My big mining rig project
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[quote name=“ChristianRiesen” post=“7398” timestamp=“1369725656”]
Even though the supply says 1200W, not all of that is available on the rails used for the PCIE. Your mileage may vary.
[/quote]Most half decent supplies will deliver ALL of the stated wattage to the 12v rails that the pcie uses. My seasonic x1250s for instance deliver 1248w to the 12v rail + 150w to the 5v rail (1400w total). It’s also worth noting that the wattage specified is what it can deliver to the components (output wattage) rather than input wattage (at the wall). An 80+ gold psu is around 87-92% efficient so if you loaded it to 100% you’d pull over 1500w at the wall and still be within spec. These supplies have headroom built in too so I wouldn’t be surprised if you could pull 1600w at the wall before the ocp kicks in.
Now for the disclaimers… The CPU also takes it power from the 12v rail as do hdds and cd-roms etc (that’s why I use ssd). The CPU never ramps up for mining though (unless you gpu mine too but that’s a waste of money IMO). Also, as with most things, heat is an issue. Again, most decent supplies are rated at 50degrees ambient but some lesser supplies my only be able to supply the rated power at 30 degrees which is VERY unrealistic.
Just my 2ftc…
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[img]http://imageshack.us/a/img46/4337/rigv52.jpg[/img]
I’ve been terribly busy with something big, but today I found some time to work on my design again.
I changed it to 6 cards instead of 7. One powersupply (looking at a platinum rated 1500W now) should do fine. The boxes where the cards are in are now more detailed and two of them are perfectly sized for one 140mm fan.
[img]http://imageshack.us/a/img545/7599/rigv53.jpg[/img]
With the three fans at the back, behind the honeycomb grill, this should create some very nice heat removal. I put them on the inside now for protection of fingers and cables. Google some high speed fans and you will see as many pictures of injured fingers or someone shredding carrots on them as you see the actual fans. Also gives it a nice look. There is less material in front of the fan than standard grills (about 25%) with this design, so now it’s secure while still having a high airflow.
[img]http://imageshack.us/a/img16/4505/rigv55.jpg[/img]
The mainboard tray is simpler. Less struts. The power supply still can lean on the supporting strut below it though. The PCIE power cable for the last card might not be long enough, but an extension for that is cheap.
As an added feature, it can be stacked and even secured sideways to the same model of rig. I will make more than one for certain.
Laying out the pieces now so I can send it off to be lasercut. The struts I will cut myself.
I ordered up an MSI Z77-GD65 board upon multiple recommendations, which will replace my GD45 board. Mainly because it seems to be able to handle 6 cards with less problems then the GD45. Also ordered up an [url=http://www.enermax.com/home.php?fn=eng/product_a1_1_1&lv0=1&lv1=52&no=191]Enermax 1500W[/url] powersupply which is rated 80 platinum.
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I’m glad your still working on this. ;)
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Still plugging away at it.
I though about adding some flourishes, but I think I’m fine with how it is now.
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just a heads up. my enermax maxrevo 1500w psu could not handle 5x7950 +1x7970 card…
no problem with 5x7950. but that extra card put it over the top.
not platinum rated tough -
:o
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[quote name=“svennand” post=“13211” timestamp=“1370986673”]
just a heads up. my enermax maxrevo 1500w psu could not handle 5x7950 +1x7970 card…
no problem with 5x7950. but that extra card put it over the top.
not platinum rated tough
[/quote]
Thanks for the heads up. I think that exactly those two things are pushing it over the limit, the non platinum rating and the 7970. From my calculation, it should be enough, but I’ll know for certain once I have it running. -
[quote name=“ChristianRiesen” post=“13526” timestamp=“1371022942”]
[quote author=svennand link=topic=387.msg13211#msg13211 date=1370986673]
just a heads up. my enermax maxrevo 1500w psu could not handle 5x7950 +1x7970 card…
no problem with 5x7950. but that extra card put it over the top.
not platinum rated tough
[/quote]
Thanks for the heads up. I think that exactly those two things are pushing it over the limit, the non platinum rating and the 7970. From my calculation, it should be enough, but I’ll know for certain once I have it running.
[/quote]seems that the amount of power of the psu wasnt the problem…
however it does seem that active connectors might be a good idea with 6+ cards…
http://forum.feathercoin.com/index.php?topic=1609.15 -
[quote name=“svennand” post=“14119” timestamp=“1371127976”]
[quote author=ChristianRiesen link=topic=387.msg13526#msg13526 date=1371022942]
[quote author=svennand link=topic=387.msg13211#msg13211 date=1370986673]
just a heads up. my enermax maxrevo 1500w psu could not handle 5x7950 +1x7970 card…
no problem with 5x7950. but that extra card put it over the top.
not platinum rated tough
[/quote]
Thanks for the heads up. I think that exactly those two things are pushing it over the limit, the non platinum rating and the 7970. From my calculation, it should be enough, but I’ll know for certain once I have it running.
[/quote]seems that the amount of power of the psu wasnt the problem…
however it does seem that active connectors might be a good idea with 6+ cards…
http://forum.feathercoin.com/index.php?topic=1609.15
[/quote]
I intend to power all the risers on this rig :) -
[quote name=“ChristianRiesen” post=“14239” timestamp=“1371144910”]
[quote author=svennand link=topic=387.msg14119#msg14119 date=1371127976]
[quote author=ChristianRiesen link=topic=387.msg13526#msg13526 date=1371022942]
[quote author=svennand link=topic=387.msg13211#msg13211 date=1370986673]
just a heads up. my enermax maxrevo 1500w psu could not handle 5x7950 +1x7970 card…
no problem with 5x7950. but that extra card put it over the top.
not platinum rated tough
[/quote]
Thanks for the heads up. I think that exactly those two things are pushing it over the limit, the non platinum rating and the 7970. From my calculation, it should be enough, but I’ll know for certain once I have it running.
[/quote]seems that the amount of power of the psu wasnt the problem…
however it does seem that active connectors might be a good idea with 6+ cards…
http://forum.feathercoin.com/index.php?topic=1609.15
[/quote]
I intend to power all the risers on this rig :)
[/quote]I know nothing about powering risers, I haven’t even looked at picture online of a powered riser, but I assume it takes another power connection from the PSU, will you have enough PSU power connectors? or am I talking nonsense?
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Here is the thing: PCIE supports delivering a substantial amount of power over two pins at the front of the card (that’s the same no matter if its 16x or 1x). Now if you have multiple cards running, they all draw from the same place, the power pins on your board. Each one can draw up to 75W according to specs. Doesn’t take long to realize this could be a bit much for those pins there. The powered risers counter that by having a molex soldered to those two pins feeding 12V into the card. Now you can feed extra power into the card over another cable, getting some of the stress away from your motherboard. People run cards without them just fine, but the extra stress is still there. Some run for weeks without a problem and then suddenly the board fries. Others never have problems.
The consensus seems to be to run everything above 2 cards on powered risers and you should never have a problem. I will run all my cards on powered risers, and for each pair of two, have their own power cables go to the powersupply.
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[quote name=“ChristianRiesen” post=“14293” timestamp=“1371151237”]
Here is the thing: PCIE supports delivering a substantial amount of power over two pins at the front of the card (that’s the same no matter if its 16x or 1x). Now if you have multiple cards running, they all draw from the same place, the power pins on your board. Each one can draw up to 75W according to specs. Doesn’t take long to realize this could be a bit much for those pins there. The powered risers counter that by having a molex soldered to those two pins feeding 12V into the card. Now you can feed extra power into the card over another cable, getting some of the stress away from your motherboard. People run cards without them just fine, but the extra stress is still there. Some run for weeks without a problem and then suddenly the board fries. Others never have problems.The consensus seems to be to run everything above 2 cards on powered risers and you should never have a problem. I will run all my cards on powered risers, and for each pair of two, have their own power cables go to the powersupply.
[/quote]could you post a link to the powered risers you have bought?
i havent had any problems with rigs with 4 cards (good psu’s and so on). but apparently when you reach 6 cards thats alot of power trough on connector.
If it gives 75w pr slot we’re talking 450w on ONE single connector on the 24pin block. -
I bought mine directly from a manufacturer in China. thre is a site, called buyahash.com I think that sells them though.
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you can make your own quite easily if you have a soldering iron and a spare molex socket (from one of your cards molex -> pci-e power adaptors).
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But will your PSU have enough unused slots to connect all 6 12v molex’s?
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In my case yes but not all PSUs come with the number of cables mine does. You don’t [b]need[/b] 6 though you only 1 or 2 to lighten the load on the 24pin/mobo tracks.
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[quote name=“Pyxis” post=“14413” timestamp=“1371166584”]
But will your PSU have enough unused slots to connect all 6 12v molex’s?
[/quote]
In my case as well. There is plenty of plugs to go around. And I plug in two risers to one cable from the PSU. As nutnut so aptly said, it’s to lighten the load. -
Cheers guys, that helps. ;)
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Hi Christian,
Any update on your rig build? or are you on holidays like most sane people. ;D
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[quote name=“Pyxis” post=“21452” timestamp=“1373721892”]
Hi Christian,Any update on your rig build? or are you on holidays like most sane people. ;D
[/quote]
Well RL has a way of creeping up. I’m working on another project that is… slightly larger. I will announce it as soon as possible.As for this, I tried now two laser cutting places and they are expensive as balls. I could hire someone to spend a week cutting these by hand for what they want. So still looking for a better cutting place.
Also made small changes:
- The rig is a bit “deeper”, as in the cards holder is a bit longer towards the back.
- The backplate no longer has holes for the IO part, thanks to the above change.
- There is a small cut near the PSU large enough to fit a AC cable through when the PSU is not installed.
These changes were made so the cables (network and power) are not in the back area (where it’s hot) but are in the front and can be routed there however you want. It also closes off the hot area even more, so all openings in the back only are there to expel heat and nothing else. If stacked and maybe even sideways arranged, this will make removal of heat inside the room simpler and not let heat spill over into places where we want it removed from.
Also should allow for standard USB sticks to be attached or at least a short extension cable to be fitted in the back ports.
As soon as I have an update, I will post it here for certain.