"Min-maxing" my Ryzen 1700

[mikegray]

Hey guys!

 

I just picked up a new machine - built with a gtx 1080 and a Ryzen 1700 - the board is a Gigabyte ax370 Gaming 5. Its primary role is (1) HTPC - Gaming rig (connected to the family projector and 5.1 recevier), (2) family file server - but I ALSO chose a rig that would be able to generate some income on NiceHash Legacy.

 

I have the 1080 unvervolted & overclocked to my satisfaction (not my first rodeo) - but this is my first Ryzen chip, so I'm not too clear on some of the specifics for mining with Ryzen.

 

Things I've done so far:

- Clock up to 3.8 Mhz without raising voltage. (I'm paying about $0.15 per KWH, so I either undervolt or keep voltages conservative.)

- Memory speed stable at 3000 Mhz. (The RAM is only rated for 2100, but it seems fine. I'm wondering whether I can score a little more.)

 

That's got me up to CryptoNight hashrates between 450 and 570.

 

Things I HAVEN'T done, because I'm ignorant:

- Turned off hyperthreading in Bios? (Do I need to do this, or is the startup parameter "enable_ht=true" enough?)

- Played with the "Less Threads" settings. 

- Done something about locking pages? (I saw this somewhere, but I've no idea what it's even about - can someone enlighten me?)

- Anything else.

 

Any tips for a Ryzen newbie?

[knightslugger]

Pagefile is for memory over-use. when memory fills up, it'll use the HDD for temp storage. You didn't state how much memory you have on this PC, but if it's a gaming rig, chances are it's in the neighborhood of 8-16GB... which is way more than enough for mining. i'd leave pagefile alone.

 

NHL only uses about 6 cores on CN so that the computer isn't sluggish. there isn't much you can really do here in terms of optimising the CPU that you haven't done already that I myself haven't explored. CN is pretty much run it full throttle on NHL. 

[mikegray]

Thanks, Knightslugger!

 

- Yeah, I have 16gb, so it sounds like I'm good. (I was wondering whether that had something to do with pagefiles, but I couldn't imagine why mining would need a whole lot of RAM. But I guess a lot of dedicated miners don't have much in ... )

- CryptoNight only uses 6 cores? Damn. So THAT'S why I saw some folks saying a 1600 mines just as good as a 1700. OTOH: This is a multi-purpose machine, and I really appreciate that it has plenty of juice to keep doing other stuff when it's mining. So I'd say I inadvertently made the right choice. 

[mikegray]

P.S. Does CryptoNight on Ryzen have a fast RAM fetish? I actually have a faster DDR4 in my main gaming rig (6700k), where it's pretty much going to waste. So I could, theoretically, swap sticks and try getting up into the upper 3000's. 

[knightslugger]

Ryzen has a fast RAM fetish, low timings in particular. I donno if it'll have a big effect on CN performance though. most of it is core speed. but hell you could try...!