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

[citronick]

I got server upgrades from the wifey!!

asus z97 extreme6 mobo
I7-4960k 4.5ghz CPU
3 more 3tb hdd
Computer case with 10 external slot bay
3 3x5.25 to 4x3.5 hot swap cages
Single 1x5.25 hot swap
2 sas controllers
2 250gb Samsung 800 series ssd for cache
Label maker for cables hdds and miner labeling

I use unraid for a software it's awesome
if anyone wants an awesome home server use unraid

I know it's off topic

Anywho I hope everyone has a safe wonderful day
Happy holidays/ merry Christmas

  what a thoughtful wifey!

All I got from wifey was a huge envelope..... containing new power utility agreement from another company with a "complicated" 25% savings for the warehouse for my signature to be submitted before 1st Jan 2017. LOL!

Btw, this unraid sw, I first learnt it from LinusTechTips, for virtual storage solution, ie. multiple PCs sharing the same virtual stoarge. Have you got it going? Sounds interesting but also too difficult for my newbie level.

[xleejohnx]

I got server upgrades from the wifey!!

asus z97 extreme6 mobo
I7-4960k 4.5ghz CPU
3 more 3tb hdd
Computer case with 10 external slot bay
3 3x5.25 to 4x3.5 hot swap cages
Single 1x5.25 hot swap
2 sas controllers
2 250gb Samsung 800 series ssd for cache
Label maker for cables hdds and miner labeling

I use unraid for a software it's awesome
if anyone wants an awesome home server use unraid

I know it's off topic

Anywho I hope everyone has a safe wonderful day
Happy holidays/ merry Christmas

  what a thoughtful wifey!

All I got from wifey was a huge envelope..... containing new power utility agreement from another company with a "complicated" 25% savings for the warehouse for my signature to be submitted before 1st Jan 2017. LOL!

Btw, this unraid sw, I first learnt it from LinusTechTips, for virtual storage solution, ie. multiple PCs sharing the same virtual stoarge. Have you got it going? Sounds interesting but also too difficult for my newbie level.

i seen it on linus youtube channel years back and gave it a try and it has took over my freeNAS setup
you burn it to a usb plug it into a computer assign the drives to the parity and array
let it format and setup the array
add some shares and thats all
complete server network storage
it has docker apps too like plex that runs my media services for my rokus apple tvs etc..
i was running a Virtual machine windows 10 and mined some zcash with my server cpus
(dual e5-2660 xeon) made some good profit off of those
everything in my house media wise runs off my server
and all of my important data is backed up to it too
it has a simple webui.. a ton of community support..
you cannot go wrong with it


 

[Hotmetal]

thats a very nice graphs you have there -- is that generated from a website?

I landed up coding it as I wanted to see profitability side by side with various coins over time.

With no solid wallets for XMR and ZEC, I have to use Poloniex address and I see that over time, the commission charge to them and also the baby-sitting efforts to sell the coins at high -- are taking too much money and time from me.

XMR fork happening in a few days which is the final hurdle before the XMR wallet (which will cause the price to spike, big time). Either way, XMR is still the most profitable over the last 24h.
Also the pools pay the commission charges so you're actually saving yourself some profit by not having to send from wallet -> exchange and back again.

I reckon, factoring all of these consolidating to NH and get paid in BTC upfront works out to be same-same. The farm on 100% NH (selling hash for BTC instead of mining them directly for native coins) generates around USD$270-320 220-270 per day @ 33 rigs.

If I have indeed lost up to 3% of these revenue for using NH, I think its a small price to pay because, I get to do away with selling at exchanges and get BTC upfront, pass the "selling" risk to NH, avoid Shapeshift and risk paying more commission and catch the BTC wave directly. I use NH only for ZEC and XMR. ETH is direct into my Coinbase wallet.

If you are collecting coins, then NH is not a good solution.

The thing you have to realize is that using NH isn't just a 3% loss in revenue, that's just their fee.
You're losing about 13-15% of your PROFIT (on average!) as NH as it's considerably more profitable to mine the coins directly to the exchange (on Poloniex) and sell for BTC.
I'm busy automating the entire process so that there's never a need to babysit it. The second any non-BTC coin lands on the exchange, code will sell immediately.
There's around 70 people using the code / site currently so I'm sure that (configurable) functionality will come in handy.

[citronick]

thats a very nice graphs you have there -- is that generated from a website?

I landed up coding it as I wanted to see profitability side by side with various coins over time.

With no solid wallets for XMR and ZEC, I have to use Poloniex address and I see that over time, the commission charge to them and also the baby-sitting efforts to sell the coins at high -- are taking too much money and time from me.

XMR fork happening in a few days which is the final hurdle before the XMR wallet (which will cause the price to spike, big time). Either way, XMR is still the most profitable over the last 24h.
Also the pools pay the commission charges so you're actually saving yourself some profit by not having to send from wallet -> exchange and back again.

I reckon, factoring all of these consolidating to NH and get paid in BTC upfront works out to be same-same. The farm on 100% NH (selling hash for BTC instead of mining them directly for native coins) generates around USD$270-320 220-270 per day @ 33 rigs.

If I have indeed lost up to 3% of these revenue for using NH, I think its a small price to pay because, I get to do away with selling at exchanges and get BTC upfront, pass the "selling" risk to NH, avoid Shapeshift and risk paying more commission and catch the BTC wave directly. I use NH only for ZEC and XMR. ETH is direct into my Coinbase wallet.

If you are collecting coins, then NH is not a good solution.

The thing you have to realize is that using NH isn't just a 3% loss in revenue, that's just their fee.
You're losing about 13-15% of your PROFIT (on average!) as NH as it's considerably more profitable to mine the coins directly to the exchange (on Poloniex) and sell for BTC.
I'm busy automating the entire process so that there's never a need to babysit it. The second any non-BTC coin lands on the exchange, code will sell immediately.
There's around 70 people using the code / site currently so I'm sure that (configurable) functionality will come in handy.

That's very good analysis - and good visuals too for easy reference -- are the codes available to us? or is this on subscription basis?

[QuintLeo]

 Either way, XMR is still the most profitable over the last 24h.

 Not for everyone. I haven't seen it come up as "most profitable" for anything I run *except* my GTX 750 Ti cards yet (those are in XP gaming machines that CAN'T run anything else AFAIK), though it's been getting semi-close on my RX 470s (though whattomine hashrate figures need to be taken with LARGE quantities of salt at times).

 On the other hand, the pool I've been running the 750 Ti cards on seems to be not accepting a TON of hashrate - any recommendations for a RELIABLE pool, preferably with a low "payout to exchange" minimum?

[Hotmetal]

 Either way, XMR is still the most profitable over the last 24h.

 Not for everyone. I haven't seen it come up as "most profitable" for anything I run *except* my GTX 750 Ti cards yet (those are in XP gaming machines that CAN'T run anything else AFAIK), though it's been getting semi-close on my RX 470s (though whattomine hashrate figures need to be taken with LARGE quantities of salt at times).

 On the other hand, the pool I've been running the 750 Ti cards on seems to be not accepting a TON of hashrate - any recommendations for a RELIABLE pool, preferably with a low "payout to exchange" minimum?

Sorry, I should of been more specific. For RX470 and RX480, XMR is more profitable. (You have to hand adjust all the values as the default figures on the site is WAY off).
For XMR, I've been using dwarfpool for the last 2 years and been extremely happy. No stolen shares, consistent payouts, geographically located and the payout to exchange is 0 (they pay for it themselves).

[Hotmetal]

That's very good analysis - and good visuals too for easy reference -- are the codes available to us? or is this on subscription basis?

I'll send you a message off list shortly.

[vg54dett]

If you need more beta testers, you can count on me too.

[Hotmetal]

If you need more beta testers, you can count on me too.

When it's ready to go live I'll create a proper domain name and open it up for people to use and BETA test.
Right now I'm randomly picking people as I'm adding a lot of BTC / alt-coin specific things and double and triple checking things to make sure everything is catered for and those with big farms / amounts of rigs can typically provide better testing & suggestions.

[vg54dett]

Phil , could you tell me few MB that can accept 4 GPUs like the Biostar ?

because the Evga and the Biostar you are using are difficult to find in the EU , or very expensive.
Is it others MB that can do the same and I might be able to find at a normal price here ?

My aim is to build a powerful 4 GPUs gaming computer who will be mining 99% of the time when not gaming ! (and ready to sell to gamer when mining will become not profitable, like your good old strategy Phil)
Any advice ?

[vapourminer]

I have an issue I can not get it to see a m2 ssd

Soo I had a spare 2.5 inch ssd that i used.

If the mobo can not use m2 ssd i do not recommend it.

but I will need to research this issue. maybe I have a bad mobo with a dead m2 slot or maybe the m2 ssd I have is bad.

if anyone gets the evga please let me know if your m2 slot works. Also please mention what m2 ssd worked for you.

@PHIL sometimes the m2 socket shares pcie lanes with the pcie slot near it. cant use both at the same time. maybe thats it?

maybe bios setting?

[philipma1957]

I have an issue I can not get it to see a m2 ssd

Soo I had a spare 2.5 inch ssd that i used.

If the mobo can not use m2 ssd i do not recommend it.

but I will need to research this issue. maybe I have a bad mobo with a dead m2 slot or maybe the m2 ssd I have is bad.

if anyone gets the evga please let me know if your m2 slot works. Also please mention what m2 ssd worked for you.

@PHIL sometimes the m2 socket shares pcie lanes with the pcie slot near it. cant use both at the same time. maybe thats it?

maybe bios setting?

It needs 3 separate bios changes to work. I did get it working.

Windows 7 install needs to be checked off
Devices  m2 slot must be activated
Sata must be legacy

the m2 uses sata slot 4 and 5

if you are using a cd/rom drive for windows 7 install (a must)  you have to plug the sata cable into a sata slot closer to the cpu socket

so far it is working but it crashed a few times

 I did have 1 rx480 1 rx 470 1 rx 460 1 hd7970 in it

So I pulled the hd7970 and it is using 3 cards just fine




@vg54dett I think there is an asrock or something else what country are you in?

here is the asrock not sure it will work

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157649



the biostar that works for sure
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138421





the evga  that was a real P.I.T.A.  with 3 bios changes needed but it works with an m2 ssd and four cards

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA1UH4R24324

note this evga has been a bit shaky .


So to be honest so far the biostar is the king.

I may order the asrock today not sure if I will

[vapourminer]

It needs 3 separate bios changes to work. I did get it working

@phill

my gigabyte bios has custom save slots for bios settings, like 10 user defined ones. saves every setting in the bios.can you use something like those when you get a bios setup that works? youll need a corresponding os image to restore the os also.

[philipma1957]

It needs 3 separate bios changes to work. I did get it working

@phill

my gigabyte bios has custom save slots for bios settings, like 10 user defined ones. saves every setting in the bios.can you use something like those when you get a bios setup that works? youll need a corresponding os image to restore the os also.

I saved the fully changed bios.

I like the evga  So far  but I will soon fill it with 4 msi rx 470s  I will know if I really like it then.

It seem to struggle running the xfx hd 7970 card.  which is now doing fine on an older board with 1 single slot.

I will be selling off gear and consolidating .

I will have at least 2 or 3 decent quality mobos z170's
I will have multiple gpus.
At least 1 rx 460
and 1 hd 7970

I first need to fill 3 cases and bring them to the solar array.

My house will be all msi rx 470's very soon.

With all biostar four card and of course the evga four card.

[thedue]

Hey Phil,

I almost read the whole thread... really interesting thank you all!

Did I miss details about your solar build?! Would be great to read more about that (especially if you´re using batterys or let your rigs run through the day only?)

[GabryRox]

Merry Christmas everyone. Just wanted to take a moment to thank all of you on this thread who have been very kind, patient and helpful educating a mining newbie like me over the past 2 months. I am still not where I want to be but have learned a lot and hope to continue that and leverage it into a profitable 2017.

Here's a quick update on my never-ending battle to get 6 GPU's running on my 2nd rig... yesterday, I took another shot at strap-modding the bios of my MSI 470s.  My first attempt about a week ago to mod GPU #0 didn't work for some reason and I had to flash it back to original settings.  This time, I unplugged my orphan Nitro, rebooted, and flashed dev #1 with the modded bios.  Reboot went fine but upon checking DevMgr, found the dreaded error 43 on presumably the card i flashed. Tried running the 6xGPU mod a few times but no dice, so I re-flashed it with original bios, rebooted, plugged the Nitro back in I'm back to "normal".

What i don't get is why the exact strap-mod I used on the exact same GPUs on my other rig (same W7) doesnt wanna work on this rig... 0 for 2 now. I'm sure I am doing it right but this rig doesn't wanna take it.  The only real difference is the Mobo between the 2 systems.  Anyway, I'm at the point where it probably makes sense to strip this thing down, run the driver cleaner, then re-install the GPUs one by one, maybe flashing each as I go.

But, then I got to thinking... if I'm going to basically re-build this thing, I might as well install Windows 10, since I have heard from numerous people that this is a better OS for anything over 4 GPUs.  And, it looks like I can still get an upgrade for free so probably worth the shot.  This time I am going to try plugging the 1st GPU (and monitor) into slot #2 (x16) since starting with slot #1 last time may have been causing some of my issues. Hopefully, W10 will let me get 6 GPUs running and modded. That should get me about 40% more hash-rate on XMR vs what that rig is currently doing.

So, I got my 6th 470 for rig #2 so will probably take a crack at moving to W10 and rebuilding this thing today.  This is my plan but I wanted to ask for opinions as to whether or not this is over-kill.  Note that current status is W7, max of 5 GPUs, 2 unsuccessful attempts to strap-mod bios on 2 separate GPUs (exact ones that I have done 4x on my other rig).

1- Power down and unplug all but 1 GPU. Sole GPU will be plugged into PCIe slot #2 (x16), monitor plugged into GPU via HDMI cable.
1a- I suspect this might not work given the issues i have had with slot #2, so will plug into slot #1 initially if needed, then try slot #2 as primary again after W10 install.
2- Boot up and upgrade to Windows 10 before doing anything else
3- Load Crimson drivers from AMD site for 1 plugged in GPU
4- Test GPU in Claymore miner, probably ETH since it shows individual GPU speed, unlike XMR miner
5- Flash that GPU with bios strap-mod, overclock & under-volt, then re-test in ETH miner to ensure speed increase
6- After ensuring all is working correctly, power down, unplug GPU from slot #2 and plug in another GPU into that slot
7- Repeat all of the steps above except for #3 since the drivers will already be on the machine
8- After all steps done for all 6 GPUs, start adding GPUs 1 at a time until up to 6 (hopefully)
9- If I get the error 43 code at GPU #5, install the 6xGPU registry mod app

This is obviously going to take the better part of a full day.  The thing that could save significant time would be to skip the 1 at a time method and add GPUs incrementally after getting the first 1 to work. This would make bios flashing a bit tougher, but I am under the impression that windows should add GPU's device numbers in order, so maybe this could save some time. Meaning, get GPU#1 working after flashing bios mod on device #0, then add the 2nd GPU and flash device #1, etc, etc.

At this point, I am no planning to mess with the bios on the orphan Nitro. If I can get 6GPUs and the 5 MSI's bios modded on this rig, I will be very happy.

Anyone see anything wrong with this approach or have any suggestions?

[philipma1957]

Hey Phil,

I almost read the whole thread... really interesting thank you all!

Did I miss details about your solar build?! Would be great to read more about that (especially if you´re using batterys or let your rigs run through the day only?)

If you go to the 256 mining the thread is there.

I am on an iPad mini and adding a link sucks to do.

I am partners with buysolar he is a member here and he lives about 3 miles from me.

His array has 2 acres of panels.

I provide gear.

He provides power.
We split the coins.

So his gear risk goes away.

My power risk goes away.

We sell to the grid in the day. And buy from the grid at night.

So in NJ USA this is just about the worst time for us power wise.

We have about 67 th in ASIC and,I am bringing three 2 card rigs should be 1300kh for Zec by the end of the week.

[vapourminer]

Anyone see anything wrong with this approach or have any suggestions?

i have found that once ALL gpus are in, reinstall the graphics driver. the reinstall seems to help all the cards, ie the driver install needs to see all installed gpus during the actual install. even if the driver is working and already installed with less cards in the rig.

works for me anyway.

[thedue]

Anyone see anything wrong with this approach or have any suggestions?

i have found that once ALL gpus are in, reinstall the graphics driver. the reinstall seems to help all the cards, ie the driver install needs to see all installed gpus during the actual install. even if the driver is working and already installed with less cards in the rig.

works for me anyway.

do you deinstall the "old" driver with DDU or something? or do you just install again on top?!

[vapourminer]

Anyone see anything wrong with this approach or have any suggestions?

i have found that once ALL gpus are in, reinstall the graphics driver. the reinstall seems to help all the cards, ie the driver install needs to see all installed gpus during the actual install. even if the driver is working and already installed with less cards in the rig.

works for me anyway.

do you deinstall the "old" driver with DDU or something? or do you just install again on top?!

try installing over the existing driver 1st. that worked for me on many occasions. if not then safe mode, ddu, then reinstall. that fixed most of the rest.