I've been doing a bit of research and wanted to see what cryptomining hardware dangers you guys have stumbled upon in your experience / research. I'll start with a few I've discovered:
- Using SATA cables to connect risers and GPUs
- Buying a CPU that has a chipset incompatible with your motherboard
- Buying a power supply without enough wattage for your devices
- Buying RAM cards for a laptop instead of a desktop setup
- Before flashing GPU BIOS, save original copies of BIOS and be careful
1. This first point is pretty important and can be catastrophic to your setup if things go wrong. From what I've read, Sata cables can melt or catch fire if used to power risers and GPUs this way. I've found a couple of video tutorials on rig setups that use this improper configuration. It's said that Molex connections are a better option but still improper. PCIe connectors are considered the best option according to my resources.
2. Make sure that you CPU and motherboard are compatible. For example, if the motherboard is LGA 1151, then the CPU should be as well.
3. This is also important, since a PSU (power supply unit) without the correct wattage can cause a lower hashrate as well as hardware problems with your system. From the sources I've read, it also seems to be important to find a PSU with a Gold or Platinum rating for optimal performance.
4. This one is an silly mistake that can be easily avoided. Just make sure the RAM is intended for desktops and not a laptop. RAM isn't particulary important for mining so most resources recommend getting 4GB or RAM and the DDR type (DDR3 or DDR4) that fits your motherboard. I've seen the 2400 series recommended several times.
5. Flashing the BIOS can be done on the AMD GPUs to increase hashpower on each GPU. Be careful to read on this subject well before starting and work on one GPU at a time. Improperly flashing the BIOS with new firmware can damage the GPU.
What other hardware dangers have you guys read about / experienced?
