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Creating this thread mostly for myself, to keep a log of my build.  If anyone has any questions or comments, I'd be happy to help.  I've learned a lot from this community, so I'd like to give back any way that I can.

Current Setup

ASIC

• 4 x Antminer S9 13.5 TH/s
• 1 x Hashflare SHA-256 Contract 4 TH/s

RIG1 - 210 MH/s mining ETH

• 7 x MSI RX 580 8GB-Gaming GPU's
• Asus Prime Z270-P Motherboard
• Intel Celeron G3900
• Sandisk 120GB SSD
• 4GB DDR4 Ram
• EVGA 1200w P2 Main PSU
• EVGA 1000w P2 Secondary PSU

RIG2 - 175 MH/s mining ETH

• 3 x MSI RX 580 8GB-Armor GPU's
• 3 x Sapphire RX 580 4GB Nitro+ GPU's
• Asus Prime Z270-A Motherboard
• Intel Celeron G3900
• KingDian 120GB SSD
• 4GB DDR4 Ram
• EVGA 1000w P2 Main PSU
• EVGA 750w P2 Secondary PSU

Hash Power

BTC

• 4 x Antminer S9 13.5 TH/s
• 1 x Hashflare Contract 4 TH/s

Total = 58 TH/s

ETH

• 10 x RX 580 8GB
• 3 x RX 580 4GB

Total = 385 MH/s

Log

11/07/17 - Received first Antminer S9 13.5 TH/s.
12/27/17 - Received second Antminer S9 13.5 TH/s.  Total 27 TH/s.
01/04/18 - Received all components for RIG1.  Took me about 3 days to get everything configured properly.  Most of my issues were with the motherboard.
01/12/18 - Received two more Antminer S9 13.5 TH/s.  Total 54 TH/s.
01/12/18 - Received an M.2 - PCIe adapter, to add 7th RX580 to Rig1
01/12/18 - Re-organized.  Unplugged everything, cleaned up the cables, set it up for easier access.
01/17/18 - Finished build of RIG2.  Nothing ever works the first time you plug it in.  Added another 175 MH/s ETH hashpower.  Can fit 3 more GPU's on this rig, if I can manage to buy some at a decent price.

01/04/18

Cutomizing some shelving for the build
https://i.imgur.com/P94gn3e.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/p3oc9GU.jpg

My son helping
https://i.imgur.com/HQ3IYGK.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/FlHgWeL.jpg

Other pics
https://i.imgur.com/LVZjuWc.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/RA1LF2w.jpg

Moved shelving into utility room
https://i.imgur.com/z2DM4v6.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/yQ1EthF.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/LHcJX6o.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/KzqrTZe.jpg

01/12/18

Started the build on RIG2.  Made a real embarrassing rookie mistake, so now I need to wait an extra week to replace the component I fried.  Moved around the shelving to help with airflow, re-arranged some GPU's.

https://i.imgur.com/wdHkAML.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/LBMhMHF.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/RpUb3gD.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/6kVTYt1.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/l9fsxgQ.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/q4DC0T9.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/rryugak.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/e1hUoN4.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/E6jTqot.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Yez2Zxi.jpg

Looks good!

Let me give you my pool address so I can see how well your mining ;D




Edit:  How much does that 210MHs get you in ETH?

Thanks!  I've got quite a bit more hardware on the way, this build is going to look much different in the next month or two.  I'm debating about customizing a 20ft container to house everything.  I have a few reasons to do it that way, more to come in the near future.

I will let you know once I have 7 days of straight ETH mining at 210 MH/s, to give you accurate results.  I've been tweaking the system too much, adding cards one by one, dual mining, etc, so my recent numbers are all over the place.  Now that it's setup the way I like it, I'll leave it on ETH for a while.  I've been a big ETH fan since I first got into crypto, last summer.

Thanks :)  Yes, getting my son to help is important, he thinks all the GPU's look really cool.  Yes, I'm very bullish on ETH long term, I love the project and their direction.
Well, about half my ASIC equipment was at the $1,200 USD prices, the other half was purchased for more.
Always good to start small and build.  GPU mining takes A LOT more time and effort to get setup.  I like that they are flexible and can mine different algorithms, but it's so nice with ASICS when all you have to do is just plug them in and change your pool settings..


@ $0.10 / KwH, the S9's draw about $100 USD per month in power.  Even with the recent stagnant BTC price, and rising difficulty, it will be a while until profitability and cost are equal.  Part of the reason I'm doing my build out in a shipping container is that in a reasonable amount of time, I can relocate to where cheaper power is.  At this point in time, the cost and hassle of moving it doesn't really make sense.  In the future if profits get too thin, I might be forced to.


Well, my bill keeps growing each month I add new equipment, so it hasn't been stable.  In my mind, I think of my electricity costs as a way to pay my energy company with my credit card and earn airmiles, while investing in crypto at 0% fees.  I can't move fiat into crypto more efficiently than via my energy bill.


Within the next month I will have a total of 10 x S9's, 1 x L3+, and 2 or 3 x 8 GPU rigs.  Total investment into hardware and infrastructure is around $50,000 USD, and I'm estimating daily profits around $500 USD at current difficulty and prices.

I guess it's also important to note, I did not just shell out the $50,000.  My total direct investment into crypto has never been above $15,000 USD starting back in July/August.  The mining hardware was purchased as a result of a combination of crypto gains, as well as reselling mining hardware and crypto related products through my website.  I invested most of my early money into ETH, and it continues to be my largest holding.

That is a phenomenal setup.  It looks like you've had to wire new outlets to support all of that power draw.  What have you done to control the heat and air quality, if anything?  It seems like that room would get really hot with lots of that hot air moving around.

Thanks!  It's a small utility room, with a window.  I live in Canada and it's been very cold, my cooling comes from cracking the window open.  If it's -10 or less, the window is open about 1 inch.  -10 to 0 its open about 4 inches.  Over 0 it's open all the way.  I have one small fan behind the equipment on the floor (the cold air goes straight to the floor), then all the S9s and my bigger fan are pointed towards the other room.  I've closed the vents on this side of the house, just leaving my cold air returns open.  This setup is basically heating half my house by just sending the warm air inside.  My furnace isn't working that hard because of it.

Now the fact that I've stolen this part of the house (the noise) doesn't keep the wifey happy haha.  I've maybe got 1 month maybe 2 max before I press my luck too much.  I'm looking into some industrial space right now, even my own customized container, to host the equipment.

Lookin good. What do you have for incoming power? I’m sure I’ll reach the point of my wife complaint about the noise soon too. Haha

A paultry 100amp service.  I had my electrician buddy come in and route me all available power for my setup, and I'm just about at my max.  There isn't enough room left in my panel, and by sticking to the 80% safety rule, the next few weeks will be dedicated to moving my setup to a proper longer term home. 

I literally wear headphones and play music when I'm fidgeting with it haha.. better than listening to these vacuum cleaners.

Yes it has been very cold this year, where I live in Canada.  My 4 S9's heat about half my house.

Well, the one thing I didn't skimp out on was my PSU's.  Every single person I read, said not to go cheap there.  I'm ok with it.  I'll give myself a "No Regrats" tattoo.


Well, as you can see in some of the pictures, I "had" an Asrock H110 pro btc+.  I don't want to talk about that though, haha.  "Re:  Rookie mistake"


Well, the reason I got into BTC mining was because of the profitability.  Truthfully, if the community can't figure out it's blocksize and scalability issues, I don't like the long term outlook for BTC.  I've liked ETH ever since day one, and even with this massive market fallout happening right now, I'm still very bullish for ETH long term.  Doing everything I can to accumulate more right now.

There are a few altcoins that I'm considering mining, but since I only have a few rigs, I might as well just stick with ETH.

01/17/18 - Finished build of RIG2.  Nothing ever works the first time you plug it in.  Added another 175 MH/s ETH hashpower.  Can fit 3 more GPU's on this rig, if I can manage to buy some at a decent price.

Cable management is for wimps.  I'm going for the spiderweb effect.

https://i.imgur.com/7aMy9El.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/fFEZLWt.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/6tgsk2D.jpg

 ;D I absolutely love that your unit of measurement for cooling is how many inches the window is open, depending on outside temperature. Absolutely awesome, lol.

The idea of housing it all in a shipping container is a good idea, as long as it's not an overly rusted (and therefore potentially leaky) container. Intake and exhaust would be easier to set up in a container too I imagine. And hey, if it keeps your wife happy?

Good luck :)

-Knightly

The physical setup?  Not very long.  All the OS, mobo, GPU etc tweaks are the time consuming parts.  I think each rig had at least 100 reboots to get working optimally.

The Antminers are basically plug and play..

A few reasons. 

- After the 1 or 2 year contracts are up, I can keep my hardware. 
- I need to trust some random company in a foreign country for a long period of time
- These machines look cool and there is a sense of accomplishment
- Helping with decentralization
- It's a project I'm building with my 10 year old son who is just getting into computers for the first time.  He used the word motherboard in a sentence yesterday.

ROI period is anyone's guess.  You can do lots of calculations at today's prices and difficulty, but that's just a bunch of hot air.

Tbh my investment is based on my belief in crypto, and long term outlook.  Im mining because I think we will hit new all time highs in 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 years from now.

If i dont breakeven in 4-6 months let's say, I won't sweat it.  Allows me to mine and accumulate more for when we eventually hit those new ATH's. 

 Putting a lot of faith in some simple zip ties unless I am seeing it wrong. I strongly suggest a 2x2 of wood or something to support those cards in the middle. Zip ties, especially when subjected to heat non stop do not last at all, they will snap. :)

Scrap'

Yeah, good catch.  I fixed that last night actually, I'm using a 3/8" round stainless steel bar, instead, like on the rig on the bottom rack.  I initially installed it without one because the hardware store didn't have any when I first built it.

Looks great! Thanks for sharing. I also mount my motherboards on boxes :D

I'm working on a custom rig frame now (similar to other ones out there with stylistic touches) which I will sell if my prototypes look worth it.

Can you elaborate on what your electrician friend did, or what it would cost? that is the piece that I am most debating, right now I have rigs on various circuits but I want to move to a dedicated location and route power there. In the middle of this I am learning about how to become an electrician.

Also can you tell us what the embarrassing mistake you made that fried one of your cards was, in the interest of not making it ourselves?

Thanks. And I can't believe I have been so obsessed with crypto and just found this forum, it's excellent.

My electrician buddy wired 2 seperate 240v circuits (The ones with red wire in the pics).  He came by, told me what I needed to buy, and I went out to my local electrical supply store and bought it.

I bought 2 x 240v receptables, 10ft 20amp cable, 2 x 20amp breakers, and some 240v computer power cords, to fit the receptacles.  Along with a few other odds and ends, my bill was around $60 USD.

My friend spent 1 hour the first day, to talk me through what we needed to do, capacity, etc, and 1 hour the following day installing it.  I paid him $30 USD per hour for helping me out.

For the embarrassing mistake, I plugged in PCI-e adapter into a PCI slot on the motherboard backwards.  It slides in like butter, there was no resistance.  I turned it on, smelled smoke, cut the power... bye bye mobo.  I knew the correct way to plug them in, but it was at the end of a very long night trying to troubleshoot my rig's issues, I had my headphones on blasting music because that room is now very loud with all the fans, and poof, made the mistake.  I did almost exactly what this guy did:  https://www.reddit.com/r/EtherMining/comments/6ja5i7/burnt_riser_pcie_slot_help_would_be_greatly/ (https://www.reddit.com/r/EtherMining/comments/6ja5i7/burnt_riser_pcie_slot_help_would_be_greatly/)

Thank you very much. Man I wish I had an electrician friend...

Amazing how we make mistakes when we are tired. Every time I did something like to a car I was working on, I was tired and not thinking right and it wouldn't have happened in the morning. No worries mate! Small price to pay in the long run. 

Sorry if everyone else knows this, but is 240v the way to go for the ANT miners? I see it commonly for ETH and BTC. I am mining Zcash right now and wondering if I should run on 240v. Thanks again, and like others said, great job on getting your son involved. I bought my daughter a commemorative Bitcoin little coin as she is only 4 but I'm excited to share my obsession with her as the years go on.

From what I understand, the equipment runs more efficiently at 240v.  The other benefit, is you can run more machines on a circuit.  My S9's pull around 6amps, so I can put 2 safely on a 20amp circuit.  At 120v, they run double the amperage at around 12amps, so you can only get one on a 20amp circuit.  The danger is that most computer power cords are only rated for 10amps, and the receptacles are wiring might only be rated for 15amps.  I had an S9 plugged into 120v for a bit, but the power cord was running hot.  Can't have that happening at home.   Also, since it's a 24/7 load, you don't want to be above 80% of your capacity, to be safe.

There are quite a few threads which go into good technical detail about this stuff.

I fried it by mistake.  Then they were sold out when I bought a replacement.

For what's already installed, about $18,000 USD.  Total once the rest of the equipment arrives will be close to $40k.  Everything came from crypto gains, and reselling some units.

I know the question was directed at me - but I purchased ethOS which is similar to the link you posted. I honestly haven't even taken it out of the bag because I have been using nvOC EWF CUDA miner on all my machines. The last build was giving me a few issues and it doesn't seem to like 2 year old Gigabyte boards (or the ones I give it) much. IF you aren't linux-phobic it is great.

I have always want to learn Linux since I was a teenager but didn't have the work ethic or patience, but crypto is giving me a whole new motivation :)