Bitcoin Forum

Hi All,

I am building My first Rig,

I am planning to Use two Sapphire 6770 1GB Graphics cards which will be available for ~ 300USD. I want to build a mining Rig around this two graphics cards.

Please suggest appropriate for the following

1) PSU

2) Motherboard

3) Processor

other requirements

Strictly an AMD based system,
may also use for mid-end gaming on a 22 inch monitor max.
Wont be looking at expanding beyond 2 graphics cards or at the max 3
I am not expert with Overclocking and much tweaking
System will be run on WindowsXp or Windows-7
I am planning to use 4GB RAM 1600MHz for my gaming requirements

Please suggest mid-level configuration. Please if you can also suggest me a better graphics card than 6770 would do.

Thanks
pradeep

For starters, if you don't mind the idea of having a used video card (instead of 2 new 6770s - I see them listed for ~$110-120) you could try and get a 5970 which is still sort of within your $300 range.

The 5970 you can find used for ~$300-350 probably and it'll put out more mhash/sec and outperform crossfired 6770's for gaming. (Assuming the wiki is accurate; each 6770 = ~200 mhash/sec vs 5970 = ~650 mhash/sec; more if you overclock of course)

1) PSU: something around the 600-800W should do but would need to know what kind of CPU and GPU you decide on to give a more accurate number.  If you want to expand to 2 or 3 cards you might want a higher watt PSU as well but they can get expensive.

2 & 3) Motherboard/CPU:  I'll leave that to someone else to give you suggestions for well-priced to performance since I haven't been keeping up on them since the i7's came out.

Note on the PSU: Make sure you get an 80-85 percent certified PSU. It makes a world of difference in terms of having a stable power supply (not to mention cheaper units may likely fry your $300-350 card). I would recommend sticking to the big brands (i.e Antec / Corsair).


Cheers,
nbtcminer

Yea, woulda mentioned that but I guess in my mind that was kind of a given lol.

Didn't wanna name particular brands because maybe there were good ones that were less costly since you might end up paying a small premium for brand name.

I got a Corsair HX620W myself and feel that they make solid PSUs.  Customer service is really good too (they overnighted me extra modular cables for free).

Recommended their PSUs to 2 friends and they've had no issues.  My next PSU will be an AX1200 probably.

I would agree with the power supply unit needing to be good ...

Although i do not think the amount of CPU power needs to be that High ... Unless you want to use the cpu for a small boost and when i say small i mean like 20 Mhash in a good scenario  but you wouldn't need that with a 5970

I am looking upon below two models
Corsair Enthusiast Series™ TX750 80 PLUS® Bronze Certified 750 Watt Power Supply
or
Corsair CMPSU-800GS Gaming Series Power Supply SMPS 800 Watts GS800

Haven't decided on which one though

Both of those are fairly comparable so the deciding factor should maybe be based on how much you pay per kWh where you are.

Even then the difference between 80 PLUS and 80 PLUS Bronze is like 2% so you might be better off with the gaming PSU (think that was the lower priced one).

Just keep in mind that as you add more video cards the watt requirement can quickly grow.  I have a HX620W and it was good at the time and I was able to SLI with it but now that I have a 5970, when my second one arrives I won't even be able to use it until I get myself a bigger power supply (been looking for a used AX1200 but no luck yet).

Ahm, short question, do you already have those Graphic cards or do you intend to buy them? Just a question cause as far as I read the new 7000 series should come out in two weeks or am I wrong?

I havent yet purchased anything. Just planning on to purchase.

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_rig
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_Hardware_Comparison

make sure to get a good power supply. I went with the i3 as my cpu on one rig that I mine and play games on, no complaints

7970 has been out for maybe a week or so?  And the 7950s became available a day or two ago.  I may be a bit off but that's roughly it.

People are guessing that the 7990's will be out in March.

Depending on his budget though, the 5xxx series are still supposed to be a better bang for the buck as far as mining goes.  I've read that the 5970s can still easily run most games at high resolutions; not so sure how the 5830/5850/5870s fare.

The 7xxx series will probably be more energy efficient but you also pay the larger upfront premium for having the latest tech.

You may want to switch to Powercolor since their cards are cheaper, generally around 110USD each.

I got 185 Mhash/sec at stock settings (850 Core /1200 Memory) and up to 215 Mhash/sec at 920/310, so i sort of attest that.

If I'm not mistaken the 7990 should be dual 7970 gpus on a single board. The 7970 about the same wattage as 6970 from the reviews I've read but has a faster core and more stream processors. Until the official specs are out or an official review is seen we can only speculate.

I wrote a guide on how to get your software started: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=62630.0 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=62630.0)

you can't be serious that it's going to be used for gaming, the 6770 is a 5770 with some newer badging(and some minor software tweaks) if you're going to play games get yourself a 5870(i'd normally suggest a 560Ti but that's no good for mining)

as far as your cpu well, take a look at this article from toms, i'm going to highligt the rather suprising chart as well if you're not inclined to read the entire thing, on a similar note get more than 4gb of memory unless you're planing to install 32 bit windows there's no reason to force yourself to open the case a few months down the road(get 8 preferably an 2x4gb configuration dropping to single channel cuts into performance)

http://media.bestofmicro.com/X/F/323907/original/Averages.png
(source TH http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-fx-pentium-apu-benchmark,3120.html (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-fx-pentium-apu-benchmark,3120.html) )

Hi thanks for all the replies so far,

I was able to get a old system(not too old)

intel Mobo DG43NB, QUAD CORE processor 2+ GHz

So to reduce the initial costs i am going for only one 6950 Graphics card with Corsair 750-TX power supply and start the mining.

I am not a over clocking enthusiast, so want to know your thoughts on how to best use this system for mining.

later once i start making some money will update the mobo and processor.

I have windows XP already installed on the system. I like to know if any one can suggest best way to remote login into my mining PC to restart mining or check the status

Thanks
Pradeep

This is one way you could do it,

Remote desktop:
https://encrypted.google.com/search?hl=en&q=windows+xp+remote+desktop+setup

its also good to set the effects for performance before you connect

I recently got started mining with a 6770 using cgminer to regulate the temperature.

I realize now the advantage of having an external open frame setup.  With the 6770 board plugged into my motherboard with the case closed I couldn't run at max GPU clock speed due to high temperatures.  I ended up taking the side panel off of my PC to improve air flow and it made all the difference.  Before, I was running around 83C with a reduced clock speed of about 870 MHz.  With the PC case open, I run at the max speed of 960 MHz and my temperature is always about 78C.

So there are a few pointers from a noob to help out.  8)

My box stays open 90% of the time too, but then I have to clean the dust out 4x as often :/ --  Thinking of building a DIY 19" rack mount with water cooling to keep the noise down.

Sapphire Trixx also has a nice fan control even if you dont use the OC features.

If XP doesn't work out for you have a look at BAMT https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=28967.0  .. I haven't tried it personally, but it looks promising