[Help!] ASRock H81 Pro BTC Build Questions

[Organik]

Hi Guys,

I have a package waiting in customs right now that I'm patiently waiting for. In order to complete the build, I have to order a couple more parts. Here is the current build:

Current Build:
1 x ASROCK H81 PRO BTC
1 x INTEL G1821 CPU
1 x 8GB RAM
6 x GIGABYTE R9 280X
6 x USB POWERED RISERS


So, I still need to order my power supplies. I was thinking of going with these guys:

1 x 1000w EVGA SUPERNOVA G2
1 x 1300w EVGA SUPERNOVA G2

Question 1:
Would this be overkill in terms of wattage? Perhaps I can save $50 and go with two 1000w? And how should I connect everything up.. 4 cards on one psu and the system + 2 cards on the other?

Question 2:
I've heard of people linking power supplies together so they get turned on at the same time, how do I do this and is this necessary? What do they mean by "do not mix" when doing this.

Question 3:
I have 6 USB powered risers.. some of the posts I've read from people make me nervous about this whole power concept. But my plan now is to connect the two molex on the motherboard up, as well as connect all six powered risers to each card. I guess I'm concerned about frying the motherboard or the cards. Hopefully someone can give me some advice here on the plan.

I think that's all the questions I have for now.. thank you all.

[SneakyNinjA]

Question 1:
Would this be overkill in terms of wattage? Perhaps I can save $50 and go with two 1000w? And how should I connect everything up.. 4 cards on one psu and the system + 2 cards on the other?


My Answer:
I use 1000W on mobo and 3 GPU, power draw of ~850 watts, then 6 GPU on a 1250W psu. I would say stick to name brand, 1000W+, PSU's thats been my only issue so far. I cannot recommend the Corsair RM1000 enough, that thing is a beast, plus the cabling it comes with is amazing.

Question 2:
I've heard of people linking power supplies together so they get turned on at the same time, how do I do this and is this necessary? What do they mean by "do not mix" when doing this.

Answer:
http://aphnetworks.com/lounge/turn_on_psu_without_motherboard_the_paperclip_trick

Turn on the non-mobo connected PSU first, then turn on mobo. works flawlessly.

Question 3:
I have 6 USB powered risers.. some of the posts I've read from people make me nervous about this whole power concept. But my plan now is to connect the two molex on the motherboard up, as well as connect all six powered risers to each card. I guess I'm concerned about frying the motherboard or the cards.

Answer:
I have the two molex on mobo plugged in, as well as all my risers plugged in. Been running safely for ~3 weeks now.

[Organik]

SneakyNinja,

Thank for your reply. So you  have roughly the same amount of wattage I would be getting with the two PSU's I specified.. let's try and do some rough math and hopefully someone can verify..

GIGABYTE R9 280X = 300w * 6 = ~1800w
Rest of the system = ~100w ??

That's how I currently see it anyway.

And it sounds like your doing the same exact thing I'll be doing in regards to power. Connecting both molex to mobo, and then connect all powered risers.

Thanks.

[EricKennedy]

Rest of the system = ~100w ??

Should be more like ~40-50w (depending of CPU, and fans)

[Organik]

Alright, I realized I won't need the full 1000w power supply. So I'll do 2 GPU + System on one 850W. And then 4 GPU on the 1300w.

I went ahead and ordered these items:

Corsair RM Series 850
EVGA SuperNOVA 1300G2.

[SneakyNinjA]

Awesome, I'm glad we have another miner in here now! Good luck with your endeavors!

As an addendum to my PSU comment, I have found that sometimes PSU's do not turn on if they cables are not of a specific brand, so if you run into issues while paper-clipping, unplug cables that didn't come with that specific PSU first. I'm not sure why this occurs, but am currently looking into it.

[Organik]

Awesome, I'm glad we have another miner in here now! Good luck with your endeavors!

As an addendum to my PSU comment, I have found that sometimes PSU's do not turn on if they cables are not of a specific brand, so if you run into issues while paper-clipping, unplug cables that didn't come with that specific PSU first. I'm not sure why this occurs, but am currently looking into it.

I also ordered a Dual PSU Adapter Cable so I won't be paper clipping haha. I find it convenient that they both turn on/turn off at the same time. It's not that expensive for the cable.

[gpucoolingmethod]

Hi Guys,

I have a package waiting in customs right now that I'm patiently waiting for. In order to complete the build, I have to order a couple more parts. Here is the current build:

Current Build:
1 x ASROCK H81 PRO BTC
1 x INTEL G1821 CPU
1 x 8GB RAM
6 x GIGABYTE R9 280X
6 x USB POWERED RISERS


So, I still need to order my power supplies. I was thinking of going with these guys:

1 x 1000w EVGA SUPERNOVA G2
1 x 1300w EVGA SUPERNOVA G2

Question 1:
Would this be overkill in terms of wattage? Perhaps I can save $50 and go with two 1000w? And how should I connect everything up.. 4 cards on one psu and the system + 2 cards on the other?

Question 2:
I've heard of people linking power supplies together so they get turned on at the same time, how do I do this and is this necessary? What do they mean by "do not mix" when doing this.

Question 3:
I have 6 USB powered risers.. some of the posts I've read from people make me nervous about this whole power concept. But my plan now is to connect the two molex on the motherboard up, as well as connect all six powered risers to each card. I guess I'm concerned about frying the motherboard or the cards. Hopefully someone can give me some advice here on the plan.

I think that's all the questions I have for now.. thank you all.

Hello ima get this mobo and cpu too.However I will buy 2gb goodram ddr3 9/9/9/24 (cheapest ddr3 I found)and i wont use a case hard drive  etc.Also i will underclock all except gpu for max power save.Make sure these psu have been  reviewed properly and do more research.


Q1) there is no info on internet (at least i couldnt find any) on exactly how much power do cards use when scrypt mining. There is only that one radeon uses 50 W more bitmining than gaming. I will just measure power usage with one card and two to find out better.

Q2 Paperclip is best option I think. You ll keep pc on so you wont care about that paperclip anyway.

Q3 Im not sure about the risers theoreticlly they wont be used unless needed but you dont want anything to burn. If anything would go wrong then you have warranty anyway

[drof69]

Question 1: Would this be overkill in terms of wattage? Perhaps I can save $50 and go with two 1000w? And how should I connect everything up.. 4 cards on one psu and the system + 2 cards on the other?

You'll want to use a PSU calculator to determine how much approximate power you'll be need. http://www.pcpower.com/technology/power_usage/ shows max ranges, most of these are pretty high. Here's a good link to get an idea of the Power Consumption of 280x cards http://www.overclock.net/t/1454426/r9-270-underrated-the-holy-grail-of-mining-rigs-2-important-metrics.

I've heard of people linking power supplies together so they get turned on at the same time, how do I do this and is this necessary? What do they mean by "do not mix" when doing this.

Organik is right on, you can use a paperclip or even an industrial staple to short the 24 pin, you just insert it into the pin with the green cable, and a black ground pin. You can then setup your BIOS to turn the computer on when you power it on. Otherwise you can use a screwdriver (plastic handle) to short the motherboard to start.

I have 6 USB powered risers.. some of the posts I've read from people make me nervous about this whole power concept. But my plan now is to connect the two molex on the motherboard up, as well as connect all six powered risers to each card. I guess I'm concerned about frying the motherboard or the cards. Hopefully someone can give me some advice here on the plan.

I wouldn't worry about this, the risers are 25W max additional load. The powered risers will pull from the PSU (if I'm not mistaken).

Last thing. Your RAM is overkill unless you plan to game too. 2 GB max, the idea is low power for everything but the GPUs. Use Linux and a USB thumb drive (I use 8 dollar ones). Honestly, I wouldn't got with 280x, but that's up to you.  

[gpucoolingmethod]

Question 1: Would this be overkill in terms of wattage? Perhaps I can save $50 and go with two 1000w? And how should I connect everything up.. 4 cards on one psu and the system + 2 cards on the other?

You'll want to use a PSU calculator to determine how much approximate power you'll be need. http://www.pcpower.com/technology/power_usage/ shows max ranges, most of these are pretty high. Here's a good link to get an idea of the Power Consumption of 280x cards http://www.overclock.net/t/1454426/r9-270-underrated-the-holy-grail-of-mining-rigs-2-important-metrics.

These are very different in results.Also they dont consider things like everything underclocked except overclocked gpu and that gpu will use more power than in gaming.Since there is no info on net then you just have to find it yourself with a ACCURATE powermeter.

[drof69]

http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp = better calculator. Sorry, had to grab one of my A+ books to find that one.

[edgar]

Question 1: Would this be overkill in terms of wattage? Perhaps I can save $50 and go with two 1000w? And how should I connect everything up.. 4 cards on one psu and the system + 2 cards on the other?

You'll want to use a PSU calculator to determine how much approximate power you'll be need. http://www.pcpower.com/technology/power_usage/ shows max ranges, most of these are pretty high. Here's a good link to get an idea of the Power Consumption of 280x cards http://www.overclock.net/t/1454426/r9-270-underrated-the-holy-grail-of-mining-rigs-2-important-metrics.

I've heard of people linking power supplies together so they get turned on at the same time, how do I do this and is this necessary? What do they mean by "do not mix" when doing this.

Organik is right on, you can use a paperclip or even an industrial staple to short the 24 pin, you just insert it into the pin with the green cable, and a black ground pin. You can then setup your BIOS to turn the computer on when you power it on. Otherwise you can use a screwdriver (plastic handle) to short the motherboard to start.

I have 6 USB powered risers.. some of the posts I've read from people make me nervous about this whole power concept. But my plan now is to connect the two molex on the motherboard up, as well as connect all six powered risers to each card. I guess I'm concerned about frying the motherboard or the cards. Hopefully someone can give me some advice here on the plan.

I wouldn't worry about this, the risers are 25W max additional load. The powered risers will pull from the PSU (if I'm not mistaken).

Last thing. Your RAM is overkill unless you plan to game too. 2 GB max, the idea is low power for everything but the GPUs. Use Linux and a USB thumb drive (I use 8 dollar ones). Honestly, I wouldn't got with 280x, but that's up to you.  

 2Gb Max, Really?

i saw a post somewhere that said 8Gb RAM for 6x R9 290s..

Isnt more RAM better wrt mining?

[gpucoolingmethod]

Question 1: Would this be overkill in terms of wattage? Perhaps I can save $50 and go with two 1000w? And how should I connect everything up.. 4 cards on one psu and the system + 2 cards on the other?

You'll want to use a PSU calculator to determine how much approximate power you'll be need. http://www.pcpower.com/technology/power_usage/ shows max ranges, most of these are pretty high. Here's a good link to get an idea of the Power Consumption of 280x cards http://www.overclock.net/t/1454426/r9-270-underrated-the-holy-grail-of-mining-rigs-2-important-metrics.

I've heard of people linking power supplies together so they get turned on at the same time, how do I do this and is this necessary? What do they mean by "do not mix" when doing this.

Organik is right on, you can use a paperclip or even an industrial staple to short the 24 pin, you just insert it into the pin with the green cable, and a black ground pin. You can then setup your BIOS to turn the computer on when you power it on. Otherwise you can use a screwdriver (plastic handle) to short the motherboard to start.

I have 6 USB powered risers.. some of the posts I've read from people make me nervous about this whole power concept. But my plan now is to connect the two molex on the motherboard up, as well as connect all six powered risers to each card. I guess I'm concerned about frying the motherboard or the cards. Hopefully someone can give me some advice here on the plan.

I wouldn't worry about this, the risers are 25W max additional load. The powered risers will pull from the PSU (if I'm not mistaken).

Last thing. Your RAM is overkill unless you plan to game too. 2 GB max, the idea is low power for everything but the GPUs. Use Linux and a USB thumb drive (I use 8 dollar ones). Honestly, I wouldn't got with 280x, but that's up to you.  

 2Gb Max, Really?

i saw a post somewhere that said 8Gb RAM for 6x R9 290s..

Isnt more RAM better wrt mining?

I ll just find out and post about my findings. Also Ive read anyway someone's post of having less than 2gb is much more than he needed anyway since in task manager cgminer used about 256 mb but the rest was used as cache by windows.

[Degolep]

i've just ordered 4x 280x and ASROCK H61 Pro BTC and now i'm not sure how many powered risers should I get?

1x PCI-E 16X–16X and 3x PCI-E 1X–16X would this be the best?

[drof69]

You should be able to do 2 risers.  You can do 2 cards in the PCIe 16x slots then use the two risers. The reason that it's better to use some in the MB is because the risers do pull power.

Edit, actually 3 risers. 1 Card in the PCIe 16x.

[Degolep]

I want 4 riser because i'm gonna make the same setup like this http://shrani.najdi.si/?13/jG/2qlupwe3/img0110.jpg for better cooling

CPU will be Intel Celeron Dual-Core G1610 Box

[drof69]

I want 4 riser because i'm gonna make the same setup like this http://shrani.najdi.si/?13/jG/2qlupwe3/img0110.jpg for better cooling

CPU will be Intel Celeron Dual-Core G1610 Box

Ya, that's a good CPU to go with. I'm interested in trying out USB risers. You can get them much longer than your standard risers.

[gpucoolingmethod]

i've just ordered 4x 280x and ASROCK H61 Pro BTC and now i'm not sure how many powered risers should I get?

1x PCI-E 16X–16X and 3x PCI-E 1X–16X would this be the best?

reddit thread about mining with this board (look it up easy to findp)says to not use POWERED risers since you use molex to mobo instead or you will burn something