Just want to chime in with more applause, watching this thread with fellow tinkerer's excitement (I have been toying with weird GPU ideas, like using them as water heaters or installing inside metal casings inside walls, etc, but this mega CPU concept fascinates me to no end)...

That explains a lot, actually. Any cause for concern for any systems other than Windows?

No problem! And sorry, I don't know as mine runs in a basement, but colder is always going to be better for machine performance and longevity, so if you're dropping that much on gear, I'd say spend the hundred or so on some extra insulation or ventilation as needed. Good luck!

It's not very hard, especially if you stick to either Windows (not recommended) or use a pre-built OS like ETHOS, which is $39 per rig, which is totally worth it IMO; it IS just a minimal build of Ubuntu geared towards mining, but the $39 is worth not having to build the distro yourself for me. It'd be cheaper to buy the hardware and assemble the rig yourself (by at least $1k most of the time), and you can customize it, so you could start with what you can or are willing to spend now and add onto it later (just as long as you buy a motherboard with enough pcie slots, I recommend at least 6 unless you just want something small). The other nice thing is that as new tech comes out you can upgrade in stages with what you can afford instead of having one huge price tag all at once, but honestly it's really not that much of a difference in price for hardware vs income if you're smart about what you buy...

But if you don't want to/don't have time do that, and are solely focused on ROI and profit, then I suggest the L3+, or the S9 if you're good at wiring, for the garage, or the R4 for inside.

Basically ASICS are the better short term investment, GPU rigs are better long term (and more modifiable obviously). I'm primarily a Mac guy with a little bit of Linux knowledge and it took about a day for me to figure out ETHOS. I currently have two ETHOS rigs (one with 3 Nvidia 1060s/3 1070s, and one with 4 1060s), an S3, and an L3+, and I have some broken S5s I picked up that I've been playing with for fun. I don't prefer ASICS over GPUs or vice versa, though the ASICS are definitely more of a "set it and go" which is great, but less fun to mess with (and far more limited on what you can mine with).

Oh, and I second the "run a line out" if you're planning on putting it in the garage; it won't be a HUGE loss, but you want as strong and direct a signal as possible, as though miners use next to no bandwith, they are constantly sending and receiving data, so any moment of signal loss will cause delays or rejections. Again, overall not much, but if you can run an ethernet line, I would.

The S3 isn't profitable. It's cheaper than running a space heater is all (and keep in mind that numbers are based on current values and difficulties, which vary; I have an S3 I have overclocked and used as a spaceheater, and it is profitable, just not very). The S5 is profitable but needs modding. You can also mod it with third party hashboards and make it more powerful, but that's not cheap either.

The R4 is your best bet, but since they're not made anymore they're a bit pricey. Or just build a gpu miner in a milk crate that you can control the mining and heat generation of, it'll cost about the same and be far more versatile.

ASICS machines (and pretty much all computer components) generate heat at basically the same rate as a similar wattage space heater. So the L3+ (assuming you mean the current line) will put out around 800W of heat at stock settings. You can under or overclock it for more or less. Keep in mind it is continuous though, so if you have a small office it'll get stuffy pretty quick.

The bigger concern with the L3+ is sound. The cooling blades are set up in a way that the fans, while a bit loud in and of themselves, sound like a vacuum cleaner or jet engine when running at full blast. I built a sound dampening box for mine and ducted the exhaust up from my basement to provide heat. I can still hear it faintly through the box and my floor. I highly suggest checking one out or looking at online videos to get an idea.

If you want a space heater that generates a little money, the S3 is a better choice; it is MUCH quieter and overclocked generates between 400-500W relatively stably. You won't turn much of a profit, but it'll likely cover the increase in electric cost. Or you can pick up and mod an S5 with quieter fans, that'll earn you a bit. But honestly, if you want to spend on a space heater that will still make you money, the R4 is the best choice, you can still find them used for around $3k...

Are you trying to mine a certain generic algorithm on Nicehash or use their variable miner? For the latter, there is only support for windows. The former varies based on algorithm; I use nicehash's cryptonight pool when my house gets too warm and I want to cool it down without shutting down my miners (obviously remove hashes; my cards are all Nvidia, so ccminer makes the most sense for cryptonight, ymmv):


You can also set globalmem higher and globalfan low (I do both) as cryptonight uses about half the electricity of my 1060s and 1070s. This is all I needed to set. The format is the same for other algorithms, just make sure you're using the correct miner/pool addresses.

As for Electroneum, make sure your miner/settings are for cryptonight as well, it's a cpu/lowend gpu aimed coin. Personally I am dubious of the coin/chain right now though. I ran my rigs on it for a while last night and the pool the last poster listed earned exactly .05. On suprnova I faired better, earning about 25 in a little under an hour, but reporting was super sketchy, and withdrawing didn't work. At all. My electroneum wallet still shows a zero balance half a day later. I gave up on it, at least until those coins show up in my wallet, but I like what I've read about the coin in general...

EDIT TO ADD: the #xnsub is crucial for Nicehash, they claim they will not payout without it, it is a verification thing (though I do get paid on my S3 even though the XNSUB instrux don't work for it; I don't see the hashrate but I do get credited for the work, so?). For gpus, though, I think it's mandatory. May also be why your rigs were showing up as zero.

You may be right, all my gpu rigs are Nvidia so...

The other two settings should be the difference though, they aren't tied to the specific miner. I did not need to alter anything other than my local.conf. I'm afraid I can't be of much help with the specifics for 580s, but Ethos is set to be pretty plug and play, so I think your problem may lie in the local.conf and Nicehash playing nice.


FWIW, Nicehash says I keep connecting on the BR pool, even though the USA pool is closer and my proxypool1 (BR is 2).

Also don't monitor Nicehash so exactly. I have often had completely ridiculous reporting from it (from double the possible hashes on an L3+ to zeros on a working farm); base it on daily payout.

I may be wrong here, but you don't seem to be using the right miner (or at least miner settings). Try CCMiner, and remember to set the miner flag to cryptonight and the globalproxy to nicehash.

Also don't forget to add the #xnsub to your addresses.