Is this a good rig?

[Epicblood]

I tried to keep it as cheap as possible, if you have any suggestions to modify things please let me know.
I will probably just use this to mine BTC until ASICs come out, then move to LTC.

Mail in rebates add up to $20

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=16039574

[MrTeal]

I tried to keep it as cheap as possible, if you have any suggestions to modify things please let me know.
I will probably just use this to mine BTC until ASICs come out, then move to LTC.

Mail in rebates add up to $32

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=16039574

Not really, no. You're paying over $1000 (you have no PSU) for maybe 750MH/s overclocked. You'd be better off getting a pair of 7970s when they go on sale, the MH/$ will be better as will power consumption and resale.
The 990FXA is a waste of money if you're only going to run 2 cards.
There's no need to spend $100 on CPU cooling to cool that single core 45W processor. Stock is fine.
 

[Epicblood]

I tried to keep it as cheap as possible, if you have any suggestions to modify things please let me know.
I will probably just use this to mine BTC until ASICs come out, then move to LTC.

Mail in rebates add up to $32

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=16039574

Not really, no. You're paying over $1000 (you have no PSU) for maybe 750MH/s overclocked. You'd be better off getting a pair of 7970s when they go on sale, the MH/$ will be better as will power consumption and resale.
The 990FXA is a waste of money if you're only going to run 2 cards.
There's no need to spend $100 on CPU cooling to cool that single core 45W processor. Stock is fine.
 

I'll be adding a few more GPUs over time, along with a few FPGAs from my dads work in the PCIe slots, but thanks for the advice on the cooling and GPU , ill switch those out.

[Zeek_W]

I just did a few calculations guessing at about 700MH/s and assuming 5c KW/h electricty cost and 400W power usage:

                           24H              1Month               1year             90 days
Est difficulty:    3,054,628         3,115,721        3,874,007    3,238,959
BTC earned:    0.23049611      6.91488325        75.44976641    20.32725598
Revenue:            $ 2.69         $ 80.77        $ 881.25    $ 237.42
Power cost:    $ 0.48         $ 14.40        $ 175.20    $ 43.20
Net revenue:    $ 2.21         $ 66.37        $ 706.05    $ 194.22

BTC at $USD 11.68

https://bitclockers.com/calc

[Epicblood]

updated, how's that?

[Zeek_W]

   
                           24 hours 1 month       1 year       90 days
Est difficulty:    3,054,628    3,115,721    3,874,007    3,238,959
BTC earned:    0.27165613    8.14968383    88.92293899    23.95712312
Revenue:            $ 3.17    $ 95.19    $ 1,038.62    $ 279.82
Power cost:    $ 0.48    $ 14.40    $ 175.20    $ 43.20
Net revenue:    $ 2.69    $ 80.79    $ 863.42    $ 236.62

[Meatball]

I'm not going to get into how much of a waste it is to spend any money on GPU's at this point, but regardless, that motherboard is _way_ overkill.  If you really plan on adding more GPU's you're going to need extenders, and if that's the case, just find any board that has lot's of PCI express slots.  This board isn't available now, but I used to run 5 GPU's with extenders off the Biostar A870U3 one and it was under $60.

If you're really planning on mining, don't even get a case.  You can mount the motherboard on a piece of plywood for $2

[Joshwaa]

If you want a gaming rig for later I guess it would be a good Idea with a cpu upgrade. For a mining rig its way to much money to spend for what you will get in return.  Also you only need a 750watt PSU for 2x7970.

[squeept]

Used small SATA HD off of eBay: $15
That case is a super waste of money if the only purpose the rig will ever have is mining. If you intend to add a crapton of GPUs via extenders, you won't even want a case. If you INSIST on having a case and will not be going the extender route, go cooler master HAF series. It's cheaper than that thing, and you'll still be able to add enough fans to keep it closed and neat.
Motherboard is overkill, too. Just get the cheapest one that has the number of slots you'll want. I've got some that I got after rebate for $15 that work just fine.

[crazyates]

For mining and nothing else, what's wrong with picking up a $10 USB drive and running it off that?

I have almost that same motherboard, but the UD5 version. Great boards, but the UD5 can fit 3 GPUs without risers, while the UD3 cannot.

That PSU is overkill for only having 2 cards. You could get away with a 750 even, which is gonna be half the price.

Do you really need a $250 rackmount chassis? Are there cheaper option for brand new ones on ebay? Last time I checked, there were.

[abeaulieu]

That $250 server chassis alone will take the rig a couple months to pay off. I would be cautious about getting a machine like this with the difficulty rising as quickly as it has lately. It's probably just because of the surge of FPGA devices in peoples hands, but there is plenty of speculation about ASICs hitting the market very soon. Which would make this type of rig quickly obsolete for bitcoin mining.

[Easy2Mine]

This is not exactly as cheap as possible in my opinion and many others.
Many miners don't buy a computercase to save money.
I myself buy the cheapest computercases I can get and modified the sidepanel to fit a 20 cm fan for cold air intake.
I then put a metal gauze in front of the fan to keep the components in the computercase dust free.
Once in a month all I have to do is to use a vacuum cleaner to get rid of the dust from the metal gauze.
Almost no dust inside the GPU fans and other fans in the computercases.
I remove all unnecesary slot covers from the computercase.
I mount the PSU upside down and use the PSU fan to blow air out of the computercase.
Together with the rearfan heat has no chance to build up because the intake and out take of air happens so fast.
When I finished building a rig, I turn the computercase upside down.
Why?
Heat moves upwards, but the heatpipes in the GPU point downwards.
Because of a stupid legacy from the past most of the motherboards are wrongly designed.
To correct this mistake I turn the case upside down.
You can check it out yourself with MSI Afterburner.
Look at the temps. when the computercase is in normal position and then look at the temps. when you turn the computercase upside down.(Cases most have good airflow)
Many miners have their GPU in the open air.
Their GPU are about 3 degree celsius lower then mine when they are new, but after 1 month it will be hotter than mine because dust is building up inside the fans.
My rigs stay at the same temps. and I don't have to shut down my rigs to clean the dust.
Beside dust building up in your GPU fans, electronics components have a much shorter life span than when you place it inside a computercase.

Save money and install your OS on a USB stick or disassemble a HDD from a broken computer.
The price of a 7970 will not rectify the increase of speed compare with a 7950.
Overclock the GPU core for faster speed. (This will increase power consumption)
Downclock the memory speed (Faster memory will not increase speed but will use more energy)
Undervolt your GPU (Your maximum speed will be a bit lesser but you save a lot energy)

A 7950 will do about 550-575 MH/s with some overclocking and undervolting when you are using CGminer.
Keep in mind that you want to pay off your rig as fast as you can, don't under estimate your power cost unless it is free.
Everything has to be build as cheap as possible.
When you have two 7970 and a sempron processor, your system will not use more than 480 watt if you overclock and undervolt it.
Your PSU is overkill unless you have future plans.
A good 850 watt PSU can easily handle 3 7970.
Save money on your motherboards and use pcie x1 to pcie x16 extenders.

Sorry for my bad English.
It took me a hour to write this shit.
Dutch was easier for me

[Epicblood]

I don't have to pay for power, so that's not an issue

[Epicblood]

updated, now only 600 usd, change case, PSU and GPU
I know I can probably get buy with a smaller PSU, but I will most likely be expanding later, and I know I don't need a case, it is just a personall preference, and this one already has 3 built in fans, so that is less for me to setup.

[Meatball]

I'd be _very_ wary about buying any GPU based BTC mining equipment right now.  ASIC is going to hit in the next month or two and GPU will be useless at that point for BTC.  I can't speak to Litecoin, but I would assume a lot of GPU miners are going to flood over there, so if you're calculating returns in Litecoins based on returns you'd get today you might have a problem with things spike on that side too.  Don't get me wrong, I don't want to discourage anyone from mining, but it's just that things are really about to get shaken up, so it may not hurt to hold off a month or two and see what happens.

[Epicblood]

I figure once ASICs hit, litecoin will be about the same as bitcoin is now, amirite?

[MrTeal]

updated, now only 600 usd, change case, PSU and GPU
I know I can probably get buy with a smaller PSU, but I will most likely be expanding later, and I know I don't need a case, it is just a personall preference, and this one already has 3 built in fans, so that is less for me to setup.

You can't use an FM1 motherboard with a AM3 processor.

[Epicblood]

updated, now only 600 usd, change case, PSU and GPU
I know I can probably get buy with a smaller PSU, but I will most likely be expanding later, and I know I don't need a case, it is just a personall preference, and this one already has 3 built in fans, so that is less for me to setup.

You can't use an FM1 motherboard with a AM3 processor.

Fixed, thanks for pointing that out, wasn't paying attention

Also, I picked a better CPU so that I can still use even if mining LTC isn't profitable after ASICs

[hongus]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227811

30 bucks with mail in rebate.
i assume you dont need hard drive space, and ssds are more reliable.

[QuantumFoam]

Just wanted to offer my experiences on the linux usb boot aspect, since that was briefly mentioned. I ran that on my rig for the longest time but got sick of having to reformat and reinstall from scratch when the file table inevitably got corrupted from power loss or whatever. I finally caved and used an old platter drive, and things have gone far smoother ever since. The power savings just wasn't worth the reformatting hassle in my experience, plus the usb boot limits your options with updating and installing some packages.

Also, as others have stated, the future is very uncertain right now. I got into mining a year ago but doubt I'd make that same kind of investment in a gpu setup now.