Mining rig case prices

[mooreaa_revo]

Hi all,

Over the last two months I've been slowly adding some graphics cards to mine altcoins (ETH) grabbing old hardware where possible and sticking cards in them. I've ended up with several machines ranging from just 1 GPU up to 4 GPUs. I've got around 10 GPUs now and am getting a new mobo since I'm out of PCIe slots. I started looking at consolidating these since its difficult to manage and was wondering what others are doing for some small mining ops.

I was considering a mining rig case but I see them going for around $150 for the case usually + shipping. I've done a lot of mechanical design and it seems silly for these rig enclosures to cost more than around $75. I could build them myself but thought I should ask here first.

Thanks!

[1713574558]

1713574558

[Vann]

Unless you plan on putting rigs in a server rack, there is no point to buying pre-built cases. It's mainly something bought out of convinience rather than because it's a better option. Open-air frame cases work the best and can be easily built to a custom size for less than $50 in material costs.

[Undefined31415]

Building your own is probably your best bet.

I've used file crates for small 5-6 card rigs, and have slapped together some other more robust ones. (All under about $25 in material costs. You might spend more if you want them to be more robust, or if you want them to be stackable in case you make more similar ones.) Overall, custom builds are often the best way to tailor to an existing system.

[jyakulis]

https://www.mcmaster.com/#structural-framing/=19ecsoi

I'd just build it myself. The perforated framing would be the cheapest. The t-slotted aluminum framing probably looks a little nicer but runs a bit more expensive.

Only thing is you may need access to something you can cut metal depending on how you spec it out. Luckily I just bring it into work and make a few quick cuts. No one really cares.

[JaredKaragen]

I myself dont buy cases that are over lets say $120 each.

For building support frames in them, I tent to use a riveter, a drill, a hacksaw and some L or C channel aluminum edging.

With these building blocks you can make any design work for the most part.   Just avoid riveting into the sides of the case if you have extremely tight space requirements in your rack.

[baskanx]

Hello you can do it yourself

 https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1980508.msg19720582#msg19720582

[leonix007]

With that price of case 150$, you can already buy another GPU for 10 case, i am also build an open air rack for my mining rigs not to mention that is much cheaper but also helps and easily manage the temp or heat which is also essential to mining rigs.

[hanskan]

some timber, aluminium and screws. I have built quite a few, price is ~$20 AUD each. Make sure you hang GPUs upside down, that way they run good 5 degrees cooler compared to horizontal

https://imgur.com/a/TGa2v

[hous26]

Just build your own case out of a wood and aluminum.  It's pretty easy to do.  I built mine in about 2 hours total and it cost me about $40.  There are plenty of videos online which show you how to build it but you really just need to know the measurements and you can figure it out.

[Tidsdilatation]

Im using this one : https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147270&cm_re=rosewill_4u-_-11-147-270-_-Product and im very happy with it. Good cooling and you can hide it where ever

[mooreaa_revo]

Thanks for all the great feedback guys. So I'm definitely looking at building the cases now as I do have access to the necessary tools. I'm also aiming towards the open-air cases as that is how I have been running my equipment. These are a few that I have running based on servers I had around which is why I was thinking server style first but definitely think open-air is a better design.

http://vi2.com/assets/rig_1.jpg

http://vi2.com/assets/rig_2.jpg

http://vi2.com/assets/rig_3.jpg

Going to go research open-air case designs. Going to put together some design criteria. So far I think this is important:

- Make sure they are easy to move (servers/cases are heavy/difficult to move). Should be easy to pick up (no cables/parts hanging/loose). <- This one is important as I see many people just "hanging" GFX cards. Right now my GFX cards can fall over/damage them so I think securing them is important and I see this on several of the nicer open air rigs.

- Dual / larger power supplies. One of the challenges I have with all my rigs is the second power supply. This is a hassle so either the rig needs to hold two power supplies or handle a larger power supply. I see some HP server power supplies being used. Seems like a good idea but would like some thoughts on this.

- angle stock vs extrusion. Hmm this is a tough one, for me I have access to extrusion at a reasonable cost as my company buys it in bulk and so I can get it at a decent price right now. Angle stock would work too but I feel like it would be a lot "rougher" Plus the extrusion slots make it easy to attach parts so I'm thinking it would be a good way to make the case easy to adjust.

Some questions

Is it better to do a stacked design with MB/power supply on the bottom and GFX cards on top? This seems to be the norm. I was originally thinking of it being flat with mobo behind (or in front depending on orientation) and GFX in the back, but maybe this is because I have been looking at server cases. I think the stacked design makes sense if I want to be able to throw the case on a wire rack which is the plan as they are sturdy, easy to manage cables on them, can be mobile if I need to move a whole shelf.

How many people stack their rigs? I've seen some pics of some big mining farms and they don't stack them. i feel like it would be a hassle to do maintenance if the rigs were stacked on top of each other.

Size of rigs? I was originally planning for 6 GPUs, but seems like it wouldn't be much effort to scale it to 8 or 10 GPUs. What do people typically build?

[BasedCoin]

Just adding this open-air frame here http://highoncoins.com/litecoin-rig/how-to-make-diy-wooden-frame-for-litecoindogecoin-rig/
I use this frame for both of my 6x 1070 rigs. Doesnt take a lot of space, easy to move around, GFX cards sit tight, easy to manage the cables. I think the materials for the frame itself costed me like $25.

AND the cards dont run hot  

[Vann]

For a mining case, I use BBT style cases built out of two 8ft pieces of 1/8" x 3/4" angled aluminum, one 4ft pieces of 1/8" x 3/4" angled aluminum, one 8 ft 1" x 3" piece of pine, one 4' 1" x 2" pine and #8 1/2" self-tapping screws I get at Lowe's. The case will easily fit 7-8 RX 4XX/5XX if you put them about 1.5" inch apart. The cost of the aluminum angles and screws was ~$45. If you build it out of all wood, the cost would be less than $10.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5xNrlxsCVs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA_sH4q2toU&feature=youtu.be&t=283



7-8 card frame (Dimension 24" W x 15 3/4"" D x 10 3/4" H):

Build Cuts:

For the Angled Aluminum:

First 8ft (96") Angled Aluminum; 5.75 inch of waste

4x 15 3/4" cuts (58" use) - (Case Depth)
3x 10 3/4" cuts (32.25" use) - (Case Height)

Second 8ft (96") Angled Aluminum; no waste

4x 24" cuts (96" use) - (Case Width)

4ft (48") Angled Aluminum; 37.25" left over

1x 10 3/4" - (Case Height)

And for the wood:

1x3 Pine (Case Bottom):

6 cuts of 14 1/2 (87" use)

1x2 Pine (Card Bracket Support):

1 cut of 24" (24" use)



I also built a 14-15 GPU double tier case for a new build I'm doing with the ASRock H110 BTC Pro mining motherboard. Lots of room underneath for multiple PSU's and the double tier lets me use a single box fan for the whole rig.

14 GPU Double Tier Frame - (Dimensions 29.5" W x 16" D x 17" H):

Build Cuts:

For the Angled Aluminum:

-First 8ft (96") Angled Aluminum; 95.5" use 0.5" waste

2 x 17" cuts (34" use) (Case Height)
2 x 16" cuts (32" use) (Case Depth)
1 x 29.5" cut (29.5" use) (Case Width)

-Second 8ft (96") Angled Aluminum; 95.5" use 0.5" waste

2 x 17" cuts (34" use) (Case Height)
2 x 16" cuts (32" use) (Case Depth)
1 x 29.5" cut (29.5" use) (Case Width)

-Third 8ft (96") Angled Aluminum; 88.5" use 7.5" waste

3 x 29.5" cut (88.5" use) (Case Width)

And for the wood:

-1" x 3" 8ft (96") Pine; 96" use no waste

6 cuts of 16" (96" use) (Case Bottom)

- Left Over 1" x 3" 4ft (48") Pine; " left over

1 x cut of 16" (16" use) (Case Bottom)

- 1" x 1" 8ft (96") Oak; 59" use 37" left over

2 x cut of 29.5" (59" use) (Card Bracket Support)

[BennyT]

I build my own cases. So much cleaner and when I have to troubleshoot I take the rig out and work on it somewhere else, like on a table or somewhere more comfortable. I don't want to work on the rig standing up near the heat and noise from all the other ones.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/nscneb428j1m1iz/Photo%20Aug%2022%2C%2011%2007%2009%20AM.jpg
BTC

[namjey]

If you are planning to have a rig with 3 or less gpu then fractal define xl is great choise. This is closed pc case. But it's so huge and it has enough room for 3 big gpus and most importantly has great cooling fans. I am currently using it with 3 1080ti. No noise, no dust, cool.

[leonix007]

Some questions

Is it better to do a stacked design with MB/power supply on the bottom and GFX cards on top? This seems to be the norm. I was originally thinking of it being flat with mobo behind (or in front depending on orientation) and GFX in the back, but maybe this is because I have been looking at server cases. I think the stacked design makes sense if I want to be able to throw the case on a wire rack which is the plan as they are sturdy, easy to manage cables on them, can be mobile if I need to move a whole shelf.

How many people stack their rigs? I've seen some pics of some big mining farms and they don't stack them. i feel like it would be a hassle to do maintenance if the rigs were stacked on top of each other.

Size of rigs? I was originally planning for 6 GPUs, but seems like it wouldn't be much effort to scale it to 8 or 10 GPUs. What do people typically build?

I have a stacked and flat Rigs 5u rackmounted, guess what, I found it very accessible for a stacked rigs in terms hardware management, it just that flat rigs has its beauty that you may compared to server types of hardware but once it got faulty it is much pain managing them compared to stacked ones.