Ethereum GPU mining?

[Madpacket]

Bitcoin holds value today mainly because of the network effct of being first. If someone tried introducing a new coin or ICO with the same properties of Bitcoin, it would immediately be ignored or labelled a *hit coin.

I used to be a huge Bitcoin proponent back when the leadership of the project wasn't corrupt and the coin was actually usable as a method of payment. The original Satoshi Whitepaper clearly describes the intent of Bitcoin as being used as a viable method of payment without the need for a third party.

This is no longer the case.

Bitcoin is absolutely useless as a method of payment and has switched to "digital gold" because of things like $40 transaction fees which are no better than Western Union.

I would love to see lightening network or SegWit take off to help scaling but I honestly think the rest of the world has moved on to less toxic projects and largely ignoring the minor scaling improvements presented.

Ethereum is a platform first yes, but even Ether the coin, used as a method of payment (without real scaling yet, hopefully soon) is vastly superior to Bitcoin in the areas of speed, security (yes it's more secure) and especially transaction fees. Ether needs better scaling or it'll eventually run into similar scaling issues as Bitcoin but thankfully there's multiple solutions on the way.

So sure hold a few BTC if you have some (I still do) as it's not going away anytime soon, and anything can happen in this space, but there are clearly much better Blockchains and coins to invest in long term. Ether being the primary one IMHO (Ether isn't just a currency, think of it more like Oil).

 

[24601]

Bitcoin holds value today mainly because of the network effct of being first. If someone tried introducing a new coin or ICO with the same properties of Bitcoin, it would immediately be ignored or labelled a *hit coin.

I used to be a huge Bitcoin proponent back when the leadership of the project wasn't corrupt and the coin was actually usable as a method of payment. The original Satoshi Whitepaper clearly describes the intent of Bitcoin as being used as a viable method of payment without the need for a third party.

This is no longer the case.

Bitcoin is absolutely useless as a method of payment and has switched to "digital gold" because of things like $40 transaction fees which are no better than Western Union.

I would love to see lightening network or SegWit take off to help scaling but I honestly think the rest of the world has moved on to less toxic projects and largely ignoring the minor scaling improvements presented.

Ethereum is a platform first yes, but even Ether the coin, used as a method of payment (without real scaling yet, hopefully soon) is vastly superior to Bitcoin in the areas of speed, security (yes it's more secure) and especially transaction fees. Ether needs better scaling or it'll eventually run into similar scaling issues as Bitcoin but thankfully there's multiple solutions on the way.

So sure hold a few BTC if you have some (I still do) as it's not going away anytime soon, and anything can happen in this space, but there are clearly much better Blockchains and coins to invest in long term. Ether being the primary one IMHO (Ether isn't just a currency, think of it more like Oil).

Centralized coins with premines, like ETH, Zcash, etc (99% of the coins on the market) aren't actually cryptocurrencies at all, as they have the same worth as a notepad document in terms of being a "distributed ledger".

Currently the only coin that I see lasting through the crash will be those with network effect (like bitcoin) as well as those that have actual innovation married to strict competent execution, like Monero (XMR).

Litecoin will probably keep its peg loosely to Bitcoin due to it's symbiotic relationship as well as it's ease of implementation on any platform that also implements Bitcoin.

All it takes to make a Centralized coin worthless is a government "leaning" on the "company" that owns it.

The easiest way to explain this is to show the example of the USD cryptocurrency, which is backed by the centralized ledger of the US Government, with the "protocol" of police shooting you and military invading you.

Any centralized currency is completely dependent on the relative police/paramilitary/military power of the centralized authority, which means that something like Ethereum or Zcash will always lose, unless you think Vitalik is matching nuclear arsenals to USA as well as funding super-carrier battle-groups to enforce Ethereum "smart contracts".

 

[Crono]

Centralized coins with premines, like ETH, Zcash, etc (99% of the coins on the market) aren't actually cryptocurrencies at all, as they have the same worth as a notepad document in terms of being a "distributed ledger".

Currently the only coin that I see lasting through the crash will be those with network effect (like bitcoin) as well as those that have actual innovation married to strict competent execution, like Monero (XMR).

Litecoin will probably keep its peg loosely to Bitcoin due to it's symbiotic relationship as well as it's ease of implementation on any platform that also implements Bitcoin.

All it takes to make a Centralized coin worthless is a government "leaning" on the "company" that owns it.

The easiest way to explain this is to show the example of the USD cryptocurrency, which is backed by the centralized ledger of the US Government, with the "protocol" of police shooting you and military invading you.

Any centralized currency is completely dependent on the relative police/paramilitary/military power of the centralized authority, which means that something like Ethereum or Zcash will always lose, unless you think Vitalik is matching nuclear arsenals to USA as well as funding super-carrier battle-groups to enforce Ethereum "smart contracts".

How exactly is Ethereum centralized?

 

[bbhaag]

Alright guys I am stumped by this one so I hope someone here can help. I'm running Claymore to mine Eth on my Rx480 but every so often I get a "Temperature control thread hangs, need to restart miner!" error.

I'm running stock settings on my MSI RX480 so I'm not sure what the issue is. I've tried searching but I guess I just don't know what to look for because I've come up dry. Here's a pic to show that I'm running pretty cool so I'm not sure why the error is happening. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[VeryCharBroiled]

Alright guys I am stumped by this one so I hope someone here can help. I'm running Claymore to mine Eth on my Rx480 but every so often I get a "Temperature control thread hangs, need to restart miner!" error.

I'm running stock settings on my MSI RX480 so I'm not sure what the issue is. I've tried searching but I guess I just don't know what to look for because I've come up dry. Here's a pic to show that I'm running pretty cool so I'm not sure why the error is happening. Any help would be appreciated.

i think its kinda a known issue with some drivers. are you running the latest?

you can also try "-tt 0" (without quotes) on the command line, it disables temperature monitoring.

 

[IEC]

Polaris cards should be run undervolted and underclocked on the core... and OC'd as far as the memory allows stably.

That card would use less power at <=900mV, 1000MHz core, 2000MHz memory for example. And produce a better hash rate. The best cards were the one that came with memory allowing 2200MHz+ clocks.

You can further tune the cards by doing custom BIOS mods especially for memory timings/straps which increase hash performance even further.

 

[bbhaag]

i think its kinda a known issue with some drivers. are you running the latest?

you can also try "-tt 0" (without quotes) on the command line, it disables temperature monitoring.

So it appears I was not running the latest drivers for my card. I went ahead and updated my drivers and I will see how it goes. Thank you.

Polaris cards should be run undervolted and underclocked on the core... and OC'd as far as the memory allows stably.

That card would use less power at <=900mV, 1000MHz core, 2000MHz memory for example. And produce a better hash rate. The best cards were the one that came with memory allowing 2200MHz+ clocks.

You can further tune the cards by doing custom BIOS mods especially for memory timings/straps which increase hash performance even further.

Unfortunately the card I have does not react kindly to any type of tinkering no matter how small. In the past I've tried to make the changes you have suggested but have been met with very limited success. I will see how it goes with the updated drivers. If that goes well then perhaps I will try again but I will hold off for now.
Thank you for the suggestions though.

 

[Madpacket]

How exactly is Ethereum centralized?

I don't have time to properly reply to 24601 but He/She appears to be conflating or confusing a premine ICO with centralizatiom and has no idea how decentralized Ethereum actually is (it's more decentralized than Bitcoin). This is the typical rhetoric of the mindset that "must be mined from the Genesis block to be valid" crypto fundamentalists take.

 

[DrMrLordX]

How exactly is Ethereum centralized?

Shhh we may have a maximalist in the thread.

 

[ultimatebob]

Now that higher end PC video cards are getting harder to come by, I wonder if anyone has been able to hack the XBox One X and get an Ethereum miner running on that. In theory, it has roughly the same GPU horsepower as a Radeon Vega 56, but it's cheaper than getting one of those cards at current pricing.

 

[bbhaag]

i think its kinda a known issue with some drivers. are you running the latest?

you can also try "-tt 0" (without quotes) on the command line, it disables temperature monitoring.

Over 45 shares found and I'm getting a consistent mh/s rate of over 17 and no temp errors in site. Thanks man your suggestion of updating my drivers seemed to solve my issue.

 

[IntelUser2000]

Unfortunately the card I have does not react kindly to any type of tinkering no matter how small. In the past I've tried to make the changes you have suggested but have been met with very limited success.

Sounds like you have a reference card?

You can just adjust voltage. Most RX cards can go under 900mV, but I had a card that didn't like going below 930mV.

What does "small" mean? I would consider 5-15MHz small.

 

[bbhaag]

No it is not a reference card it is a MSI RX480 Gaming x 4gb. Unfortunately the Hynix ram that MSI used with this card limits its abilities.
It has been awhile since I played around with it so I do not remember the exact settings I tried. Like I said above if Claymore remains stable with the new drivers I installed then perhaps I will tinker with the card again.

 

[IntelUser2000]

No it is not a reference card it is a MSI RX480 Gaming x 4gb. Unfortunately the Hynix ram that MSI used with this card limits its abilities.

The temperature control thread hang I believe is Claymore's fault. Try the 10.5 version. Also, I have almost no such issues with the August blockchain driver. And as a plus, blockchain drivers are 5-7% faster for me even with the compute mode enabled on the newer drivers. Plus, I find having to switch to compute mode for every card very annoying because it closes the settings application, and have to wait few seconds it to reload.

The implementation, and your luck on getting the right VRAM chip is a bigger deal than the manufacturer of those said VRAM chips.

Again I want to know what small means. Does it cause problems adjusting clocks by mere 5-15MHz?

 

[bbhaag]

The temperature control thread hang I believe is Claymore's fault. Try the 10.5 version. Also, I have almost no such issues with the August blockchain driver. And as a plus, blockchain drivers are 5-7% faster for me even with the compute mode enabled on the newer drivers. Plus, I find having to switch to compute mode for every card very annoying because it closes the settings application, and have to wait few seconds it to reload.

The implementation, and your luck on getting the right VRAM chip is a bigger deal than the manufacturer of those said VRAM chips.

Again I want to know what small means. Does it cause problems adjusting clocks by mere 5-15MHz?

I'm sorry but I honestly don't remember. I'm getting the best hash rates I've had in awhile and I don't want to fuck with it. Maybe in a week or two but right now I'm good.....sorry man. I don't wanna come across as rude or anything but for now I just want to let it be for a little bit.....I hope you can understand that.

 

[DrMrLordX]

I totally get that. Some of my 290s are running @ 800 MHz now since I'm sick of having to retune them every few months when they get more (or less) finicky or when the weather changes. They can roll on forever at that GPU clock and get me 23 H/s no matter what. Not great, but still profitable.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Finally sorta started on my dedicated rig. The case:





Forgot to buy some 1" screws, all the screws I have are too long so right now I just placed the pieces how they will go. Banana for scale.

It will sit on some universal L rackmount rails that came with a SAN. They seem to be the most versatile solution for custom cases bought ones that don't come with rail kits.

I'll wait until I get my risers before I put the card support so I can get the height right. This will hold 2 psus, motherboard, and 6 cards. Though 6 cards in 5U feels super inefficient, I might look to see if I can fit 8 but they will be kinda close together. I don't plan to have more than 2 cards for a while but figure I will future proof this as best as I can.

 

[Crono]

Banana for scale.

I was about to say that I'm pretty sure Bananacoin isn't mineable, and that isn't how you would mine it if it were, anyway.

Nice project!

 

[ultimatebob]

Finally sorta started on my dedicated rig. The case:





Forgot to buy some 1" screws, all the screws I have are too long so right now I just placed the pieces how they will go. Banana for scale.

It will sit on some universal L rackmount rails that came with a SAN. They seem to be the most versatile solution for custom cases bought ones that don't come with rail kits.

I'll wait until I get my risers before I put the card support so I can get the height right. This will hold 2 psus, motherboard, and 6 cards. Though 6 cards in 5U feels super inefficient, I might look to see if I can fit 8 but they will be kinda close together. I don't plan to have more than 2 cards for a while but figure I will future proof this as best as I can.

Ah, so THIS is why you built that shed in your backyard! Red Squirrel Blockchain Mining Co is scaling up to take over where the Chinese mining farms left off!

 

[IntelUser2000]

I don't wanna come across as rude or anything but for now I just want to let it be for a little bit.....I hope you can understand that.

No need to be sorry, just throwing suggestions.

I might look to see if I can fit 8 but they will be kinda close together. I don't plan to have more than 2 cards for a while but figure I will future proof this as best as I can.

Pretty cool. I guess you are going to place the cards across the width of the box, because that seems like the only way to place 8 of them. Did you cut the big holes, or did you get the box like that?

I find out if the cards are less than 3 inches apart, they run fair bit hotter.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I was about to say that I'm pretty sure Bananacoin isn't mineable, and that isn't how you would mine it if it were, anyway.

Nice project!

Hmmm I like that idea, think I'm going to start a new coin.

Ah, so THIS is why you built that shed in your backyard! Red Squirrel Blockchain Mining Co is scaling up to take over where the Chinese mining farms left off!

Ironicly, sorta. I needed the shed to make room in the garage so I can actually work in it. Any rig I build will be in the house since it's basically free heat. Saw some pretty crazy setups on Youtube where people filled a shed with cards though.

Pretty cool. I guess you are going to place the cards across the width of the box, because that seems like the only way to place 8 of them. Did you cut the big holes, or did you get the box like that?

I find out if the cards are less than 3 inches apart, they run fair bit hotter.

They'll probably go along the front in a row. So yeah I don't think I can get more than 6 without them touching. But that was the original plan anyway. May play around with different configs just to see if I can maximize use of space. I used a hole saw to cut the holes. Funny enough I found the exact size I needed for 120mm fans. Looking at some 200CFM fans on Digikey.

 

[IntelUser2000]

I'm not sure what you mean by front. Is that the side without the holes? Because if you place the fans where the holes are, and place the cards across the width(not the length), the airflow would be blocked by the outer cards, no?

It seems to me if you put the holes on the longer side of the box, you'd have been able to fit more cards in without them touching.

 

[Red Squirrel]

The holes are the front and back, so the cards will be perpendicular to the front, so that the air can go across them. I could put them along one side though, but cooling won't be as efficient. as the air will basically just hit the side of the first card. This will be in a server rack, so don't want any holes on the sides as it's made for front to back airflow. Motherboard and PSUs will be at the back.

I'm even wondering if I should remove any air shrouds that some cards may have as with all the air that will be produced by the 3 fans I'm better off exposing the circuit board and heat sink of the cards. One of the cards that's coming in is a blower type design and all enclosed, but I may actually be better off to leave it open. I'll experiment with that.

Basically this is the layout I'm going for:

 

[ultimatebob]

Has anyone here tried using a cloud hosting service for mining yet? Google Cloud really doesn't seem to like miners, since they set the GPU limits to 0 for all new customers, and ask you to make a $70 down payment to increase the quota.

 

[Crono]

Has anyone here tried using a cloud hosting service for mining yet? Google Cloud really doesn't seem to like miners, since they set the GPU limits to 0 for all new customers, and ask you to make a $70 down payment to increase the quota.

Not for Ethereum. I've used Microsoft's Azure, Google Compute Engine, AWS, and Digital Ocean in the past for CPU mining (Primecoin) but since then it's become more difficult and they've limited free trials and credits more (for obvious reasons). I don't think the economics works very well to use GPU cloud for mining versus just buying ether with fiat, but I'm thinking about spinning up some servers after Nimiq (browser/CPU mineable) launches.