$300 Mining Rig... Need advice!

[bennett2136]

Hey guys, Im looking to build a dedicated mining computer for about $300. I know that is a very small sum of money but mining is just a hobby and I'm a poor college student. However... the plus side of being a poor college student is that my school pays my electricity bill! Anyway, let me know if you have any suggestions.

[Kermee]

Hey guys, Im looking to build a dedicated mining computer for about $300. I know that is a very small sum of money but mining is just a hobby and I'm a poor college student. However... the plus side of being a poor college student is that my school pays my electricity bill! Anyway, let me know if you have any suggestions.

At $300, you're looking at a single video card.

• $35 for a Motherboard
• $40 for a CPU
• $20 for a 2GB DDR3 Stick of Memory
• $15 for a 8GB Flash Drive to Boot From (i.e. Ubuntu)
• $50 for a 400W'ish PSU

That leaves you about $140 for a video card.  Maybe less if you decide to put it into a case.  $140 is an 5830 1GB which can do about 310 MH/s and at a very minimum, it would take at least several months to get your investment back.  Even longer.  But if you're doing it as a hobby...

Cheers,
Kermee

[rethaw]

These ones are in stock at the moment:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102946&cm_re=5830-_-14-102-946-_-Product

[ellipsis]

it would take at least several months to get your investment back.  Even longer.

It's closer to "never".

[Kermee]

it would take at least several months to get your investment back.  Even longer.

It's closer to "never".

Or yes... Never...

Cheers,
Kermee

[bennett2136]

So, would it completely not be worth it to mine with only 300 mega hashes/s? I pretty much just want to be able to make my money back...

[ellipsis]

So, would it completely not be worth it to mine with only 300 mega hashes/s? I pretty much just want to be able to make my money back...

It might be worth it if you already have the hardware. Buying it for mining won't.

[Zonyc]

So, would it completely not be worth it to mine with only 300 mega hashes/s? I pretty much just want to be able to make my money back...

It could be worth it if mining is just a hobby.  You will make your investment back eventually and the worst case scenario is you could sell off your hardware if you lose interest or re-purpose it into a gaming rig

[oic0]

I would be looking at refurbished work stations. Cheapest thing you can find with a pcie video card slot.

Alternatively, after I filled all the PCs I had at home, what I did was buy just a card + PSU and slap it in my parents computer I set the priority on the process real low. -F160. Out of the deal they get a more responsive computer capable of HD video and games. I can VNC in to control it and fix it whenever they call me "The printer doesn't work" etc... Their power rate is also dirt cheap compared to mine. Givin em a chip and mobo as soon as I can find a heatsink bracket for it too. Wont increase hash rate but if I'm using a few bucks in electricity every month it's only fair.

[trouserless]

if you are going caseless (which I'd recommend for cooling and costs), look for a motherboard with a bunch of PCI-e 1x slots in case you become obsessed like so many in this forum.  I picked up a $50 motherboard with 16x, 4x and 1x PCIe slots...and I somehow filled them all 3 using cablesaurus cables and miners.  I now wished I had originally found a cheap motherboard with three or more PCIe 1x slots for additional cards.

My 0.02 BTC

[Duffman]

GPU: AMD Radeon HD 5830 = $129.99
CPU + Mobo: AMD Athlon II X2 250 + BIOSTAR AM3 Micro ATX Motherboard = $99.98
RAM: Kingston 1GB DDR3 1333 = $10.99
HDD: HITACHI 80GB 7200 RPM = $14.99
PSU: XIGMATEK 400W 80 PLUS BRONZE = $34.95
Shipping = $9.95
-----------
Total = $301.85 (assuming no tax)

added other parts

[ellipsis]

GPU: AMD Radeon HD 5830 = $129.99
CPU + Mobo: AMD Athlon II X2 250 + BIOSTAR AM3 Micro ATX Motherboard = $99.98
RAM: Kingston 1GB DDR3 1333 = $10.99
HDD: HITACHI 80GB 7200 RPM = $14.99
PSU: XIGMATEK 400W 80 PLUS BRONZE = $34.95
Shipping = $9.95
-----------
Total = $301.85 (assuming no tax)

added other parts

The HDD is not necessary.