What about mining with 7 gpu's with a damn rig?

[Algebrato]

Planning a dream rig for gpu mining, any recommendations and/or cheaper options (trying to be as budget friendly as possible):

1-2x mobo (7 pci-e):
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Asrock-970-Extreme4-ATX-Mainboard-Sockel-AM3-DDR3-USB-3-0-eSATA-/350765536098?pt=DE_Elektronik_Computer_Mainboards&hash=item51ab415362#shId

7* radeon 5850/6950

PSU:
Like 9999 or what ?!

CPU:
something stupid

RAM:
4gb/mobo: ram is like a dollar.

Do you people know how well could you mine with both 5850 and 6950 on the same rig and how well different versions of one graphic card will blend in?

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[guitarplinker]

I wouldn't build a GPU mining machine this far in the game. With ASIC's right around the corner, save your money and get one of them instead. They hash at much higher rates for the price, are quieter, and take much less power.

Besides, with 7 GPU's running 100% load all day long, especially from the 5xxx/6xxx series, they are going to get hot and loud. You power bill will take a tremendous hit as well. See what others have to say about this, but I think most of them will be thinking like me.

[Algebrato]

I'm not mining btc. Let's forget the profit side, I'm just looking for very cheap and powerful rig. It would be interesting to hear some experiences about 5-7 gpu on one mobo. + I might live in the North pole, therefore the heat is not a problem. Watts are, though.

EDIT: changed the title to be more informative.

[guitarplinker]

There is no motherboard in the world that I know of that supports 5-7 GPU's. The power supply would have to be gigantic as well, because unless the cards are really low end, they'll be pulling anywhere from 150-350W each. The only way you could put 7 GPU's in one system if there is an AM3+ motherboard with that many PCI-E connectors would be to tether 2+ PSU's together. When you get to tethering it just becomes more of a pain as well though. So I don't think you'll be hearing any experiences from people with 5-7 GPU's on a single board.

I think the most an 1155 board supports is 4 PCI-E GPU's.

[tigerbit]

Budget friendly with 7*cards - ha!  

I really wouldn't bother with 5xxx & 6xxx series cards - the power and heat would be horrendous unless you live in a very very cold climate.  5->7 GPUs in one mobo - I don't think that's been done - for these very reasons.

Personally I don't think you can go far wrong with the 7970 cards at the moment.  Yes they're more expensive, but you'll end up needing less cards/power to get similar hash rates.

The big plus, which you shouldn't overlook: when, and it is when rather than IF, gpu mining becomes unviable for Bitcoin and eventually LTC then the 7970s will have excellent resale potential to gamers.

Downsides of the 7970 are that some of them are locked down, and under/over clocking & volting may be limited in linux.  You'll have to do your research.  The Sapphire Trixx tool in Windows works ok for the Sapphire Vapor-X cards I have.

[Algebrato]

Word.

http://mark.zoomcities.com/images/gfx/GFXpowerchartbybrandgen.png

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2010/12/16/ati-radeon-hd-6950-review/10

Less power consumption 6950 and 5850, than 7***. There will be a bit more heat, but there are solutions for that.

7* has probably been done before. Here is topic about 6*:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=142241.0

BIOS over clocking, yeah.

I might just buy the motherboard I linked, but start with 5 gpu.

Less than 1k is a small budget, i think.

PSU:

1500 W should be more than enough and there are such devices.

Putting all together is that worries me : D

EDIT: thanks for the answers btw.

[12gaFacelift]

Box : Cooler Master HAF X
Motherboard : Asus Maximus V Extreme
Processor : Intel Core i7-3770 Quad Core 3.4 Ghz
CPU Cooler : Cooler Master Hyper 612 PWM
Graphic Card : 4 x MSI Radeon HD 7850 PE OC
Memory : 4 x 4Gb Kingston HyperX Blu Black Series DDR3-1600 CL9
Power supply : Corsair Professional Series Gold CMPU-1200 1200W

its one my box, and lets me say its limit to all what i can with but the mobo rock 

[guitarplinker]

How in the world are you going to fit 5 GPU's in that motherboard? Do your research, the GPU's can only go in the blue PCI-E slots, and there are only 3 of them on that board. Remember spacing too, on my Sabertooth Z77 board with 3 PCI-E slots I can only fit 2 GPU's on it (GTX 670 and 5970 currently) because 2 of the PCI-E slots are too close together, another GPU wouldn't fit in.

[tigerbit]

you're not going to get 5 GPUs on that motherboard without a bit of creativity.

You're going to need to look into PCIe riser cables to get access to those PCIe x1 slots.  Once the main PCIe slots are occupied there's no way you'll get a GPU near that.

[Algebrato]

Thank you very much for informative posts.

its one my box, and lets me say its limit to all what i can with but the mobo rock 

Looks like a powerful setup, why so much ram, though? Gaming? I'm going to look into that mobo, but that is maybe a bit too expensive.

How in the world are you going to fit 5 GPU's in that motherboard? Do your research, the GPU's can only go in the blue PCI-E slots, and there are only 3 of them on that board. Remember spacing too, on my Sabertooth Z77 board with 3 PCI-E slots I can only fit 2 GPU's on it (GTX 670 and 5970 currently) because 2 of the PCI-E slots are too close together, another GPU wouldn't fit in.

Risers.

you're not going to get 5 GPUs on that motherboard without a bit of creativity.

You're going to need to look into PCIe riser cables to get access to those PCIe x1 slots.  Once the main PCIe slots are occupied there's no way you'll get a GPU near that.

Yeah, that was my plan. I'm just scared, that the hash rate will suffer due the scaling. Well, worth a try, that mobo ain't a bad deal for 4 gpu either.

[12gaFacelift]

first i will not put another card in, its just a example of a maximum you can get, over 4 card in a box its hard thing to do, my box its all what i can for the maximum, no i dont play game i just mining and some fun with p2pool program open.

[BTC4Amazon]

Word.

http://mark.zoomcities.com/images/gfx/GFXpowerchartbybrandgen.png

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2010/12/16/ati-radeon-hd-6950-review/10

Less power consumption 6950 and 5850, than 7***. There will be a bit more heat, but there are solutions for that.

7* has probably been done before. Here is topic about 6*:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=142241.0

BIOS over clocking, yeah.

I might just buy the motherboard I linked, but start with 5 gpu.

Less than 1k is a small budget, i think.

PSU:

1500 W should be more than enough and there are such devices.

Putting all together is that worries me : D

EDIT: thanks for the answers btw.

Just a note you could always build them in sets of 3 and have them mine to one machine(If pool mining put your credentials in all of them, if solo mining have a host computer with your coins dameon on it and set it to mine to your ip address) May be more expensive but as for heat, effectiveness(7xcards are a lot more likely to crash than 3) and difficulty it would be optimal

[Algebrato]

Just a note you could always build them in sets of 3 and have them mine to one machine(If pool mining put your credentials in all of them, if solo mining have a host computer with your coins dameon on it and set it to mine to your ip address) May be more expensive but as for heat, effectiveness(7xcards are a lot more likely to crash than 3) and difficulty it would be optimal

Thank you for useful information. I might settle for four. How about performance difference between x16 and x2?

first i will not put another card in, its just a example of a maximum you can get, over 4 card in a box its hard thing to do

Oh, right.