What to buy for Pro Mining (will donate for useful info)

[Jbanna]

Hello all, newbie here--just introduced to the world of bitcoins a few days ago.
I'm very interested in building some sort of rig with a 1K budget. I've been reading many posts, and doin shitloads of research, but I still can't quite understand EXACTLY what i need. Right now I'm running a MacBook Pro i7 2.7ghz 4gb ram.
Now, if i understand correctly, something that would be the most bang for my buck is 4 x 5830. but is this all i need? people speak of purchasing psu's and other equipment. If i just put my 4 x 5830's in a case and plugged em in would it all work?
thanks

[0x]

Well consider taking 4x5850 instead of the 5830, or if you can get them cheap: 5870. Choose a PSU with at least 4PCIe x2 connectors (there arent that much to choose from) and with at least 4xTDPmax of GPU + CPU max TDP + 50-80W for system (depends on the amount of HDDs). Your CPU doesnt need to be strong. I downclocked my phenom II x4 955 to 2080mhz and its still not exhausted.
If you can't put this rig within a closed room where you wont hear the noise, you should consider buying some watercooling stuff too, maybe instead of 2GPUs e.g.

[Parja]

Hello all, newbie here--just introduced to the world of bitcoins a few days ago.
I'm very interested in building some sort of rig with a 1K budget. I've been reading many posts, and doin shitloads of research, but I still can't quite understand EXACTLY what i need. Right now I'm running a MacBook Pro i7 2.7ghz 4gb ram.
Now, if i understand correctly, something that would be the most bang for my buck is 4 x 5830. but is this all i need? people speak of purchasing psu's and other equipment. If i just put my 4 x 5830's in a case and plugged em in would it all work?
thanks

What's your experience building computers?  From what I gather from your post, I'm guessing not much.

In addition to the video cards, you'll need at least a motherboard, processor, memory, power supply, and some sort of data storage to complete a functional PC.

[infested999]

Well consider taking 4x5850 instead of the 5830, or if you can get them cheap: 5870. Choose a PSU with at least 4PCIe x2 connectors (there arent that much to choose from) and with at least 4xTDPmax of GPU + CPU max TDP + 50-80W for system (depends on the amount of HDDs). Your CPU doesnt need to be strong. I downclocked my phenom II x4 955 to 2080mhz and its still not exhausted.
If you can't put this rig within a closed room where you wont hear the noise, you should consider buying some watercooling stuff too, maybe instead of 2GPUs e.g.

DO NOT put your system in a closed room. The hot air will keep on circulating back into the cards and temperatures will continue to rise!

[Nasakioto]

Check out videos on youtube made by miners. It'll give you an idea of their rigs and the surrounding setup required to keep them cool. If you are buying new gear specifically for mining, make sure you carefully work out your calculations based on expected future difficulty increases.

[0x]

DO NOT put your system in a closed room. The hot air will keep on circulating back into the cards and temperatures will continue to rise!

Well, ok, missleading you are right, meant a room which he can shut. Not a room without any windows.

[b1tc01n_wh0r3]

Hello all, newbie here--just introduced to the world of bitcoins a few days ago.
I'm very interested in building some sort of rig with a 1K budget. I've been reading many posts, and doin shitloads of research, but I still can't quite understand EXACTLY what i need. Right now I'm running a MacBook Pro i7 2.7ghz 4gb ram.
Now, if i understand correctly, something that would be the most bang for my buck is 4 x 5830. but is this all i need? people speak of purchasing psu's and other equipment. If i just put my 4 x 5830's in a case and plugged em in would it all work?
thanks

What's your experience building computers?  From what I gather from your post, I'm guessing not much.

In addition to the video cards, you'll need at least a motherboard, processor, memory, power supply, and some sort of data storage to complete a functional PC.

in addition to that you'll need a good case with great airflow management to keep you GPU's relatively cool. If you have very little experience in building PCs it would be probably easier and more profitable for you to buy some coins from btc exchanges and experiment with trading them.

[Parja]

you'll need a good case with great airflow management

I disagree.  The best case for cooling is no case at all.

[0x]

you'll need a good case with great airflow management

I disagree.  The best case for cooling is no case at all.

Not if you have a dust problem in your flat. Or want some noise blocking.

[shotgun]

Check out this build for running 3x6870 cards. It's as cheap as I could get it for rackmounting: http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=16323312

Alternately, look at the public rigs on newegg: http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishLists.aspx?actionType=SEARCH&OrderKey=CREATEDATE&OrderType=DESC&searchTitle=mining&searchItemNumber=

[hennessy]

I bought two rigs just two weeks ago and they are running great. This is my setup:

4x Sapphire 5830
MSI 790FX-GD70 (or MSI890FXA-GD70 if not availiable)
a GOOD PSU, 80+ Gold of Platinum certified (Chieftec, OCZ, ...) with at least 800W, 900+ for OC
AMD Sempron 140
2GB DDR3 cheapest availiable
Two cheap HDDs or USB drives
a good fan (12cm or more) to put on the cards

The PSU should be you most expensive part, since it has to supply a big amount of power over a long period. The 80+ certification tells the efficience the PSU converts drained power into BTC You want to lose as little power as possible into warm air - depending on your location power costs can be a major issue (like in germany). Look which PSUs are availiable at the shop of your coice (There shouldn't be many that match all criteria) and check some reviews first!

Case-less is the way to go for cooling matters, just put a fan on the block of cards to blow some fresh air into the gaps. Ideally a big fan faced to the board to spread the warm air. Get a solid, non-burnable surface (I use a big tile) and put all that stuff on top. I used long screws and nuts on the screwholes of the mainboard to get some space between board and tile.

You won't need any riser cards or PCI-E adapters, the MSI boards are just plug and play. All four cards nicely lined up. You should (gently!) try pushing them outwards to get a bigger gap size between the cards and fix those position with the power connector cables or any other construction of your choice. With that done, OC to 950Mhz should be no problem with the hottest card at 74°C on warm days The outside cards can be clocked even higher.

[KarlSpaat]

I have a Mining Rig with 2 HD5850. It needs about 370W at the plug. I strongly recommend the usage of fresh air in stead of a case;D.

This is my Setup:
450W PSU 80+ gold or platinum (should cost at least 65Euro and have 3 or more years warranty, cheaper PSU wont survive long )
Amd Sempron 140 boxed
SLI Board with 2 slots distance between cards in stead of 1
1GB DDR3 Ram
USB Stick 8GB
2x HD5850 @ 900,300 (without overvolting)

Ubuntu 10.04
Drivers: Catalyst 11.06 with AMD APP SDK 2.4
Miner: Phoenix 1.50 -k phatk BFI_INT VECTORS FASTLOOP=false WORKSIZE=256 AGGRESSION=12
price: about 450 Euro
MHash: 720
MHash/j: 1,6
Hardware Breakeven: ca 100 days at 20 cent/kwh (i hate germany )

[nonameo]

First let's look at the important part of the equation: how many shaders your GPU has VS. how much it costs.

You can't buy 5830's or 5850's new anymore(well, maybe but they are rare and will command a price), but you can still buy them used. Let's say on a good day you can get:

a 5830 for 140 dollars and 1120 shaders - $0.125 per shader (but higher clocks) 800 clock
a 5850 for 200 dollars and 1440 shaders - $ 0.139 per shader - 725 clock
a 5870 for 270 dollars and 1600 shaders - $ 0.169 per shader (but higher clocks) - 850 clock

Prices are sourced from ebay auction prices + shipping

Yes, they clock differently but should overclock to similar values.

Note that the 5830 consumes as much power as a 5870.

You could also consider 5770's but it will require more PCIE slots. However, you may be able to find some good deals on used 5770's. At 100$ shipped each, they're just as $ efficient as 5830's. I recently purchased 2 5770's used on a forum for 160$ shipped.

Also,you can buy 5770's new. You can get one from newegg for 95$ shipped after rebate, or 115$ shipped with no rebate. You get a new warranty with that, vs the other cards which may or may not have any warranty left.

----- I just checked ebay. 5750's have 720 shaders and are going for about 80 each shipped. That comes out to be $0.111 per shader. 5750's also have lower clocks, 700's vs. 850 for 5770. --------

[mizike29]

I would say from the post your experience is 0 for building computers since you didnt know that you need a PSU to run 4 power cards or a computer at all for that matter.  NO DISRESPECT INTENDED just what I gathered.  SO what you want to do is buy a prebuilt rig.  I can even build you a very nice one that is what I do and have built 27 so far for bitcoin mining. 

You can get a basic nice case with some fans in it off ebay or craigslists with an inexpensive motherboard, asrock or asus with two PCI x16 slots, a 600 watt PSU, a dual core amd processor for pretty cheap,  THen what you want is your graphics cards which is what willl mine your coins.  Its getting very hard to mine at this point so jumping into the game pretty late, buying and selling them are a little easier then mining them now.  but you could grab two ati 5850s or 5870s and be good to go for awhile, but you really would want an ati 6990 like I use, and even with that, mining is still pretty damn slow.

[nonameo]

Oh yes, another thing we need to know:

what is your budget?

[pe512]

Oh yes, another thing we need to know:

what is your budget?

From his second sentence. 

I'm very interested in building some sort of rig with a 1K budget.

[nonameo]

Oh yes, another thing we need to know:

what is your budget?

From his second sentence. 

I'm very interested in building some sort of rig with a 1K budget.

xD

my bad.

[Jbanna]

WOW, wasn't expecting so many posts. Yes, you guys are right, i have 0 experience in building computers. I've always been a programmer, and now it's time to expand my horizons, so along with the rig- i'll get building experience, and make a (hopefully) damn nice computer along the way.
It seems there's a conflicting view as to use a case vs. not use it. I've always thought the cases were used FOR cooling and airflow, just the way they are set up.

I would say from the post your experience is 0 for building computers since you didnt know that you need a PSU to run 4 power cards or a computer at all for that matter.  NO DISRESPECT INTENDED just what I gathered.  SO what you want to do is buy a prebuilt rig.  I can even build you a very nice one that is what I do and have built 27 so far for bitcoin mining. 

You can get a basic nice case with some fans in it off ebay or craigslists with an inexpensive motherboard, asrock or asus with two PCI x16 slots, a 600 watt PSU, a dual core amd processor for pretty cheap,  THen what you want is your graphics cards which is what willl mine your coins.  Its getting very hard to mine at this point so jumping into the game pretty late, buying and selling them are a little easier then mining them now.  but you could grab two ati 5850s or 5870s and be good to go for awhile, but you really would want an ati 6990 like I use, and even with that, mining is still pretty damn slow.

Wouldn't two 5870s be half the price of a 6990 and still get over 800 mh/s?