My second ZEC + XMR+ ETH thread builds info links thoughts and photos.

[ps_jb]

I just finished it my self. Today.  I will also,adjust two cabinet doors the next two days. So I think the kitchen will be fully finished by Monday. The 12th of sept which is about 87 days.

Congrats with new kitchen!

[philipma1957]

I just finished it my self. Today.  I will also,adjust two cabinet doors the next two days. So I think the kitchen will be fully finished by Monday. The 12th of sept which is about 87 days.

Congrats with new kitchen!

Yeah it did come out really nice.

[citronick]

I just finished it my self. Today.  I will also,adjust two cabinet doors the next two days. So I think the kitchen will be fully finished by Monday. The 12th of sept which is about 87 days.

Congrats with new kitchen!

Yeah it did come out really nice.

Phil ... it will be nice if you could show us the final masterpiece.

It may give us inspiration to do some house improvement project.

[GabryRox]

Great thread here guys... really fascinating stuff!  Probably especially since I am specifically looking to build a GPU rig to mine XMR and Ether, so I have read and seen a lot of great nuggets within this thread to both educate me and further pique my curiosity!

So, before asking a few questions, I want to see if I have at least gleaned a reasonable understanding of expected hash-rates for these 2 coins... mainly in reference to RX 470/480's since it seems like those are the 2 most commonly used/mentioned, and also what I am considering for my rig.

XMR:  looks like around 700-800 H/S per 470/480?  based this partially on Phil's latest 2-card rig with 1 470 & 1 480 but also remember seeing similar rates posted elsewhere.  Is this pretty close?

ETH/ETC:  is 20-25 MH/S un-tweaked about standard for Ether mining? have seen this a few places... ~50 for a 2-card rig and ~100 for 4-carder.  Is this about right?

Now to some questions:

1- Is there a notable difference between the 470 & 480?  seems like 480's cost more and draw more wattage, so trying to figure out what kind of hash-rate bump to expect to help with ROI calcs.

2- Is there a notable difference between 8GB & 4GB?  I looked at the specs between the MSI 470 8GB and the Saphire & Gigabyte 4GB... but cannot really discern what the difference might be in relation to hash-rates.

3- Regarding CPU mining... my understanding (and experience from using MinerGate on a couple PCs over the past 2 weeks) is that CPU mining is effectively useless for Ether but still reasonably decent for XMR, especially with a current CPU.  My old 2nd gen i7-2600K even gets about 115 H/S, and I have seen on the spreadsheet below that more recent CPUs can pull out 400 or more... and this is an older list.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1MI-ic0Os25hgGUImW54sUIjZY_pUNQNa_W8Se5pRGBs/edit#gid=0

So, the question is, for the screenshot that Phil posted about his new 2 card rig on page 7... was that 1.58 KH/S purely from your 2 GPU's?  Or does that also include some CPU-based hashes?  if the latter, what CPU are you running this with and about how much HR would you say is attributed to it?

I am curious about this mainly because I can get Intel chips at about 50% off, so really wondering if I get something like a 5th or 6th gen i7-x800K processor, if it could contribute reasonably (like 400-600 H/S for XMR) to my mining operation.

4- Phil at one point was looking at the Rosewill Thor V2 chassis. Ironically, I had put that exact one into my NewEgg cart a few days before i read this thread (on sale for $80) but didnt compelte checkout in time so its still in there but now at $130!  But... did I read right that that case did not work for your 4-5 card build?  if that is indeed true, what would people recommend for a 4-5-6 GPU build?  Is there any chassis that can handle that config? 

I am trying to be smart about this so would ideally like to do an initial build with probably a pair of MSI RX 270 8GB GPUs, but would also love to be able to build it in a way that I could just add 2-3 more cards, after confirming expected profit margins.  Not sure if this is even possible due to space limitation concerns that I keep reading about, but would REALLY like to build to accommodate more than 2 cards if needed in the future, as even a bit of extra initial expense would certainly be less than building a full 2nd rig.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions and info!

[QuintLeo]

RX 480 has a few more cores than the RX 470, but seems to use the same or nearly the same memory subsystem.
It's possible the RX 470 uses cores designed for the RX480 but disable one section internally due to testing showing that one section bad.

 8GB vs 4GB should not affect hash rates, unless one size uses different memory modules with faster timings.

 CPU mining for ETH or ETC = don't bother, not even close to efficient compared to GPU.

 CPU mining for XMR seems do depend a TON on your specific CPU, and if it supports the AI-NIS (might be mispelling that) cryptography-specific instruction set extensions.
 I'm not sure where Intel started that support exactly, 2-3 generations back though - AMD started that support with the Bulldozer-based cores AFAIK (any APU and the same timeframe FX series)

 That Rosewill case SHOULD work for a 4 card build on the Biostar motherboard Phil said he's using.
 Case I found that would also work though clearance between the PS and the last card is marginal is a Thermaltake:
 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133270
 Their V35 model appears to be the same case, I've never figured out what the difference between those 2 is.

 But I'm going with "open" builds as of my last build (parts for 2 more in shipping right now).

[LoneRangir]

Case I found that would also work though clearance between the PS and the last card is marginal is a Thermaltake:
 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133270
 Their V35 model appears to be the same case, I've never figured out what the difference between those 2 is.

 But I'm going with "open" builds as of my last build (parts for 2 more in shipping right now).

I've been deciding between the Thermaltake you specified and this Rosewill:
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA0723W13685

I own one of these and like it as an open air:
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811353001

Neither the Thermaltake, nor the Rosewill, have a side fan.  The case Phil mentioned does. 

I think the cards with back plates complicate builds with traditional PC cases (closed as opposed to open air). Going forward, I'm going to try real hard to only purchase cards without a back plate for this reason.  If you were to go with a custom open air frame with risers, obviously the width of the cards are not a concern.  I have a hard enough time getting 4 cards to be happy, yet alone 6 or 7. 

FWIW... it seems as though the Z170 boards can only handle up to 4 cards.  It's been reported many times, i'm just restating it here. Really should post the link....

[rockyforever]

Case I found that would also work though clearance between the PS and the last card is marginal is a Thermaltake:
 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133270
 Their V35 model appears to be the same case, I've never figured out what the difference between those 2 is.

 But I'm going with "open" builds as of my last build (parts for 2 more in shipping right now).

I've been deciding between the Thermaltake you specified and this Rosewill:
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA0723W13685

I own one of these and like it as an open air:
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811353001

Neither the Thermaltake, nor the Rosewill, have a side fan.  The case Phil mentioned does. 

I think the cards with back plates complicate builds with traditional PC cases (closed as opposed to open air). Going forward, I'm going to try real hard to only purchase cards without a back plate for this reason.  If you were to go with a custom open air frame with risers, obviously the width of the cards are not a concern.  I have a hard enough time getting 4 cards to be happy, yet alone 6 or 7. 

FWIW... it seems as though the Z170 boards can only handle up to 4 cards.  It's been reported many times, i'm just restating it here. Really should post the link....

I don't really under the reason to pay for a case when you can buy wire racks for 20-40$ that can fit multiple miners if you ever choose to expand. Plus those cases I don't see how you can fit four cards. I have tried to fit three in a case and had difficulty with all the wires and proper room between boards and the power supply.

[philipma1957]

I just finished it my self. Today.  I will also,adjust two cabinet doors the next two days. So I think the kitchen will be fully finished by Monday. The 12th of sept which is about 87 days.

Congrats with new kitchen!

Yeah it did come out really nice.

Phil ... it will be nice if you could show us the final masterpiece.

It may give us inspiration to do some house improvement project.

Yeah I suppose I could do some photos on Friday .





I won't do four card case builds just not enough room.

I damaged one four card mobo trying to do it.

If there was a good case with room I would build on again.
The reason for case builds are many of us can run gear in an It center and they want the gear in a case.

So far my best builds have been case free riser free on the biostar z170 mobo.

[QuintLeo]

Case I found that would also work though clearance between the PS and the last card is marginal is a Thermaltake:
 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133270
 Their V35 model appears to be the same case, I've never figured out what the difference between those 2 is.

 But I'm going with "open" builds as of my last build (parts for 2 more in shipping right now).

I've been deciding between the Thermaltake you specified and this Rosewill:
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA0723W13685

I own one of these and like it as an open air:
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811353001

Neither the Thermaltake, nor the Rosewill, have a side fan.  The case Phil mentioned does.  

 The Thermaltake can take 3 x 38MM fans in the front with minimal to no modification though. 3x Delta 200+ CFM fans WILL keep your cards cool, though realistically you only need 1 or 2 down in the area the cards are in - the 3'd one installs in place of the external drive mounts and doesn't blow much air down to the GPU area if any. Or move the drive cage to the middle, mount both of the included 25mm 120s at top and middle, and a Delta 38mm in the bottom.
The main issue with it is that the clearance between the last card and the PS is low - not an issue if you're using blower-type cards and a fairly short PS as the blower fan will stick out past the PS.
 (edit) still no clue what the difference between the V34 and the V35 is, but they have a V31 with front-mount buttons/USB instead of the top-mount stuff on the V34, that's probably going to be the case I go with in the future for any case-type builds I do, or if/when I decide to sell off some of my existing builds to gamers.

 I don't like side fans as a general rule 'cause they just don't tend to work as efficiently as straight-through flow does - and if you intend to rack mount a system, side fans are NOT AN OPTION.


 I've tried a couple other "8 peripheral slot" cases and been VERY UNHAPPY with them due to very poor cooling design restriction to 25mm OR THINNER fans in too many spots, though I haven't tried any Rosewill models yet.


 Back plates are a major PAIN for multi-card builds, they restrict the airflow too much.
 I avoid the things.

[fullzero]

I won't do four card case builds just not enough room.

I damaged one four card mobo trying to do it.

If there was a good case with room I would build on again.
The reason for case builds are many of us can run gear in an It center and they want the gear in a case.

So far my best builds have been case free riser free on the biostar z170 mobo.

I use Thermaltake Core X9 E-ATX cases for 4x 480 builds.  I have been running two of them in my basement since about a week after 480 release.

No issues but; I do have the fans set to 80%. 

When it was released I switched to using:
 Eliovp's 29MH lp rom on all cards for 117MH per rig @690 watts 120v. 

One rig has an ASRock Z170 OC Formula mobo and the other an ASRock Z97 OC Formula mobo. 

With one case stacked on top of the other it creates a sort of standing desk it is easy to put a monitor, keyboard, and mouse on top of.

[LoneRangir]

I use Thermaltake Core X9 E-ATX cases for 4x 480 builds.  I have been running two of them in my basement since about a week after 480 release.

No issues but; I do have the fans set to 80%. 

When it was released I switched to using:
 Eliovp's 29MH lp rom on all cards for 117MH per rig @690 watts 120v. 

One rig has an ASRock Z170 OC Formula mobo and the other an ASRock Z97 OC Formula mobo. 

With one case stacked on top of the other it creates a sort of standing desk it is easy to put a monitor, keyboard, and mouse on top of.

Which OS?  Win7, Win10, Linux 14, Linux16?

[fullzero]

Windows 10, eventually planning on switching these 2 to Ubuntu; but I want to wait until Eliovp is done improving his rom.  He should release his 33 lp rom soon.

[citronick]

I won't do four card case builds just not enough room.

I damaged one four card mobo trying to do it.

If there was a good case with room I would build on again.
The reason for case builds are many of us can run gear in an It center and they want the gear in a case.

So far my best builds have been case free riser free on the biostar z170 mobo.

I use Thermaltake Core X9 E-ATX cases for 4x 480 builds.  I have been running two of them in my basement since about a week after 480 release.

No issues but; I do have the fans set to 80%. 

When it was released I switched to using:
 Eliovp's 29MH lp rom on all cards for 117MH per rig @690 watts 120v. 

One rig has an ASRock Z170 OC Formula mobo and the other an ASRock Z97 OC Formula mobo. 

With one case stacked on top of the other it creates a sort of standing desk it is easy to put a monitor, keyboard, and mouse on top of.

impressive - you must have good cold basement - anything special on the internal case fans? bottom to up air movement? pics?

all my cards are hanging like bats for max cooling but long term strategy is to put them in a case so that it can live a proper data centre like my S9s.

[citronick]

Windows 10, eventually planning on switching these 2 to Ubuntu; but I want to wait until Eliovp is done improving his rom.  He should release his 33 lp rom soon.

this is noob question but how do I make Claymore miner execute automatically upon Ubuntu bootup?

[fullzero]

I would either write a bash script ( which is like a bat file in *nix ).

Or set the built in startup application to launch gnome terminal while creating a custom terminal config that execs your cmd on terminal launch ( while it is set as the primary terminal config).  This probably seems way more complicated than it is and is probably what you want to do if unfamiliar with *nix.

[philipma1957]

XMR is heating up a bit  it is back up to $13.45

[Das]

At this rate, Monero will hit $50 sometime next year. What do you think... good for long term holding? Don't want people dumping the coins later.

[citronick]

XMR is heating up a bit  it is back up to $13.45

looks like its exceeds my overall ETH collection per day!

if only XMR can dual mine ETH - but too bad, according to Claymore, both are using memory intensive algorithms, Ethash and Cryptonight, so cant be dual mined.

[citronick]

At this rate, Monero will hit $50 sometime next year. What do you think... good for long term holding? Don't want people dumping the coins later.

IMHO... XMR has the strongest potential to be the next Bitcoin because of the "anonymity" features that are far more advanced than Bitcoin.... unlike ETH... this coin has become more complicated....

[xleejohnx]

XMR is heating up a bit  it is back up to $13.45

looks like its exceeds my overall ETH collection per day!

if only XMR can dual mine ETH - but too bad, according to Claymore, both are using memory intensive algorithms, Ethash and Cryptonight, so cant be dual mined.

Xmr can be dual mined but claymore hasn't set it up yet for it.