Newbie Scrypt Mining rig advice

[drdops]

Would like some recommendations on mining hardware:
thinking of building a rig with 4-6 R9 280x cards.

Whats a recommended MB for a hassle free setup using 4-6 of these cards using windows? can I get windows to run 6 cards?

Can I run the cards directly on the board?- Ive seen talk of risers/powered risers- can someone explain their function?

Whats a recommended PSU for up to 6 of these R9's? or would it be better to use multiple ones? Do the cards power off the psu directly?

What kind of electricity costs am I looking at with this kind of setup?

How many khash/s should i expect without overclocking per card/in total?

Is there any ROI in scrypt mining?

If I was to throw that rig at Litecoin for example what would I be mining per day at current difficulty/price?

Im building it more for new coins and not expecting any overnight returns

Any advice appreciated. Would love to hear about individual setups that work- and the kind of returns and power consumption etc...

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[defaced]

when looking at cards and bang for the buck I chose to go with 4 270x's because they were close to $200/card and each card is giving me around 410kh im sure it can be better I just havnt got the sweetspot yet

[frostamation]

Whats a recommended MB for a hassle free setup using 4-6 of these cards using windows? can I get windows to run 6 cards?
dont know the answer but i have read its very picky, i would stick with 4, maybe 5, and build more rigs as needed

Can I run the cards directly on the board?- Ive seen talk of risers/powered risers- can someone explain their function?
some mobos have enough space to run 4 cards without risers. purpose of risers are to get the card away from the board so they can be spaced out and allow proper airflow to them to increase cooling and decrease temp so they run better and last longer. heat is the enemy of all electronics.

Whats a recommended PSU for up to 6 of these R9's? or would it be better to use multiple ones? Do the cards power off the psu directly?
i have 4 290x and i use 2 psu's via add2psu which can be purchased multiple places just google add2psu, and i have a 750w and 850w psu, 2 cards on 750w and 2 powered risers and the same on the 850w plus the mobo power.

What kind of electricity costs am I looking at with this kind of setup?
my watts @ the wall measured using killawatt, worth while for a cheap 26$ at amazon, is ~1350, fluctuates around there.

How many khash/s should i expect without overclocking per card/in total?
dont know the khash for 280 but i get ~930kh/s on each 290x

Is there any ROI in scrypt mining?
so far after a few weeks i have made 1/2 my investment back. all depends on the price of bitcoin and the alt coin that i mine.

If I was to throw that rig at Litecoin for example what would I be mining per day at current difficulty/price?
ltc dif at 3195.34039523 with 4 290x cards at ~930kh/s each would net me 1.13320702 per day give or take. again dont know the hash rate for 280s

Im building it more for new coins and not expecting any overnight returns
thats a good thought to go into this, the get rich quick does happen and has happened to a slim few but if your throwing money at this in hopes of waking up with a lambo in your garage you have a high chance of being disappointed and a lot of grey hairs in your future. can you make money yes will it be overnight no. when mining alt coins you gotta be in it for a while sometimes before you can cash out for a decent amount of bitcoin.

Any advice appreciated. Would love to hear about individual setups that work- and the kind of returns and power consumption etc...

[tabsa]

Good article on this:

http://forums.teamdoge.com/topic/32/thinking-about-purchasing-a-gpu-to-mine-dogecoin-look-here-first

[kalus]

Is there any ROI in scrypt mining?

...

Im building it more for new coins and not expecting any overnight returns

Any advice appreciated. Would love to hear about individual setups that work- and the kind of returns and power consumption etc...

I wanted to offer a more conservative ROI estimate, because we seem to share some of the same fiscal concerns re: ROI

I have R9 280x systems (2 or 3 cards per), run as cheaply as possible.  i can do two cards for one 850w power supply.  get one of those belkin watt meters to figure out what your power consumption is like.

where i live power is 10.6¢/kwh (no that's not catcoin).  my systems were built before the price inflation (280x's are selling for 400-500 right now, before were <$300).  estimate for breakeven on LTC in november was 60 days.  at 800w, i am paying about $1/day for elx.  

the systems i built after the LTC/BTC crash, coupled by the increase in difficulty, has stretched by breakeven to 100 days.  

I am being incredibly conservative; i will likely exceed these estimates.  but these are the 'low return' scenarios for me.  my estimates for earnings are based on BTC being at $700.  my estimates include as many expenses as possible from any cases i need, extra fans, electricity, and replacement powersupplies to replace the ones i blew up.  where possible, i obtain parts for free.  

I aim to break even by the end of february, and i am an investor, not a speculator.  

right now, i estimate .47 LTC per 1mh/s.  i'm sure people can get more, but again, i am using extremely conservative estimates.  i do not want optimism to lead me down the wrong path.  I am also using middlecoin, and find myself getting a higher mean  daily return than on litecoin over the past 2 weeks.  

[ghcoin]

What is the temperature for
4 290x cards at ~930 kh/s ?
What is the OS and driver version? (Windows 8.1 and AMD 13-12 ?)
What brand of 290x ? (Gigabyte, MSI ?)

[drdops]

Thank you to all who replied.
Been busy and changed my game plan slightly.


i just got 15 x sapphire r9 290 tri x and was going to do 5 rigs with win 7..now i think ill try 3 rigs with 5 cards..
i already have 3x Gigabyte 990XA-UD3 AMD 990X (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard  and 3x Silverstone SST-ST1200-G Strider Evolution Gold Series - 1200 Watt

could i run 5 cards on this mobo in win 7? how much extra power would i need for each rig? would i run 3 or 4 cards off the 1200w?
could you tell me exactly what else i need to make it work..ie specific power risers, things to connect psu's etc.. (Its my first build- so will need it spelled out)

Does my mobo need powered risers?- does the speed of the pcie slots matter?

Do the psu's use only the minimum power required? or should i get the least wattage i require to minimise costs of electricity?

Is it safe to plug multiple psu's on an extension lead into a single 220v mains socket?
How do i get all the rigs to output to one monitor?
Any other tips for safety and cost reduction?

thanks
thanks

[frostamation]

i already have 3x Gigabyte 990XA-UD3 AMD 990X (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard  and 3x Silverstone SST-ST1200-G Strider Evolution Gold Series - 1200 Watt

could i run 5 cards on this mobo in win 7?
yes

how much extra power would i need for each rig?
each card runs ~270w max load x 5 = 1350 + mobo, hdd, powered risers would mean at least 1500w but i would recommend getting a cheap 500 or 550w psu and run 4 cards off the 1200w and 1 card plus mobo and all off the other psu.


would i run 3 or 4 cards off the 1200w?
4 cards max

could you tell me exactly what else i need to make it work..ie specific power risers, things to connect psu's etc.. (Its my first build- so will need it spelled out)
you need powered risers, i use cryptocables.com, you will need 2 16x to 16x risers and 3 1x to 16x risers for each rig, 1 add2psu(what i use) for dual psu hookup per rig.

Does my mobo need powered risers?-

i use them and i would recommend them, i have had issues with unpowered, some people havent any issues either way so i would be safe than sorry and just get the powered ones.

does the speed of the pcie slots matter?

no

Do the psu's use only the minimum power required? or should i get the least wattage i require to minimise costs of electricity?
the psu will only take from the wall what i needs, a 1200w psu running a 100w bulb will only draw ~100w not the full 1200w. you dont want your psu to be above 80% load if you can help it 80% is going to give you the max efficiency. so a 1000w psu using 800w is the ideal situation. just use the 80% for your psu and see how many watts you should take from it and add up your parts to meat that watt ratio.


Is it safe to plug multiple psu's on an extension lead into a single 220v mains socket?

yes and no, i would imagine on 220v you still have a breaker box, and if so check the breaker for the socket that your going to plug into then see how many amps i can handle, place your rigs around your house on different breakers if need be or get an electrician to run you dedicated lines where ever.


How do i get all the rigs to output to one monitor?
its possible to use a kvm switch, should work fine with that but not 100%, i dont use kvm switches but thats only because i had an extra monitor lying around for my second rig, but will be trying it in the future.

Any other tips for safety and cost reduction?

safety = backup and encrypt wallets often
cost reduction = dont forget to monitor heat levels with components, buying a 10$ fan to help cool a 500$gpu is better than losing kh/s for a broke gpu.