[NEWBIE] RIG on a Budget

[LeeVogue]

Hi Everyone,

I am planning to buy a second hand desktop as my first mining rig.
The one available at this point is a Dell Precision T3500 workstation. I am no tech savvy.

These are my questions?

1. What GPU should I buy as an upgrade for this desktop model?

2. What is the next important part that I need to upgrade?

3. Do you think that I will be able to make a decent mining using this setup? (with upgraded GPUs)

 

Specsheet link for the Dell Precision T3500 workstation.
http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/products/precn/en/dell_precision_t3500_specsheet.pdf

[Wipro]

Hi Everyone,

I am planning to buy a second hand desktop as my first mining rig.
The one available at this point is a Dell Precision T3500 workstation. I am no tech savvy.

These are my questions?

1. What GPU should I buy as an upgrade for this desktop model?

2. What is the next important part that I need to upgrade?

3. Do you think that I will be able to make a decent mining using this setup? (with upgraded GPUs)

 

Specsheet link for the Dell Precision T3500 workstation.
http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/products/precn/en/dell_precision_t3500_specsheet.pdf

Go with the standard i3 processor and 8 GB ram should be in your computer. This is enough to mine coins like ethereum, zcash or neo.
check with the radeon 470i graphics cards to upgrade in your computer. With the PCI riser you can cannot upto 6 graphics cards.
Initially do not go to mine the bitcoin, you can mine altcoins best in the market.
There are mining calculator available in the market, please use the crypto compare to check the profit you can with the electricity details.

[LeeVogue]

Go with the standard i3 processor and 8 GB ram should be in your computer. This is enough to mine coins like ethereum, zcash or neo.
check with the radeon 470i graphics cards to upgrade in your computer. With the PCI riser you can cannot upto 6 graphics cards.
Initially do not go to mine the bitcoin, you can mine altcoins best in the market.
There are mining calculator available in the market, please use the crypto compare to check the profit you can with the electricity details.

Hi there,

Thanks for the response.

I already talked to the owner and gave me this spec of the Dell Precision Workstation T3500.
- CPU : Intel® Xeon® Processor W3520 (8M Cache , Max 2.93GHz,6.40 GT/s IntelQPI) (8CPUs)
- RAM : 4GB DDR3 (2GB X2 )
- HDD : 250GB
- Graphic : Nvidia Quadro FX 380 upto 2GB
- DVD : DVD RW
- Integrate LSI 3.0/s Raid 0, 1
- 8 USB Ports/ ..

He is selling it for $150. CPU only.
what you think?

[Undefined31415]

Go with the standard i3 processor and 8 GB ram should be in your computer. This is enough to mine coins like ethereum, zcash or neo.
check with the radeon 470i graphics cards to upgrade in your computer. With the PCI riser you can cannot upto 6 graphics cards.
Initially do not go to mine the bitcoin, you can mine altcoins best in the market.
There are mining calculator available in the market, please use the crypto compare to check the profit you can with the electricity details.

Hi there,

Thanks for the response.

I already talked to the owner and gave me this spec of the Dell Precision Workstation T3500.
- CPU : Intel® Xeon® Processor W3520 (8M Cache , Max 2.93GHz,6.40 GT/s IntelQPI) (8CPUs)
- RAM : 4GB DDR3 (2GB X2 )
- HDD : 250GB
- Graphic : Nvidia Quadro FX 380 upto 2GB
- DVD : DVD RW
- Integrate LSI 3.0/s Raid 0, 1
- 8 USB Ports/ ..

He is selling it for $150. CPU only.
what you think?

When you say CPU only, do you mean "only" that entire workstation? Or literally just the processor? (For some reason, people sometimes say "CPU" to refer to an entire desktop tower...)

How many PCIe x16 slots does it have? Did you also check the specs of the PSU? You would almost definitely need to upgrade the PSU if you intend to mine with more than one graphics card, or use powerful cards, with that system.

[LeeVogue]

Hi!

My bad. I was referring to the whole tower. Without the monitor and other stuff.

As I have mentioned before am not tech savvy.

I think the psu of the tower is the one that came with it when the original owner bought it brand new.
As of now its not gonna be a problem i think, since that I would probably go for my initial plan to buy the tower and upgrade 1 gpu.

I am still trying to figure out what gpu to add in the tower, budget and compatibility wise.

[SafeCash]

Hi!

My bad. I was referring to the whole tower. Without the monitor and other stuff.

As I have mentioned before am not tech savvy.

I think the psu of the tower is the one that came with it when the original owner bought it brand new.
As of now its not gonna be a problem i think, since that I would probably go for my initial plan to buy the tower and upgrade 1 gpu.

I am still trying to figure out what gpu to add in the tower, budget and compatibility wise.

How big of a power supply is in it. You probably wont be able to run any more than one gtx1060 single fan or maybe a 1070 if you don't have a psu larger than 400w.

And if you're looking to make this profitable, it probably wont be. If you're looking to build a mining "rig" build a multi-gpu open air rig. These days, even a 6+ GPU 1080ti rig it's hard to net more than 15-20$ a day unless you're really proactive on finding new launch or low difficulty coins.

[suprnurd]

Do you already have a desktop computer at home? If so then I would suggest just acquiring a new graphics card for it and trying out mining and getting a feel for it before investing in building a whole rig.

IMO it's important to have high quality power supply(s) and components with a warranty since you will be running the equipment non-stop for a while. You may get some life out of a second-hand power supply such as the one already in the system you mentioned purchasing, however it will most likely die on you at some point and then you will have to replace it which will add to the cost of your build. I think it's better to just start with a reasonable warrantied power supply and then at least if it burns you can replace it!

Also, I learned the hard way that if you're serious about keeping your rig going and earning the maximum you must have at least 1 spare power supply around so that if one suddenly pops on you it is immediately serviceable thereby reducing your down time. It sucks big time to lose weeks of mining time because you are waiting for a replacement power supply to come in.

[LeeVogue]

Do you already have a desktop computer at home? If so then I would suggest just acquiring a new graphics card for it and trying out mining and getting a feel for it before investing in building a whole rig.

IMO it's important to have high quality power supply(s) and components with a warranty since you will be running the equipment non-stop for a while. You may get some life out of a second-hand power supply such as the one already in the system you mentioned purchasing, however it will most likely die on you at some point and then you will have to replace it which will add to the cost of your build. I think it's better to just start with a reasonable warrantied power supply and then at least if it burns you can replace it!

Also, I learned the hard way that if you're serious about keeping your rig going and earning the maximum you must have at least 1 spare power supply around so that if one suddenly pops on you it is immediately serviceable thereby reducing your down time. It sucks big time to lose weeks of mining time because you are waiting for a replacement power supply to come in.

What I am using right now is an old MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012), and I cant use this coz am using it for work.

I aim to buy the second hand tower just to try out mining. Bitcoin is difficult to mine with this setup so i would go for subcrypto like alt and monero and hope to get something decent out of it.

 

[adam1230]

Mining rigs are not profitable.
Calculate that if you bought 1 btc when btc = 4000$ then you get %70 in few months.
But if you bought a mining rig or asic? then you will still trying to get roi.
thats all simple

[oddity2505]

Mining rigs are not profitable.
Calculate that if you bought 1 btc when btc = 4000$ then you get %70 in few months.
But if you bought a mining rig or asic? then you will still trying to get roi.
thats all simple

Yes, but nobody can guarantee what will happen to bitcoin or any other altcoin the next day. It can be much more profitable than investing in mining risks, but the latter on the contrast is almost risk-free.

[chamika888]

you cant go wrong with radeon VGA cards.but first calculate the profit before u but the rig

[BitBustah]

Taken from the specs in the PDF:

Support for 2 PCI Express ® x16 Gen 2 graphics cards up to 150W.

Up to 150W? That might not be enought to mine with good GPUs.



If you are really interested in mining I suggest you buy cheap second hand materials first:
Mobo (something with at least 4 PCIe slots), PSU, ram, HDD (SSD), ...

At least something decent to start with. This Dell is not great to start, even if you have a small budget. What is your budget BTW?



If anything should be bought "new", it would be the GPU (like a GTX 1080 Ti, AMD Vega, ...). Try watching local ad sites; Perhaps you can buy a "new" GPU cheap.


Don't spend too much on a metal/wooden mining rig. Do as I did: Buy a cheap 20 dollar / euro metal rack and be creative with it.
http://tools.you-stupid-woman.com/miner1.jpg
https://www.hubo.be/nl/p/rek-150x75x30-cm-metaal/579712.html

Don't use desktop or tower cases: You will need extra fans to keep the inside cool... Which will add up in electricity bills. Just use an open frame like everybody does.



Just my 2 cents.  

[QuintLeo]

I believe that is 2 cards at 150 watts EACH, not 2 cards TOTAL of 150 watts.

[Maren]

The most cost effective solution is buying or picking up from the trash a 10-15 year old core2duo with a gaming motherboard (most have 1x16 and 3x 1 PCIe). You don't need more than 4GB ram and any old HD will do. Best bang for the buck GPUs are 1060 3GB. 1070 if you want to future-proof yourself a bit.

The most important thing besides the GPUs is the PSU. Select one that has titanium+ rating and is 1.5-2x bigger than your average load for maximum efficiency. 

[SafeCash]

Mining rigs are not profitable.
Calculate that if you bought 1 btc when btc = 4000$ then you get %70 in few months.
But if you bought a mining rig or asic? then you will still trying to get roi.
thats all simple

Anybody that says mining rigs are not profitable either hasn't mined or doesn't know how to mine the biggest rewards. If you just mine via whattomine.com says, then yeah, you're not profitable. Do a little research, swap between a few different coins and mine new releases.

[djaliel]

I suggest you do not use personal computers for mining coins, because if u use along with daily activities will be heavy,
and many problems with other computer components like psu, etc.
 
buy a motherboard that provides 6 minimum pcie slots, and latest vga nvidia gtx 10xx, or amd radeon rx 5xx, and buy a really pure psu that can hold the component,

do not use that rig for activities other than mining,

or if you will try because you have never tried before, then buy 1 vga latest, install on your old computer,
note: 80% computer can to run vga gddr5 / + latest, different from ddr on ram, which already has a pcie slot