I just consider this an interesting experiment. a bit raw and loose, might make a few bucks, might loose em, but entertaining all the way.

I should add this: I also run folding@home, and that rig draws 650 watts and has no tangible (to me at this moment) reward. just the warm fuzzies that Im helping advance medical research. might help me personally in the future, maybe not.

now, bitcoins have made me a couple hundred bucks (after power costs) but has not quite paid for what Ive put into it.
but I also have to consider Im contributing to an economics  (probably a better term can be used here) and, to a point, social experiment. that in itself is worth taking part of.

so, making money or not Ill be part of this for a while. I try to stash 1/3 of my coins in an offline wallet (just in case it takes off big time), and spread the rest around.

I like this too. simple, clean layout, reasonable protection for the hardware.

perhaps a bit more closing off in front and (if it were mine) maybe some mesh filters for the fans. got cats here, hair can get anywhere it seems. 

thanks!

Ive run the online ones on occasion but I too like printed tables. also makes it easier to explain things to the wife.

my dedicated rig is a hp/compaq dc710.. P4 prescott 2.8. 40 gig hdd, 2x 1 gig ram, no opticals.

with an antec basiq 500 psu powering everything, killowatt says 321 watts. thats 20% cpu load, 1050/354 clocks on the 5830 and it mining .

before the basiq psu I ran it on the stock hp/compaq 350 psu with the card @ 850/354, killowatt said 340 watts mining. cant remember idle draw. only did that for a few weeks though.

with the basiq, idle the rig draws 120 watts or so.

just tossing the numbers out as I have a similar setup as the OP. btw the basiq is NOT an 80+ psu.

dump that junk PSU. as you clock up the 5830 its power draw goes up, and the PSU cant meet it 12v draw. 12v drops. hence, crash. and that psu is probably over rated  by 20-30% anyway, most all generics are.

silverstone, antec, corsair, seasonic, pc power and cooling. any 450+ watt psu by those will be fine, and will actually deliver whats it rated for at real world temps. but get a reputable brand like one on that list. most rosewill and cooler master are not (although a couple got good ratings at johnny guru I think, unsure on that). some use em and it works, for a while at least, but personally I dont trust em.

grab a 650+ if you plan a 2nd card at some point, otherwise 450 or so is good.

once you have a decent PSU you should easily hit 1000+ Mhz on the core.

for the redneck look, and a very low restriction, coarse filter, go the the hardware store to the sheetrock section. look for the self adhesive mesh joint tape. its an open mesh, sticky, cuts easy and can be layered to get smaller mesh openings.

works surprisingly well. not fine dust of course, this is more along the lines of SMOKEUs filter but even less restrictive. anything that gets through doesnt seem to bother or build up my gpu/cpu hsf assemblies anyway, and Ive been using it for months.

as suggested already: rear fan out (get a 120), side in. is there  a front fan mount? if not hack one in for a 120 intake. that 5830 has a dead air space below it you want to get fresh air to.

try pulling the lower slot covers (all the ones below the card) and let some air in that way (assuming negative case pressure which it looks like you have).

with decent airflow you should be able to get the card to near or over 1 Ghz.. see my sig. however I do run an open case as its in the basement. card fan is 65%, runs in the 60's temp wise.

for temps to shoot for, lower 80's is as high as I like to see. preferable 70's or below. 60's is sweet. high 80's I do not like for 24/7 temps.

whats the PSU?

true, this.

look what happened with betamax vs VHS. basically, betamax was better in every way yet VHS won out

switch for a built in internal dummy plug. I know 11.7 and up drivers dont need it but not all want to run the latest drivers.

switch for two cooling profiles. "quiet" and "cool" so less software fan tweaking. some cards already have this.

optional bracket with extra large vents at the expense of video connectors. video connectors would have to be removable kinda like cards that have optional connectors (like 1/2 height cards, some connectors are on a cable for the full height bracket, and not used on the 1/2 height).

ball bearing, serviceable fans.

of course this will never happen (see ASIC stuff) but its fun to dream heh.

no mining here ATM, all electronics are unplugged but this rig on its UPS and its not mining to extend UPS runtime if/when the power goes out. then its generator time and thats mainly for freezer, fridge, microwave and, most important, COFFEE MAKER.

but Ill run this rig on generator with its cellular internet, assuming the tower still exists and functions.. no mining though, thats 200 watts or so that will be needed elsewhere. this rig will just be for internet, and running in power saving mode.

got 1 week of fuel and oil changes for the generator. as long as the house doesnt take much damage we should be good.

Im not surprised. 4 million without power, and it seems another million or so every time I check.

the UPS has kicked in 6 times in the last 4 hours. and the peak of the storm is still 3 hours away. heh. wonder if Im going to work tomorrow.

when done right theres no difference (ignoring an insignificant loss in voltage due to extra connectors).

if its a multi rail PSU just make sure power draw is in spec each rail and try to load the rails evenly. if single rail try to load the connector strings evenly, you dont want 60 amps on one string for example.

been lucky so far then.

thanks for the heads up. I dont overvolt so Ill look into it.

yup, thats the plan. actually, the NOAA radio alarm went off 1/2 ago (flash flood warning) and thunderstorms are on the way. Irene is still 6 hours away more or less but all electronics are now off and unplugged except for this rig on a UPS. its still mining away heh but Ill shut the miner off when it gets bad to extend UPS run time a bit.

most of my 860 Mhash will be offline if the power is out. have a generator and cellular internet so if the cell tower still exists and has power  Ill probably have one rig mining off and on. but Im not gonna waste too much generator power on mining.. the well, freezer, fridge, microwave and coffee maker get priority

staye safe east coasters, we will just ride it out yeee ha!

you can also get em at best buy and radio shack if you find shipping cost is crazy. Didnt notice what shipping was actually, I just just linked to the 1st place that showed what it was.

they also have SATA "Y" splitters.

if youre not comfortable with pulling molex connectors on the PSU apart grab something like this molex y adapter and cut the molex connectors off the end, splice the wires to the fans. the yellow wire to the molex is 12v, so that would go to the fans red (probably red anyway) wire. then black to black. you can run all 4 off one yellow and one black if you want, or 2 on each.

link to the fans and I can walk you through it.

why do you need a command line?

TRIXX has a tick box that automatically sets clocks and fan on boot and/or startup. works with my 5830 and xp pro rig.

or am I missing something?

6870 closed case 60% fan 1005 Mhz 70's (AC MX2 thermal compound, was 80's stock) non ref    
6770 closed case 60% fan 1010 Mhz 60's sometimes low 70's non ref
5830 open case   65% fan 1050 Mhz 60's non ref

true, not a threat per se. it was flagged a "medium" threat and listed as a legit program. just a possible symptom of a trojan or other problem.

as I dont use it (or ever plan to) I figure Ill tell MSE to zap it and that way if something ever tried to drop it its toast.