Building Cheap Miners : My "Secret"

[Makak4R]

The CPUs are TDP of around 130W (520W max). I wonder if it's those high RPM fans? Seems like there's something eating up 300W.

I wonder how loud those dell 1200W PSUs?
are they loud like a typical server psu? i  mean really loud for a home use?
if so - i need to search for other option ((

[tadeus1]

Not for home use for sure. Loud, especially if they go to high RPMs.
If you look at the PSU FAN, notice how small it is. The only way to move enough air is by high speed, thus generating more noise.

[senseless]

I wonder how loud those dell 1200W PSUs?
are they loud like a typical server psu? i  mean really loud for a home use?
if so - i need to search for other option ((

They're really loud. I'd only stick it in my house if I had sound proofing in my basement... Or some other building on my property not in my main house..

[sundownz]

But I wonder are there any lost in performance when using DDR3 rather than DDR4?

Zero difference between DDR3 and DDR4 for mining purposes.

Indeed... these HP Z400 systems use CHEAP memory as well. So I always outfit them with 6 GB or more memory.

[lexele]

Another deal I caught... my 3x VEGA-64 system is drawing more than I'd like even on the 850-watt supplies.

Wanting to keep the load ~85% or less so I bought one 1200-watt supply... killer deal $191.99 for Rosewill Quark 1200!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00VS8728G/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

So... in the future I will only buy VEGA-56 as power draw is ~50 watts less each for about the same Cryptonight performance.  Those will run on my 850-watt supplies.

From what I've heard a properly tuned Vega should draw ~ 150W on cryptonight. Don't have any Vega's myself though, but don't have any reasons to doubt the people I've heard it from. 3 of those shouldn't draw much more than 500W.

The VEGA-56 will do with ~150 watt -- the VEGA-64 takes ~50 watts more (booooooo)... sadly I haven't been able to buy any VEGA-56 cards:

http://www.gandalph3000.com/cast_xmr/howto-mine-monero-rx-vega/

I also use my CPU at full tilt on Cryptonight... which puts me right at ~850-900 or so watts on the total system (GPUs + CPU + System in General) to max them out -- I am going for the ~2kh figure so ~250 per card.

To get vega 64 down to 160W, you need to use softpowertables see the link http://www.overclock.net/t/1633446/preliminary-view-of-amd-vega-bios/250#post_26297003 then you can tune core and memory voltage.

I found easyest way was to flash my vega 56 to 64 to have only one kind of cards to manage. I then modify Soft powerplay in the registry for each of them.
 

[Xazax310]

GIGABYTE GA-970A series (5 PCI-E) AM3 Socket 30-50usd
AMD Athlon II X2 240 AM2+ AM3 65W 10-15usd
4GB DDR3 20usd

I tried this exact build when i first starting mining crypto, total cost was 100~ using gigabyte 970a, Athlon X2 255u* (Only 15w!), and 4gb DDR3. however I couldnt get more than 4 GPUs to work on it. I think it was something to do with the 4gb addressing not being an option in BIOs.

[sundownz]

Another deal I caught... my 3x VEGA-64 system is drawing more than I'd like even on the 850-watt supplies.

Wanting to keep the load ~85% or less so I bought one 1200-watt supply... killer deal $191.99 for Rosewill Quark 1200!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00VS8728G/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

So... in the future I will only buy VEGA-56 as power draw is ~50 watts less each for about the same Cryptonight performance.  Those will run on my 850-watt supplies.

From what I've heard a properly tuned Vega should draw ~ 150W on cryptonight. Don't have any Vega's myself though, but don't have any reasons to doubt the people I've heard it from. 3 of those shouldn't draw much more than 500W.

The VEGA-56 will do with ~150 watt -- the VEGA-64 takes ~50 watts more (booooooo)... sadly I haven't been able to buy any VEGA-56 cards:

http://www.gandalph3000.com/cast_xmr/howto-mine-monero-rx-vega/

I also use my CPU at full tilt on Cryptonight... which puts me right at ~850-900 or so watts on the total system (GPUs + CPU + System in General) to max them out -- I am going for the ~2kh figure so ~250 per card.

To get vega 64 down to 160W, you need to use softpowertables see the link http://www.overclock.net/t/1633446/preliminary-view-of-amd-vega-bios/250#post_26297003 then you can tune core and memory voltage.

I found easyest way was to flash my vega 56 to 64 to have only one kind of cards to manage. I then modify Soft powerplay in the registry for each of them.

Thanks for the tips. I will check that out.

[bigjee]

But I wonder are there any lost in performance when using DDR3 rather than DDR4?

Zero difference between DDR3 and DDR4 for mining purposes.

Indeed... these HP Z400 systems use CHEAP memory as well. So I always outfit them with 6 GB or more memory.

Hey sundownz have you ever tried out the Z600? What do you think about the compatibility with 4 cards?
Will it work like the z400?

Thanks.

[sundownz]

But I wonder are there any lost in performance when using DDR3 rather than DDR4?

Zero difference between DDR3 and DDR4 for mining purposes.

Indeed... these HP Z400 systems use CHEAP memory as well. So I always outfit them with 6 GB or more memory.

Hey sundownz have you ever tried out the Z600? What do you think about the compatibility with 4 cards?
Will it work like the z400?

Thanks.

I have never tried the other models to build mining rigs.

But... the Z600 and 800 models have extremely oddly shaped power supplies so replacing them would be tricky.

[sundownz]

I will also keep this thread up to date with any problems that I may have.

PSUs :

Rosewill PHOTON PSUs 750-watt -- I have had 6 out of 16 pcs replaced under warranty. Great service. No collateral damage to the PC. Just failed and PC shut down / would not turn back on.
Rosewill QUARK PSUs 750-watt -- Zero failures. I have 25 pcs of these. (I did have ONE of the SATA plugs get melted where it hooks to the riser... but I found that card has an unusually high draw from the riser & I converted it to a 6-pin plug.)
Rosewill CAPSTONE-M PSUs 750-watt -- I have had 1 out of 4 pcs replaced under warranty (they sent me a CAPSTONE-G). Great service. No collateral damage to the PC... this one was simply DOA and wouldn't work out of the box (actually the first DOA Rosewill I've ever had). I will probably avoid the CAPSTONE-M in the future.
Rosewill CAPSTONE-G PSUs 750-watt -- Zero failures. I currently have 4 pcs running of these.

** I have a few old Rosewill HIVE PSUs in the other PCs not listed above that I bought in 2013 still going strong.

*** I have a big batch of 850-watt PHOTON and CAPSTONE-G PSUs that I will be using for my upcoming miners (found them on sale on Black Friday / Cyber Monday for the same as I pay for the 750s). I am guessing using a bigger PHOTON model will be more reliable... I won't be buying any more of the 750-watt models as they seem to have reliability issues (but never any collateral damage & great RMA service).

**** The QUARKS are my favorite for sure. They used to go on sale often but they quit going on sale & lost their value edge so I switched to other Rosewill models.

GPUs:

CMTX Geforce 1070 -- I had 4 pcs total. One of them started to hard lock the PC. Returned it. One of the remaining three is the one with the high draw from the riser but still works fine otherwise. So I have had issues from 2 out of 4 pcs.
PNY Geforce 1080 -- I bought 27 of these. Two of them had to be sent back since June. They would lock the system.
EVGA Geforce 1070 Refurb -- I bought 9. One had to go back for a bad fan since June.
MSI Geforce 1080 (big red dual fan model) -- I have one of these. Bought in July 2016 had to RMA it in June 2017 for a total failure (no display at all).
MSI RX480 Reference Model-- I bought 20 of these. I had to RMA one for system instability.
Gigabyte Geforce 1060 (biggest dual fan model) -- I bought four of these. One had to go back immediately as it would lock the system under load.
ZOTAC Geforce 1070 Mini -- I bought three in May 2017. I am returning one today for a single bad fan (totally stopped).

[rs1x]

Hey sundownz  -
Do you use the 750 Watt power supply to power both the Z400 and the GPU's?

I've found something weird i wasn't able to use an aftermarket power supply because of some weird wiring scheme of where you plug the power supply into the motherboard.

Ive found some adapters that are supposed to fix my problem:

https://www.moddiy.com/products/ATX-to-HP-Z400-24%252dPin-Non%252dStandard-ATX-Pinout-Main-Power-Adapter-Cable.html



Have you run into an issue like this?

[sundownz]

Hey sundownz  -
Do you use the 750 Watt power supply to power both the Z400 and the GPU's?

I've found something weird i wasn't able to use an aftermarket power supply because of some weird wiring scheme of where you plug the power supply into the motherboard.

Ive found some adapters that are supposed to fix my problem:

https://www.moddiy.com/products/ATX-to-HP-Z400-24%252dPin-Non%252dStandard-ATX-Pinout-Main-Power-Adapter-Cable.html

Yes the 750-watt PSU is for the system & GPUs.

And yes, absolutely, the Z400 motherboard plug is an EPS plug (not ATX) -- I make my own adapters:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1955358.msg24926817#msg24926817

I cannot verify 100% that the adapter you linked will work -- but it does LOOK correct. They identified the pins correctly & the result should be the same as my home-made adapters.

[bigjee]

But I wonder are there any lost in performance when using DDR3 rather than DDR4?

Zero difference between DDR3 and DDR4 for mining purposes.

Indeed... these HP Z400 systems use CHEAP memory as well. So I always outfit them with 6 GB or more memory.

Hey sundownz have you ever tried out the Z600? What do you think about the compatibility with 4 cards?
Will it work like the z400?

Thanks.

I have never tried the other models to build mining rigs.

But... the Z600 and 800 models have extremely oddly shaped power supplies so replacing them would be tricky.

Yeah im probably not going to replace the original psu but add another atx psu in parallel to power just the cards. apart from the psu any other challenges you foresee?

[sundownz]

But I wonder are there any lost in performance when using DDR3 rather than DDR4?

Zero difference between DDR3 and DDR4 for mining purposes.

Indeed... these HP Z400 systems use CHEAP memory as well. So I always outfit them with 6 GB or more memory.

Hey sundownz have you ever tried out the Z600? What do you think about the compatibility with 4 cards?
Will it work like the z400?

Thanks.

I have never tried the other models to build mining rigs.

But... the Z600 and 800 models have extremely oddly shaped power supplies so replacing them would be tricky.

Yeah im probably not going to replace the original psu but add another atx psu in parallel to power just the cards. apart from the psu any other challenges you foresee?

Otherwise they look solid if not swapping the PSU. I wouldn't forsee any issues using several GPUs with risers.

I do have one Z800 as an office PC at my business and it seems like a tank of a system.

[rs1x]

Hey sundownz  -
Do you use the 750 Watt power supply to power both the Z400 and the GPU's?

I've found something weird i wasn't able to use an aftermarket power supply because of some weird wiring scheme of where you plug the power supply into the motherboard.

Ive found some adapters that are supposed to fix my problem:

https://www.moddiy.com/products/ATX-to-HP-Z400-24%252dPin-Non%252dStandard-ATX-Pinout-Main-Power-Adapter-Cable.html

Yes the 750-watt PSU is for the system & GPUs.

And yes, absolutely, the Z400 motherboard plug is an EPS plug (not ATX) -- I make my own adapters:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1955358.msg24926817#msg24926817

I cannot verify 100% that the adapter you linked will work -- but it does LOOK correct. They identified the pins correctly & the result should be the same as my home-made adapters.

Sorry - i should have checked that earlier post in more detail - But thanks for the confirmation that something is unique with the Z400's.

[sundownz]

Hey sundownz  -
Do you use the 750 Watt power supply to power both the Z400 and the GPU's?

I've found something weird i wasn't able to use an aftermarket power supply because of some weird wiring scheme of where you plug the power supply into the motherboard.

Ive found some adapters that are supposed to fix my problem:

https://www.moddiy.com/products/ATX-to-HP-Z400-24%252dPin-Non%252dStandard-ATX-Pinout-Main-Power-Adapter-Cable.html

Yes the 750-watt PSU is for the system & GPUs.

And yes, absolutely, the Z400 motherboard plug is an EPS plug (not ATX) -- I make my own adapters:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1955358.msg24926817#msg24926817

I cannot verify 100% that the adapter you linked will work -- but it does LOOK correct. They identified the pins correctly & the result should be the same as my home-made adapters.

Sorry - i should have checked that earlier post in more detail - But thanks for the confirmation that something is unique with the Z400's.

No problem! =)

Once I build my next 12 system I may buy those pre-made adapters and save my finger-tips from making them, haha!

[rusman123]

hi now i have a problem CPU OVERLOADED HOW TO FIX SLOWLING FOR PROCESSING  THANK. 

[sundownz]

hi now i have a problem CPU OVERLOADED HOW TO FIX SLOWLING FOR PROCESSING  THANK. 

I am not sure I understand correctly.

You are using a Z400 & having high CPU usage ? Have you checked task manager to see what is hogging resources ?

[Michael20]

Why you don't use server psu, cheaper and think more reliable?

[rs1x]

hi now i have a problem CPU OVERLOADED HOW TO FIX SLOWLING FOR PROCESSING  THANK. 

I am not sure I understand correctly.

You are using a Z400 & having high CPU usage ? Have you checked task manager to see what is hogging resources ?

rusman123 looks like bot/spam