Hashing Test leaves GPU at 95° C
#1
First off, I'm sorry I've been spamming the forums lately with these questions, but I just need a bit more assistance from you guys.

Currently, I have 2 GPU's
  • AMD Radeon R9 290x
  • AMD Radeon Fury X (WaterCooled)
I've tried running a few sample HashCat sessions with various configuration, but I've noticed that HashCat leaves my GPU's EXTREMELY hot (Which is obvious for the workload they are doing). In addition to this (compared to a friend of mine using an Nvidia card) I do not see temp reading in HashCat, thus I've been using Afterburner to monitor my temps.

Code:
HWMon.Dev.#1.....: Util: 92% Core:1030MHz Mem:1250MHz Bus:8
HWMon.Dev.#2.....: Util:100% Core:1050MHz Mem: 500MHz Bus:8

I've been trying to find a way to throttle the GPU's to keep them under say 85° C. I've read up a bit on --gpu-temp-retain 85 but perhaps I have it formatted incorrectly, because it does not seem to work. All I get is Invalid argument specified..

I then read in the F.A.Q, under the "My GPU overheats sometimes. Can HashCat automatically pause in case of overheating or with a script?" question, which suggested I try the -w 1, which did not seem to help at all. Within 5 minutes I was back to a scorching 95° C.

I'm not sure how to use the "--gpu-loops" as I couldn't find anything else about it in the F.A.Q, perhaps there is another article somewhere that discusses this?

Hoping someone can help me out here, as I'd rather not burnout the GPU's as they are on loan from a friend of mine.

Thanks!
#2
Unfortunately, there isn’t much you can do with AMD cards besides drop the core clocks a bit. --gpu-temp-retain was removed in a recent version. Use MSI afterburner to set a custom fan curve and drop core clocks.

Also, be sure there is good spacing between the cards. Ideally, put the 290x on bottom so it’s not sucking in hot air from the Fury. Doesn’t matter so much where the fury is since it is water cooled.
#3
The clock rate is not as important as the yoltage. You need to underclock the GPUs, so you can lower the voltage of the cards. It should drop under 1.25v for the 290x, save would be 1.2v to get a steady non-throttled experience.
#4
The 290x is below the Fury X, with some decent space all around the 290x.

I'm going to look into lowering the voltage of the card, and I'm going to shower the 290x with additional chassis fans to help keep it cool.

I plan to run hashcat for days straight, so I need to ensure that it's not going to blow up at 95°
#5
Then you should seriously keep temps under 90 or better 85°. The heat needs to get out of the chassis. Is it a standard 290x with radial cooler? Or some OEM model?
#6
Honestly not sure, the GPU is on loan to me.

I was told this is the card though: https://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/6179/m...ndex2.html

I assume it'd be best to place some fans (dangling on and around the GPU) to pull heat out? as opposed to blowing cold air on.
#7
Yes. And that specific model is not very optimal for hashcracking.
#8
(03-22-2018, 01:14 PM)Flomac Wrote: The clock rate is not as important as the yoltage. You need to underclock the GPUs, so you can lower the voltage of the cards. It should drop under 1.25v for the 290x, save would be 1.2v to get a steady non-throttled experience.

Right, voltage is big too. Wrote that response too early and it went over my head.

And yes, that card is not optimal at all for hashcat use.
#9
Those MSI 290x's are horrible for overheating. Flomac and soxrock are correct. You need to drop the voltage down. The stock (OC) setup on the card will overheat it, even with good airflow across the card. Also, on all three of our 290x's that we have (same models too) one of the fans stops spinning after a while. The bearings wear out. Funny enough, it is always the fan that has the MSI logo on it.

You could always just take the side panel off the case and prop a box fan up next to the computer.
#10
(03-23-2018, 01:06 PM)tacohashcat Wrote: Those MSI 290x's are horrible for overheating. Flomac and soxrock are correct. You need to drop the voltage down. The stock (OC) setup on the card will overheat it, even with good airflow across the card. Also, on all three of our 290x's that we have (same models too) one of the fans stops spinning after a while. The bearings wear out. Funny enough, it is always the fan that has the MSI logo on it.

You could always just take the side panel off the case and prop a box fan up next to the computer.

I was genuinely considering the box fan idea, lol, I won't have time for a day or so to play with this, but when I can, I will try dropping the voltage as you guys had suggested.

Thanks Guys!