cgminer version 2.2.1 - Started: [February 4, 2012, 4:33 pm] Rig: miner9
(5s):2982.13 (avg): 2966.26 Mh/s | Q:690271 A:651964 R:6233 HW:0 E:?% U:40.52/m
TQ:? ST:722 SS:? DW:17127 NB:1600 LW:25420 GF:601 RF:655
Connected to http://gpumax.com:8332 with LP as user ?
Value:
GPU 0: 59.0C 3285RPM 53% | 372.7/370.8Mh/s | 98% | 820Mhz 300Mhz 1.05V A:81531 R:760 HW:0 U:5.07/m I: 7
GPU 1: 61.5C 3285RPM 53% | 372.9/370.8Mh/s | 98% | 820Mhz 300Mhz 1.05V A:81809 R:733 HW:0 U:5.08/m I: 7
GPU 2: 66.5C 3045RPM 50% | 372.8/370.8Mh/s | 98% | 820Mhz 300Mhz 1.05V A:81030 R:751 HW:0 U:5.04/m I: 7
GPU 3: 63.5C 3045RPM 50% | 372.8/370.9Mh/s | 98% | 820Mhz 300Mhz 1.05V A:81674 R:801 HW:0 U:5.08/m I: 7
GPU 4: 63.5C 3125RPM 50% | 372.7/370.8Mh/s | 98% | 820Mhz 300Mhz 1.05V A:81576 R:769 HW:0 U:5.07/m I: 7
GPU 5: 60.5C 3125RPM 50% | 372.7/370.8Mh/s | 98% | 820Mhz 300Mhz 1.05V A:81537 R:802 HW:0 U:5.07/m I: 7
GPU 6: 57.0C 2987RPM 49% | 372.8/370.7Mh/s | 99% | 820Mhz 300Mhz 1.05V A:81292 R:836 HW:0 U:5.05/m I: 7
GPU 7: 59.0C 2987RPM 49% | 372.8/370.8Mh/s | 98% | 820Mhz 300Mhz 1.05V A:81515 R:781 HW:0 U:5.07/m I: 7

even at 810 they get 370, this one is in a warmer spot, hence the higher temps.

Code:

cgminer version 2.2.1 - Started: [February 4, 2012, 4:21 pm] Rig: miner10
(5s):2967.27 (avg): 2934.61 Mh/s | Q:684834 A:646490 R:6218 HW:0 E:?% U:40.15/m
TQ:? ST:709 SS:? DW:18067 NB:1602 LW:25981 GF:681 RF:680
Connected to http://gpumax.com:8332 with LP as user ?
Value:
GPU 0: 72.5C 3081RPM 50% | 371.0/357.9Mh/s | 99% | 810Mhz 300Mhz 1.05V A:79198 R:707 HW:0 U:4.92/m I: 7
GPU 1: 69.0C 3081RPM 50% | 370.9/368.1Mh/s | 99% | 810Mhz 300Mhz 1.05V A:80552 R:751 HW:0 U:5.00/m I: 7
GPU 2: 73.5C 2949RPM 48% | 370.9/368.1Mh/s | 99% | 810Mhz 300Mhz 1.05V A:81016 R:808 HW:0 U:5.03/m I: 7
GPU 3: 73.0C 2947RPM 48% | 370.9/368.1Mh/s | 99% | 810Mhz 300Mhz 1.05V A:81012 R:723 HW:0 U:5.03/m I: 7
GPU 4: 72.5C 2639RPM 44% | 370.9/368.1Mh/s | 99% | 810Mhz 300Mhz 1.05V A:81048 R:815 HW:0 U:5.03/m I: 7
GPU 5: 73.0C 2639RPM 44% | 370.9/368.1Mh/s | 99% | 810Mhz 300Mhz 1.05V A:81227 R:757 HW:0 U:5.04/m I: 7
GPU 6: 73.5C 2747RPM 49% | 370.8/368.0Mh/s | 99% | 810Mhz 300Mhz 1.05V A:80989 R:810 HW:0 U:5.03/m I: 7
GPU 7: 68.5C 2749RPM 49% | 371.0/368.1Mh/s | 99% | 810Mhz 300Mhz 1.05V A:81448 R:847 HW:0 U:5.06/m I: 7

.

P4man

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Quote from: OgNasty on February 15, 2012, 07:06:22 PM

I can assure you that those extra 30MH/s aren't worth the amount of additional electricity you're buying to run it at those clock speeds.

Higher clocks at equal voltage == better energy efficiency.

@OP: how are you cooling the VRMs? With those small sticky alu fins?
I dont know what the 5970 ref cooler looks like exactly, I know its different, but with a 5870 I had great success using the original baseplate to cool VRMs and ram while using an accelero to keep the GPU cool. The supplied sinks were just not good enough for the VRMs.

Mind you, I did have to dremel the baseplate to clear the accelero heatpipes, but if that doesnt scare you, have a look at the stock cooler and see if it has a baseplate you can use for that purpose. This might be useless advice if the 5970 has a single plate cooling GPUs and VRMs..

If that doesnt work, its time to undervolt the cards and lower your clocks.

OgNasty

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Quote from: humanage on February 15, 2012, 06:47:49 PM

Quote from: cablepair on February 15, 2012, 04:12:58 PM

i think 910 is a bit high and excessive

I can get 380 mhash per core at 825

I'm getting 410MH/s on 910MHz.

I can assure you that those extra 30MH/s aren't worth the amount of additional electricity you're buying to run it at those clock speeds. I can also assure you that at those clock speeds and temperatures, you'll be lucky if those cards are still working a month from now. So basically, you're destroying your cards and overpaying for electricity for no reason other than turning your room into a sauna. Turn down the clock speeds or get a water cooling setup. What you're doing now is insane.

MiningBuddy

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What kind of core temps are we looking at?

humanage

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Quote from: cablepair on February 15, 2012, 04:12:58 PM

i think 910 is a bit high and excessive

I can get 380 mhash per core at 825

I'm getting 410MH/s on 910MHz.

cablepair

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Buy this account on March-2019. New Owner here!!

i think 910 is a bit high and excessive

I can get 380 mhash per core at 825

malevolent

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Quote from: humanage on February 15, 2012, 09:00:56 AM

What are vrm temps at stock voltage and core?

humanage

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I'm running my 5970 with an Accelero Extreme triple fan cooler, but the VRM temps are VERY high! I've read that this is a common 5970 bottleneck, and I'm trying to lower the temps. I'm now running the card at 1.111v, 910MHz Core/300MHz Memory, and getting 113c,117c,and 115c on the VRMs.
Here's what I've done so far:

I have an 80mm 60 CFM fan blowing air onto the first set of VRMs, and a Scythe fan(40 or so CFM) directing air in the direction. I have a 92mm blue gelid fan blowing onto the other set of VRMs. Finally, I have a Cooler Master fan blowing into the side of the GPU. Any other fan positions I should try? Should I maybe buy some 100+ CFM fans?

Topic: How should I cool my 5970 VRMs? - page 2. (Read 3358 times)