Critique My Startup Rig

[flip4flop]

After a ton of reading and advice from here with a friend helping me build I have come up with an initial build.  Please shoot holes in it or if there is somewhere I can make improvements on.

I am starting with 2 GPUs initially with a plan to add more in the future probably around 4-6 total for awhile.  I am cannabalizing an old gaming computer I used years ago the case is large and should suffice.  Picture of inside of case https://imgur.com/eAKEEUS (I am removing everything pictured here except the power supply.

CPU
Intel Celeron G3930 Kaby Lake Dual-Core 2.9 GHz LGA 1151 51W
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117748&ignorebbr=1

Motherboard
ASUS B250 MINING EXPERT LGA 1151 Intel B250 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 ATX Intel Motherboard
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813119028&ignorebbr=1

GPUs
1x  MSI GeForce GTX 1070 DirectX 12 GTX 1070 GAMING X 8G 8GB 256-Bit GDDR5
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127947&cm_re=gtx_1070_msi-_-14-127-947-_-Product

1x EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 SC GAMING ACX 3.0 Black Edition
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487265&cm_re=1070_evga-_-14-487-265-_-Product

RAM
G.SKILL NT Series 4GB 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 2133

SSD
Kingston A400 2.5" 120GB SATA III TLC Internal Solid State Drive
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231957&ignorebbr=1

Risers
MintCell 6-Pack USB RISER PCIe 6-Pin PCI-E
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAAK96147779&ignorebbr=1

Power Supply
Corsair 850tx Bronze (from old rig)

Misc Pieces
Standoff parts to mount risers on rig
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA9F93GK7366&ignorebbr=1

Windows 10


My only unknown is what is the best practice to mount the risers inside the case.  Probably looking at mounting 3 risers inside to start. Will I have enough room? Or should I look for a larger case?  Since I am only planning on running 4-6 cards is there a better motherboard that would fit my needs?

[1715165229]

1715165229

[1715165229]

1715165229

[Intel 4004]

Which altcoins are you mining with this setup? By the way it's a nice start
Have you already set a budget in mind for this year? 

[flip4flop]

Looks like I will start off with ZEC initially and probably take a swing at whatever bitcoin gold pops out to see what happens.  I am pretty much done for the year after I complete this build. Will likely add a 3 GPU around late Nov/ early Dec but that may be it for awhile.

[fanatic26]

The only problem I see with your setup is the operating system

[flip4flop]

I thought windows 10 was best for Nvidia? I am not a Linux user by any means and got Win10 for cheap so I figured it would be easiest as a user for me to go that route.  If it will really increase my efficiency I would consider switching to something different in the future.

[fanatic26]

Linux is just way more stable. Ive had miner executable uptimes of 60-70 days. Thats not system uptime, thats literally how long EWBF ran uninterrupted. In my experience, ive managed about 300 windows rigs and we had to constantly reboot like 20-30 a day no matter what we do to them.

[not.you]

Linux is just way more stable. Ive had miner executable uptimes of 60-70 days. Thats not system uptime, thats literally how long EWBF ran uninterrupted. In my experience, ive managed about 300 windows rigs and we had to constantly reboot like 20-30 a day no matter what we do to them.

This is kind of true even with windows 7.  You gotta script everything so it auto-reboots when necessary (if it doesn't lock up out-right), auto-starts mining at power on, etc...  With windows 10 you need to prevent it from auto-rebooting with every damn update.

Really the hardware specs mean less than the results of the equation hashrate/price.  You can go cheap on just about everything but the GPU and get a good ratio.  But profits are dropping a lot this year I feel like.  Everybody and their cousin seems to have gotten into the mining game now.  I remember when I could make $8 or so per day per GPU.  I haven't been buying new GPU's this year but my best cards are down to like $2 a day now.

[TimeTeller]

All summed up- ?
Your hardware is ok!
When starting to mine for the first time
Or with your first rig it is important to learn
So any hardware that helps this is very good!
Good Luck!

[flip4flop]

Thanks is there somewhere I could improve outside of the operating system?  I keep thinking the motherboard is overkill as I will most likely never use that many slots but for the price seems like the best option to pair with that CPU.  Ideally I’d love something i could plug and play 4 GPUs without risers but without payIng a ton but I doubt that’s possible.

[64dimensions]

Thanks is there somewhere I could improve outside of the operating system?  I keep thinking the motherboard is overkill as I will most likely never use that many slots but for the price seems like the best option to pair with that CPU.  Ideally I’d love something i could plug and play 4 GPUs without risers but without payIng a ton but I doubt that’s possible.

 There is nothing wrong with your operating system. For a 1st rig, it is the operating system of choice IMHO. Why? We are entering a new phase of GPU mining IMHO. With ETH/linux, you could run months between power outages and riser issues. For ETH mining, linux was the operating system of choice. Especially if you were going industrial.  With one rig, depending on how much time is spent, people are surfing for coins that have above average ROI. SIGT was a case in point for 1080 cards. We are in an ROIcentric world.

1) One advantage of a Win 10 mining solution is QUICK adaptability. All the current and latest algo's are usually running under Win 10 first. Any algo enhancements come out on Win 10 first. A new coin with a new algo is usually Win 10 first.

2) GPU Voltage, memclock, and cclock are easier to setup under windows.

3) Display driver updates come out for windows first.

4) There are many useful utilities for miners only on windows: MSI AB, DDU, GPUZ etc etc.

5) Nvidia GPU's are definitely easier to run under windows.

The GPU user community is probably majority windows, this probably drives miner S/W development.

[flip4flop]

Thanks for your input. I do think I will stick with Windows just to ease my mind and I have a cheap copy that should be all I need it for.  How hard is it to drill holes in a rig for risers to place them internal?  Be attempting this myself for the first time this week.

Looks like everything looks good for my first build and I will stick with everything and hope for the best.  I appreciate all the input and help!

[Sev18]

It looks good. For PSU, I try to use at least gold tier for mining rig stability.

[foldingextra]

Linux is just way more stable. Ive had miner executable uptimes of 60-70 days. Thats not system uptime, thats literally how long EWBF ran uninterrupted. In my experience, ive managed about 300 windows rigs and we had to constantly reboot like 20-30 a day no matter what we do to them.

I have both ubuntu and windows 10, it is true that linux is more stable, but windows 10 is much easier in OC. And I did not face any reboot issue in Windows 10, do you mean windows update reboot?

[sc0rp1on]

Asus boards gave me a hard time with x6 GPUs. Going above 4 was challenging. Try going for biostar boards when you setup a bigger rig.!

[philipma1957]

After a ton of reading and advice from here with a friend helping me build I have come up with an initial build.  Please shoot holes in it or if there is somewhere I can make improvements on.

I am starting with 2 GPUs initially with a plan to add more in the future probably around 4-6 total for awhile.  I am cannabalizing an old gaming computer I used years ago the case is large and should suffice.  Picture of inside of case https://imgur.com/eAKEEUS (I am removing everything pictured here except the power supply.

CPU
Intel Celeron G3930 Kaby Lake Dual-Core 2.9 GHz LGA 1151 51W
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117748&ignorebbr=1

Motherboard
ASUS B250 MINING EXPERT LGA 1151 Intel B250 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 ATX Intel Motherboard
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813119028&ignorebbr=1

GPUs
1x  MSI GeForce GTX 1070 DirectX 12 GTX 1070 GAMING X 8G 8GB 256-Bit GDDR5
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127947&cm_re=gtx_1070_msi-_-14-127-947-_-Product

1x EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 SC GAMING ACX 3.0 Black Edition
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487265&cm_re=1070_evga-_-14-487-265-_-Product

RAM
G.SKILL NT Series 4GB 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 2133

SSD
Kingston A400 2.5" 120GB SATA III TLC Internal Solid State Drive
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231957&ignorebbr=1

Risers
MintCell 6-Pack USB RISER PCIe 6-Pin PCI-E
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAAK96147779&ignorebbr=1

Power Supply
Corsair 850tx Bronze (from old rig)

Misc Pieces
Standoff parts to mount risers on rig
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA9F93GK7366&ignorebbr=1

Windows 10


My only unknown is what is the best practice to mount the risers inside the case.  Probably looking at mounting 3 risers inside to start. Will I have enough room? Or should I look for a larger case?  Since I am only planning on running 4-6 cards is there a better motherboard that would fit my needs?

i would go for a better cpu


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Core-i5-6400T-SR2BS-2-2GHz-Desktop-CPU-LGA1151-Socket-Processor-/263257150566?

[Ryuh]

If you buy that 19 pcie mobo and plan to use it with only 4-6 cards that processor is fine, but i guess you will want to add more cards in the future.
Thats why you need a better CPU than G3930 if you plan to have 16 cards on one rig.
If you dont think to add more cards than that mobo is not needed. For 4-6 cards there a better and cheaper mobos on the market.

[BTCBusinessConsult]

Anybody ever use these ready to go packages from GPU shack?

https://gpushack.com/collections/gpushack/products/mobo-cpu-ram-ssd-bundle-w-6-gpu-support??

Almost bought one a year ago, but never pulled the trigger as my wife talked me out of it. Not affiliated with them just curious.

[Oakey22]

Thought about getting a Ryzen on there instead and have a workhorse of a CPU. Any new CPU coins that come out and you are laughing

[Za1n]

Linux is just way more stable. Ive had miner executable uptimes of 60-70 days. Thats not system uptime, thats literally how long EWBF ran uninterrupted. In my experience, ive managed about 300 windows rigs and we had to constantly reboot like 20-30 a day no matter what we do to them.

I have both ubuntu and windows 10, it is true that linux is more stable, but windows 10 is much easier in OC. And I did not face any reboot issue in Windows 10, do you mean windows update reboot?

I have both Linux and Windows rigs as well and agree that Windows can be just as stable as Linux. The biggest issue is Linux is stable out of the box and with Windows you need to put in a fair amount of work to stabilize it. You need to shutoff auto updates and disable a fair amount of unneeded services, remove unneeded programs, apps, adjust networking and firewall settings, etc. But once you have done it, you can apply a script to future builds to automate most of the settings.

Anyway, I have optimized Windows builds with 3-4 month up-times too, even with running Claymore. EWBF hasn't been around as long, but I do have a couple of rigs with 2+ month miner up-times. Most of the time if a rig does go offline it is because I take the machine down to either install new drivers (the AMD blockchain compute was a big one) or do other maintenance.

Generally if you have a rig or miner program crashing all the time you have something in hardware (or possibly drivers) not right. Double check all connections and ensure your risers and GPUs are getting adequate power. If you have many rigs invest in a PSU tester/meter and make sure all the ATX voltages are within spec. Reseat RAM and all the motherboard power and riser connections . Ensure your CPU heatsink is on correctly and cools the CPU. If your problem is in the mining program maybe you are overclocking or under-volting too much. Back off a few clock cycles and see if it stabilizes. You will probably gain that half of Mhash or two you lose in increased system up-time and reliability.

[Raegorl]

Good rig bro - what are you mining right now? I also recommend you switch to Linux, its much better than windows10 at the moment.

[binkyj357]

I'm no expert but it looks good to me. Nicer than where I've started w/ GPU mining (1050ti and then a 1060). I kinda wish I'd gone beast mode on the CPU though, maybe I'd scrape up some decent AEON on the side or something.

[biddybee]

I think you have a good setup for your first rig, my questions are as follows;

1. What coin(s) are you mining at the mining?

2. Do you have any plans for additional cooling?

[LAKSHIKA]

HI
I AM GOING TO START MINING AS A BIGINNER.
I HAVE FEW QUESTION TO ASK FROM YOUR GUYS.

#HOW MUCH $ YOU CAN EARN WITH THIS SETUP (A DAY)?
#TOTAL COST YOUR RING?


THANKS.
LAKSHIKA

[flip4flop]

Thanks for the input all!  I have been back and forth and decided I am setting up for a larger operation if this turns into something more than just a hobby with 2-4 cards I should have the proper CPU to do it.  I ended up going withhttps://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117563&ignorebbr=1 Intel Core i5-6500 Skylake Quad-Core 3.2 GHz instead.  That way if I intend to add more later I can without having to worry about the PSU. I can get it for $40 cheaper at my local micro center so its not a bad deal.  On the PSU side I plan on upgrading when I hit 4 cards but I think for now the one I have should be sufficient.  I cant wait to get this thing assembled next week when everything arrives and hope to be up and running before the 20th.

This forum has been a great help and I hope to be an active member here for a long time!

[flip4flop]

Looks really nice. Please update the thread on the stability of the board. I am planning to buy a mining board like that one in a few weeks.

I will update after a few months and see how it holds up.  I bought the 2 year replacement plan since ASUS only offered 90 days I didnt want to take that risk.  For 14 dollars more I prefer having the piece of mind if something goes wrong I will have a new one in 5 days and dont need to worry about anything. I will test everything and see how it runs together and continue to update this thread to help others who may search for some info in the future.

[Undefined31415]

I'm not sure what you pay for electricity, but if you're just getting into it now, I hope you have a very competitive rate (preferably one that doesn't depend on usage at all).

Are you planning on expanding at all? The overhead with the motherboard/CPU/RAM/etc. isn't really justified with only 2x1070s.

[QuintLeo]

Motherboard is a poor choice for anything less than about a 9 card rig (where the ease of multi-Power Supply management is nice).
I've currently got 4 GPUs on mine, but I PLAN to expand it over time as I can to at least 9 GPUs long-term.

CPU should be fine for a pure mining rig - upgrading it JUST to CPU mine in it is a VERY LONG PAYOFF proposition and only works if something like Monero retains current profitablity level for YEARS - though if you intend to eventually sell the machine as a "gaming" machine it might make sense to go with a mid-to-high range i7 or a TOP END i5 in it.

 Ryzen doesn't really have any good "mining" board available yet, that I've seen - and with it's current available chipsets it has serious issues with "not enough available PCI-E lanes" for a good mining board, unless someone builds a dedicated model like the B250 BTC Pro where the "16-bit" slot only has 4 or 8 lanes to it.