Bitcoin Forum

Hello.
New here.

Where is the STICKY  ???

Please give us a sticky which will answer some of these very-modest beginners questions:

1. Which GPU is the fastest miner?

2. Can I get any CPU for the job (even a $20 one)?

3. How many GB of RAM do one need?

4. Should I use a small SSD as opposed to a small HDD?

5. Motherboard - advice!

6. What does a mining machine cost per month in terms of electricity?

7. Can I live with my mining PC (put in the bedroom) (i'm a student)?

8. Here's one: How many U.S DOLLARS does a mining machine (with the strongest single-card GPU) expected to "create" per month?


U get the point! We need a sticky!
 :)

I have an answer for #7.

No, after a week, I couldn't take it anymore.  With my PC adding an extra 15F to my room, I finally moved my PC to a more open place.

I agree, we do need a sticky, with relative links, links to pool threads, links to software threads, ect. And then links to the most commonly asked for guides.

1: Asus Ares 5870x2 If you've got the cash, Otherwise the 6990/5970 are fastest and (slightly) more affordable. For the most affordable mhash/w/$$$, go with the sapphire Radeon 5850.
2: You can use any CPU
3: Enough to run whatever OS you plan on running
4: If you're concerned about price, a thumb drive running Linux. If you want to run windows, a small HDD. If money is no problem, A SSD
5: Something with 2+ PCIe16x lanes. If you get one with two, try and get one with more than one lane inbetween.
6: It varies based on the Energy effeciency of your PSU, and then its based upon the total KW/hr used by your rig multipled by your electricity cost.
7: I could live with mine (2x Asus Ares 5870x2's, AMD 1090T, 5HDD's, 1 SSD, all packed in a Level 10 GT), My wife, on the other hand, could not.
8: If I answer this, In a week it will be different.

THANK YOU ataranlen !!!!!!!!!!!!!!  :)

Regarding Q#8: approximate - GROSS aprx.  ???

As of right now... a 5850 will mine a block every 28 days at 275khps or about 2BTC per day or about $12 per day.

From my experience and what I've read:

1. Which GPU is the fastest miner?

The fastest would be the HD 6990 @ ~740 Mhash/s but your going to pay $300 - $350 for it.

You can buy (almost) 3 x HD 5850's (Each over clocked to 850 Mhz core to get ~327 Mhash/s per card to total 981 Mhash/s) for that price and get a faster hash rate.

2. Can I get any CPU for the job (even a $20 one)?

For a dedicated miner any CPU will do. Usually any single / dual core CPU around 2.0 GHz will do just fine.

3. How many GB of RAM do one need?

You don't need much at all but since RAM is cheep, I usually get 2 GB :P

4. Should I use a small SSD as opposed to a small HDD?

What ever your preference is really. SSD is probably to pricey for a miner. My self I just use old 20 GB IDE hard drives I have lying around.

Also if your feeling adventurous you can load a RAM drive off a Flash disk with Linux running the OS and mining software from RAM, no hard drive needed. (Make sure you have enough RAM installed of course)

5. Motherboard - advice!

Stick with motherboards that have 2 - 3 x16 PCIe slots on them. So far I have 2 miners set up using MSI 870A-G54 motherboard. Haven't had a problem with them yet.

Also you never asked this but the power supply is also a very important part. Make sure you get one big enough to handle all your hardware and then some to prevent damage to your hardware or even burning out a PSU.

6. What does a mining machine cost per month in terms of electricity?

This all depends on what hardware you buy and how much your kw/h rate is for your electricity.

If you do start mining I would recommend using a power monitor to get a good idea of the usage. I use a Blue Planet Electronic Energy Meter. I got it pretty cheep, you can find better quality ones for more but this one has been working good so far.

7. Can I live with my mining PC (put in the bedroom) (i'm a student)?

It will get pretty warm quick in there. I had my miner next to me in my living room for a day and couldn't stand the heat so I had to move it to my basement where it was cooler.

8. Here's one: How many U.S DOLLARS does a mining machine (with the strongest single-card GPU) expected to "create" per month?

This all depends on the hardware you buy, the mining difficulty at the time, the current market value of a bitcoin and luck. There are a few calculators for this around but they give very rough estimates.