Need advice on building Alt coin RIG

[squall1066]

Hiya guys,

I want to try and do some alt coin mining, Just for a little fun, I have a problem, When I was GPU mining with BTC I had to stack the cards as all the PCI-e slots were together and the middle and top card was hotter, Basically my question is can I build a 3-card system with a gap between each GPU for air flow?

I don't know of any mobo's that are configured this way (due to xfire and the like), I thought maybe a 5-PCI-e board and just use slots 1/3/5???

Than comes the case, Most game cases have only 7 rear bays, this is not enough with spaces? anyone point me to some cases "tall" enough to handle this requirement.

I know alot could be found out if I spent more time on researching, So sorry if I appear lazy, I just cant find what I am looking for and want to know if it is out there in the first place?

EDIT - Now locked, My fault for putting alt coin in title but this is a hardware question, Mod moved here?
I Have decided to build an open air frame rig, I'm in the UK so I will be posting stuff I need in good's over the next few weeks.

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[superduh]

which kind of graphics cards are you using? slim ones like 7950 with one fan or some kind of thicker one with dual fans etc
the slim ones you can fit on most motherboards no problem

[squall1066]

which kind of graphics cards are you using? slim ones like 7950 with one fan or some kind of thicker one with dual fans etc
the slim ones you can fit on most motherboards no problem

Haven't got that far yet, I'm guessing a normal (2 bay?) size? The thing is, With reference design, The intake is on the bottom of the card when in situ, So the top card receiving all the heat cant breath properly.

I was considering using 5870's as there good "bang 4 buck"

I also remembered people building a frame to hold the cards, This is also a good idea, Never used risers tho, Could be a good learning curve.

[superduh]

this kind http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127737
would be fine in most motherboards.. people like to use asrock extreme 4 or pretty much most with 3+ pcix16 would work

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202003
these are the ones that would need extra spaces that you were talking about
or risers

the haf xb is popular with the thin ones - you don't really need a case unless making it look pretty
you could also just do the milk crate/risers thing

if cooled properly they should be fine running next to each other with no space

[dragonkid]

Why don't you use cable to extend the GPUs from the motherboard, then place them with lots of space between them.