Maximizing efficiency
Aiming speed
In the Features page you can always find a table showing performance for various GPUs for the lastest miniZ release, for stock and OC settings. In the present post we start by presenting the table for miniZ v1.0e, and then we’ll show how we optimized the settings values for a more efficient mining. Here we’ll define efficiency as the ratio between Sol/s and power consumption.
First, we tested performance for stock settings. In Table 1., on the left, you can find power consumption, speed and efficiency values, for stock settings. Then, we tested performance for the OC values that had been adjusted for the previous release (v1.0d).
| Stock Settings | Stock Settings | Overclock | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Speed (Sol/s) | Power (W) | Efficiency (Sol/Ws) | Speed (Sol/s) | Power (W) | Efficiency (Sol/Ws) | Core offset (MHz) | Memory offset (MHz) | |
| GT 710 2GB | ~1 | - | - | ~1 | - | - | 0 | +600 |
| GTX 1050 2GB | ~15 | 75 | 0.20 | ~17 | 75 | 0.23 | +250 | +550 |
| GTX 1050 Ti 4GB | ~17 | 75 | 0.23 | ~19 | 75 | 0.25 | +250 | +500 |
| GTX 1060 3GB | ~27 | 111 | 0.25 | ~31 | 118 | 0.26 | +155 | +1425 |
| GTX 1070 Ti 8GB | ~48 | 170 | 0.29 | ~55 | 165 | 0.33 | +215 | +1250 |
| GTX 1080 8GB | ~51 | 186 | 0.27 | ~57 | 194 | 0.29 | +50 | +1000 |
| Table 1. Performance. Speed, power consumption and efficiency values for stock and overclock (OC) settings. Efficient cooling. |
Temperature range was ~40-50 °C. Except for the GTX 1080 that reached 67 °C because it was in a different environment.
Above all, in this table we were aiming for speed. However, we could (and should?) also aim for efficiency, as measured by speed/power consumption.
Aiming efficiency
Next, we present a table showing power consumption, speed and efficiency (Table 2.). Here we aimed for maximizing efficiency. First, we kept the same OC settings as in Table 1. and tested for various power limit values. Then, we chose the value that maximized efficiency and tested again by making adjustments to the OC values.
| New OC | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power (W) | Speed (Sol/s) | Efficiency (Sol/Ws) | Core Offset (MHz) | Memory Offset (MHz) | |
| GTX 1050 2GB | 60 | 15.5 | 0.26 | +240 | +600 |
| GTX 1050 Ti 4GB | 60 | 17.5 | 0.29 | +255 | +550 |
| GTX 1060 3GB | 63 | 24.8 | 0.39 | +250 | +900 |
| GTX 1070 Ti 8GB | 89 | 43.8 | 0.49 | +230 | +500 |
| GTX 1080 8GB | 106 | 48.0 | 0.45 | +50 | +1000 |
| Table 2. Performance. Power Consumption, speed and efficiency values. Power limited to 60 W (1050, 1050 Ti); 65 W (1060); 90 W (1070 Ti) and 110 W (1080 Ti). | Table 1 . Power Consumption, speed and efficiency values. Power limited to 60 W (1050, 1050 Ti); 65 W (1060); 90 W (1070 Ti) and 110 W (1080 Ti). |
GPUs temperature range was 55-65 °C.
As you may have already noticed, we need to choose our power limit wisely in order to maximize efficiency. Although it is tempting to limit power to higher values, it is much more efficient to set it to a value closer to the GPU lower limit. Moreover, other factors affecting performance are GPU temperature/room temperature and OC settings.
Have you ever delved into testing performance for various environments and/or OC settings?
Share with us! Use the comment box below.
Happy mining!
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