Bitcoin Forum

Interested to see if people would be interested in this. :)

Update: Updated to 64GB SSD Drive

What it is: Don't want the learning curve of litecoin mining, or mining in general? Don't like tinkering with GPUs for optimal hash rates?
Would you enjoy being able to buy a pre-built GPU mining machine that would be plug and play? Plug it in, boot it up, and you are ready to mine away?

Here's the idea:
$1400 would get you a machine guaranteed to churn out 1.2MH/s with scrypt mining.
Machines would come with no warranty, but would be tested in a 7-day mining session before shipping. (tests your unit for defects and offsets price a bit!)
The machines would run Windows, and would come with an easy setup program to get you mining in minutes.

They would run on 64GB SSDs with over-capacity PSUs for maximum reliability, and would have both Wi-Fi and Ethernet built in. They would come in roomy cases.

The nitty-gritty specs:
2x7950 GPUs
2 or 3 PCI-E motherboard
850W PSU
Intel Celeron G530 (comes with one core disabled for lower power consumption if you wish)
64GB SSD
8GB RAM
Windows 7 or Windows 8
Custom mining setup program (On first boot, it will guide you step-by-step through the setup of your miner, and will already be optimized for great hashrate)


Each unit could be bought for $1400 + shipping, and bulk orders (>3 machines) would receive a 10% discount. Extra bulk, looking at >10 machines (at which point you would probably want to  

Make it Game option: +$300

With this option, your miner would double over as a gaming beast, packed with good SSDs, a good gaming processor, and more. This increases the resale value for this unit, and allows you to game while not mining, or mine while not gaming :P.

With the "Make it Game option," an extra $300, you would get upgraded to a 120GB or more SSD, and a Gaming-quality CPU (i5-2500k). As well, the two 7950 cards would come automatically in crossfire, and additional configuration changes could be made for additional cost (extra SSD, >8GB RAM, etc.). As well, any free games that come with the purchase of your GPUs (Crysis 3 and Bioshock:Infinite) would come pre-installed. It could come with extra games installed and ready to go for an extra fee, for those of you with slow internet.

How long would shipping take?
I honestly have no idea, if it gets somewhat popular I would build machines in advance to get them on the road with the seven day testing before they even are ordered, in which case (unless backordered) units would be able to ship out within 2 days of an order, but when the service starts time from order to ship would probably average around 10 days, and the speed in which it got to the buyer would depend on what shipping plan they chose. Shipping *would* be fairly expensive, simply because of the weight of the item. :)

7 day testing?!?
Yes, the 7-day testing acts both to subsidize the price of the computer and to stress-test the hardware before shipping it out, to get rid of infancy failures. Not sure about this yet, but I may implement a system where for $40 extra those 7 testing days would be spent with your unit posted at your pool of choice.

Is this something people would be interested in?

As well, system would come with all cables, and a (cheap) mouse+keyboard, only thing you would need to supply would be a monitor. :)

Why Windows? You could probably shave more off the cost if you just did an Ubuntu/CentOS miner

A Linux version could be offered for $100 off, however I figure with the target market of this product (people who want stuff to work quick and don't want to deal with the learning curve of litecoin mining themselves) would likely feel more comfortable in a Windows environment. As well, Windows would be *almost* a necessity for the gaming version :)

I think your assessment of your target market is spot on (as to using Windows.)

Also, I would try to market this in the Newbie section.

Good luck, great idea.

I like the idea, also you may want to try a configuration where you get double or triple the hash power on a single system.

Not to be a downer - but with Windows + the block chain on the 32gb SSD, they'd run out of space really quickly, wouldn't they?

My wallet/data for the chain on BTC alone is giant as it is, adding LTC or even another alt currency would eat that up in no time. I'd suggest maybe a hybrid ssd/spin drive combo for more space, and SSD for loading windows? Wouldn't eat too much into cost either :)

Good luck, the price is good I think. Make sure you are clear about delivery times, shipping costs (that must be huge for these 15kgs beasts?) etc. Need more disk space though.

Yeah maybe a cheap 120 GB hard drive would work better and probably lower the costs a bit.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822144545

Based on feedback if this idea goes through, I think I'll offer the choice of either a 32GB SSD or a 250GB magnetic drive.

The 250GB Magnetic would be for people who want to solo mine and need the blockchain, the 32GB SSD for those who are just mining to a pool, and want a tad bit more reliability. :)



i thought about doing that, but the issue of ventilation in an actual case comes up, as more than two cards won't ventilate well without risers, and risers in an actual computer case won't do too great. Maybe try slamming in 2x7990s at some point?

FYI - good luck getting multiple 7950's to mine Litecoin (Scrypt) on Linux. Something a handful of us have been battling with.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=164825.0

Stick with Windows, it just works for Litecoin.

Have you actually tried to get W7 & the block chain onto 32GB with 5GB of slack space?  How about after system updates and the WinSxS folder becomes enormous?

I'm honestly curious - especially after the Slate Pro debacle with a 64GB SSD having like 48 occupied with the base install before service packs etc.

I'm not planning for people to keep the client on these, just to have windows installed and be mining to a pool :)

WinSxS could be cleaned.
Also if you don't update Windows and install a lot of soft frequently it won't grow.

I like this idea.I hope this develops further.

Edit--Updated to either a 64GB SSD or 250GB Magnetic, buyer gets to choose, price point stays the same. SSD for pool miners, magnetic for soloers. :)

Project launched! :)


https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=175270.0 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=175270.0)

Good luck with this, this could turn out to be a great seller now with the heavy litecoin adaption. Easy way to get started for the new people.

Have you set this rig up with this processor exactly?  Not all Celeron Dual Core processors's allow you to disable a core via Windows.

I dont have the G530 but the 1610 - so I can't say for sure.  But just thought I'd mention it because I assumed i would be able to disable a core on mine as well.  Only to find out once she was up and running that its definitely not the case! :)

I've thought of doing something similar but by the time you figure out shipping and all that jazz its hardly worth it.  But I have another idea in "beta" testing with a couple of people. :P

Actually disabling the core is done through the BIOS, and with my G530 miner that seemed to cut power by ~25W, with no detriment to mining speed :)

LOL, you're hashing for 7 days before shipping.  Anyways I wish you luck.  This would be easier for people who don't want to buy all the parts separately.

Yeah, good business model :) For $30 extra though we'll point the miner at the buyer's desired pool account for the 7-day testing period.