Building my 1st rig! Need opinions on my build :D

[Nickers]

HEY! Ive been using a macbook that gets about 25mhash..complete garbage for awhile and I'm over mining on it since its my primary gaming go to and hate dedicating some of its time to mining...

So before getting a dedicated rig I thought I'd ask you guys for input on my plan! criticism welcome!!!
So bellow is what I have planned out! Letme know what you think and how long it will take to break even after mining!!!


Case: Thermaltake V3 Black Edition http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133094
Motherboard: MSI 870A-G46 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130591
Processor: AMD Sempron 145 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103888
Graphics: 2 Refurbished: PNY RVCGGTX550TXXB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133416
Ram: Crucial Ballistix 1GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148431
Power Supply: Rosewill Stallion Series http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182044


My subtotal comes shy of 450$ and defiantly don't want to put anymore into it.
I have a HD and flash drive

Note* These are all from newegg and I get 3% cash back through this site (If your interested) http://goo.gl/fqZ8S <-- great for online purchases always getting checks in the mail!!!

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[iNs4nePT]

Definitively do NOT use nvidia cards, as they are *really* slow for mining.

Have you even wondered why mostly everyone uses an ATI card?

Have a look at the mining hardware comparison on the wiki: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_hardware_comparison

[Nickers]

Coming from my Radeon HD 6490m anything really would be a nice upgrade haahha

But on a more serious note, is there something you would recommend personally that you've had really good experiences with?

And I was planning to run the rig with WinXP is that a good idea? or would Win7 be fine?

[N.Olmos]

The GTX550 is a no go.

Check here:
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_hardware_comparison
The GTX550 is not listed but you will not get more the 60Mh/s.

If you want new, get this for a little more:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102908
With this HD6850 you can get up to 300Mh/s

Or save $10 and get this instead:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814129217
You can get up to 200Mh/s with a HD5750

However, what you really want is used or refurbished HD5870(up to 460Mh/s) or HD5970(up to 850Mh/s).

For comparison, the 6490M will give you about 15Mh/s.

[someone703]

Like iNs4nePT said, don't use nVidias.

Get a an ATI that's comparably priced to the GTX550s you're looking at and you'll get more mhash/sec for the money you put into the cards.  At $120 each, you could probably find some 5830's.  For a little more you could also get the 5850's or 5870's if you look around and find a good deal (on Craigslist/eBay and forums like this one or others).

GTX550's don't seem to be listed on the hardware comparison wiki (https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_hardware_comparison), but someone in another thread mentioned that he was getting about 30-40 mhash/sec (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=61292.msg715196#msg715196).

For the same price, the 5830's are supposed to put out around 286.45 mhash/sec.

As for the other stuff and whether or not OS makes a difference, I have no clue myself.

Edit: Guy above beat me to it.  Although from my short time here, it seems like the 5800 series are some of the go-to cards for mhash/$ value?  It's hard to find brand new ones though if you're worried about them dying on you before you get enough mining time out of 'em.

[jake262144]

That PSU you listed is not exactly up to snuff.
"Efficiency >65%"? Run, efficiency should be >85%, you've gotta pay for all that wasted electricity after all.
No PFC and two 80mm fans make me feel like I'm back in the 1990s,...

Go for something 80+Bronze certified at the very least, like the XFX Core Edition 550W or PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk III 600W
If you can afford it, choosing a 80+Gold capable device can't possibly be a bad move. Rosewill Capstone 750W is very reasonably priced.

You already know about nVidia, right?
Grab the most powerful AMD card you can afford since you'll only be able to use two cards with that mobo.
If you find mining profitable, you can always purchase a second card later on.

[Nickers]

Thanks for the list  

Which card numbers on the list are the manufactures??


Edit: Quick google search did the trick, thanks all!

[someone703]

As far as manufacturers go, should all be pretty much the same with a small amount of variance on how well you can overclock them (if you choose to do so).

Not my personal experience, but from reading, it would seem that some feel that:

-Sapphire's tend to overclock the best

-XFX has the best warranty (double lifetime warranty: meaning that you get the warranty, and if you/someone chooses to sell the card they can transfer the warranty).  Read a few comments on how the XFX's tend to go bad requiring the warranty to be as good as it is...

-Diamonds I haven't really heard anything good/bad about them so I guess they're solid performers?

Someone feel free to correct me.

[blissfulyoshi]

If you really think bitcoin will pay out for you, trying a 7950 or a 7970 might not be too bad (these cards just came out so they do charge a small premium....). Besides that, I will have to agree with the 5830 (or a 5850 /5870 if oyou can find one)

About companies, I heard horrifying things about XFX's AMD customer service, so I have been told to stay away from their ATI stuff, but I'll leave that decision up to you.