10 tips to keep your rig cool in summer
In summer, heat is the enemy of mining rigs: graphics cards run hotter, slow down, and the rig sometimes ends up shutting itself off. In this 2022 video (in French), we share 10 tips to keep a rig cool, from software settings that cost nothing to hands-on work on the hardware.
Software settings
1. Raise the fan speed
In the HiveOS overclocking settings, you can set the fan speed card by card or for all cards at once. Keep an eye on two temperatures: the GPU's and the memory's. For the GPU, we try not to go above 65 °C, and ideally to stay below 60 °C at cruising speed. The memory is designed to run hotter, up to 110 °C: beyond that, the card starts throttling its performance.
You can also enable automatic fan control (Auto Fan):
- GPU target temperature: 70 °C by default, which is a bit high. We set it to 60 °C;
- Memory target temperature: 90 °C, a setting mainly taken into account on AMD cards;
- Minimum speed: 25% is really not enough. Set at least 60 to 70%;
- Maximum speed: leave it at 100%, so the fans can run flat out if there is a real temperature problem. The rig is shut down if a card goes above 90 °C.
2. Lower the memory frequency
On Ethereum, it is the memory that does the work, so it is the memory that heats up in summer. Lowering its frequency a little brings the temperature down noticeably. We were at a memory frequency of 2,000 or 2,100 and lowered it by 200 MHz: we lost 2 to 3 MH/s, which doesn't matter for a few months.
3. Switch coins or stop dual mining
If you are dual mining, stop during heatwaves. You can also mine another coin: Ergo is known for its low power consumption, and cards run much cooler on it. On Flux, there is no load on the memory at all: it is the GPU that does the work.
Rig ventilation
4. More powerful fans
There are fans twice as powerful as standard ones, around 95 CFM. Be careful: at close to 100 CFM, they start to get noisy.
5. An extra fan
A very basic fan, such as the three-speed models from the Proline brand that you can find almost anywhere, costs about €50. Placed next to the rig, it blows air through the cards.
6. Fans on both sides of the frame
On our rigs, we put fans on one side in exhaust, to follow the cards' natural airflow, and fans on the other side that bring in fresh air. This creates a real airflow. If your rig only has fans on one side, we recommend adding more.
Placement and the room
7. Put the hottest rigs at the bottom
Heat tends to rise. If some rigs run hotter than others because they have bigger cards such as RTX 3080s or 3090s, it can be smart to swap their positions and place them as low as possible.
8. Extract the hot air
Ideally, get the hot air out of the room. Failing that, a portable air conditioner can help during a heatwave, but it uses a lot of power and is therefore expensive.
Card maintenance
9. Dust regularly
Use a blower to dust your cards regularly, every three to six months at most.
10. Replace the thermal pads and paste
This is the trickiest job: you have to remove the backplate and the cooling system, then replace the thermal pads (on the memory) or the thermal paste (on the GPU), depending on where the temperature problem lies. On Ethereum, it is usually the memory, so the pads. Be careful: in principle, the warranty is void as soon as you open a card.
What about today?
Since Ethereum moved to proof of stake in September 2022, Ethereum can no longer be mined with graphics cards, and the tips specific to that kind of mining (memory frequency, choice of coin) have lost much of their relevance. The principles of ventilation, placement and maintenance, however, apply to all mining hardware, ASICs included.
If your rig crashes because of the heat, also read our article How to debug your mining rig and our complete overclocking tutorial, or browse all our tutorials. Don't want to deal with the heat and noise at home? Have a look at our miner hosting.