GPU mining rig hardware components help. (GPU, MB, PSU, CPU, RAM, etc..)

[ashkanb]

i'm going to start dabbling in gpu mining and have been doing research putting together a rig.

first of all, please note, i do not have access to international markets and have to make do with whatever hardware i can find locally.
that's been very limiting but whatever..

i'm still working the list of the hardware available here and prices; for now this how it's been;

GPU:
        2x MSI R7 370 Gaming 2GB
        (i read somewhere here on the forum that 2GB or 4GB makes no difference; is that correct? or will there be an advantage in getting the 4GB?)
        or
        1X MSI R9 390X Gaming 8G
        (i can get 3 r7 370's with the same price! based on the info here it has only twice the output.)
        MSI R9 390X is a viable option but is to ramain strikethrough not to complicate things!

MB:
        (i don't have access to ASRock H61/H81 Pro; my current options are:)
        MSI Z97 Gaming 3
        Asus B85-PLUS
        Asus M5A97 R2.0
        (i read about the latter two on a thread on the mining sub forum at ethereum.org and they are almost half the price of the MSI one!)
        both asus models are still viable options they ramain strikethrough not to complicate things!

PSU:
        Corsair RM Series RM750*
        Refer to post #11, #13 and #17
        *its just the top candidate, not approved.
        i have no clue! haven't had a desktop in years! are there any specific brands i should look up?
        initially i'm starting with only 2gpus but every two weeks i can add one more gpu to the rig out of my own pocket!
        what are your recommendations for a power supply that would only support my initial 2 gpus?
        and what should i look for if i'm serious about adding 3 more to the rig?!

CPU:
        Intel Pentium G3220*
        or
        Intel Core i3-4130*
        *just the top candidates, not approved.
        based on this list.
        do i need the core i or the pentium will do? the core i price is more than twice the other one!


still working on finalizing the list of hardware; feel free to make any suggestions.
and lastly any links or reads you can direct me to helping me with this list will be greatly appreciated.

[1714888227]

1714888227

[Vaccomondus]

for the motherboard there is a new one called asrock h81 pro g

[xhomerx10]

As far as the GPUs, either configuration will require 300 watts (at least 25 Amps).   You'll need to select a CPU to know the power requirement for that - probably another 100-150 watts depending on the efficiency of the voltage regulators hence, you're looking at another 9-14 Amps.   I think your main consideration for a PSU will be the number of Amps that the 12V rail can supply.  So while a 600 watt PSU might look good enough, it probably wont be able to supply the upwards of 40 Amps required of the 12V rail(s).



  

[xhomerx10]

What brands of PSUs are available locally to you?

[Charloz24]

Choose a motherboard that have a lot of pci-e slot. It looks like the Asus B85-plus only have 2, check for something that have 5-6 (like the asrock pro btc) to be able to expand.

Edit: Looked the Msi Z97 Gaming, yes it is more expansive, but with this one you could hook up 7 videocards, so it's a must.


For the 370: I have both, 2G and 4G and they mine the same amount, so 4G is more expensive and not worth it IMO.

[ashkanb]

What brands of PSUs are available locally to you?

here's a list of the ones i could find right now! i have some free time this weekend i'll dige some more.

• Green
• Cooler Master
• Corsair
• Memonex
• ToPower
• Thortech
• Thermaltake
• Huntkey
• RaidMax
• Gigabyte
• DeepCool
• Antec
• EVGA
• XFX
• TSCO
• Silverstone

and thanks for the other post i'll make sure to look for that!

For the 370: I have both, 2G and 4G and they mine the same amount, so 4G is more expensive and not worth it IMO.

thanks! now that i know that i'll just get the 2GB! 👍🏻

[ashkanb]

Choose a motherboard that have a lot of pci-e slot. It looks like the Asus B85-plus only have 2, check for something that have 5-6 (like the asrock pro btc) to be able to expand.

-snip-

are you sure?!

i compared their specs and got this.

ASUS M5A97 - 2.0 - motherboard - ATX - Socket AM3+ - AMD 970 Specifications
Expansion Slots:
1 x CPU
4 x DIMM 240-pin
1 x PCIe 2.0 x16
1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 ( x4 mode )
2 x PCIe 2.0 x1
2 x PCI

MSI Z97 GAMING 3 - motherboard - ATX - LGA1150 Socket - Z97 Specifications
Expansion Slots:
1 x CPU
4 x DIMM 240-pin
1 x PCIe 3.0 x16
1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 ( x4 mode )
2 x PCIe 2.0 x1 ( auto turn-off if PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot are occupied )
3 x PCI

ASUS B85-PLUS - motherboard - ATX - LGA1150 Socket - B85 Series Specifications
Expansion Slots:
1 x CPU
4 x DIMM 240-pin
1 x PCIe 3.0 x16
1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 ( x4 mode )
2 x PCIe 2.0 x1
3 x PCI

they look quite identical to me!

"auto turn-off if PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot are occupied"

i dont like the sound of this though! i wonder if it will be a limitation or you can turn it back on manually  

also there was this:
ASUS M5A97 R2.0 Memory Problem - PC Hardware forum
that might be a problem! i have to look around see whether it was an isolated case!

[colombuszka]

Guys, can someone link a good and updated website or thread on GPUs for mining? IM interested in mining altcoins.

[whizz94]

i'm going to start dabbling in gpu mining and have been doing research putting together a rig.

BE CAREFUL.  Go to www.bitcoincharts.com, follow the link to the difficulty chart and look up how much of a difficulty rise has occurred between the time of some advice which you are reading and the present.  The hardware which you have listed so far would be ok for bitcoin in 2012 but is a few thousand times underpowered by comparison to what you'd want to see much and have a satisfactory experiment.  Better to send off for an ASIC miner of some sort.  Buying second hand for the price of a competent graphics card gets you around 10^3 more hash/s for a given cost or 10^2 for a given power consumption, neglecting the more expensive later models which are even faster.

I'd suggest getting an older bitmain S1, as you can run the two halves of that off two "any old ATX" with the paperclip trick and often needing to snip off some 4-pin molex connectors to get at enough black and yellow power wires to screw into the miner.  Both ATX MUST be capable of at least 18 Amps at 11.6V off a single 12V rail (the sticker on the side will indicate >=18A 12V if it is enough) and these are usually 450W or bigger headline-power, bog standard used ATX out of a scrap pc.  At 180 Ghash/s, it is "too underpowered" to make much bitcoin but at least you'd see a bit of a result.  The ASIC is also good for various sha256d "altcoins" but you'd spend a few days downloading and sorting out the thing to make those.  I'd suggest going for an sha256d altcoin with modestly low difficulty, fast transactions, and not secret enough for illegal trade.  I quite like mazacoin MZC for that, and my S1 makes a few hundred of those in a few hours.

If you need procurement assistance in return for payment in bitcoin then pm me.  

[RastoMan]

for the motherboard there is a new one called asrock h81 pro g

Have you used the MB?

[xhomerx10]

What brands of PSUs are available locally to you?

here's a list of the ones i could find right now! i have some free time this weekend i'll dige some more.

• Green
• Cooler Master
• Corsair
• Memonex
• ToPower
• Thortech
• Thermaltake
• Huntkey
• RaidMax
• Gigabyte
• DeepCool
• Antec
• EVGA
• XFX
• TSCO
• Silverstone

and thanks for the other post i'll make sure to look for that!

For the 370: I have both, 2G and 4G and they mine the same amount, so 4G is more expensive and not worth it IMO.

thanks! now that i know that i'll just get the 2GB! 👍🏻

 You can get the Amps you need with a slightly smaller PSU but it won't have enough connectors for two GPUs.  You would need something like this: EVGA SuperNOVA 750 P2 in order to get 4X8pin PCIE connectors for a dual GPU setup.

[sirslayer]

Get the MSi game board!! Im still using my old ass MSI 890gx board which still works today.  Military grade parts pays off in the end..    and dont just stick with eth mining..  Neoscrypt, X11, ect, ect  at times can be profitable.. just pay attention to the market and demands

[Za1n]

What brands of PSUs are available locally to you?

here's a list of the ones i could find right now! i have some free time this weekend i'll dige some more.

• Green
• Cooler Master
• Corsair
• Memonex
• ToPower
• Thortech
• Thermaltake
• Huntkey
• RaidMax
• Gigabyte
• DeepCool
• Antec
• EVGA
• XFX
• TSCO
• Silverstone

and thanks for the other post i'll make sure to look for that!

For the 370: I have both, 2G and 4G and they mine the same amount, so 4G is more expensive and not worth it IMO.

thanks! now that i know that i'll just get the 2GB! 👍🏻

I disagree on the GPU memory and feel 4 GB is safer depending on how long ETH mining is profitable, but as far as hash/sec yes they will yield the same. The 4 GB version will also retain a slightly higher resale value, so it may be worth the extra $10-$20.

For the power supplies I can narrow your list down a bit:

• Green
• Cooler Master
• Corsair Recommended
• Memonex
• ToPower
• Thortech
• Thermaltake ok
• Huntkey
• RaidMax
• Gigabyte
• DeepCool
• Antec Recommended
• EVGA Recommended
• XFX
• TSCO
• Silverstone OK, but somewhat expensive compared to others

The ones highlighted in green are ones I have personally used and have had good luck with, i.e. no burn outs or unstable power issues. The Corsair are my go-to pick anymore, especially the modular series. Good amount of amperage on the 12V rail and decently built with overall good cost/performance.

If you are looking for heavy duty 1200 watt plus, I also recommend Seasonic, however since those are not on your list they may not be available to you.

[Ayers]

Guys, can someone link a good and updated website or thread on GPUs for mining? IM interested in mining altcoins.

this section is the best you can get, buy 1 gpu to try, one cheap gpu and use the etheruem miner that yu will find here, and mine etheruem, try to mine on supernova can be better than dwarf

[ashkanb]

Guys, can someone link a good and updated website or thread on GPUs for mining? IM interested in mining altcoins.

believe me if there was one single website to put it all together this thread wouldn't be here lol..
i do intend to continue this thread, with the help of others, till the mining rig is actually operational so you might as well tag along.

first of all:
you'll need a working mining rig; that's what i'm trying to work out at the moment.
trying to list all the hardware components i need to buy so i can just go and buy of it in at once;

@whizz94
thanks for the input but i'm not planning to gpu mine btc; altcoins are much more interesting to me. 

[QuintLeo]

EVGA G2 series is good, their other series are marginal at best.

 Silverstone is pricy, but tend to be good.

 Antec and Corsair .... vary. Some are good, some are overpriced junk.

 Seasonic, if you can find them, are good.

[ashkanb]

-snip-

You can get the Amps you need with a slightly smaller PSU but it won't have enough connectors for two GPUs.  You would need something like this: EVGA SuperNOVA 750 P2 in order to get 4X8pin PCIE connectors for a dual GPU setup.

i couldn't find that particular model at the online shop (might be available at local shops!);
found this instead Corsair RM Series RM750.
edit:
based on this r7 370 stayed well below 150W during stresstest.
any 750W psu can feed upto 4 cards + cpu easily; it's just a matter of build quality, i assume.
based on the amp requirements you mentioned earlier this closely falls short at 62.5A/+12V
how about the Corsair RM Series RM850.
it says 70.8A/+12V. still it wouldn't be enough for more than 2gpus! (?) i guess!


@sirslayer
i'm definitely tryin' to fit the MSI gaming in the budget as my primary option!

and dont just stick with eth mining..  Neoscrypt, X11, ect, ect  at times can be profitable..

what do you think of NiceHash Miner? (for the while i'm still a complete noob and have no clue the f*ck am doing.)

@Za1n
thanks for narrowing down the list; Corsair is the one most widely available in my local market so i'm thinking of going with that!

but as far as hash/sec yes they will yield the same.

what do you mean " safer"? only in terms of resale value? or the total amount of gpu ram have effects on mining other alcoins?

@QuintLeo
i'll look up the EVGA G2 series but as i mentioned, Corsair is easier for me to get.
i was thinking of Corsair RM Series, what do you have any opinion on them?!

edit:
just checked for EVGA G2 series the only one i cloud find to buy right now is the 1600W!

[QuintLeo]

Haven't worked with the Corsair RM series, no opinion.

I'm running some MSI motherboards - the ones with the heatsinks on the PS circuitry seem to be decent, the others are too cheap to even look at for a 24/7 machine. I don't have the model numbers I'm using handy, but they're microATX so you wouldn't want the specific ones I have anyway.

[RastoMan]

Haven't worked with the Corsair RM series, no opinion.

I'm running some MSI motherboards - the ones with the heatsinks on the PS circuitry seem to be decent, the others are too cheap to even look at for a 24/7 machine. I don't have the model numbers I'm using handy, but they're microATX so you wouldn't want the specific ones I have anyway.

For micrATX motherboards, there are no enough PCIE slots to put many GPU. The more GPU, the more efficient.