Review my chosen mining set up (Mini ITX)

[Laurifer]

Hi all, I just registered today as I get more and more serious with bitcoin mining. Lucky for me, in my current location I already have access to a system with one watercooled 5970 ( ) thats been running for about 36 hours now.

Each core of the 5970 has almost 8000 shares from slush's pool. They're mining away at avg 500+ m/hs.

Anyways, fortunate for me my other home has solar panels which lower the electric bill to a fraction of what it once was. This allows consideration of electrical cost of mining rig to be almost nonexistent.

I was hoping to see what everyone else on here thinks of this current 24/7 Mini ITX mining rig I've put together on newegg. (assuming almost everyone on here has an exceptional knowledge of computer hardware + bitcoin mining)

Case (New, MicroATX)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112316
Mobo
Browsing MicroATX
PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341017
CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103933
RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233080
HDD (also thought of kingston 16gb ssd but afraid windows 7 wont fit)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148713

As the video card is the most essential unit in a mining rig, I have yet to decide on what that will be. I am considering a 5770, 5830, 5850, or 5870. However I have yet to find that irresistible deal on one that will make this all become a reality. I'd like to get at least 200+ mega hashes out of the card. The rest of you scoundrels have swept up all the remaining 5970s and 6990s from the market  

So let me know what you guys think about my current setup/situation/goals. Thanks!

[1715158977]

1715158977

[danim1130]

If you want to use the rig exclusively for mining, then you can use ssd with LinuxCoin. Or maybe better, just get a 8-16gb pendrive and flash it to live-boot LinuxCoin, this way you could also secure a wallet.dat file in it.

[Laurifer]

If you want to use the rig exclusively for mining, then you can use ssd with LinuxCoin. Or maybe better, just get a 8-16gb pendrive and flash it to live-boot LinuxCoin, this way you could also secure a wallet.dat file in it.

hmmmm. Thanks that is something i didn't consider. I was also thinking about just using windows 32 bit

[mjoz]

Hi all, I just registered today as I get more and more serious with bitcoin mining. Lucky for me, in my current location I already have access to a system with one watercooled 5970 ( ) thats been running for about 36 hours now.

Each core of the 5970 has almost 8000 shares from slush's pool. They're mining away at avg 500+ m/hs.

Anyways, fortunate for me my other home has solar panels which lower the electric bill to a fraction of what it once was. This allows consideration of electrical cost of mining rig to be almost nonexistent.

I was hoping to see what everyone else on here thinks of this current 24/7 Mini ITX mining rig I've put together on newegg. (assuming almost everyone on here has an exceptional knowledge of computer hardware + bitcoin mining)

Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112297
Mobo
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131659R
PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341017
CPU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103933
RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233080
HDD (also thought of kingston 16gb ssd but afraid windows 7 wont fit)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148713

As the video card is the most essential unit in a mining rig, I have yet to decide on what that will be. I am considering a 5770, 5830, 5850, or 5870. However I have yet to find that irresistible deal on one that will make this all become a reality. I'd like to get at least 200+ mega hashes out of the card. The rest of you scoundrels have swept up all the remaining 5970s and 6990s from the market  

So let me know what you guys think about my current setup/situation/goals. Thanks!

I cannot see why you would do this.  Everything that is not a video card is not making you money and 5830's, 5850's and 5870's are nearly impossible to find.

[Laurifer]

I cannot see why you would do this.  Everything that is not a video card is not making you money and 5830's, 5850's and 5870's are nearly impossible to find.

Um, yes, I know that everything that is not a video card in this computer is not making me money. However, in order to use a video card I need a system to run it in do I not  Not sure if I understand what that comment is supposed to mean. But this is about as cheap as one can get given the circumstances

I'm not gonna blow $4000 on a dual 6990 system with mining difficulty growing at such a horrific rate.

An extremely small, sub $400 system that can mine at at least 200+ m/hs 24/7 pooled sounds pretty effective to me.

And 5000 series video cards are still plentiful enough, maybe not new of course, but there are several websites that would allow me to acquire a used one.

[DanielC]

I cannot see why you would do this.  Everything that is not a video card is not making you money and 5830's, 5850's and 5870's are nearly impossible to find.

Um, yes, I know that everything that is not a video card in this computer is not making me money. However, in order to use a video card I need a system to run it in do I not  Not sure if I understand what that comment is supposed to mean. But this is about as cheap as one can get given the circumstances

I'm not gonna blow $4000 on a dual 6990 system with mining difficulty growing at such a horrific rate.

An extremely small, sub $400 system that can mine at at least 200+ m/hs 24/7 pooled sounds pretty effective to me.

And 5000 series video cards are still plentiful enough, maybe not new of course, but there are several websites that would allow me to acquire a used one.

Even with free electricity, your payoff is still a few months down the road.

Your $/MH = 2:1 which is kinda high, in my opinion.  If you can snag two 5830s and get 300 MH/s each I think you'll have a very strong setup.

[macrum]

As the video card is the most essential unit in a mining rig, I have yet to decide on what that will be. I am considering a 5770, 5830, 5850, or 5870.

I think the best cost effictive card out there would be a 5870, it costs about 200 bucks and uses only 200Watts.

May this site help you for your decision: http://bitminer.info/

cheers

[Laurifer]

thanks guys. Yeah a 5870 would be great if I came across one. I have limited knowledge of mini-itx, are there mini itx boards that support crossfire?

[macrum]

thanks guys. Yeah a 5870 would be great if I came across one. I have limited knowledge of mini-itx, are there mini itx boards that support crossfire?

You don't need crossfire for dual card Mining.

You may use this mainboard: Gigabyte GA-880GMA-UD2H, 880G
or this: Jetway MA3-79GDG Combo, 790GX
or this: MSI 890GXM-G65, 890GX

That are µatx boards for AM3 Socket (latest AMD CPU's) with dual PCI express, If you like Intel CPU better please send me a PM or reply in this Thread.

Additional Info: Bandwith of your PCI Express slot isn't a criterion for mining Bitcoins, anything above 1x PCIexpress should be fine, without any speed losses in mining. For games it would be another story, but i assume that you don't plan to play games with you mining rig. right?

[fascistmuffin]

Why are you limiting yourself to such a small case? Seems silly to try to get this size with a machine that's going to be running 24/7 that will producing a lot of heat.

[Laurifer]

Why are you limiting yourself to such a small case? Seems silly to try to get this size with a machine that's going to be running 24/7 that will producing a lot of heat.

Well, maybe ill go microATX then. Bigger case, potential for another card, better airflow, stronger miner!

[chihlidog]

5830s are the best card for the money IF you can find one. They'll get you around 230. Keep checking newegg, they have the Sapphire cards for 109, best bet is to constantly refresh the site on Monday to see when they come in stock, but they last around 10 minutes when they do.