IntroductionI know for now some miners in the west or east or other countries have differences in looking at altcoin mining, some are talking now altcoin mining is dead, altcoin mining is no longer profitable, mining is still profitable, etc., whatever that is a common discussion if associated with profit. I just want to share a brief experience about Altcoin mining starting from hardware commonly used by some miners. Maybe this things does not fully apply to other miners, because the problem of altcoin mining is very complex and too much to discuss. So I'm just a variety of things that I know and experience.
If you want to start mining of altcoins those things should be considered and knowing:
- How much electricity costs and internet cost in your region or country
These very important for now because many miners have been shut down their rigs and sell it because of an earning from mining can't be closed an electricity cost. - How fast do you want ROI
Every miner, of course, wants as soon as possible for this matter but in mining is different, there are many things can be an influence such as coin are mined, coin prices when mined and sold, electricity and internet cost every a week or month, also durability their rigs. - Lists of devices that can be used for the mining of altcoins
- Mining Rig
- CPU, Laptops
- The smartphone/cell phone
- Bitmain products
- FPGA
[1] Mining RigUsually call it the Mining Rig, which means a CPU with multiple GPUs and frames. The Mining Rig consists of:
MotherboardThese lists of MB is usually used:
ProcessorActually, for mining rigs, processors with low specifications are enough, examples: Celeron(Intel) as long as they support the chipset (motherboard). if anyone asks about the difference between AMD and Intel with mining performance, I don't think there is a significant difference(IMO).
RAMfor size, 4GB is enough as long as supporting (ex: DDR2, DDR3, DDR4) with the motherboard but above 4GB is better and for brands, I use Kingston, Corsair has so far been very good for Mining Rigs.
SSD/HDDBetter to use SSD than HDD. This difference will be felt when you set the rig for the first time. Usually when you first often restart the rig and use SSD saves more power consumption than the HDD. For size at least 128 or there is some miners use 64GB and for brands, I use Samsung(128GB,256GB)
USB RISERBasically, USB Riser is used only to convert PCIEx1 to PCIe-x16 on GPUs and also provides more space on the motherboard and this can have implications at temperature the GPU and motherboard itself (not direct).
The following are the types of USB Risers commonly used by miners:- VER008C
- VER008S
- VER006C
- VER006
- Etc
There is a bit of difference between the types, such as:- Number of Capacitor
- Type of power connector
- Led Indicator
- Type of USB cable
PSUsThe most important thing is to use the PSU for mining at least PSU with 80+ a Gold rating and above Gold rate is better but more expensive and depending on the brand.
These are the difference between the rating of PSUs:- 80+ Titanium
at least 90% efficiency at 10% load,
at least 92% efficiency at 20% load,
at least 94% efficiency at 50% load,
at least 90% efficiency at 100% load.
- 80+ Platinum
at least 90% efficiency at 20% load,
at least 92% efficiency at 50% load,
at least 89% efficiency at 100% load
- 80+ Gold
at least 87% efficiency at 20% load,
at least 90% efficiency at 50% load,
at least 87% efficiency at 100% load
- 80+ Silver
at least 85% efficiency at 20% load,
at least 88% efficiency at 50% load,
at least 85% efficiency at 100% load.
- 80+ Bronze
at least 82% efficiency at 20% load,
at least 85% efficiency at 50% load,
at least 82% efficiency at 100% load
some brands are usually used by miners like Corsair, EVGA etc. there are several miners who use Server PSU.
GPUsThis hardware is critical in a mining rig because it determines Hashrate and what coins can be mined adjust with type/series of GPU also algorithm of coins. AMD and NVIDIA both are popular in mining (altcoins).
Type/Series of AMDs:- RX Series
Vega: Vega 64/56.
500: 560, 570, 580.
400: 460, 470, 480
- R9 Series
R9 200: 270, 270x, 280, 280x, 290, 290x, 295x2.
R9 300: 380, 380x, 390, 390x.
R9 Fury: Fury, Fury X.
R9 Nano
Type/Series of NVIDIA:- 1060 3/6GB, 1070, 1080, 1080Ti
Another peripheral:Software- OS
like on a PC generally requires some software in the mining process, OS either Windows or Linux. These two OS have the advantages of each but the most important which OS we usually use and master. Personally, I use Win10.
- Mining Software such as claymore, etc
- GPUz
- Atikmdag
- DDU
- Etc, adjust to your needs
Installation of Mining RigsThese steps are based on my experience. If you assemble yourself:
- like assembling a PC in general, but for thermal paste, I use Deepcool Z9 for a processor (MB)
- Installing Win10 via a USB stick, wait for it to finish
- Installing GPUz and atikmdag
- Installing GPUs with drivers (using USB Riser)
- Installing claymore / another mining software
And trying to run your Rigs but not as easy as imagined there is always a problem but don't worry there is always a solution. These are the problems and solutions that I have experienced.
If there are several GPUs that are not detected in the system (Win10)Try these steps:
- Check the driver
- Plug a card, one by one
- Check/change a cable PCI-e USB Riser
- Move to another PCI-e slots
- Check Power from/ to USB Riser
- Patch atikmdag, using an atikmdag patcher
- Patch Win Registry
If Asrock H81 Pro BTC R2.0 will not start (power failure and the like)Try these steps:
- Reset BIOS via jumper
- Unplug the CMOS battery and plug it in again.
- Move the CPU Memory Slot to DIM1 or DIM 2 or viceversa
If stability issue about Mining rig crash every hourTry these steps:
- Make sure the GPU doesn't power shortage
- Check a cable from PSU to RISER
- Try to use another PSUs
If claymore software hangs or freezeTry these steps:
- make sure a Virtual Memory at least 16GB
- make sure the Power to a GPU isn't lacking power.
- make sure RAM on CPU doesn't have a problem.
- make sure doesn't have a problem with update windows
GPU Rig often restart itself when starting miner (e.g RX series)Try these steps:
- Clean the drivers use DDU
- then reinstalling the driver again
- check window (if use Win) update history, cases like this can be possible
[2] CPUs, LaptopsMany threads that contain questions about whether the CPU/Laptops can be used to mine?, actually, yes it can mine as long as the coin can be mined or is usually called a coin mined with the CPU. But some miners, including me, cannot give recommendations because of these things:
- unprofitable
- just a waste of time
- The resulting hash rate is small
But if you want to try it, can use:
Minergate, for more information:
https://minergate.com/downloads/guiAnother information:
[3] The Smartphone/cell phoneI prefer to call it airdrop, not mining. Personally, I don't a recommendation.
but if you want to try that, read this:
https://electroneum.com/[4] Bitmain productsThese are lists of Bitmain Products that can be used for altcoin mining:
[5] FPGAI don't discuss FPGA because I don't have that, but there are several topics that can be used as References.
