What card should I get? (GPU)

[theegle]

Ok so I am looking to build a small litecoin miner for fun (And hopefully some small profits) this weekend and I have been looking at my local stores and these are the current GPU's they have in stock (which are good for mining). What do you recommend?

2GB gigabyte OC 7850 ($190)
2GB PowerColor 7850 ($170)
ASUS HD7950-DC2T-3GD5 3GB 7950 PCI-E VGA Card  ($299)
Gigabyte GV-R797OC-3GD 3GB 7970 PCI-E VGA Card ($339)
Gigabyte GV-R797TO-3GD 3GB 7970 PCI-E VGA Card ($369)

What kind of hashrate of hashrate would each of these get? And what would the ROI be? (compared to the other cards)

[matt4054]

My experience is that 7950 are the best value (purchase and hash/W)

One 7950 GPU will get you between 500 and 550 khash/sec in scrypt, maybe 600 with extra tweaking and proper cooling.

One 7850 GPU will get you between 350 and 400 khash/sec in scrypt

I would expect ROI in roughly 6-8 months depending on the evolution of difficulty and exchange rate, and your electricity costs.

If alt coins or Litecoin fails (but I don't believe it will), you might never get ROI, just keep it in mind.

[theegle]

My experience is that 7950 are the best value (purchase and hash/W)

One 7950 GPU will get you between 500 and 550 khash/sec in scrypt, maybe 600 with extra tweaking and proper cooling.

One 7850 GPU will get you between 350 and 400 khash/sec in scrypt

If I where to get a 7850 or two which one would you recommend? I am trying to make this a really cheap build considering it's just a hobby

[matt4054]

If I where to get a 7850 or two which one would you recommend? I am trying to make this a really cheap build considering it's just a hobby

2GB gigabyte OC 7850 ($190)
2GB PowerColor 7850 ($170)

Any more specific differences in core (engine) and memory clocks between these two?

If you want it cheap just go for the cheaper one, the differences should be tight

[theegle]

The powercolor stats
- Core Clock 1000MHz
- Powercolor’s PCS+ Cooling Technology
- Supports AMD Eyefinity and AMD CrossFire
- DVI x 2 / HDMI x 1 / Mini DisplayPort x 2
- 2GB GDDR5 (4900MHz)

The GigaByte
- Core Clock 975MHz (Std 860)
- 1024 Stream Processors
- Effective Memory Clock 4800MHz

(I am ussuming it is this model http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125419

One other thing is the PowerColor only has 1 fan so I assume I should get an after market fan as well to keep it cool?

[pand70]

I think you may as well start looking for used gpus like the 5970 which can hash with 700kh/s

[theegle]

I think you may as well start looking for used gpus like the 5970 which can hash with 700kh/s

Yea but they all go for $350 ~
I can just about get two 7850's for that price.

[matt4054]

Yea but they all go for $350 ~
I can just about get two 7850's for that price.

Yes, but keep in mind that 2 cards will "cost" you 2 PCI-e slots (i.e. CPU, MB, RAM, HDD etc "shared" rig costs)

[theegle]

Yea, I only plan on using 2 slots. As I said it is to keep startup costs at a bare minimum (one GPU rig will be around $400 with ability to add another gpu later)
If the rig gives me some profit to work with I my build another rig later on.

[matt4054]

Take the 2 7850 if you can afford both, or just one if you can't, as your budget seem to indicate. Then I'd go for the cheapest one as it seems the one with the best specs. And if you consider more hashrate I'd consider the 7950 instead of course.

[pand70]

I think you may as well start looking for used gpus like the 5970 which can hash with 700kh/s

Yea but they all go for $350 ~
I can just about get two 7850's for that price.

I 'm talking about second hand gpus. A used 5970 should cost no more than 200$.

[theegle]

I think you may as well start looking for used gpus like the 5970 which can hash with 700kh/s

Yea but they all go for $350 ~
I can just about get two 7850's for that price.

I 'm talking about second hand gpus. A used 5970 should cost no more than 200$.

I can't find one anywhere near me going that cheap. Ebay they are going for $350+ and there are none on my local craiglist like site.

[kostja]

I 'm talking about second hand gpus. A used 5970 should cost no more than 200$.

and no garancy

[matt4054]

5970 are old but still good cards (for both games and mining), and they are rare and/or pricy on the 2nd hand market

[theegle]

Take the 2 7850 if you can afford both, or just one if you can't, as your budget seem to indicate. Then I'd go for the cheapest one as it seems the one with the best specs. And if you consider more hashrate I'd consider the 7950 instead of course.

With two 7850's what kind of power supply do you recommend? I was trying to calculate it earlier and I am getting around 400w would that be right?

[matt4054]

Take the 2 7850 if you can afford both, or just one if you can't, as your budget seem to indicate. Then I'd go for the cheapest one as it seems the one with the best specs. And if you consider more hashrate I'd consider the 7950 instead of course.

With two 7850's what kind of power supply do you recommend? I was trying to calculate it earlier and I am getting around 400w would that be right?

Yes I would say minimum 500W, 600W would be better, to avoid issues when your CPU runs at 100% or stuff like this.

Also, they generally have enough PCI-e 6/8 pin connectors.

[af_newbie]

One 7950 GPU will get you between 500 and 550 khash/sec in scrypt, maybe 600 with extra tweaking and proper cooling.

Not quite true.  You can get 610+ out of most brands.  Some (gigabytes) can be pushed to 680 kh/s.
I'm running mine in the 620-660 ranges.

If you're buying new cards, I'd go with R9 290x.  I heard you can get >1000 kh/s out of them.  Never tried, but maybe you can squeeze 1100-1200 out of them. They are about $600 now, will get cheaper over time...

[aznatama]

Where are you getting your video cards from? those are good prices, and they're out of stock everywhere

r9 280x for $300 is good for ~740+
r9 290 for $600 and ~1100... not worth it IMO

[thejaxx]

Good news is Newegg just got a new shipment of cards in. They were all sold out the other day: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600473898%20600473899%20600286767%20600083901%20600007308%20600007320&IsNodeId=1&name=Radeon%20HD%205000%20series

[theegle]

Where are you getting your video cards from? those are good prices, and they're out of stock everywhere

r9 280x for $300 is good for ~740+
r9 290 for $600 and ~1100... not worth it IMO

No in my country
we are always behind everyone a month or so xD I can get 7970's for $340 or so as well.