# Getting the most out of your cards



## cdawall (Feb 2, 2018)

So there is always gobs of questions about how to tweak cards.  I am going to show some configurations for the cards I personally have, these will be split between memory intensive algorithms and core intensive algorithms

If this helped you out feel free to toss a donation my way, guaranteed it will just go towards buying more GPU's and testing more out.

ETH: 0xFA753B35457A06044992A375FD084Ce9F04Ab3BF

LTC: LVbmEU3kA8YA7RtDbvpJrR6oPQiMacoQ77

*Hawaii AKA R9 290(X)/390(X)*

*CORE INTENSIVE*

We will be using GatelessGate miner and Neoscrypt for an example. This is towards the top of power hungry algorithms. AMD cards seem to not particularly like this. These older cards do not seem to do as well with Neoscrypt as the newer Polaris based cards do. For these we need to adjust the running config a smidgen. This gained me a total of 100KH/s at stock clocks.

Look closely and you will see the intensity is "14", default is 13, worksize is also lowered to "128" instead of the default 256.


```
"algorithm": "neoscrypt",
  "intensity": "14",
  "worksize": "128",
  "gpu-threads": "1",
  "load-balance": true,

  "auto-fan": true,
  "temp-cutoff": "90",
  "temp-overheat": "85",
  "temp-target": "70",
```

You can overclock to whatever you can cool from here. I personally have the card barely bumped and undervolted -130mV. 







*MEMORY INTENSIVE*

We will be using Claymore miner version 10.4, version 11 is out hashrate is not improved, but some more dual mining algorithms have been added WATCH GPU0, the others are 1080Ti's. Also this is going to be on DAG 90 to make it the same for all cards. 2GB cards max out on DAG 95 using claymore's miner quite a few coins are before this and you can still mine on those. This card is not maxed out. This is what it does comfortably and without using a million watts of power. Hawaii needs more core clock to match increased memory clocks. These cards can do 34MH/s if you don't care about power usage. I found them sitting around 30-32MH/s is their best spot. 






*Polaris 11 AKA the RX460/560* 

Step zero with these for any algorithm is to unlock the extra shaders. Everything does better with more shaders. Stop by the BIOS mod thread and see if your card is already done, or make a request for an updated one.

*CORE INTENSIVE*

We will be using GatelessGate miner and Neoscrypt for an example. This is towards the top of power hungry algorithms. AMD cards seem to not particularly like this. The core boost clocks seem to die for lack of a better word, also out of the box they want all of the volts. Tweaking these settings is good for tons of performance on AMD. Out of the box these cards only did 280KH/s for the 1024SP models and 230KH/s for the 896SP models. 






These cards are all 1200+ mhz cores from the factory. I have adjusted the BIOS to lock max clock at 1106 this seems like a great balance between power and performance. Sub 50w in GPUz translates to 60-70w at the wall from my experience with these cards. 

So on the cards I have here there are 2 Asus RX560 2GB cards and 1 MSI RX460 2GB. I have modified the memory straps for ethash/cryptonight nothing special BIOS is available in my BIOS mod thread. 

Settings are as follows

1106mhz max GPU clock with default power tables
2000mhz mclock with 950mV set in the BIOS
fan speed "high power" changed from 60% to 100% to allow full access to fan speed by GPU BIOS without software intervention
42W TDP normal
54A TDA 
48W TDP max

This is all BIOS settings, I only changed additional settings in the OS with my MSI RX 460, unfortunately the cards ASIC quality could not maintain the full clocks.






*Polaris 10 AKA the 470/570/480/580*

These cards are very well known for their Ethash performance, they seem to match a 1070(Ti) in that algorithm. When you get them working the core however they can only just edge out a 1060 and that requires some work.

*CORE INTENSIVE*

We will be using GatelessGate miner and Neoscrypt for an example. This is towards the top of power hungry algorithms. AMD cards seem to not particularly like this. The core boost clocks seem to die for lack of a better word, also out of the box they want all of the volts. Tweaking these settings is good for tons of performance on AMD. Out of the box these cards only did 550KH/s depending on model.

The cards I am running in this particular rig are an Asus Strix 570 4GB and MSI Aero 580 4GB, as you will notice unlike the Polaris 11 cards, extra shaders don't seem to matter it is purely clockspeed.

1266mhz max GPU clock with default power tables
UNDERVOLTED TO MINIMUM STABLE AMOUNT. This is the most important part. Cards are all different I have cards stable from 890mV up to 950mV.
mclock with 950mV set in the BIOS, this doesn't matter much for this algorithm. Cards are still setup from Ethash and Cryptonight mining with modded timing tables.
fan speed "high power" changed from 60% to 100% to allow full access to fan speed by GPU BIOS without software intervention
TDP limited to around 120-130w showing in GPUz higher seems to hurt performance across the board.






*GTX 1050Ti 4GB*

These behave like exactly one half of a GTX 1070. Ethash, Neoscrypt, Equihash it doens't matter they seem to be exactly one half. With current GTX 1070 prices if you can handle the larger number of cards these could be a good swap for you.

*CORE INTENSIVE*

I will be using CCminer KlausT fork and Neoscypt for an example. You can try HSRminer as well it has a 1% dev fee included and I have seen some stability problems. With GDDR5x cards it showed a solid improvement in performance, however I make zero money when the miner is mining because it crashed so I will take the stability of CCminer personally. 

Core heavy algorithms seem to be Nvidia's bread and butter. Pascal is supremely more efficient than Polaris 

This is an Asus STRIX version of the card so default wattage was actually higher than the card could maintain clocks at. There was no difference in performance between 75% and 100% TDP, GPUz flags VREL as limiting reason which is code for we need MOAR VOLTS. +50 in MSI afterburner was able to free up another 10KH/s, but wattage bump worth the extra performance. 

The settings you see are for my specific card with Micron memory.

+140mhz core seemed to be the max the card went before the clock speed change did nothing for boost clock. Again we are voltage limited here.
+400mhz memory clock, doesn't seem to matter nearly as much as core clock this gained a few KH/s not many.
75% TDP this limit is where the card would start to flip between VREL and TDP on GPUz anything lower and performance was lost.
83C temp limit, this is the default setting for this card. Lots of words of thought on this if Nvidia set it, that is good enough for me.






*GTX 1060 3GB/6GB*

There is a lot of talk about needed a 6GB card for mining. For Ethash you still have at least a year before the DAG is too large. Other algorithms are not affected by this. Don't believe the FUD.

*CORE INTENSIVE*

I will be using CCminer KlausT fork and Neoscypt for an example. You can try HSRminer as well it has a 1% dev fee included and I have seen some stability problems. With GDDR5x cards it showed a solid improvement in performance, however I make zero money when the miner is mining because it crashed so I will take the stability of CCminer personally. 

Core heavy algorithms seem to be Nvidia's bread and butter. Pascal is supremely more efficient than Polaris 

The card used for screenshots is a Zotac GTX 1060 3GB Samsung I have Asus Dual's, Gigabyte dual fans and Zotac 6GB cards as well all of the settings are very similar minus I run the Asus dual card with it's superior cooler at a higher TDP. This particular Zotac card is spoiled and sits in slot 4 of my gaming PC I have pushed it further than the cards in my mining cases.

+10 Core voltage
+120mhz core clock
+400mhz memory clock, additional clockspeed didn't matter in this algorithm. All of my 1060's are Samsung based and can handle +800mhz
92% TDP this is much higher than I run in my mining rigs those normally sit at 80-85% for Zotac/GB cards and 95% for the Asus dual cards
83C temp limit, this is the default setting for this card. Lots of words of thought on this if Nvidia set it, that is good enough for me.






*GTX 1070(Ti) 8GB*

These are the go to cards for mining in my opinion. Tons of ram for any algorithm, this is getting towards the top of mid range gaming cards so everything seems to be better done on these over the lower end cards. The Ti version will follow the exact same methods as it is virtually the same thing.

*CORE INTENSIVE*

I will be using CCminer KlausT fork and Neoscypt for an example. You can try HSRminer as well it has a 1% dev fee included and I have seen some stability problems. With GDDR5x cards it showed a solid improvement in performance, however I make zero money when the miner is mining because it crashed so I will take the stability of CCminer personally. 

Core heavy algorithms seem to be Nvidia's bread and butter. Pascal is supremely more efficient than Polaris 

The card used for screenshots is an EVGA GTX 1070 FTW, I also have reference PCB blower cards from PNY/MSI, Asus Turbo's and have played with just about any of the other cards you can think of.

+100mhz core clock
+500mhz memory clock, additional clockspeed didn't matter in this algorithm. 
80% TDP this rig is being limited. 12 cards and running a bit close to max power for the PSU setup.
83C temp limit, this is the default setting for this card. Lots of words of thought on this if Nvidia set it, that is good enough for me.






*GTX 1080 8GB*

This card is only good for core intensive mining. This card is NOT good for ethash or cryptonight algorithms. There isn't a way to tweak that better they just aren't good.

*CORE INTENSIVE*

I will be using CCminer KlausT fork and Neoscypt for an example. You can try HSRminer as well it has a 1% dev fee included and I have seen some stability problems. With GDDR5x cards it showed a solid improvement in performance, however I make zero money when the miner is mining because it crashed so I will take the stability of CCminer personally. 

Core heavy algorithms seem to be Nvidia's bread and butter. Pascal is supremely more efficient than Polaris 

The card used for screenshots is an EVGA GTX 1080 SC, reference card with a fancy cooler I have had three of these not bad cards at all if used correctly.

+100mhz core clock
+400mhz memory clock, additional clockspeed didn't matter in this algorithm. 
80% TDP this rig is being limited. 12 cards and running a bit close to max power for the PSU setup.
83C temp limit, this is the default setting for this card. Lots of words of thought on this if Nvidia set it, that is good enough for me.






*GTX 1080Ti 11GB*

If your goal is to get as hashrate dense within a reasonable price point this is the card. 

*CORE INTENSIVE*

I will be using CCminer KlausT fork and Neoscypt for an example. You can try HSRminer as well it has a 1% dev fee included and I have seen some stability problems. With GDDR5x cards it showed a solid improvement in performance, however I make zero money when the miner is mining because it crashed so I will take the stability of CCminer personally. 

Core heavy algorithms seem to be Nvidia's bread and butter. Pascal is supremely more efficient than Polaris 

The card used for screenshots is an EVGA GTX 1080Ti SC Black, I have been using Founder Editions, STRIX and my least favorite the MSI Gaming X (two RMA's then sold).

+100mhz core clock, I had stability issues pushing past this point depending on card.
+400mhz memory clock, additional clockspeed didn't matter in this algorithm. 
90% TDP this is pushing what I would call the max of longevity. I am not a fan of 100-120% TDP on these cards, it is just too much for 24/7
84C temp limit, this is the default setting for this card. Lots of words of thought on this if Nvidia set it, that is good enough for me.







*MEMORY INTENSIVE*

We will be using Claymore miner version 10.4, version 11 is out hashrate is not improved, but some more dual mining algorithms have been added WATCH GPU1/2/3, the other is a 390. Also this is going to be on DAG 90 to make it the same for all cards. 2GB cards max out on DAG 95 using claymore's miner quite a few coins are before this and you can still mine on those. These cards are easy to push. The display card is GPU1 as you can see it is lagging behind, try to use onboard whenever possible. All the cards are set to the same clocks, this is about as high as I am willing to set mine, but people push well higher than this and hit 40MH/s on these with great memory.






*GTX 980Ti 6GB*

This card is only good for core intensive mining. This card is NOT good for ethash or cryptonight algorithms. There isn't a way to tweak that better they just aren't good. Being Maxwell they also pull ALL of the power. Be careful using these to mine.

*CORE INTENSIVE*

I will be using CCminer KlausT fork and Neoscypt for an example. You can try HSRminer as well it has a 1% dev fee included and I have seen some stability problems. With GDDR5x cards it showed a solid improvement in performance, however I make zero money when the miner is mining because it crashed so I will take the stability of CCminer personally. 

Core heavy algorithms seem to be Nvidia's bread and butter. Maxwell has improved over Kepler in mining quite substantially, but still is not good for memory intensive algos.

The card used for screenshots is an EVGA GTX 980Ti FTW, I am more of a fan of the GB 980Ti three fan models, I have sold all of the ones I had however. The reference cards were not bad just hotter.

+150mhz core clock, I had stability issues pushing past this point depending on card.
+400mhz memory clock, additional clockspeed didn't matter in this algorithm. 
80% TDP this card can do so much more if you let it burn power.
84C temp limit, this is the default setting for this card. Lots of words of thought on this if Nvidia set it, that is good enough for me.


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## xkm1948 (Feb 2, 2018)

Any tweak for the Fiji ones?


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## cdawall (Feb 2, 2018)

xkm1948 said:


> Any tweak for the Fiji ones?



I don't have any of them anymore unfortunately...


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## verycharbroiled (Feb 10, 2018)

nice! sent ya another tip (ltc, will give tx info in pm)


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## cdawall (Feb 10, 2018)

verycharbroiled said:


> nice! sent ya another tip (ltc, will give tx info in pm)



Good timing I am updating for ethash right as we speak. Will have that up within the next few hours. 

EDIT maybe a little longer need the thread editable. W1z already PM'd sure he will get me taken care of again. Thanks again to you and him for making this possible!


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## sneekypeet (Feb 11, 2018)

cdawall said:


> need the thread editable.



Unlocked OP.


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## cdawall (Feb 11, 2018)

sneekypeet said:


> Unlocked OP.



Thank you let me see how far I can get before making my 1080Ti's angry again.


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## verycharbroiled (Feb 11, 2018)

really looking forward to this thread. i rebuilt my rig a month or so ago, new riserless mobo, added nvidia cards and dropped 2x390s, win10 pro instead of win7 pro. heres a link to the rig for what its worth: https://www.techpowerup.com/gallery/4531/d8p-bomber .
old rig was rock solid but only amd and afterburner. so i just let it run and never bothered to learn any other way of controlling power and clocks. well for whatever reason ab no longer works with the new rig, and i use evga precision x (4 card limit, wtf) for the nvidia and radeon settings for the amd. bleh. and i never set the voltage in claymore for the amds as i used ab. so just did that now in claymore. eventually i want to go all command line for voltage/oc/power limit. nvidia has a command line tool, dont recall what it is but i have it bookmarked. its next on my list.

so basically i am learning lots of new stuff. and this thread rocks.

btw when i set the voltage for my 460 (shader unlocked) in claymore it came up with zero hash and the watchdog rebooted the rig. turns out i had to set the voltage to zero (null) in claymore and set it to manual in radeon settings. odd but it works now. not sure whats up with that as the 470s are fine with the new voltage commands and i dropped about 20 watts between the two cards. ill play with it more later.


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## cdawall (Feb 11, 2018)

verycharbroiled said:


> really looking forward to this thread. i rebuilt my rig a month or so ago, new riserless mobo, added nvidia cards and dropped 2x390s, win10 pro instead of win7 pro. heres a link to the rig for what its worth: https://www.techpowerup.com/gallery/4531/d8p-bomber .
> old rig was rock solid but only amd and afterburner. so i just let it run and never bothered to learn any other way of controlling power and clocks. well for whatever reason ab no longer works with the new rig, and i use evga precision x (4 card limit, wtf) for the nvidia and radeon settings for the amd. bleh. and i never set the voltage in claymore for the amds as i used ab. so just did that now in claymore. eventually i want to go all command line for voltage/oc/power limit. nvidia has a command line tool, dont recall what it is but i have it bookmarked. its next on my list.
> 
> so basically i am learning lots of new stuff. and this thread rocks.
> ...



Try nvidiainspector and overclockNtune for AMD


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## verycharbroiled (Feb 11, 2018)

cdawall said:


> Try nvidiainspector and overclockNtune for AMD



will do. hopefully those tools will allow me to make custom command lines for different algos. for instance mhp will auto switch miners like dtsm (for example). it works by disconnecting an algos port and dstm fails. the next line in the batch file calls dstm again with a different algo and its port as a parameter. i could put a line before each dstm line with new settings optimized for that algo. it just loops through.

this is something i cant do with ab, trixx or precision x. at least that i know of.

and i hate gui overclocking tools. they all look like they were designed by a 4 year old.


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## cdawall (Feb 11, 2018)

verycharbroiled said:


> will do. hopefully those tools will allow me to make custom command lines for different algos. for instance mhp will auto switch miners like dtsm (for example). it works by disconnecting an algos port and dstm fails. the next line in the batch file calls dstm again with a different algo and its port as a parameter. i could put a line before each dstm line with new settings optimized for that algo. it just loops through.
> 
> this is something i cant do with ab, trixx or precision x. at least that i know of.
> 
> and i hate gui overclocking tools. they all look like they were designed by a 4 year old.



Ah yea if you are going that way just set all of the stuff in the bat file for each miner. No point in doing anything with any program. That is how I have cryptonight and ethash going.


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## verycharbroiled (Feb 11, 2018)

cdawall said:


> Ah yea if you are going that way just set all of the stuff in the bat file for each miner. No point in doing anything with any program. That is how I have cryptonight and ethash going.



yup i got super lazy with my previous rig. all amd and i just ran claymore. only needed to set up one profile with ab and the cards were all bios modded. super simple and super stable. it would run for months with no input aside from miner and os updates. rig ran for over a year with no real downtime.

now with all different cards, each with different strengths (and sometimes needing different miners for say 1070 vs 1080s), new (to me) miners and algos its a whole new ball game.

man i miss the good old days of gpu btc mining, talk about set and forget..  and to a lesser extent the days of eth mining  with just amd with claymore. do a bios mod on a card, set up ab, forget about the rig.

took me weeks to get this new rig stable with its current 3 different miners (dstm for 1070s, ewbf for 1080s and cdm for 4x0s). its the main reason i didnt mess with voltages and such, i just wanted to get it stable so i just messed with the nvidia clocks and power limits, and some miner tweaks. its been good now, 4 weeks no crashes and the only reason i rebooted was to do an os update.

i can see why a lot of folks just load a rig up with identical cards. but its been fun. i love messing with new toys. especially when those toys can finance new toys just by sitting in the basement.


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## damian246 (Oct 26, 2018)

I wonder why you guys don't mine "easier" coins HODL or the ZEC COIN?


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## cdawall (Oct 27, 2018)

damian246 said:


> I wonder why you guys don't mine "easier" coins HODL or the ZEC COIN?



6 months ago these were the easy coins to mine.


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## dorsetknob (Oct 27, 2018)

damian246 said:


> I wonder why you guys don't mine "easier" coins HODL or the ZEC COIN?


It does not matter how easier other coins are to mine   it comes down to economics
you don't mine $100 worth of coin if its costing you $120


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## Hardcore Games (Sep 12, 2021)

I am into gaming and run a popular gaming site but the shortage of cards has hurt my ability to expand game benchmarks etc


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