Latest posts of: couture

Might be able to pick up two of these ASUS HD 6670 1GBcards from work for free..

Does anyone know if these are even worth their energy cost?

I have a spare rig waiting for new Radeon cards to come back in stock so just wondering if it's worth throwing these asus cards in as a temporary place-holder?

They might not even mine enough to cover their energy usage at 15cents/kWh but can't seem to find much info on them on the interwebbs

Thoughts appreciated

Given that the 470/480 are impossible to find right now and the 570/580 are almost impossible to find would it be worth getting the 460s?

One in the hand is worth two in the bush as they say

Mine with 460s until 470/480/570/580 crop up for sale then swap them out as and when you can get your hands on them

Thoughts?

So the consensus is that its okay to use a USB thumbdrive?

I run a bootable version of Kali Linux on a USB thumbdrive when i need to run that OS but thats not on 24/7

I am leaning towards just using a usb thumbdrive tbh - if anything goes wrong ill just reflash the image to an SSD and boot back up

They have gone dark on all channels

Not sure if they will be for several months now

Well done and welcome

Whats your full spec list?

Mobo:
GPUs:
Risers:
CPU:
RAM:
PSU:
Operating System:
USB/SSD/HDD:
Price per kWh:

Pictures or it didnt happen!

Im about to give EthOS a try and am wondering what peoples thoughts are on using a small USB drive to hold it?

The USB drive would be a lot cheaper than a 2.5" SSD but are there any negatives to using a USB drive?

The EthOS website itself sells it as an option on USB drive so surely its okay?

(Allowing for postage from the EthOS developers it would be cheaper (and quicker to turn-key) to buy the digital version then load the image to a USB drive)

Just wondering if there are any negatives to doing this? I think I read somewhere someone questioning the long term reliability of a USB drive?

Thanks!

With the gargantuan lack of known and respected GPU rig mobos available to buy (H81 Pro BTC et'all)
Does anyone have any experience with the Asus Intel ROG STRIX Z270F?

I have heard a few rumours about this board being a good egg but that it requires some mystical BIOS changes :/

http://www.ebuyer.com/769454-asus-intel-rog-strix-z270f-gaming-lga-1151-atx-motherboard-strix-z270f-gaming?mkwid=s_dc&pcrid=51482416619&pkw=&pmt=&gclid=CLHi68y9idQCFQsR0wodaaYHdg

Specification advises it has:
2 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16 or dual x8)
1 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (max at x4 mode)
4 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x1

To be honest at £165 its more expensive than a used ProBTC but there has to be an alternative!

Thanks!

Ahh well spotted I misread the data sheet

First two though?

If I can find an evga for a good enough price then I'll grab one of those

Otherwise... I'm guessing a 1500W server PSU with custom breakout board (other benefit is no gpu daisy chaining required.. just run enough 6pin PCIe cables from the power rails on the PSU) with a 350W PSU for the mobo would be enough?

That's more than enough power directly to the gpus - plus surely enough power to the mobo?

I'm guessing server PSUs have some benefit as many people with large mines use them?

I'll keep my eyes peeled for evga though

P.s has anyone used the msi gaming 7 mobo? I know people have used the msi gaming 5... but not heard much about the 7?

Thanks!

Thanks for the replies everyone

I was planning on using a corsair 350W to run the mobo, cpu, ram, ssd etc
Then use a 1500W server PSU with a custom breakout board to run pcei 6pin power leads to the 6 gpus

Reason for this is to reduce the costs of power supply - 1200W corsair or evga PSUs aren't cheap

So thoughts on the small mobo Corsair working with the server PSU providing the big load for the gpus?

Im building a gpu rig and am thinking of using two psu's.. one to send power just to the gpus via the 6pin PCIe plugs and the other smaller psu to send power to the motherboard

Im wondering how many watts each needs to be

Assume MSI Z97 Gaming 7 mobo with usual ram, cpu and ssd with 6no. powered USB 1x to 16x risers to 6no. sapphire rx470s

Will the gpus draw as much power as they can through the risers and therefore the mobo if no other cables are plugged directly into them? (6pin pcei)
Will the gpus draw half from each? Mobo and 6pin?
If i am powering the gpus via a second psu do i even need powered risers?

Just trying to work out how many watts each psu needs to be before purchase

Thanks all in advance

Does anyone else get the impression that Bitmain are shifting current gen stock for big discount prices to allow for fresh cash flow and room in their production facilities for a new product?

Could an Antminer S...11? Be on the horizon??

I have a choice of three mobos that I can find in stock and at decent prices...

1. ASRock Z97 Anniversary - (6no. PCIe)
- about £95 / $115

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Motherboards/ASRock-Z97-Anniversary-ATX-Intel-Socket-1150/B00LA6PPBW

2. Asus Intel PRIME Z270-K LGA 1151 ATX - (6no. PCIe)
- about £120 / $145

http://www.ebuyer.com/769654-asus-intel-prime-z270-k-lga-1151-atx-motherboard-prime-z270-k?mkwid=sWA3N2WiH_dc&pcrid=51630194939&pkw=&pmt=&gclid=CKSc3eS09dMCFSUW0wodO8MDzg

3. Asus H81-M Plus LGA 1150 ATX - (4no. PCIe)
- about £45 / $55

https://www.novatech.co.uk/products/asus-h81m-plus-intel-h81-socket-1150-micro-atx-motherboard/90mb0gi0-m0eay0.html?gclid=CNKn2Zzu99MCFa-37QodS_cHOw

Ideally id get an ASRock H81 Pro BTC but these are rare as hens teeth or pricey pricey pricey...

Has anyone got any experience with using any of the options above?

The 4no. PCIe mobo (if usable) would be used for 4 GPUs (obviously) then in a few months when cash flow allows for purchase of two more GPUs id sell it and buy a different, 6no. PCEi mobo to take the extra cards.

Thoughts much much much appreciated

I'm planning on building a gpu rig to mine etherium (hoping for delayed PoS)

My current list stands as this:

Mobo:
ASUS H81-M Plus (4no. GPU connectivity)
Or
ASRock Z97 Anniversary (6no. GPU)

CPU:
Intel Celeron G1840 2.8ghz LGA1150

Risers:
XCSource 1x to 16x PCIe usb powered risers

Ram:
HyperX fury ddr3 4gb 1333mhz CL9

PSU:
Corsair - whatever power is needed for how ever many gpus i can afford

Hard drive:
Run Linux off 16GB USB drive

GPUs:
Sapphire nitro+ Radeon rx480 8gb
Or
Sapphire nitro+ Radeon rx470 4gb
(Which ever is cheapest (hopefully take a price drop when vega comes out??))

I'd probably start with 2 or 3 gpus and increase as funds allow

I'd very much appreciate people's thoughts on the above set up - I'd prefer to go with the asus h81 mobo just as it's cheaper
Has anyone used this mobo? Works okay with four gpus?
May well just go for the asrock to allow for future expansion

Thanks in advance for your comments and recommendations before I pull the money trigger

Do you have any experience with chip/circuit manufacturing? Or with foundries?

As mentioned programmed circuit boards are surely almost impossible to reverse engineer?

I would be crazy keen and I have two cubes Mining and many close up photos of the boards

But......

How are you going to get the actual asic chips? That do the work? The other components can be acquired but the actual asic chips...?

Give me hope! Haha

Thanks all for replies, really helpful and informative

So as for building a new rig (without some crazy Frankenstein vddr enhancement) should I wait for vega? (I bet the price is gonna be steep....) or just continue with a usual sapphire nitro+ rx470/480 build?

If graphics cards were under the £180/$220 range life would be a bit easier haha

mmm thanks all for input

if its not cheaper than a mobo + ram + psu etc etc then obv not a lot of point

Im thinking of picking up the ASUS mobo as above as theyre pretty cheap and 4 gpu per that board should do okay

hmm shame

it would be nice to be able to plug in auxiliary storage - of suitable speed