How to boost a GTX 1660S on HiveOS (+3 MH/s!)
Can you get more hashrate out of a GTX 1660 Super without changing hardware? Yes, if it has Hynix memory: by flashing a different BIOS, each card gains almost 3 MH/s, or about 10%. In this video (in French), we show you the full procedure in HiveOS, from checking the memory to setting the overclock.
Video from 2021: the figures below date from that time. See "What about today?" at the end of the article.
1. Check the memory and download the BIOS
This modification only applies to GTX 1660 Super cards with Hynix memory. You sometimes come across cards with Samsung memory; it is rarer, but you need to check. In your HiveOS farm, open the list of cards and filter by model (GeForce GTX 1660 Super): the memory type is shown for each card.
There are two versions of the BIOS, an MSI one and a Palit one, with download links in the description of our YouTube video. We used the Palit version.
2. Back up the original BIOS
Before changing anything, back up the card's current BIOS so you can roll back if something goes wrong. In HiveOS, the card menu offers a Save BIOS option: save the BIOS to the farm's storage and keep a copy. Flashing a BIOS is never risk-free: this backup is your safety net.
3. Add the new BIOS in HiveOS
In the BIOS section of HiveOS, click Add BIOS, first select the card type (NVIDIA), then the downloaded .rom file, and give it a clear name, for example "Palit GTX 1660 Super".
4. Flash the card
- Stop the miner so that the worker is idle during the operation.
- In the list of cards, open the menu of the GTX 1660 Super you want to modify and choose to flash the BIOS.
- Tick Reboot rig after flashing to restart the rig once the flash is done.
- Tick Force flashing (ignore security checking): without this option, the flash ends in an error.
- Select the BIOS added in the previous step and start the flash.
The rig restarts and then resumes mining. We flashed our cards one at a time; we did not try flashing two at once.
5. Set the overclock, and the result
Before the flash, the standard setting for GTX 1660 Super cards with Hynix memory left the core clock at 0. Even better, in our view: an absolute core clock of 930, which brought power draw down to about 75 W for nearly 30 MH/s.
After the flash, our cards run with a core clock of 1050 and a memory clock of 1950. The result: the hashrate goes from just under 32 MH/s to just under 35 MH/s, a gain of almost 3 MH/s per card.
On a rig of ten or twelve cards, it is as if you had added one more card, when a GTX 1660 Super was worth about €400 to €450 at the time. In our view, a really interesting modification.
What about today?
These gains applied to Ethereum mining. Since Ethereum moved to proof of stake in September 2022, Ethereum can no longer be mined with graphics cards, and this kind of optimisation has lost its point. Mining today is mostly done with ASIC machines.
To get started with HiveOS, see our HiveOS tutorial (worker, overclocking, flight sheet), and if an overclock makes your machine crash, read our article on debugging your mining rig. All our videos are on the tutorials page, and our ASIC miners are available in the shop.