Nope, this was a product meant strictly for benchmarking. If your Xpander isn't covered in a quarter inch of vaseline and paper towel you weren't using it right.

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I'll check them out. I may have to reconsider on systems that solely use current transducers. I've been worried about the voltage droop causing the system to over count power consumption but maybe that isn't as serious of an issue as I'm thinking it is. Will make a decision this weekend and install it next weekend.

I own one of these, used it for quad-SLI on the R3E as the NVIDIA requirement of a NF200 bridge chip for quad-SLI prevented the godly R3E from running quad. You are limited on the boards you can use the Xpander on, it requires BIOS support for the NVIDIA drivers to recognize it. It was really just a solution for ASUS to achieve 3D records on what was easily the best LGA1366 board for overclocking.

So what is a 5970 then? An airplane made out of turbines? 


We can't be serious business everyday. I'm sure we all fret about our farms enough, a laugh is nice every once in a while.

Anyone take a multimeter to their cards to see how fine-tuned the voltage steps are? I know Afterburner is accurate on 5870s(I measured it back in the day, it is good up to 1.55vgpu on the 5870). But, I'm not sure how cgminer adjusts voltages and if it is as accurate.

Anyone doing this? I'm currently leasing a workshop and the landlord and I are trying to find a way to sub-meter my power. Considering how we're talking ~4 kW sustained with the goal of maxing out breaker(~6.5 kW), I'd like to accurately know my consumption so I'm not over/under paying.

I've run across the Acuvim CL which can monitor up to 3 lines -> http://www.powermeterstore.com/p8155/acuvim_cl.php

I've also run across a DIY approach that only monitors current. Thought about making a vac voltage monitoring circuit for it but I could end up overpaying if my PF is lower than 1 -> www.picobay.com/projects/2009/01/real-time-web-based-power-charting.html

There are lots of power meter options out there but lots of them only measure current via transducers and don't measure voltage or calculate power factor. Anyone out there have another solution?


Also, the ioBridge io-204 may be very interesting to some of you. I'm thinking about using one to remotely power cycle boxes via relays.

I have thought about this. 5830s draw so little power that the 1200w PSUs that I use to get enough PCIe connectors sit at only 50-60% load. Going to watch this to see the discussion. It would make my "standard" build much easier and just have a 12vdc bus to power the GPUs.

I'm in the case of "Have GPUs, PSU, MB, CPU, need heatsink". I tried using one of my old LN2 pots with a 120x38mm delta but no go. Sucks having to wait for UPS two-day due to my stupidity 

Windows or Linux? I had MAJOR issues with Windows and going from 2 to 4 5970s. The drivers played hell and atimkag or w/e would BSOD every time I loaded up the GPUs. I had to reinstall Windows(I use Windows for testing, Linux for production) to get the rig to play nice.

I view mining as an escalating war. Right now GPUs are the method of choice for scratching out a few BTC/day. Soon however the big boys will be playing with massive FPGA setups and relegate GPUs to hobbyists and individuals who can't secure the capital to invest in FPGA. Luckily GPUs still have a competitive MH/$ but the profits earned are a fraction of FPGAs. In the end the mining market will stabilize with the new default platform of FPGA. I also don't doubt that the difficulty will spike with the introduction of more FPGAs. It'll get to the point where a number of GPU miners drop out due to negative income and things stabilize with a fraction of GPU miners on cheap/free power and a majority of FPGA miners.

My last two rigs purchased are as follows.

5x 5830 @ $110
Antec TPQ-1200 @ $219
MSI 890FXA-GD70 @ $180
2x2GB DDR3 $20(split between 2 rigs)
4GB USB   $5
Sempron 145 $40
Wire rack @ Target $10


Ends up around 1.52 MH/$. I bought my board for ~$120 open-boxed at Newegg. The last bulk buy of 5830s I pulled in on eBay averaged around $110. Plan on the next order being around $100 or lower. Pulls in just over 1500 MH/s and pulls around 800w.

Edit: I should note, I know this isn't a 6 GPU rig but 6 GPU didn't make sense. Also, I forgot to include the three PCIe extenders I used at $5/pop. So, in the end it is around 1.50 MH/$.

Yup, seen gigavps' operation. I want singles for myself though to add to my own farm. This is a hobby for me and I enjoy watching the machines hum away, blink lights at me and update charts.

Curious, are there any individuals going in as a group to purchase one of these?

I have updated the first post. The 50 BTC loan from IBM has been repaid. A 162 BTC loan has been secured from a party who wished to remain anonymous. This weekend should see the setup of another ~2 GH/s of hardware to push me just over 10 GH/s. Do I get a prize?

Pending news on whether BFL is actually going to ship rev 3 Singles I may or may not place an order for a pair in May. My goal was to gradually transition to FPGAs by the reward drop and this just might be the time to do it. The ~200 BTC loan mentioned for May will be sourced if 1) BFL can deliver 2) my daily income will generate greater than 200 BTC in 30 days.

Be back in a few days with updates on the 2 GH/s expansion.


No worries, I was just explaining just in case someone wasn't familiar with box fans and their purpose in life.

Bid higher. I'm considering it myself.

If you start stocking reloading components for 5.56 and 3.38 LM let me know.

XtremeSystems has a bitcoin sub-forum but it receives very little attention due to WCG being the primary project over there.

I have only been running my 5870/5850 that support undervolting at 1.0v at 850/200.

Your BFL Single rig is equal to my GPU farm 

Thanks. Hoping to cram 6 rigs on 3 shelves and have a pair of those at that location by the end of April.


I'll have a high of around 80F outdoors. I've been told the interior stays in the 70s due to it being shaded and partially sunk in to the mountainside.


Yup, just using the boxfan to achieve some general airflow over the systems. They're currently setup in a less than optimal corner and I didn't want them to cook.

Moved some gear to my new location.



Up to around 8.5 GH/s with gear split between two locations.



Loan principal has been accumulated from mining efforts. The interest will be worked off tomorrow and paid in full to IBM on ~Tuesday.

Sitting on another ~3 GH/s of GPUs, just need a pair of PSUs. At my remote location(the image above) I'll be rotating the current shelf 90 degrees when I add another shelf. These will then have a pair of box fans to get some circulation going. When I eventually thermally overwhelm this location I'll begin venting heat out a pair of windows near this corner. Ambient temperatures are around 50 degrees Fahrenheit during the day and around 30 degrees Fahrenheit at night and will be that way for the next two months or so. Suffice to say the cards are quite happy with the fans barely turning over.