\[Guide\] GPU Mining using Radeon R9 280x Sapphire Dual X OC

[Cellder]

There is a small guide at the end of the first post here: [url=http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/vbe7-vbios-editor-for-radeon-hd-7000-series-cards.189089/]http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/vbe7-vbios-editor-for-radeon-hd-7000-series-cards.189089/[/url]

Additionally you can check another site with more insight into what to edit and what settings to use: [url=http://www.cryptobadger.com/2013/10/undervolting-in-linux-via-modified-bios/]http://www.cryptobadger.com/2013/10/undervolting-in-linux-via-modified-bios/[/url]

But you can use the second guide with all the software mentioned in the first one under Windows!

Hope that helps!

[fUrious]

Hello kojima18!

I found your post most useful, but maybe you should revise your settings - im running a single *regular* 290 card from sapphire (21227-00-40G) and I’m currently at ~760Kh/s (740-770)!

Thats above your 2x712Kh/s. I purpose the following tweeks that worked for me:

Catalyst OverDrive settings:
Power limit settings: 20%
GPU click settings: -7%
Memclock: 15%

The temperature is 77 degrees, somewhat higher then yours so it was the first pinpointer that you have more to go on. Fan speed is currently at 86% which may be a little high and quite loud.

[A Former User]

[quote name=“fUrious” post=“46404” timestamp=“1387531184”]
…
I found your post most useful, but maybe you should revise your settings - im running a single *regular* 290 card from sapphire (21227-00-40G) and I’m currently at ~760Kh/s (740-770)!

Thats above your 2x712Kh/s. I purpose the following tweeks that worked for me:
…
[/quote]

Hi furious,

keep in mind, this is a R9 280X thread. The 290 has 25% more shader processors and slightly lower clocks (~10%). The default hashrate for a 290 should be somewhere in the 800 Kh/s area.

e.g. 280x hashrate * 1.25 (shaders) * 0.9 (engine clock) = ~800 Kh/s.

[fUrious]

Wow, thanks nimmneun!

I know this was a 290x thread, but I was assuming 290x > 290 and therefor thought his hashrates was a little low regarding my result. But it seems I’m the one that should do more tweeking, If I’m supposed to be around 800!

I really knew that my card was supposed to be around 800 but I’ve tried a bunch of settings but can’t get above 760. Guess I have to get back to tinkering then… good luck with the 290x, sorry for intruding :D

[A Former User]

[quote name=“fUrious” post=“46438” timestamp=“1387540694”]
…
I know this was a 290x thread, but I was assuming 290x > 290 and therefor thought his hashrates was a little low regarding my result. But it seems I’m the one that should do more tweeking, If I’m supposed to be around 800!
…
[/quote]

=) it’s actually the other way round. Your card is the superior one. The guide is meant for 2[b]8[/b]0X cards, which is basically a revamped 7970 based on the Tahiti chip. Your card has the new Hawaii Pro chip =)

[ChekaZ]

Hey Guys!

I was able to flash all 4 Gigabyte cards - 2x 7970 and 2x R9 280x ! Its just awesome ;)

They dropped like 80W each.

[A Former User]

[quote name=“ChekaZ” post=“46558” timestamp=“1387578142”]
Hey Guys!

I was able to flash all 4 Gigabyte cards - 2x 7970 and 2x R9 280x ! Its just awesome ;)

They dropped like 80W each.
[/quote]

sw33t =) could you share core+mem clocks and voltages you used pls?

[ChekaZ]

Gigabyte 7970:

721kh/s mem: 1250 core: 1025 voltage: 1.075 -> 314W/h
690kh/s mem: 1250 core: 975 voltage: 1.050 -> 282W/h

Gigabyte R9 280x:

712kh/s mem: 1500 core: 1030 voltage: 1.075 -> 322W/h

Iam still trying to impove this stats but its ok right now.

Got pm’ed a config which should use less power but hadnt time to test it cause I firedup my old PSU while testing x)

Regards,
ChekaZ

[aatje92]

[quote name=“fUrious” post=“46438” timestamp=“1387540694”]
…
[/quote]

0.o i’m getting 840kh/s on my default sapphire r9 290, what settings do you run cgminer with?

[Morderchai]

First of all, Great guide! It will come in handy when my hardware comes in this week!

One question though, you’re using a Asrock 970 Extreme 4 MB that has 3x 2.0 PCI-e x16 Ports.
But the Sapphire R9 280x is a PCI-e 3.0 x16 card. Will this effect the performance of the cards or is it neglectable?

[qwertybo]

[quote name=“aatje92” post=“46903” timestamp=“1387731393”]
[quote author=fUrious link=topic=5879.msg46438#msg46438 date=1387540694]
…
[/quote]

0.o i’m getting 840kh/s on my default sapphire r9 290, what settings do you run cgminer with?
[/quote]

only 840?? my 280x’s are running 750-760 each…

[IMG]http://i40.tinypic.com/19ovnn.png[/img]

[mmyhre]

Follow this guide.

I run 2 x dual R9 290 with settings from link.

Gives me 4x 880 out.

Only problem i have is temp issues as one card is constant 10 degress above the other, but running stable at 68 / 81 degress. Tips. Use a table fan and open chassi up. Works great.

[url=http://www.holynerdvana.com/2013/11/litecoin-mining-with-r9-290-and-r9-290x.html]http://www.holynerdvana.com/2013/11/litecoin-mining-with-r9-290-and-r9-290x.html[/url]

[Jsnow]

[quote name=“nimmneun” post=“43479” timestamp=“1386862446”]
+rep - UV4Life! I’m running the same setup (gpu+mobo), except for the CPU (Athlon x2 260, Semprons were out of stock *lol)

I’d be curious about your watts + hashrate if you set Trixx [b]1.07v[/b] and [b]–gpu-engine 1000,1000 --gpu-memclock 1250,1250[/b]?
In theory this should be
With difficulty growing towards 5000 for LTC by end of the year (other altcoins will probably also seriously rise next year) power consumption will be quite a factor =)

edit4memclock fix =)
[/quote]

Hi there!
Firs of all, I’m in the mining world from christmas, so I’m totally noob!
That being sayd, I’m using almost the same setup as in the OP and I’d like to run 3x R9 280x with my Corsair AX860 80Plus Platinum PSU.

As far as I’ve read I could run those cards also using the defaults stock settings at 840W, right?
But I’d like to use the settings you have in your signature to save some power…I can achieve it by just changing my CGminer setup?

My actual cgminer setup is the following:
cgminer --scrypt -o *** -u *** -p *** --thread-concurrency 8192 --intensity 13 --worksize 256 -g 2

Should I change it that way? :
cgminer --scrypt -o *** -u *** -p *** --thread-concurrency 8192 --intensity 13 --worksize 256 -g 2 --gpu-engine 1080 --gpu-memclock 1500 --gpu-powertune -20

Should I also add a fan speed command and a target temp command? I’d like the cards to stay under 70�C.

I need to do something else or doing so I’m already achieving my goal?

Thank you very much in advance!

PS. I’ve the opportunity to place my rig in my office, avoiding any electricity cost. Buying the beta of CGRemote I’d be able to monitor my rig from home and also switch from LTC, FTC and other coins as I wish and at every moment? Cause If so I’m definetely going for it!

[kojima18]

cgminer --scrypt -o *** -u *** -p *** --thread-concurrency 8192 --intensity 13 --worksize 256 -g 2 --gpu-engine 1080 --gpu-memclock 1500 --gpu-powertune -20

Is what I would recommend, but then I would recommend you use CGwatcher because it does a much better job of monitoring your rig.

Depending on my card and setup I do recommend setting a target temp between 62-68 degree… I dont like to keep the fan at certain percentage.

Will write a guide for the Gigabyte GV-R928XOC-3GD-GA Rev 2.0 (730 Hash preflash, will flash it) and Sapphire Tri-X r9 280x (hashing around 750 stable) soon as well as report my feedback on CGremote.

[Jsnow]

Thank you kojima18 for your answer.

I did some tests with 2 of my GPUs, and I’ve some questions:

• Does the CGMiner command --gpu-vddc works for those R9 280x cards? Cause I’ve tried it but apparently nothing happens.
• Does CGWatcher recognizes the voltage changes made with Trixx? Cause I’ve changed the voltange on Trixx but starting CGWatcher it shows the normal stock voltages.
• Does overclocking has sense in conjuction with undervolting?

The two GPUs tested are from stock:
1020 Core Clock
1500 Mem Clock
1200 vddc
&
1020 Core Clock
1500 Mem Clock
1163 vddc

I’m actually running them both at 1113 vddc, so undervolted just a bit, and everything seems fine, with no loss of performance.
If I go at 1100 or under I get a driver error and one of the GPUs looses half of its Hashpower, going to 300-400 KH/s, the other one stays normal…how that could be? Is this a problem of the card?

Thank you again!!

[Jsnow]

Ok I tested a bit more and something strange happens:

• I tried to undervolt both cards with Trixx, but even undervolting them by a tiny amount (from 1163 & 1200 to 1150) after a while the GPU 0 started to look strange in CGMiner: Hashrate jumped to 850KH/s on the GPU 0 line, but the total Hashpower amount was not respecting it, and after a while I got a driver error, the monitor went black for a while and went back to normal…but after the driver error restarting CGMiner causes the GPU 0 to stay at a ridiculously low Hashpower…
• I tried to undervolt only GPU 0, but got same as above…
• I tried to undervolt only GPU 1, but, again, same as above…

Just to mention, the GPU 0 is the one connected to the monitor during the tests.

So what could be the problem?
Thinking about the fact that I’m getting always the same problem to GPU 0, no matter which GPU I undervolt and how much I undervolt, could it be something else and not a card problem??

I hope that you can give me some tips and help to figure it out!
Thank you!

[kojima18]

[i]- Does the CGMiner command --gpu-vddc works for those R9 280x cards? Cause I’ve tried it but apparently nothing happens.[/i]

I dont think so, I use either trixx or afterburner to do the tweaking

[i]- Does CGWatcher recognizes the voltage changes made with Trixx? Cause I’ve changed the voltange on Trixx but starting CGWatcher it shows the normal stock voltages.
[/i]
CGWatcher doesnt recognize the voltage change unless you flash it, so if you change with software you will need to use GPU Z to detect the change in voltage.

[i]- Does overclocking has sense in conjuction with undervolting?[/i]

Yes you can overclock by increasing power and GPU but with mining less is more.

What is your temp for the card you are running?
open case or not?
what is the psu you are using?

Dont touch memclock and just touch GPU and voltage

[A Former User]

Have you tried testing each card individually, by actually unplugging one card from the system? Thats where I’d start from.

And maybe start with lower settings like 1000mhz engine / 1250 mhz memory. I tested those with 3 different brands and they all gave me about 690Kh/s. The difference between 1250mhz and 1500mhz on memory is 0.5-3Kh/s at the most - so basically nothing =)

[Jsnow]

Thank you for your answers!

@Kojima18: at stock settings my GPUs temps are around 60�C, totally open case in a room with windows open all the time to get better airflow.
My setup is almost same as OP:
CPU - Sempron 145
MB - Asrock 970 Extreme4
SSD - Kingston 60Gb
Ram - 4Gb GSkill

I’ve never touched mem clock, tried to increase the engine from the 1020 stock value to 1050 and 1080 max, it goes well with respectively:
1020 - ~705KH/s
1050 - ~720KH/s
1080 - ~730KH/s
No problems at all when I OC without undervolting.

@nimmneum: I was thinking the same and I’m actually testing each card individually, will try to lower the memory and engine settings as you suggested.
I’ll edit this post with the results as soon as I finish testing them!

Thank you again for your patience :)

[raimondas]

Hi guys,
I’m new here, and Have one question,
I want to build my first mining rig, just one with 6 GPU of 280X MSI Gaming
Do you think 2 PSU of 1000W (Corsair RM) will be enough without undervolting the cards ?