Getting serious about mining
-
[quote name=“mrflibblehat” post=“48841” timestamp=“1388565001”]
- Riser Cables, Do they need to be powered or are they just an extension cable?
- Motherboard, Sabertooth R2.0 990FX or Crosshair V 990FX?
- Casing, From looking at photos I notice most people dont use cases (my cards run HOT in the case) do they build these custom made cases themselves or can you buy them?
- Do I need a good processor and alot of ram or can I get away with a semptron (£30) and 2gb 1066 (£18), Basically will a poor PC spec slow down the GFX Cards when mining?
- Lastly, Where can I Buy Sapphire R9 290 100362SR in the UK, I cant seem to find it anywhere:(
[/quote]
I will try my best here to contribute something to this discussion because this board has helped me a lot.
-
You need to assess the requirements of your rig, but with 2+ cards I think you’d be safer off with powered risers.
-
See 4 ;)
-
I run both of mine in milk crates, so I’d say specialist rigging is just only an extra expense. In the end I actually cut the milk crate to support the cards weight. It all makes perfect sense once you have one in front of you and you’re ready to operate! That said I think you’d struggle to fit more than 3 with a good clearance between them. Spacing is pretty key to the cooling aspect of this stuff… as you know.
-
My view is that no you don’t at all. Unless money is no object, this is where you can save the $$ on kit and power at the wall. Even running the cards on 1x pci-e slots doesn’t slow them down (as far as I can tell). I chose 2 x nasty intel reference boards that I already owned (both originally rescued from a skip ???), under clocked e6550’s I already had, 2GB cheap RAM. The CPUs are largely idle all day long, so the GPU’s and PSU are where you want to spend the cash.
Other stuff:
FWIW I’ve been quite happy with the performance of my cheap ish XFX 280x’s. They are not voltage locked like the older XFX cards and are stable at 700-710 Kh/s, 68 deg (see attachment).
That said according to crypto badger’s info none of the 280x’s undervolt significantly… so lots of food for thought. I think XFX are bottom of the pile, but its what I was able to order at the time.
[url=http://www.cryptobadger.com/2013/12/radeon-r9-280x-gpu-mining-results/]http://www.cryptobadger.com/2013/12/radeon-r9-280x-gpu-mining-results/
[/url]Keep planning, you’ll get it dialled in! Its serious fun building these things :D
[attachment deleted by admin]
-
[quote name=“scruffters” post=“48875” timestamp=“1388575645”]
[quote author=mrflibblehat link=topic=6532.msg48841#msg48841 date=1388565001]- Riser Cables, Do they need to be powered or are they just an extension cable?
- Motherboard, Sabertooth R2.0 990FX or Crosshair V 990FX?
- Casing, From looking at photos I notice most people dont use cases (my cards run HOT in the case) do they build these custom made cases themselves or can you buy them?
- Do I need a good processor and alot of ram or can I get away with a semptron (£30) and 2gb 1066 (£18), Basically will a poor PC spec slow down the GFX Cards when mining?
- Lastly, Where can I Buy Sapphire R9 290 100362SR in the UK, I cant seem to find it anywhere:(
[/quote]
Will try my best here to contribute something because this community has helped me setup my own miners.
-
You need to assess the requirements of your rig, but with 2+ cards I think you’d be safer off with powered risers.
-
See 4 ;)
-
I run both of mine in milk crates, so I’d say specialist rigging is just an extra expense. I the end I actually cut the milk crate to support the cards a bit better. It all makes perfect sense once you have one in front of you and you’re ready to operate! That said I think you’d struggle to fit more than 3 with a good clearance between them. Spacing is pretty key to the cooling aspect of this stuff… as you know.
-
My view is that no you don’t at all. Unless money is no object, this is where you can save the $$ on kit and power at the wall. Even running the cards on 1x pci-e slots doesn’t slow them down. I chose 2 x nasty intel reference boards that I already owned (both originally rescued from a skip), under clock an old core 2 CPU, 2GB cheap RAM. The OS is pretty much idle all day long, so the GPU’s and PSU are where you want to spend the cash.
FWIW I’ve been quite happy with the performance of my cheap ish XFX 280x’s. They are not voltage locked like the older XFX cards and are stable at 700-710 Kh/s, 68 deg. That said according to crypto badger the 280x’s don’t undervolt significantly… lots of food for thought. Keep planning, you’ll get it dialled in! :D
[/quote]Thanks you for the detailed information, I don’t have a big budget and this is to be done over a couple of months (£200 a month from wage), Il save on the CPU and RAM then and might buy a specialized rig as they look pretty nice for only £36.
I currently have one fan blowing into the back of the other card making that card 82 celcius, so I do need some spacing :)
-
Yeah I think ambient room temperature and blowing a little bit of air through the rig makes a huge difference. I find the 7950 rig gets much hotter than the 280x rig.
Have you read the crypto-badger guides? They are pretty indispensable!
-
[quote name=“scruffters” post=“48878” timestamp=“1388577551”]
Yeah I think ambient room temperature and blowing a little bit of air through the rig makes a huge difference. I find the 7950 rig gets much hotter than the 280x rig.Have you read the crypto-badger guides? They are pretty indispensable!
[/quote]I try to keep the room as cool as possible (windows open) I have not read them guides but I will now :)
-
Thats a lot of money to blow on a MoBo! How many cards are you thinking per rig?
[url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asrock-Socket-970-Extreme4-Motherboard/dp/B0058HUQJ0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388578353&sr=8-1&keywords=asrock+mb-970ex4]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asrock-Socket-970-Extreme4-Motherboard/dp/B0058HUQJ0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388578353&sr=8-1&keywords=asrock+mb-970ex4[/url]
Should be good for unto 5 cards, with the correct PSU, Risers (powered) etc
UM
-
[quote name=“uncle_muddy” post=“48880” timestamp=“1388578458”]
Thats a lot of money to blow on a MoBo! How many cards are you thinking per rig?[url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asrock-Socket-970-Extreme4-Motherboard/dp/B0058HUQJ0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388578353&sr=8-1&keywords=asrock+mb-970ex4]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Asrock-Socket-970-Extreme4-Motherboard/dp/B0058HUQJ0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388578353&sr=8-1&keywords=asrock+mb-970ex4[/url]
Should be good for unto 5 cards, with the correct PSU, Risers (powered) etc
UM
[/quote]Only 4 cards, doesnt the asrock have only 3 x PCI-E x16 slots though or am I missing something? most likely (im not that up on rigs) can the risers make use of the other PCI-E slots? is that the point? sorry for my lack of knowledge :(
-
According to hashratestore powerd pci 1x serves same purpose as 16x. Anybody sure about this ?
[url=https://www.hashratestore.com/shop/cables/powered-pci-e-16x-16x-riser-cable-with-molex/]https://www.hashratestore.com/shop/cables/powered-pci-e-16x-16x-riser-cable-with-molex/[/url]
In that case i would look for a motherboard with 2 x pci 16 x and 4 x pci 1 x.
2 on the board and 4 card elevated off the board in a open rig solution with ample powersupply. 2 x 1000 or 1200 ?
Something like this maybe
[url=http://www.komplett.no/msi-z77-mpower-socket-1155/760429#]http://www.komplett.no/msi-z77-mpower-socket-1155/760429#[/url]!tab:extra
-
With risers that board will support 5 cards 3 x PCI-E x16 and 2 x PCI-E x1
-
[quote name=“uncle_muddy” post=“48889” timestamp=“1388583210”]
With risers that board will support 5 cards 3 x PCI-E x16 and 2 x PCI-E x1
[/quote]Thanks for the advice, I did not realise this, I will get that board then :) thank you all for saving me money!
-
[quote name=“mrflibblehat” post=“48903” timestamp=“1388586350”]
Thanks for the advice, I did not realise this, I will get that board then :) thank you all for saving me money!
[/quote]No worries, glad to be of help, now spend the extra money on a slightly better PSU to be on the safe side
UM
-
[quote name=“uncle_muddy” post=“48912” timestamp=“1388588145”]
[quote author=mrflibblehat link=topic=6532.msg48903#msg48903 date=1388586350]
Thanks for the advice, I did not realise this, I will get that board then :) thank you all for saving me money!
[/quote]No worries, glad to be of help, now spend the extra money on a slightly better PSU to be on the safe side
UM
[/quote]Would a 1000W PSU be enough to run 4 GFX Cards HD 6950’s ATM? its an EVGA GOLD PSU (It has enough 6-pin cables for four GFX Cards?)
-
[quote name=“mrflibblehat” post=“48932” timestamp=“1388599780”]
[quote author=uncle_muddy link=topic=6532.msg48912#msg48912 date=1388588145]
[quote author=mrflibblehat link=topic=6532.msg48903#msg48903 date=1388586350]
Thanks for the advice, I did not realise this, I will get that board then :) thank you all for saving me money!
[/quote]No worries, glad to be of help, now spend the extra money on a slightly better PSU to be on the safe side
UM
[/quote]Would a 1000W PSU be enough to run 4 GFX Cards HD 6950’s ATM? its an EVGA GOLD PSU (It has enough 6-pin cables for four GFX Cards?)
[/quote]I don’t think you can pull that off. Those cards use ~300watts each and with the rest of the system also needing power i wouldn’t bet on it. Maybe 3 will work tho