Introduction
Building a mining machine can be a daunting task when trying to figure out the right balance of investment versus return. This build is a minimum investment build which yields a high return, both in terms of hashrate/solves as well as electrical usage.
VBIOS Modding
After the initial setup and build I began the process of modifying the VBIOS on the cards as well as tuning the settings on the cards to get the highest performance while maintaining a low electrical footprint.
The VBIOS I used was originally modified by Shados and was the 1500 strap modified BIOS. I used the ATIFlash utility to flash all of the cards and eventually put together a batch file to better facilitate this. Please be aware that flashing your VBIOS can render you card unusable if you don’t know what you’re doing, take care when doing so ensuring that you’re using the correct flashing utility for your respective card.
The ATIFlash utility is available here: Download ATIFlash Utility
The VBIOS used was originally downloaded from anorak.tech and all the credit for this goes to shados. The video cards I used all contained Elpida memory therefore I used the msirx570gamingX_memshift_1500Mem2000.rom. If your card has a different type of memory make sure you either modify the VBIOS yourself or find one that matches your chipset.
Performance Tuning
I found that for the series of GPUs I was using, namely the 6x MSI RX Radeon 570 Gaming X cards, the following settings worked best using Claymore’s Dual Miner while mining Ethereum.
-cclock 1075-mclock 1900-cvddc 900-mvddc 900
Build Components
The following is a breakdown of all the parts used in my build.
- ASUS Z170 PRO GAMING LGA 1151 Intel Z170 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 ATX Intel Motherboard
- 6x MSI Radeon RX 570 DirectX 12 RX 570 GAMING X 4G 4GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support ATX Video Card
- 6-Pack USB RISER PCIe 6-Pin PCI-E 16x to 1x Powered Adapter Card w/ 60cm USB 3.0 Cable & PCI-E to SATA Power – GPU Mining Ethereum ETH Zcash ZEC
- Intel Celeron G3930 Kaby Lake Dual-Core 2.9 GHz LGA 1151 51W BX80677G3930 Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 610
- Rosewill Quark Series 1200W Full Modular Gaming Power Supply with LED Indicator, 80Plus Platinum Certified, Single +12V Rail, Intel 4th Gen CPU Ready, SLI & Crossfire Ready – Quark-1200
- Biwin® 120GB MLC m.2 80mm Sync NAND flash SSD Solid State Drive, Read: 561MB/s Write: 450MB/s
- Steel Crypto Coin Open Air Mining Frame Rig Case For 6 GPU ETH BTC Ethereum
- G.SKILL NT Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 2133 (PC4 17000) Intel Z170 Platform / Intel X99 Platform Desktop Memory Model F4-2133C15D-8GNT
20 Comments
Gus Karim · January 23, 2018 at 11:32 am
Hey Jason just wondering your thoughts on my rig, I am using an asrock H110 Pro BTC+ with XFX AMD Radion RX 570 RS, I started the build with just 1GPU on the Motherboard Using latest drivers, I am new to this and having some problems with it locking up/ Freezing and drivers crashing for the GPU, any pointers. Your help would be greatly appreciated
godlikemouse · January 23, 2018 at 4:48 pm
Hi Gus. Sure, I’m happy to help. What are you using software wise to mine? What’s your OS? Which specific drivers for your video card are you using?
godlikemouse · January 23, 2018 at 5:13 pm
Pulling the card off the riser to test, especially if it smells bad is a good call. What drivers are you using for your card?
Gus Karim · January 23, 2018 at 5:20 pm
Driver: Adrenaline Edition 17.12.1 I have 12 cards that I was trying to setup. How can I send you a pic of what started to melt
godlikemouse · January 23, 2018 at 5:24 pm
You can upload a pick to imgur or something like that and just share the link in a comment. You may want to try a different set of drivers instead of the Adrenaline drivers. Try the blockchain drivers at http://support.amd.com/en-us/kb-articles/Pages/Radeon-Software-Crimson-ReLive-Edition-Beta-for-Blockchain-Compute-Release-Notes.aspx and see if that helps. Also, have you modded the VBIOS in any way?
Gus Karim · January 23, 2018 at 5:29 pm
https://i.imgur.com/qz6tFXO.jpg
godlikemouse · January 23, 2018 at 5:31 pm
Definitely something wrong with your riser. Could be a poor solder, bad usb cable, etc.. Hopefully your card is still good. Try the blockchain drivers and see if that helps.
Gus Karim · January 23, 2018 at 7:58 pm
No I have not modded the VBIOS
Gus Karim · January 23, 2018 at 5:02 pm
Win10 for now I am using NiceHash adrenaline the newest on just set it up today, another thing when I tried to use a riser it started to smell like it was burning so I shut it down so now i am just using the on pcie 16
Gus Karim · January 23, 2018 at 5:37 pm
I’m afraid to try another riser
godlikemouse · January 23, 2018 at 5:39 pm
I wouldn’t use the riser. Try going direct to verify that the card(s) still work properly. Then install the blockchain drivers and test for stability. Once you’ve got that out of the way, then (if you feel brave) try another riser or better yet, return those risers and get some from another vendor like newegg.com. That’s what I would do anyway.
Gus Karim · January 23, 2018 at 7:54 pm
These are the risers I purchased
PCIE Riser 1X TO 16X Graphics Extension for GPU Mining Powered Riser Adapter Card, 60cm USB 3.0 Cable, 4 Solid Capacitors, Two 6PIN and Molex 3 Power Options (VER 009S, 6-Pack) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077JYBDYT/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_smaAAbQBW42RZ
godlikemouse · January 23, 2018 at 8:38 pm
I would contact the seller and show them the same picture you showed me along with a description of what’s happened. Hopefully they’ll replace them or refund you. Did the blockchain driver work better for you and is your card OK?
Gus Karim · January 23, 2018 at 8:44 pm
Well I have 12 cards so I am trying row work out issues with this new one freezing, I got it working with the 17.12.1 driver after many reboots, but I uninstalled it and installed the blockchain driver and now it’s freezing again. Do you use discord or another chat program other than this?
godlikemouse · January 23, 2018 at 8:54 pm
Sure, feel free to connect with me on Facebook. You should see my same picture. We can text via messenger.
Kinny · January 30, 2018 at 5:17 am
im using AORUS RX570 4GB X6 and running max 24mh/s only
i only do modded VBIOS and set cc MC to 1410/2019 (cant get higher)
is that normal for now? if im getting low hashrate?
godlikemouse · January 30, 2018 at 8:58 am
Hi Kinny, that sounds just about like what a stock BIOS would do for an RX 570. I would think you can get between 27-30 MH/s with the correct VBIOS and drivers. What driver and VBIOS are you using?
Lavos · January 24, 2021 at 3:54 am
What PSU are you using in this system?
godlikemouse · January 24, 2021 at 8:56 am
Originally I was using a Rosewill Photon 1000 watt PSU, but that burned out so I would suggest not going with that company. I then upgraded to a Corsair HX1200 which has been running perfectly ever since.
DigitalGoldCrypto · January 25, 2021 at 7:07 am
Twin Corsair AX1500’s