Bitcoin Forum

Hi guys,

I'm a newbie. It has been a long time since I built a pc as I have been using Macs for the last 8ish years, so I want to make sure the mining rig I am creating is going to work. Could you take a look at the pieces of my rig and let me know if there are any major changes that I should make?

The rig is on order, to be assembled at my local microcenter but they have a few to make before mine, so if there are any really important changes to make I could do that now  (yeah, I know I should have assembled it myself, but I am not a PC guy, never worked in the biz, haven't ever put a computer together from scratch and it is worth $140 for me to know that this thing is going to work and that I won't break a $300+ card putting it in wrong!!)

Parts:

Graphics Cards     Gigabyte HD7950 3Gb GD5   (X3)
Processor            Intel Box Intel Core I5-3570k
Hard Drive          Samsung E 256GB SSD 840 Pro2.5S
Motherboard         Asus P8Z77 WS Server 1155 ATX
Power                  Corsair 850W Proseries GLD MOD
Ram                   Crucial 16GB 8x2 D3 1600 DIMM C
Case                  Coolmast HAF XM MIDTWR ATX CASE

I want to mine and mine hard, so I am hoping that this rig will kick much ass. As it was a pretty big investment I will feel a lot better about it if I know that everything should function well together with no major issues (as in one part isn't going to prevent another from functioning at full capacity etc)

I intend to be using it for Bitcoin and Litecoin mining. I am not a gamer. (I did work as a audio recording engineer before, which I'd prefer to do on my mac if I were to dabble in that again for fun, but with 2 kids and 2 businesses, my band, wife, and everything else in life I doubt I will be doing that anytime soon, so for practical purposes, this is only going to be a 24/7 mining rig)

(A) is there anything majorly wrong with this rig?

(B) I see all these mining rigs that are built without a case or in a milk crate or something along those lines. Am I going to be ok with this in a case? (They said it was the best case for cooling)

(C) I could either put this in a closet wired directly to my router or in a guest bedroom on wifi, which would be better? The closet is under stairs to my 2nd floor, it is not huge or particularly well ventilated, though I suppose I could put a vent in if I needed to. I live in NJ and keep my house reasonably cool.  

(D) Should I add any additional cooling measures?  

(E) even though I'm a bit scared of it, I will probably want to overclock this thing, (which I need to research more) ... How does that factor in, in particular in regards to cooling and to how the rest of my rig will hold up?

(F) I'm getting a firewall router this week. Do I need anything in particular for that?



Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!




UPDATE- up and running!!

final parts-

Graphics Cards     Gigabyte HD7950 3Gb GD5   (X3)           $319 each
Processor            AMD FX 4130                                      $99
Hard Drive          Samsung E 256GB SSD 840 Pro2.5S        $219
Motherboard         ASROCK 970 Extreme 4                        $59
Power                  Corsair 850W Proseries GLD MOD          $189
Ram                   Crucial 16GB 8x2 D3 1600 DIMM C          $85
Case                  Coolmast HAF XM MIDTWR ATX CASE       $119
CD                    Pos Cheapo 24x DVRW SATA                    $15
Installation         Fuck that shit did it myself                       $0
Total.......................................................................... .$1742

Thanks to everyone who helped me save money and get a rig I am very happy with!!
Thanks for talking me into building it myself! I had fun doing it!!

built by computer shop?

Forget it.,... if you want bitcoin buy them.

Your rig wont stand the heat of mining.

please elaborate.

What if I added something like this?

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Hyper-212-RR-212E-20PK-R2/dp/B005O65JXI/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1365489385&sr=1-2&keywords=water+cooler+fan+computer

Hello,

a few remarks from me:
To A:
As a pure mining PC your configuration is way to expensive. Mining is done via GPUs. You don't want your processor to mine, because it is way to inefficient. So you can save a lot of Money:

- Intel Box Intel Core I5-3570k
+ cheapest Celeron Processor you can get

Use the provided boxed cooler for your CPU as it won't have any load during mining.

The Harddrive is also absolutely unimportant for mining, because you start it once and, in ideal case, never shut it down anymore. If you run Linux, a USB Stick is enough, if you run Windows, a small Notebook HDD is enough. You have absolutely no need for a SSD.

- Samsung SSD Pro840 256GB
+ smallest+Cheapest (80GB or more) HDD from Store

The Motherboard is nice and expensive. One of it's unique features for minig is the fact that it has 4 PCI-E x16 Slots with a free Space between each of it. Yo you can install 4 Graphiccards directly onto it.
If you only buy three, you don't need such a powerful Mainboard. Then you could also use this combination: ASRock 970 Extreme4 + Small AMD Sempron Processor for around 100 to 130$ in combination.

-Intel CPU
-Asus P8Z77

+ASRock 970 Extreme4
+Small AMD Sempron Processor

16GB of Ram are also absolutely overpowered. 8GB should be enough fpr mining litecoins. For Bitcoins and any other Sha 256 cryptocurrency 2 GB is sufficient.
By the way: I hope you orderd the Three Fan Version of the Gigabyte Cards.

So Alone by removing the SSD and both the expensive Board and CPU you can save up to 600$ maybe more.

To B:
I know many here says that a case is like venom for a miner. I disagree. All my miners are in closed PC Cases in an air conditioned room. Coolermaster HAF is one of the best ventilated Computercases you can get, so go along with it. But to add point D: Buy more Fans. The biggest as possible for your case. (Think that is 2 200mm and a few 140mm Fans), and don't buy silent Fans. Buy big loud and powerfull fans with much airflow. And under no circumstances store your Rig in a Closet. That would only hinder airstream and cooling. Look for a free space where a bit of noise doenst matter and which can be ventilated with the outside.
Just to compare: My rig with 4 5850 Cards brought my Room from 15°C to over 45°C in one night of mining.


E: Easy: The more you overclock, the warmer your rig gets. Using cgminer, you can adjust that very well.
F: Nope. A Miner is like every other internet computer in your home. So that should't be a problem. 

KJ

You rock! Back to the store tomorrow for me I guess.

(G)  Will it matter if I run it on wifi? It isn't really practical for me to get a cable to that room from my router.

Will that affect speed or processing ability?


(H) the guys at the store said the cards won't function right with a cheaper mobo, which I thought made sense... they were saying that this mobo was 16 per slot instead of 8 per slot on the cheaper one, but I take it that doesn't matter. can someone explain why?

(I) regarding the HD. I was under the impression that the Hard drive affected how fast a computer works. Is there really no benefit to having a better HD?



Part of why I like the higher end parts is that I would think that would help if I needed to sell this. Which is a possibility if I need to liquidated funds for another investment or in case difficulty goes up to a point where mining isn't worth it for me.  I suppose I could sell it in parts, but it would be much less hassle to sell it as a whole (if I had to)  I would think the solid state HD would be a nice selling point. I don't think anyone would care as much about the motherboard, so I could save some money there. The HD is hurting anything is it?

G: Wifi is good if the connection is stable. When you loose the connection, you will loose mining time: Less Coins

H: They are right: On cheaper Mainboards, there is almost only one PCIEx16 Slot which is also electrically connected as a 16x Slot. The other ones are connected as 8x or 4x Slots. Maybe only as 1x Slots.  That is a big issue when you are gaming. Although you can put a x16 Graphiccard in a Slot which is only connected as 1x, it is much slower then. But in contrast to gaming, you don't need that bandwidth for mining. Many people here have their cards connected to a PCI-E x1 Slot with a riser Card. And it works well.

I: That is also true. But as you don't use that Computer for daily work, it doesn't matter. You just start it once and start your mining software. With a normal HDD that may take longer than with a SDD. But only a few seconds. After that: Everything needed is loaded and HDD Speed doesn't matter anymore.  The real magic happens in RAM and on GPU.


To your selling Argument: You won't sell that system in a whole to someone other than a miner. Because no Gamer needs 3 7950 Cards. Here in Germany you mostly get only 70 to 80% of the original buy price if you sell something used with all accessories and original package. I think that is nearly the same in the US.  So calculate: You want to lose 25% of 200$ (cheap HD, CPU + Board), or do you want to loose 25% of 600 to 700$ (expensive Solution). Also your rig pays of faster if you don't buy the premium components.
My point is: Your miner would perform the same with the premium components as with the budget components. If you save now 600$, you don't have to bother getting them back when you sell your rig. You can throw away the cheap components by then and although have more money than if you sell the high price parts

If you intend to use it after mining for working or gaming in a few months, then it maybe is better to buy the good parts, because then you only have to sell 2 7950 Cards for having the perfect Gaming Rig. But also in this case you can do yourself a favor and buy a cheaper Intel Motherboard, for example the MSI Z77A-G45 Thunderbolt, which is also over 100Bucks less than your serverboard.

KJ- It is hard for me to express how hard you rock using the words I have learned thus far in life. Thank you very very much for taking the time to help me out. You are going to save me a bunch of money!

Thanks

S.D.

Heat is the biggest problem. Pay special attention about it.

did you tell the shop you want to build a mining rig?

I hope you did not.

I will ONLY help you if you agree to build it yourself. I can guide you from start. Otherwise, good luck

It hasn't been built yet. (but it is paid for, I'm sure that I could talk my way out of it though)
I really do not feel confident that I could successfully build this myself. I have never build a computer ever in my life.

Its very simple. There are tons of video online (check newegg and the like) for visual help.

The problem with your plan is the shop doesnt know mining with GPUs need tons of heat control. Cramping 3 cards in that mobo, you can bet you will have overheating issue.

I would recommend open tech bench instead of a case.

Also dont get that mobo.... thats a big waste of money.

Ok, returned the mobo and the processor and saved a buttload of cash, got ASRock 970 Extreme4 and an AMD FX 4130.


I canceled the assembly order, game on.


I assume my next step is a lot of research and videos and hopefully some kind soul on here has taken the time to make a thread about how to build one of these rigs step by step.... any recommendations? (I will research hardcore myself, but if anyone has thread recommendations or links I would appreciate that)

You guys rock, thanks for the help!

This looks good:

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/video_how_build_pc_ever_step_explained.

This guy tells you should work on a metal workbench, because of static electricity. For me it was always enough not to wear fleece clothes and touch something grounded in my house, before going to work.
I am sure that you can find many more of this videos if you google for it.

And
+1 to salihno71. Heat will be for sure your biggest issue. So be sure that you get some of the most powerfull fans you can find.

Awesome, now you deserve the income from mining ;)

Dont overload yourself with videos. Pick one series and stick with it.

If you must have a case (due to protection from mishap of a open bench) , then get this case:  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119265&Tpk=haf%20XB&IsVirtualParent=1 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119265&Tpk=haf%20XB&IsVirtualParent=1)

Its the case you want because : 1) good amount of fans too cool core components: motherboard CPU and GPUs. 2) With very little of mod (details about that later) you will have smaller volume for the core components this in effect increase air flow thro the heat source.


Also return the Asrock board and get this : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128514&Tpk=990fx%20ud3&IsVirtualParent=1
Why? Look at the PCI-E x16 slots (used for GPUs) ... its proper spaced out for GPUs to breath cool air.

@ nemesis: Your Case looks cool, but it won't take a third GPU in the lowest Slot because therefor it needs 8 PCI Slots.

The next point about the Mobo is also wrong. On Both Mainboards you have 2 GPUs in direct neighborhood and one seperated by one space from the others. So where is your point?

The case will take the third GPU fine, just little mod for venting.


You're right regarding the motherboard. I looked at the wrong one (wrong Asrock board)

This +
Antec 900, it has better cooling than HAF, it has a BIG top fan, which pulls out all the heat, or set the 2 front and 1 back at max so air pulls trough everything at a high air rate.

Ok, so it looks like my last tweak on the gear is to swap cases and the store has the HAF XB LAN Box and Test Bench in stock....

so what is the story with this mod? I watched the video link KJaneway posted and within the context of a case I am pretty confident I can do this and I'm ready to go at it, maybe even tonight.

I would suggest a case with at least 8 PCI Slots on the back. This Lancube has only seven. Yes it is true that slight modding should enable you to build all cards in, but as far as I see that means to Cut pieces out of your shiny new case. I did that too with an old case, but for my new miner odered two days ago, I chose a suitable tower which doesn't run into that problem. I chose the Corsair Carbide 500R Series Tower, but I am not sure if that is the best choise. Maybe the Coolermaster HAF, or the suggested Antec is better.

But of course the airflow in that Lancube seems very tempting. So If I would bother to mod my own case I would definitely give it a try.

Will any of these cases work without a mod?

I have the HAF XM Mid tower at home now ($199) . I could return it for the HAF XB LAN Box and Test Bench ($99), which is in stock.


PS-  I got a corsair H100i hydro cooler with some of the cash I saved on the returns. Good idea, bad idea? My reasoning was that heat seems to be the main factor I am concerned with here, so a really good cooler should help that, right?

I'm putting together something similar, and strongly considering this case, which has good reviews for cooling:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147053&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

@ superdork:
You can bring your Watercooler back right away. This would cool a CPU, But as you don't use your CPU for mining, it won't produce any heat. All the heat is coming from the GPUs. It is very expensive to buy new coolers for them, as you would need a very big Watercooling Station for that. You just don't want to even consider it. Building a own watercooling system is highly complicated for someone who wants to build his first PC (which is indeed easy) Just use the Boxed Cooler that comes with your CPU. Nothing else. If you want to invest money in cooling, and i strongly advise doing so, then buy some fans AFTER you chose your case.

If you want a case without mods, then buy one with at least 8 Slots for expansion cards at its back. http://extreme.pcgameshardware.de/attachments/542846d1335644093-tagebuch-grosses-update-sharp-system-7700-endstufe-als-neues-gehaeuse-20120427_174249.jpg (http://extreme.pcgameshardware.de/attachments/542846d1335644093-tagebuch-grosses-update-sharp-system-7700-endstufe-als-neues-gehaeuse-20120427_174249.jpg). When you look at this picture, you see seven small Slots, two covered with a sort of mesh. Just beware that your case have 8 of it.

Good cases would be:

Corsair Carbide Series 500R
Cooler Master HAF XM
Rosewill THOR V2 (a shame that I cannot buy this case here in germany. It looks shiny)

Both are ready to install a big (200mm) Fan in the Side directly above the GPUs. They also are ready for many more Fans which would blow in fresh air from the bottom and the lower frontside, and blow out the warm air on top and on the upper backside. For Sure there are other good, maybe better options than these. The suggested Rosewill THOR V2 looks pretty nice with its 3 preinstalled 230mm Fans. Take it.

Ok, cooling fan going back...

I'll stick with the Coolermaster HAF XM which I already have at home (and the thor is not available at the store here)

So according to the website for the HAF XM "It supports up to four 200mm fans to keep constant cooling while housing high-end components"

Since you mentioned adding fans, how do I do that?  I suppose fan "directly above the gpus" would be a good place to start. Do I need any special type of fan? Just regular 200mm? Maybe a corny question, but do the instructions with the tower tell me how to install these 4 additional fans?

Just to be curious: Do you have the HAF X or the HAF XM? 199$ seems a bit to expensive for the XM. But I don't know prices in US. In germany I would pay around 90€ which is around 120$. Also the HAF XM supports only 3 200mm Fans, whereas the HAF X (its big brother) supports up to four.  But it doesn't matter.

Four 200mm fans are good. I think 3 of the fans are provided with your case. So you need one other: Look Here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007998%20600035599&IsNodeId=1&name=200mm (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007998%20600035599&IsNodeId=1&name=200mm) And choose one with a High Airflow Value. E.G.
NZXT FN-200RB 200mm Case cooler - 166CFM
BitFenix Spectre Pro LED Red 200mm Case Fan  - 149CFM


The installation is quite easy: The fan is provided with 4 screws. Just Use them to install it at the sidepanel of your case. Only thing that matters is the direction in which the cooler blows: I would suggest taht it should blow into the case directly on the hot grapic cards. I don't know exactly how to explain it: Each fan has one side which is rotating and one side which holds the motor. This side has 3 or 4 small Bridges(??) going from the middle to the outside. That is the side where the air comes out. Install it in a way that this side is orientated to your graphic cards.
The electric installation is also quite easy: The Fan has a plug which can be connected to a HDD powercable from the Power supply. Just plug it together.   Perhaps you can also plug a different connector from the fan onto the mainboard: You don't need to if you can plug it directly to the PSU (Powersupplyunit).
BUT BEWARE: NEVER EVER PLUG IN MORE THAN ONE CONNECTOR FROM THE SAME FAN into ANYWHERE!
 

I notice a lot of talk about cases... I feel compelled to chime in with a suggestion.

I've bought 3 Fractal XL cases, all of them are fantastic with easy to manage cabling guides, huge fan up top, lots of fans on the front/side/back... and it's just huge.
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=78225&promoid=1360

Might be something to consider.

Thanks for all the help so far.

Probably going to try my hand at putting this BTCeast together tomorrow, wish me luck!!

What case did you go with, BTW?

what i don't find good about the fractal Design is the only 120mm Fan on the side panel. 200mm or bigger would be good there.

Very helpful, especially for persons wanting to try out mining for Altcoins.

If I was to install a 4th 7950-GPU on the following m/b

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128514&Tpk=990fx%20ud3&IsVirtualParent=1

via the PCI Express x1

(and the other three naturally on the PCI Express 2.0 x16)

can someone pls recommend a Riser card for that; a URL would be great.

And which PSU could power this system?

I'm going with the cooler master half xm

Plan is to put it together today. I have a 2 year old and a 1 year old that complicate that plan slightly, but the Half XM box is huge so if I let them play with that it may buy me some time...

Seeking advice on good tutorial videos, I am digging around, but maybe someone knows better than me where to look....

The part I am most concerned with is plugging everything in correctly, I really don't want to plug in a power cord to the wrong place and fry a $300+ graphics card.

I have 1 7950 here and two are being sent from another store which I will get today or tomorrow. Can I put the others in later? It seems like that wont be that big of a deal.

Rule of thumb: All cables just fit in there where they belong. Yo you can't really make mistakes if don't use excessive force.
The cables for the grapic cards are also labeled as PCIE, if i remember right.

It is absoluteley possible to add the other cards later. Just switch of the PC and disconnect it from the power

I have 1 7950 in there, 2 more should be arriving in the store tomorrow.

Which slots do I put them in and how do I connect them all.

What does crossfire mean and do I want to do that or not?

WOOOOOOOEEEEEEEE!!!!   ;D


Up and running!   Really glad I built it myself.  I enjoyed the process and now feel a stronger bond with my machine as well as a newfound sense of comfort and accomplishment in an area that was previously quite mysterious to me.

It's 4:20 am, so bedtime for me, tomorrow I'll install windows and start mining.  Thanks everyone for the help!


A few questions-

There are only two slots on the power supply that are the right size for the 7950, should I daisy chain the next two cards? That seems problematic to me.

 Is crossfire the way to go with the 7950s? Does that just mean that I plug them into the mobo and power just like the one that is in there and then I hook up that little crossfire link dealy? Is there something more to that?



Once I am up and running (windows installed etc), any advice on checking to see that everything is running optimally? Where can I find out the mhash/s that my rig is producing?

(sorry for all the newbie questions... and apologies if some of this has been discussed here already. I am reading and researching like mad and getting my hands dirty and all that, so hopefully soon I'll be answering the questions and I won't need to ask so many.)

Thanks middlemarkal

Those were two big questions I was wondering about.