How do you pick a motherboard & PSU for a new mining rig?

[dd2017]

Guys, I've built computers before, but never with multiple graphics cards. I'm planning to build a mining rig with multiple GeForce GTX 1060 cards. I plan on starting from 4 or 5 and rev it up to about 8 over time. The question I have is how do you pick a motherboard for that?

PS. I'm assuming a power supply is just a sum of the wattage on all components, right? Or are there some specific PSUs that you recommend?

Thanks for answering my newbie questions!

[Mattthev]

Guys, I've built computers before, but never with multiple graphics cards. I'm planning to build a mining rig with multiple GeForce GTX 1060 cards. I plan on starting from 4 or 5 and rev it up to about 8 over time. The question I have is how do you pick a motherboard for that?

PS. I'm assuming a power supply is just a sum of the wattage on all components, right? Or are there some specific PSUs that you recommend?

Thanks for answering my newbie questions!

I have Asus Z270-P, like it, up to 8 GPUs. Z270-A can have 9 GPUs.
Yeah there are calcs on the internet for PSU. I have Corsair HX1200. Or EVGA is good, better to use single rail it is save. The Corsair has switch for multi or single rails.

Mobo need to have 4G above in bios.

[iamnoobplzhelp]

There are motherboards that are proven to work with 8/9 cards. Always pick those.

In terms of power supply, there are multiple theories.
Easiest, but most expensive, is get a 1500w+ Gold or better PSU with at least 6-9 PCIe connectors. These are pricey, like $350 or more.
Cheapest (for me) is to get a server PSU with 1200w for just the video cards and then a ~400W PSU for Motherboard/CPU/SSD (maybe 1 card if you wish).
You can also just do dual regular ATX PSU, like 800W and tie them together using a dual PSU adapter.

[grchina]

It depends if you are limited with space.I ain't and because of it i use different approach,3-5 cards per mobo(2nd hand or pro btc h81) evga g2 or g3 psu 750,850 or 1000w.This way is much easier to setup and if something goes wrong  you don't need to power of 7-8 cards and there are less problem with 3 cards and drivers then with 8

[philipma1957]

 3-4 card rigs are better

this will do 3 on the board and allow for 2 with risers later

http://www.ebay.com/itm/292000161707?

use 2 of these

http://www.provantage.com/evga-08g-p4-5170-kr~7EVGA13R.htm

with one of these

http://www.provantage.com/msi-gtx1060aeroitx3goc~7MST92HR.htm

if you don't want to go the 1080ti with 1070 route



until you go real big  like  60 cards or so.

 2 1080 ti's and 1x 1070

[dd2017]

Hmm, interesting. Thanks for all your advice.

So technically you can compute those hashes in parallel ... That's what you're doing with multiple mobo's, correct? It's kinda like, "start small and then purchase additional mobo's with graphics cards", isn't it?

I'm planning to build this mining rig in my garage, which has some free space. Maybe 5-ft by 5-ft area, but I can clear out more. I won't use any monitors. I'll remote into it.

I don't pay for my electric bill. I have a "deal" with my landlord. (I help him manage this apartment complex and he picks up my electric bill.) But I obviously can't abuse this too much, you know. So I'm not trying to go with a large mining farm here.

[iamnoobplzhelp]

Less rigs = less manual setup and management. I try to max out cards per rig, which also reduces overall power as well, because additional CPU/Motherboard won't need to be powered.

I have a few 6 card rigs that I'm transitioning to 8.

[dd2017]

@iamnoobplzhelp: what mobo & PSU do you recommend? Also what graphics cards do you use?