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Topic: Radeon R9 280X - new Mantle API - higher performance ? (Read 16043 times)

legendary
Activity: 3248
Merit: 1070
An R9 280X has been added to the hardware comparison page. With OpenGL, it's either as good as the original 7970s or better. At this point, it seems to be way better than the 7970s. It looks like whatever they changed has fixed the original 7970 issues.

https://litecoin.info/Mining_hardware_comparison

I get 750 kh/s with my Sapphire 7970s (w/ default firmware, 1080 engine, 1500 mem, I 13)

They're getting 740 kh/s on the 280x at 1100/1500. Obviously the same chip...so I wouldn't expect much different I suppose...but still a bit disappointing.

The driver is in beta still, so you can say it's a fail yet. HD 7970 is a mature product and the R9 280X is still in it infancy. The price is the same as any other HD 7970 and will eventually drop over time.

The driver is not in beta, the driver released for review testing and BF4 is a beta. The R9 280x IS a 7970, they are XT2 boards and have nothing other than a flashed bios and a different cooler. To think you will see any increased performance over a 7970 is crap and there is nothing at all infant about the R9 280x.

ALL 7970s (R9 280x) can push over 720Kh/s - The main difference between cards ignoring gpu/mem clocks is the configuration of 3 key miner settings:

--gpu-threads
--thread-concurrency
--Intensity

Some 7970's especially older ones do best on a single gpu thread with a high thread-concurrency and intensity. eg, "--gpu-threads 1 --thread-concurrency 24000 --intensity 19"

A lot of newer boards (GHz editions) including the rebranded R9 280x do best with two gpu threads and a lower thread-concurrency and intensity eg, "--gpu-threads 2 --thread-concurrency 8192 --intensity 13" (have also found an odd thread concurrency such as 8191 give even better results)

I have personally tested this on several 7970 boards and even 7950s are affected the same way. No BIOS flashing or modding has ever been needed just a correct miner configuration and the right gpu/mem clock ratio which I have found to be very different on some cards simply because of the type of ram used and the different timings some memory chips run at which is why some users get lucky with low mem frequencies and others simply do not.

Bear in mind also that the R9 280 (non x variant) if and when its released will be a re-branded 7950 so could turn out to be a very good bang for buck card. Avoid the R9 270x as this is just a re-branded 7870, again the non x variant will be a rebrand of the 7850.

Do enjoy your AMD re-branded kit while we wait to see if the real news here the R9 290x will be a mining king.  Wink

i confirm this with my 7950, better have gpu to 2 and I to 13
sr. member
Activity: 332
Merit: 250
In case anybody is interested, here I found some testing results for the mining performance of the R9 290X
http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/169402-to-slay-a-titan-amds-radeon-r9-290x-piledrives-nvidias-high-end-product-line/3
sr. member
Activity: 364
Merit: 250
Managed to get 750Kh/s from a pair of Sapphire R9 280x rather easily, 1085/1500 so there might be more left.

Mostly just for fun, not strictly for hashing  Grin
sr. member
Activity: 434
Merit: 250

If it's like the HD 7970, it can do I=18, even I=20....But on average, most single GPU cards can do at least I=18...I do I=80 on my 2x HD 5870's and HD 5850...

I=80!?
He's a failed troll.
You can't go beyond 20, as stated in cgminer.

You can, just need to do some modification..
member
Activity: 98
Merit: 10

If it's like the HD 7970, it can do I=18, even I=20....But on average, most single GPU cards can do at least I=18...I do I=80 on my 2x HD 5870's and HD 5850...

I=80!?
sr. member
Activity: 294
Merit: 250
I might be wrong but Mandle seems a replacement for direct3d/opengl and not opencl(/cuda) as one usually need for GPGPU stuff like coin hashing. If so it would be like using 3d gfx api for mining. So I doubt Mantle will change much.
we don't need to use OpenCL for hashinh, any language can do the job, at least most of them...

mantle has way, way 'less loss' in in cycles, memory bandwitdh and tons of other stuffs that other apis still have today.
so yest, it is possible to use new mantle, but as he sayd, some one need to write down a miner that uses that, as when is finished, we should get the 'is it better or not for mining bitcoin/altcoins' but i think will be for sure...

Sorry for long quote!
hero member
Activity: 812
Merit: 1000
7970 giga,sapphire,powercolor,his,asus..all of them can run with I13..and with edited bios Smiley)

How did you edit it? I couldn't figure out how to improve mining speeds on my giga cards.
Using the tpu editor right? WHat values?
Which bios version do you have

I don't have it anymore but it was a rev 1.0 unlocked Gigabyte Windforce OC 7970...and before I had a HIS IceQ X2 7950 without boost.
Tried many bios flashes and it never got better.
Never tried 8191 for tc, always used 8192 or higher xD, and got hw or lower perf when doing more than i 13 (despite the high tc and available system ram ->8gb ddr3)

If you use -g 2 (gpu-threads 2) then anything over intensity of 13 will HW error. If you want to use higher intensities of 18-20 use 1 gpu thread and a high thread concurrency.

I know, I've tried both, and understand the process...but don't get why that card sucked so bad at mining scrypt.
newbie
Activity: 37
Merit: 0
7970 giga,sapphire,powercolor,his,asus..all of them can run with I13..and with edited bios Smiley)

How did you edit it? I couldn't figure out how to improve mining speeds on my giga cards.
Using the tpu editor right? WHat values?
Which bios version do you have

I don't have it anymore but it was a rev 1.0 unlocked Gigabyte Windforce OC 7970...and before I had a HIS IceQ X2 7950 without boost.
Tried many bios flashes and it never got better.
Never tried 8191 for tc, always used 8192 or higher xD, and got hw or lower perf when doing more than i 13 (despite the high tc and available system ram ->8gb ddr3)

If you use -g 2 (gpu-threads 2) then anything over intensity of 13 will HW error. If you want to use higher intensities of 18-20 use 1 gpu thread and a high thread concurrency.
sr. member
Activity: 332
Merit: 250
Anybody manage to give R9 270x a try? any better then the old HD 7950?

The R9 270X is NOT a rebranded 7950 but it is a rebranded 7870.
I haven't tested it myself but I guess it's safe to say it will not perform as good as a 7950.
sr. member
Activity: 392
Merit: 250
Anybody manage to give R9 270x a try? any better then the old HD 7950?
hero member
Activity: 812
Merit: 1000
7970 giga,sapphire,powercolor,his,asus..all of them can run with I13..and with edited bios Smiley)

How did you edit it? I couldn't figure out how to improve mining speeds on my giga cards.
Using the tpu editor right? WHat values?
Which bios version do you have

I don't have it anymore but it was a rev 1.0 unlocked Gigabyte Windforce OC 7970...and before I had a HIS IceQ X2 7950 without boost.
Tried many bios flashes and it never got better.
Never tried 8191 for tc, always used 8192 or higher xD, and got hw or lower perf when doing more than i 13 (despite the high tc and available system ram ->8gb ddr3)
newbie
Activity: 37
Merit: 0
An R9 280X has been added to the hardware comparison page. With OpenGL, it's either as good as the original 7970s or better. At this point, it seems to be way better than the 7970s. It looks like whatever they changed has fixed the original 7970 issues.

https://litecoin.info/Mining_hardware_comparison

I get 750 kh/s with my Sapphire 7970s (w/ default firmware, 1080 engine, 1500 mem, I 13)

They're getting 740 kh/s on the 280x at 1100/1500. Obviously the same chip...so I wouldn't expect much different I suppose...but still a bit disappointing.

The driver is in beta still, so you can say it's a fail yet. HD 7970 is a mature product and the R9 280X is still in it infancy. The price is the same as any other HD 7970 and will eventually drop over time.

The driver is not in beta, the driver released for review testing and BF4 is a beta. The R9 280x IS a 7970, they are XT2 boards and have nothing other than a flashed bios and a different cooler. To think you will see any increased performance over a 7970 is crap and there is nothing at all infant about the R9 280x.

ALL 7970s (R9 280x) can push over 720Kh/s - The main difference between cards ignoring gpu/mem clocks is the configuration of 3 key miner settings:

--gpu-threads
--thread-concurrency
--Intensity

Some 7970's especially older ones do best on a single gpu thread with a high thread-concurrency and intensity. eg, "--gpu-threads 1 --thread-concurrency 24000 --intensity 19"

A lot of newer boards (GHz editions) including the rebranded R9 280x do best with two gpu threads and a lower thread-concurrency and intensity eg, "--gpu-threads 2 --thread-concurrency 8192 --intensity 13" (have also found an odd thread concurrency such as 8191 give even better results)

I have personally tested this on several 7970 boards and even 7950s are affected the same way. No BIOS flashing or modding has ever been needed just a correct miner configuration and the right gpu/mem clock ratio which I have found to be very different on some cards simply because of the type of ram used and the different timings some memory chips run at which is why some users get lucky with low mem frequencies and others simply do not.

Bear in mind also that the R9 280 (non x variant) if and when its released will be a re-branded 7950 so could turn out to be a very good bang for buck card. Avoid the R9 270x as this is just a re-branded 7870, again the non x variant will be a rebrand of the 7850.

Do enjoy your AMD re-branded kit while we wait to see if the real news here the R9 290x will be a mining king.  Wink
sr. member
Activity: 476
Merit: 250
7970 giga,sapphire,powercolor,his,asus..all of them can run with I13..and with edited bios Smiley)

How did you edit it? I couldn't figure out how to improve mining speeds on my giga cards.
Using the tpu editor right? WHat values?
Which bios version do you have
hero member
Activity: 812
Merit: 1000
7970 giga,sapphire,powercolor,his,asus..all of them can run with I13..and with edited bios Smiley)

How did you edit it? I couldn't figure out how to improve mining speeds on my giga cards.
Using the tpu editor right? WHat values?
sr. member
Activity: 476
Merit: 250
7970 giga,sapphire,powercolor,his,asus..all of them can run with I13..and with edited bios Smiley)
hero member
Activity: 518
Merit: 500
Well i have free power so... depends i guess.

Hope your not stealing it....Are you getting solar power? Or you at a college dorm that includes utilities? Or at a company using mining as a way to test hardware?

I'm also interested to know too, I find it so hard to reduce my electricity bills.

Just use your electricity during off peak hours and partial peak hours, that should help. Look at your electric bill for that info. Nothing is free in life.

In my place, only commercial have off peak. For resident its all the same.

In my area of California, we have off peak hours from 9pm to 10am M-F. Weekends, off-peak more of the 2 days except for a part of the afternoon. On peak hours are M-F from 1pm to 7pm, until winter time. Rates in my area are as follows: $0.1323/kwhr Off Peak, $0.153/kwhr Partial Peak and $0.3125/kwhr On Peak....

An R9 280X has been added to the hardware comparison page. With OpenGL, it's either as good as the original 7970s or better. At this point, it seems to be way better than the 7970s. It looks like whatever they changed has fixed the original 7970 issues.

https://litecoin.info/Mining_hardware_comparison

That's pretty impress at I=13..Wonder what it does at I=18?...Maybe 800~900 kh/s....

I believe I=13 would be the highest point, some card just don't work well in high intensity.

If it's like the HD 7970, it can do I=18, even I=20....But on average, most single GPU cards can do at least I=18...I do I=80 on my 2x HD 5870's and HD 5850...

Not all 7970's are the same. Some need to run at 13. Going over 13 will just slow them down, depending on the card.
hero member
Activity: 518
Merit: 500
Im jealous, im paying 0.14/kwh. Double of what you paid...

What state/county you live in? Sounds like a Californian rate. I'm paying $0.1323/kwhr on off peak times.
sr. member
Activity: 434
Merit: 250
Im jealous, im paying 0.14/kwh. Double of what you paid...
hero member
Activity: 518
Merit: 500
In my area of California, we have off peak hours from 9pm to 10am M-F. Weekends, off-peak more of the 2 days except for a part of the afternoon. On peak hours are M-F from 1pm to 7pm, until winter time. Rates in my area are as follows: $0.1323/kwhr Off Peak, $0.153/kwhr Partial Peak and $0.3125/kwhr On Peak....

Wow, you must not be making much mining after electricity cost, if anything at all.

I'm currently paying $0.03/kwh for power and $0.04kwhr delivery. Thats $0.07/kwhr total no peak/off peak and I'm locked in for the next 6 months. That sounds great but half of my mining profits still go toward power, more than half if I'm running them in air conditioning.

I've been told that I have some of the cheapest power in the country, if that's the case, how does everyone else stay above power cost mining?

That sounds like rates in Washington state, but what state do you live in for those rates. I make a profit, just have to be very careful on the hours usage and what I mine. I'm just running two rigs, nothing too wild.
sr. member
Activity: 434
Merit: 250
In my area of California, we have off peak hours from 9pm to 10am M-F. Weekends, off-peak more of the 2 days except for a part of the afternoon. On peak hours are M-F from 1pm to 7pm, until winter time. Rates in my area are as follows: $0.1323/kwhr Off Peak, $0.153/kwhr Partial Peak and $0.3125/kwhr On Peak....

Wow, you must not be making much mining after electricity cost, if anything at all.

I'm currently paying $0.03/kwh for power and $0.04kwhr delivery. Thats $0.07/kwhr total no peak/off peak and I'm locked in for the next 6 months. That sounds great but half of my mining profits still go toward power, more than half if I'm running them in air conditioning.

I've been told that I have some of the cheapest power in the country, if that's the case, how does everyone else stay above power cost mining?

Which graphic card you are using?
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