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July 10, 2011, 06:30:07 PM |
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Just thought I'd share my thoughts on my first build:
GPUs: 2x 5850 ($298)(I was really lucky to find these at such a good price) CPU: Athlon II 250 Regor ($60) RAM: 4G Gskill Ripjaw ($38) PSU: Thermaltake XT 775w ($70 - w/ rebate offered on Tigerdirect) Mobo: Biostar A870U3 ($65) Case: AZZA Helios 910R ($80) Lian Li External PCI Cooler ($38) (The PCIe x16 slots on the Mobo are very close together and this really helps cool the upper card) Edimax EW-7811Un Wireless USB ($15) 1 4G USB stick ($8) Linux (free) Total: $672 (not including tax and shipping)
I'm currently getting ~725 Mh/s on this rig, and am very happy with it, but if I had the chance to do it over, here is what I would change:
1) No case, with PCIe extenders to get the GPUs further apart. Yes, it would look like crap, but the advantages in terms of better cooling and $ saved on a case and extra fans outweigh this IMO. With a trip to Home Depot, I think I could build a frame for $30 or so. I may end up doing this eventually anyway, since my Mobo has two PCIe x1 slots, so I can run up to 4 GPUs on this Mobo.
2) AMD Sempron. This is $22 less, but more importantly uses about 20w less. Initially the Sempron seemed too spartan, but now that I've gone OCD about the wattage I pull from the wall (about 400 watts now - measured with Kill A Watt), I'd prefer the lower power CPU. My newbtuition suggested that I could deactivate one core on the Athlon II and end up with about the same power usage as the Sempron. But deactivating one core had almost no impact on power. (Another newbtuition bits the dust!)
3) Corsair HX850. More expensive, but the efficiency is about 90%, compared to about 85% for the Thermaltake. This would save about 15-20 watts (and like I said I'm a bit OCD about power now). If I actually get the $30 rebate from Thermaltake, then maybe it was the better buy, but it is somewhat doubtful I will (many have complained that Thermaltake doesn't honor rebates). Plus, the Corsair is a better PSU, and offers more room for expansion.
For anyone looking for a modest and fairly inexpensive mining rig, I can definitely recommend something similar to what I have, especially with the suggested changes. If you don't already have a spare copy of Windows, I say just go with Linux. With all the helpful info on this board, it really isn't as hard as you might think for a Linux newbie to set up a mining rig. And yes you *can* clock those GPUs past default limits without reflashing the bios!
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