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Hi all, first post here.

I'm going to build up this config

AMD Athlon II X2 250
MSI 890FXA-GD70
Corsair RAM 2GB DDR3 1333Mhz
-- 3 * Sapphire HD5870 1024MB, PCI-E --
WD HD 3,5" 160GB SATA 7200 8MB
Cooler Master HAF X
LC-Power LC1000 ATX 1000W

Price total = ~1500$

What do you think about it? Any suggestion or critique is appreciated.

Thanks in advance

mago

Good setup. You can even get away with a much weaker CPU such as the Sempron 140. One unknown in that setup for me is the power supply. Is that a good brand? The power supply has to be able to stand up to massive load 24/7 at stable and low temps.

Those are all brand new 5870 cards?

Also you can get away with a much smaller hd or even perhaps a cheap 16 to 32 gb SSD. Hard drives don't consume a super large amount of power but still if you can shave off a few watts why not. If you intend to use linux you can even get away with using only 1 gb of RAM.

The idea is to minimize power consumption and cost yet maximize hashing power, which is 100% dependent on the number and type of video cards you're using.

that's a tremendous case, and probably my next miner box.  the silverstone is nice, too.

i would suggest that you not entirely rely on the stock cooling abilities of either, however - plan a few extra bucks for a couple of fan upgrades.  the ones in that case are hooked up directly to a molex power connector:  which means they're maxed out at whatever (very slow) speeds they run at - probably 600rpm for side and intake, and 800ish for top and rear.

for $20 you can get a nice 200mm fan that's adjustable (look for a 2 or 3 speed - they're infinitely adjustable through their range) - a little more for a 230.  and you will definitely want something like this:

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0342847

that's the most useful gadget i have on my big miner.  getting a couple more...

you can probably get away with using a cheaper motherboard. Just get one with enough pcie slots (width doesn't matter, even 1x will work), and use extenders to convert any non 16x slots to 16x slots for your cards.

Yes you're right, the power supply is a bit unknown at the moment. It's not a famous brand, i just picked up one with enough W, because previous one i was looking for was only 950W. I'm considering 100-150W of safety margin, but i'll probably choose another brand.

All the setup is brand new btw, and Yes i will be using Linux, probably Ubuntu or a lighter version such as Gentu.


I'm almost forced to buy such a good case because the weather in this city is hot and humid, especially in summer. I don't want to see my house catch on fire suddenly.

So where do you think those extra fans should be headed towards the case?


I could get a cheaper one, but i'm planning to extend the setup with more cards, so i'm forced to choose a mobo with enough slots. Or do you think it should be better to extend in another way, buying multiple computers?


Thanks for your replies.

With those components, slap a used 5970 in there instead of one of the 5870s. Should increase your output by 30% or so, for a couple of hundos extra.

Forgot to mention that you should take into consideration the power supply's efficiency level. Don't think that cause your cards in total consume say 600W that the actual juice that the power supply will draw will match that. Add on a 20% or extra depending on the power supply's efficiency level. I'd say stick to 80% efficiency level power supplies or better. Naturally the higher the efficiency rating (ie 80 Bronze, 80 Gold, etc) the more they cost.

So I'd say you should leave a bit more headroom if possible.

I think You could use the four 5870?

Maybe this mobo is better?
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5975100&CatId=5540

nice motherboard for mining - plenty of room between the bottom of the second GPU and the bottom (or side) of the case.  essential for cooling.

but check out the difficulty level threads before you commit major dough to hardware.  just sayin'...

can anybody explain that with this system how many BTCs he could make per month (and in US dollar?)
thanks! i'm new

1 BTC per day per card with the current difficulty ... 435 Mhash/s each... price varies

At least that's what my 5870s are generating, roughly