Advice NEEDED - First mining RIG

[Criticalbarny]

Hello everyone,
I found a old PC in my garage and I've been looking to get into the mining game for a while now. The PC has a quiet good components in it.
The PC parts:
- Motherboard: ASUSTek Computer INC.P5Q-E (LGA-775)
- Processor: Intel core 2 dou E7200 @ 2.53GHz
- 4GB DDR2 RAM
- Power supply: Asus 450W A-45GA

As far as I know this should be enough to handle two GPU's. The board it self has 3 PCIe x16, which to best of my knowledge should take the Radeon rx 460 4GB version in.
The question is, am I right about the GPU and do you guys think my power supply will handle the two cards?

All help is greatly appreciated!

Keep on mining!

[Vann]

Power supplies lose a lot of their rated power and become less efficient over time. With a power supply that old it's hard to say but RX 460's are low power cards. You are probably looking at 150 W max for both cards, so I would say it's OK to try.

[Steamtyme]

Hi not looking to hijack the thread,

I'm also looking into building my first Rig and have everything specd out.

Where I'm stuck is should I get the 8gb GPU's or 4. I read somewhere about the ethereum platform reaching a size that will require something bigger than 4 in the near future?

Is this a problem I need to worry about with other Alt's. Is it something I need to worry about anyways?

Pro's/Cons

Thanks you

[Vann]

The Dag file size is not something you need to worry about. Currently the ETH Dag file is 2.2 GB and it won't hit 4 GB until at least the fall 2019. By then ETH is expected to have long moved to POS only, so mainly the issue will be with older ETH clones like ETC. There are also lots of newer ETH clones that you can mine currently with even 2 GB cards like UBQ, EXP and MUSIC.

The only real consideration is 8GB cards will hold their value better with gamers, so if the price difference is ~$20 I would say go with 8GB cards, which also have faster memory compared to 4GB cards and dual mining is slightly better.

[Criticalbarny]

Power supplies lose a lot of their rated power and become less efficient over time. With a power supply that old it's hard to say but RX 460's are low power cards. You are probably looking at 150 W max for both cards, so I would say it's OK to try.

Thank you for the answer. So I should be able to use the cards with the mither board right?

[Vann]

As long as the motherboard has PCI-E v1.1 slots or higher you should be able to use the cards without any problems.

[Criticalbarny]

Great thank you!

[kapipindot]

Hi there, I don't think that rx460 is currently profitable as it is wayback 2016 if you are planning to mine top 20 coins. There are now more appropriate gpu for mining, why not try 570s or 580s if your motherboard permits. Also, you should invest on the power supply, but a 750w gold or above for efficiency. You don't want to end up just paying your bills on your mining profit. You should also consider the electricity rates on your area as this will affect you profit.

[seasonw]

If you don't want to change anything with your old computer, then you can look for lower spec of GPU that save power, and it is better for you to utilize all 3 slots for best ROI.

[Criticalbarny]

Hi there, I don't think that rx460 is currently profitable as it is wayback 2016 if you are planning to mine top 20 coins. There are now more appropriate gpu for mining, why not try 570s or 580s if your motherboard permits. Also, you should invest on the power supply, but a 750w gold or above for efficiency. You don't want to end up just paying your bills on your mining profit. You should also consider the electricity rates on your area as this will affect you profit.

Hey, I know they aren’t the best cards for mining but, considering to mine xmr or ETN. My daily return should be between 2.5-3 dollars on current difficulty.. My electricity cost is should be about 0,65 cents a day on stock settings. Also I m planning to undervolt the card. My intentions aren’t to make crazy profits, I mainly want to mine electroneum( fork of monero) because I bealive in the project! I think for this perpous my system should do just fine!

[Criticalbarny]

If you don't want to change anything with your old computer, then you can look for lower spec of GPU that save power, and it is better for you to utilize all 3 slots for best ROI.

Do you have anything in paticular in mind? I have about 250 $ for the cards.

[cryptocoinfarmer]

This PSU: Asus 450W A-45GA has the only 180w 15A for 12V and one wire for the card. You can use only one card without doubts.
But if you plan to use 3 or more video cards then you should consider changing PSU for higher wattage.

[Criticalbarny]

My rig is done, and both cards are working like magic. They make 330H/s each on cryptonight algorithm. I can't figure out yet, how to overclock them properly to get better results. Any idea?