Bitcoin Forum

Before I list my parts I just want to clarify that I don't have much money and am in college so I can't fork over a large amount of money.

This is a gaming/mining rig and won't be mining all the time.

I have:
This motherboard (http://bit.ly/gIVooQ)
This CPU (http://bit.ly/fZKwC4)
8 GB of this (http://bit.ly/gIfeVx)
This Power Supply (http://bit.ly/hI6z4I)
And This Graphics Card (http://bit.ly/fB4XeF)
I have a crappy gigabyte case atm but am about to get a antec dark fleet DF-85

I get roughly 300mhash/s

What can you suggest for me to get more mhash?

Nothing short of adding more GPU's.

The 8gb of memory is an unwanted expense, BTC mining will not benefit anything from it, nor will it be useful for your gaming purposes (unless you are a very heavy multitasker). 4 is adequate

Also, if this rig will also be used for playing PC games, your processor is bottlenecking the graphics card. Definitely do not pair an Athlon processor with cards higher than maybe a 5850 or nvidia gtx 470.

For bitcoin purposes though, the processor is excellent and no upgrade would be needed. Up to you to balance it out. If I were you I'd go a bit higher on the CPU budget and get a cheap variant of the 6-core Phenom II's since your computer usage wont be limited to mining.

Thanks very much I think I'll be considering a new cpu, are there ways of using multiple graphics cards without spending 100-200 quid minimum on a motherboard?

Also if I did buy another gpu, would I need another psu? (As I don't have enough money to essentially replace most of my pc)

That PSU will definitely run two 6950's. In fact according to most reviews online even in a 3-gpu setup it will consume barely 500-550 watts at full load in Furmark (which is an abnormally stressing application not reflecting real world usage, not to mention Bitcoin which will be much lighter)

Your motherboard however supports only 2 PCI-e cards based on the picture. So that will be your limit. However you can run up to 4 GPU's if you later utilize a bigger (1200-1500W) power supply and two dual gpu cards such as the 5970 or 6990.

To maximize your mhash/s and gaming performance, you will also likely want to unlock those 6950's (or single 6950 if you don't plan on getting another one) into 6970's via a simple and 100% safe BIOS mod. I say 100% because 6950's (the reference 2GB variety) inherently come with a BIOS switch.
This means you can't really spoil the main BIOS in any way except carelessness.

Guide below.
http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/vidcard/159

Well I only have 1 pcie x 16, 2 pcie x1 and 1 pci so I would need to get a new motherboard, have you got any ideas for decent ones that aren't too pricey?

Also is my gpu a reference card?

And thanks for your help so far

If the model # is HD695A-CNFC It's reference.

It says it has normal display ports, but the picture (which looks like mine) has mini display ports (like mine does)

This is the model you speak of (http://xfxforce.com/en-gb/products/graphiccards/hd%206000series/6950Standard.aspx)

I've had a look at shops searching for that product code and they all have the picture that looks like mine, so it probably is.

There should be a sticker on the end of the box, that has the model #.

As in the sleeve or the box itself?

EDIT: I checked the box and it doesn't and it turns out that I lost the sleeve :(

yeah! The outer XFX box, with the graphics on it! If you have the door hanger, it should be there too! I believe all the ones with the BIOS switch are reference.

Oh thanks I managed to find the door hanger and it is the "695A-CNFC" so a reference one, thanks for your help.

Is there a motherboard you'd recommend that isn't too pricy and would let me have two graphics cards?