Bitcoin Forum
May 28, 2024, 03:51:11 AM *
News: Latest Bitcoin Core release: 27.0 [Torrent]
 
  Home Help Search Login Register More  
  Show Posts
Pages: [1]
1  Other / CPU/GPU Bitcoin mining hardware / Re: Mining rig extraordinaire - the Trenton BPX6806 18-slot PCIe backplane [PICS] on: September 20, 2012, 05:13:21 AM
Wow.


It's still available. I unfortunately don't know how well 3D would do on a link smaller than x16. I think there have been studies on it to show that the gaming performance hit would be nil, but rendering and other such workloads would take a major hit.

This is the most powerful SHB on the market that I know of: http://www.trentonsystems.com/products/single-board-computers/picmg-13/bxt7059
It supports up to two 8-core Intel Xeon E5-2448L processors (16 physical and 32 virtual cores with HT), and up to 96GB of RAM if you use 16GB modules in all 6 slots.

If you will be processing video, you will want this backplane instead: http://www.trentonsystems.com/products/backplanes/picmg-13-backplanes/video-processing-gpu-backplane-bpg8032
It has x16 links on all slots.

As for how many cards you can actually install and use... you would be on your own there. It requires virtualization and/or driver tricks that I have no idea how to do (that's mainly why this project flopped), and possibly BIOS mods depending on how you are trying to make it work.

If you want it, let me know.

All things considered, there's a lot of limiting factors to the idea I've got as far as this backplane goes, but with that SHB, while the chips on it would be good for a parallelizable workload, they'd likely be terrible for gaming Sad

I was doing some math... Without an AMD option, even if I could pack the machine with the appropriate Intel chips, it'd likely be more than 3-4x the cost of putting together multiple boxes, even considering duplicated hardware such as cases, power supplies, and so on.  I naturally expect a premium for enterprise hardware, but at some point.... I'm sure you get th idea Tongue

Part of me really wants to see the sight of 15 or so monitors plugged into a noisy metal behemoth. Cheesy

Shame I didn't catch this thread back in February.  Even if VTd passthrough weren't an option, I probably could have helped you with using Xen PV passthrough to make it all work, and that would have been a real pleasure to see!

Oh well.  If you want to take a stab at making it work again, drop me a line.  I could at least point you in the right direction Smiley

Also, thanks for the quick reply!
2  Other / CPU/GPU Bitcoin mining hardware / Re: Mining rig extraordinaire - the Trenton BPX6806 18-slot PCIe backplane [PICS] on: September 20, 2012, 03:35:43 AM
Quote
At the beginning of the thread is a list of parts and the total that I have spent on all of them. Wonder if someone is interested in buying it...

Probably a bunch of people, myself included, but I guess I would need some more info.

How's the 3D performance of the PCIe cards through the x4(?) electrical connection?

To your knowledge, is there an SHB available (probably AMD-based) that will allow me to pack at least 36 cores into the box?  And at least 64 GB of RAM?

I've built two multi-headed gaming boxes now out of my old mining hardware.  Fun stuff.  If there's a realistic way to stuff 18 heads into a single case (Oh hrm, I'd need more GPUs Cheesy), I'd be open to looking into it.
3  Other / Obsolete (selling) / Re: [Selling] Delta Fan 120mm 148CFM w/ 3 pin to 4 pin molex + fan screws on: June 07, 2011, 10:04:41 PM
Just a report that I got the six I ordered within just a few days of payment.  GREAT packing job too!  No wasted space, and thank god, none of that brown paper that I'm getting increasingly sick of un-crinkling so that I can throw it away Tongue

Haven't installed them yet though, as my work schedule just plain sucks Tongue

Thanks again!
4  Other / Obsolete (buying) / Re: [HIRING] Writers needed for The Bitcoin Sun on: June 01, 2011, 08:51:19 PM
Hi everyone - as you may or may not know, I'm an editor for The Bitcoin Sun- I write all the articles about development news and goings on, which is something I'd like to change! I'd like to get writers signed up, and try and am aiming to have 1-2 articles freelanced at anywhere from 2-3 btc each, for roughly a page and a half to two pages of reporting on the goings on of the Development team, feature requests, community development, etc.

Essentially, I'm looking for articles that boil down the developer forum's posts into a coherent, easy to read format. Topics should be cleared with me in advance, and articles should be timely (We are a news organization, after all Wink ).

Repeat writers will get priority with their articles, and potentially a more steady job, but new writers will be subject to review and will only be paid based on quality of the article.

A good article should describe the discussion/problem, describe why it is important to regular users/miners/businesses/ etc.

One of my best friends is a professional blogger.  I can drop him a line if you like, but 3 BTC is likely too low on a per-article basis.  5-7 BTC would probably be more along the lines of what I can recall about the industry, but I can't be certain.  He does find bitcoin to be very intriguing, though Wink

Just let me know if that's something that interests you.
5  Bitcoin / Mining / Re: [Alpha RC1] MinerPE w/Server and standalone WinPE LAN/Pendrive boot on: June 01, 2011, 07:53:27 PM
You can boot from HTTP (my preference for booting WinPE over LAN) using iPXE.

The lead developer has been making some strides with the SAN boot code, such that you can hook directly into an ISO image and boot it from SAN.  You can boot WinPE from an iSCSI hard disk, but if you're gonna do that, make sure that you disable or remove the iSCSI initiator from the PE, sort of a one and done that way once everything's in RAM.

A Winbuilder script would be ideal though, as MS frowns on redistributing their binaries Wink
6  Bitcoin / Mining / Re: Using bitcoin.exe to send to btcmine? on: June 01, 2011, 07:39:41 PM
If you want to mine on your GPU at the same time as playing games or doing other things, simply use m0mchil's poclbm miner (you can download GUIMiner, which includes poclbm) and add "-f 120" to the command line.

The -f switch tells the miner that you want it to back off so that you can maintain a certain frame rate in other programs, like Everquest 2, while it mines with your video card.

For the CPU miner, just lower the priority of the process using task manager, and it'll only use "spare" CPU resources.
7  Other / Archival / Re: Pictures of your mining rigs! on: June 01, 2011, 07:46:30 AM
Stackable, translucent test rig ... best so far for my money ... nice compromise between rack, cabinet and open stack ... looks the biz too with all the blue and red LED's going  Cheesy

Those bars are just the aluminium kitset framing stuff right?

Yup!

Overall, I am very pleased with the way it has turned out.  Looks awesome when the lights are off, too Smiley

I'm not too sure if it's completely cost effective when compared to some cases that are available, but at just under $60 each, it's basically a drop in the bucket when you're loading them up with 6990s Cheesy


Vladimir:

If you're gonna show off like that, please have the courtesy to leave us some toast for all of this jelly.  Wink
8  Other / Obsolete (selling) / Re: [Selling] Delta Fan 120mm 148CFM w/ 3 pin to 4 pin molex + fan screws on: June 01, 2011, 12:45:38 AM
I would like to buy 6, or however many fans you would recommend to cool 3x open air rigs via "appropriate" positioning of said fans.

Please send me a PM with a Bitcoin payment address with the total number of fans (if you recommend a different count), total, and price per unit, and I'll reply with my shipping and contact details, along with proof of payment.  My zip code is 44138.

(Assuming that's how this works, of course Wink)

Appreciate the service.  I'm told that Delta fans really have no equal Smiley

Cheers.

9  Other / Archival / Re: Pictures of your mining rigs! on: May 31, 2011, 11:54:09 PM
Welp, so long as we're all showing off, these are two of my dedicated miners:



The top one is 2x 6990, and the bottom is 2x 5970.  You can see three and four on the right and left of the benches, respectively.

I've got to shuffle some hardware around before I install the board in the top bench.  I found the benches on Amazon, but the "Stackable" part was what sold me Smiley  Linky.

I've since moved everything to the garage.  Installing some air ducts today to pipe the heat out of the gable fan that vents the garage.  I'll post more photos then!

Also, let me say: God damn, we're all a MASSIVE bunch of nerds Cheesy

More photos for the cable management nerds. Smiley

Where did he get the 4 bars to connect all the work bench cases?

Heh, funny story Cheesy

It's sold as "Stackable," so I figured the stacking hardware would be in the box... but it's not.  MyOpenPC sells an "Upgrade Kit," also on Amazon, that's specifically for this bench, and it has the stacking hardware in it.  Like $15 I believe.
10  Other / Archival / Re: Pictures of your mining rigs! on: May 31, 2011, 11:05:50 AM
Welp, so long as we're all showing off, these are two of my dedicated miners:





The top one is 2x 6990, and the bottom is 2x 5970.  You can see three and four on the right and left of the benches, respectively.

I've got to shuffle some hardware around before I install the board in the top bench.  I found the benches on Amazon, but the "Stackable" part was what sold me Smiley  Linky.

I've since moved everything to the garage.  Installing some air ducts today to pipe the heat out of the gable fan that vents the garage.  I'll post more photos then!

Also, let me say: God damn, we're all a MASSIVE bunch of nerds Cheesy

More photos for the cable management nerds. Smiley
11  Other / Obsolete (selling) / Re: [Selling] 2 Dell U3011 30 Inch 2560x1600 Resolution Monitors on: May 23, 2011, 11:48:05 PM
I have to admit I'm extremely intrigued.  30" IPS panels are like the holy grail of the LCD for people like me who long for the color reproduction and contrast that you used to get on CRTs and now have to go out of your way to find.

You can send me a PM if you like, as I'd need to haggle a bit with your price, assuming you can't find any takers at 150 Wink

Cheers Smiley
12  Bitcoin / Mining / Re: Best bang for the buck? Whole rig on: May 13, 2011, 04:02:41 PM
Buy the Azza PSAZ-1000A14 PSU from TigerDirect.  I'm using it to power dual 6990s, overclocked.  Runs like a dream, and I'm ordering 3 more.  $99 with coupon LKH29905

they have the Sapphire 5850s still in stock.  You'll want those or the ASUS ones because of the cooler design: best airflow.

Get the MSI board I mentioned, it works very well.

Buy an AMD quad athlon for $99 or something.  Newegg has them.

Get your free ram, find a spare hard drive, and off you go.  Should total you under $1000 I think, before shipping.


If you're worried about heat, buy these: http://www.amazon.com/PCI-Express-Riser-Flexible-Cable/dp/B004XD74MC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1305302419&sr=8-1

While 1X risers will work perfectly, these are the only [cheap] ones I've found that will get to you in under 2 weeks Tongue
13  Bitcoin / Mining / Re: Best bang for the buck? Whole rig on: May 13, 2011, 02:41:59 PM
This will be a mining-only rig. 

Would like to be in the 750M - 1 Ghash range

A budget helps Wink

My friend and I put together a 1.2 GHps rig for about $1100.  No case, no hdd/optical.  <$1 per MHash is very doable.

5850s, AMD quad, free RAM, and MSI 890FX board with 1 kW PSU.  Should work well.  Building tonight =)
14  Economy / Marketplace / Re: Fast Miner (569 Mhash/s on Radeon HD 5970) for sale: 400 BTC on: March 06, 2011, 07:57:29 PM
yep. Im getting around 315 per core overclocked.

Overclocked to what speeds?  I see about 300 per GPU at 810 MHz, but I'm on f=120 right now.  f=1 seems to be worse.
Pages: [1]
Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Powered by SMF 1.1.19 | SMF © 2006-2009, Simple Machines Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!