New rig planned. advise?

[rmhuntley]

It's about time I grabbed a new computer, so I thought I'd build one that's a little more mining focused.

the plan so far is

AMD fx-8350 8core 3.5gh cpu
2 radeon 6970 cards w/ xfire
coolmax zu-900B power supply
8gb ram.

I've not decided on cooling yet and I have all the drives already.

thoughts?

[elwoodD]

Hi there,

Regarding the video cards, if there is not too much price difference you might want to go for 2 x 7950's

Their hash rate is about 600mh/s where on the 6970's it is around 400mh/s

I am not sure about the PSU brand coolmax, a safer bet would be Cooler Master, Antec, Corsair or Seasonic.

Hope it helps,
elwoodD

[d-fi]

Long time lurker first time poster

I've been researching mining for a little while, so i'll give my opinion

If you want to know if your build is good for you and it really depends on what you want to use the computer for when you are not mining? I'm guessing you want to do some gaming and mine when your not using the computer for based on the crossfire.

If you wanted a dedicated mining rig i'd say your way off, what you need less processor more/better video cards (although 6970's are alright if you already owned them). If you just want to be a part time miner it can work you just need to check your numbers.

depending how much power costs wherever you live you may not making very much (btc earned - power cost). But if power is free for you; you could just go for it.

Some things to think about:
-If your rig is in a closed case make sure your case is well ventilated it will get hot in there heat = death for electronics
-it could be loud depending on video cards hopefully your computer is somewhere out of the way
-room could get warm, probably not too much with 2 cards but when they run 24/7 could be noticeable
-you'll wear out components faster

my 2 cents

[Dsfyu]

I would personally avoid a coolmax power supply, especially with extended load. From what I have heard about it they can be hit or miss in quality and when you invest that much money into a computer a bad power supply can be a big issue. I personally would recommend looking at the overclock.net recommended list of power supplies here: http://www.overclock.net/t/183810/faq-recommended-power-supplies

It also is a good idea to look at individual reviews for those power supplies since even when a company is reputable they can easily have a model with issues. Another thing to look into if you are bitcoin mining is cost and efficiency - with higher end equipment heat can be an issue and electrical costs build up. Depending on how long you plan to mine with the system it might be worth looking at some 80+ silver or platinum power supplies and to look at the cost of electricity over an extended period of time vs the added costs. In some cases it makes sense to go with a lower efficiency power supply due to budget constraints but sometimes it pays in the long run to get a better power supply.

As elwoodD said a few posts earlier it might be a good idea to get 7950s or other similar cards to get a higher hash rate if the cost is similar, but at the same time 6970s still are fairly good.

Would you mind telling us what ram you intend to use and what hardware you already own? Some manufacturers have better reputations than others and it's worth looking into specific warranties before purchasing products (i.e. ASUS has a decent warranty on their motherboards but support is hit and miss - I have had advanced replacements that took two months to get the refurbed board, I have had a brand new motherboard shipped in retail packaging within 2 weeks, and have heard of people getting back the same dead motherboard that they claimed to have fixed).

[macmn]

I would most likely recommend 3 7950s and a bit more RAM to ensure proper mining if you are going with script

[kipni]

Ok for what it's worth, here's my opninion.

Drivers you already have, not so important.
Ram is not important, if you go scrypt, the ram of the video card is important.
CPU is not so important, unless you gonna put 4 or more video cards in the system.

think with 2 cards of that type you could start enjoying bitcoins

[Cryptstarter]

7870XT Tahiti LE (not 7870) £160/$200 Output 450-500khs

[rmhuntley]

where can you find the 7870 xt for $200. most places I've seen them are at least $270 if they have them in stock at all

[jadair10]

It's about time I grabbed a new computer, so I thought I'd build one that's a little more mining focused.

May I suggest that you buy an ASIC for mining and keep your new computer for doing other things.