Help building a semi cheap miner rig

[andy345]

I have been looking into building a miner rig for a little while and finally registered to see if I can get some help with it.

I have 2 of these http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150561 already. Those exact cards. I am looking to build a cheap miner out of them. Could someone suggest a motherboard, cpu, ram, and psu combo to go with them?

Thank you in advanced for any help.

[matthewh3]

Look for a motherboard with three PCI Express sockets so you can expand but you will need a decent 1200W PSU.  Also have your CPU underclocked/undervolted to save power and mine Litecoin's on it too.  Look at taking any DVD and Hard-Drives out and running off USB stick to save power plus only using one stick of RAM.

[Vanderbleek]

I'd recommend:

Mobo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130274
Has plenty of slots for expansion

PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151109
Reliable brand, tons of power.

RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139924
You can skimp on RAM, provided you don't want to use the PC for gaming as well.

CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103911
There is a cheaper Sempron that would work, but have more than 1 core seems worth the extra $30 to me.

Most people then run their rigs "open air" so you don't need a case.

That should about do it.

[diabinc141]

If you want a dedicated rig and cheap go with this:

Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130591
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157262 (if you want 3 PCI-E slots)

PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151109 (best psu out there)
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151108 (if you really need to spend less money, however you'll be limited on expandability)

RAM:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139924

CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103888

CASE:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197 (unless you don't want a case)

Also feel free to PM me or post here exactly what you need this computer for and I'll put together an exact parts list for your budget and needs.

[Vanderbleek]

*snip*
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157257 (if you want 3 PCI-E slots)

*snip*

That motherboard only works with socket FM1 APUs -- the Sempron you listed wouldn't work.

[diabinc141]

Wow my bad! Thanks for catching that. Guess you guys should help out! I need to get some sleep haha

(I updated my list)

[andy345]

Thank you all for the suggestions. And I was planning on not using a case and using BAMT to boot off of a flash drive.

What if I wanted to build a miner that would work for the 2 6870's but had no room for expansion if that makes sense?
I only have a 200 to 300 dollar budget right now so the cheaper the components the better it would be for me.

So I guess what I am trying to say is could I get a cpu, ram, mobo, psu combo for $200 or maybe even cheaper that would work for these cards without looking at future upgrading?

[jake262144]

You could cut corners by purchasing used components (fairly safe with the CPU and ram) but you might end up with no warranty and a hardware failure a month from now.
Whatever you do, you really need a good, efficient PSU.

A double 6870 rig does not make economic sense - you might not even make up for electricity costs with such low hash rate, let alone recover the hardware purchase costs. Until the latter is achieved you aren't actually making any money.

With such limited budget your best bet might be speculation. Mining isn't the only way to make some money with Bitcoin, you know.
During the recent price crash (after TradeHill suspended their activity) i purchased ±100 bitcoins I sold back for just over 110% of their price a week later.
Some food for thought...

[andy345]

You could cut corners by purchasing used components (fairly safe with the CPU and ram) but you might end up with no warranty and a hardware failure a month from now.
Whatever you do, you really need a good, efficient PSU.

A double 6870 rig does not make economic sense - you might not even make up for electricity costs with such low hash rate, let alone recover the hardware purchase costs. Until the latter is achieved you aren't actually making any money.

With such limited budget your best bet might be speculation. Mining isn't the only way to make some money with Bitcoin, you know.
During the recent price crash (after TradeHill suspended their activity) i purchased ±100 bitcoins I sold back for just over 110% of their price a week later.
Some food for thought...

I forgot to mention that I rent and utilities are included. So power costs should not be a problem. And thank you for the suggestion i will look into purchasing some bitcoin when its in a lul

[SaintFlow]

You could cut corners by purchasing used components (fairly safe with the CPU and ram) but you might end up with no warranty and a hardware failure a month from now.
Whatever you do, you really need a good, efficient PSU.

A double 6870 rig does not make economic sense - you might not even make up for electricity costs with such low hash rate, let alone recover the hardware purchase costs. Until the latter is achieved you aren't actually making any money.

With such limited budget your best bet might be speculation. Mining isn't the only way to make some money with Bitcoin, you know.
During the recent price crash (after TradeHill suspended their activity) i purchased ±100 bitcoins I sold back for just over 110% of their price a week later.
Some food for thought...

I forgot to mention that I rent and utilities are included. So power costs should not be a problem. And thank you for the suggestion i will look into purchasing some bitcoin when its in a lul

get ready to have your rent adjusted and your landlord be all other the place to find why the powerbill suddenly doubled.

[DeathAndTaxes]

You could cut corners by purchasing used components (fairly safe with the CPU and ram) but you might end up with no warranty and a hardware failure a month from now.
Whatever you do, you really need a good, efficient PSU.

A double 6870 rig does not make economic sense - you might not even make up for electricity costs with such low hash rate, let alone recover the hardware purchase costs. Until the latter is achieved you aren't actually making any money.

With such limited budget your best bet might be speculation. Mining isn't the only way to make some money with Bitcoin, you know.
During the recent price crash (after TradeHill suspended their activity) i purchased ±100 bitcoins I sold back for just over 110% of their price a week later.
Some food for thought...

I forgot to mention that I rent and utilities are included. So power costs should not be a problem. And thank you for the suggestion i will look into purchasing some bitcoin when its in a lul

get ready to have your rent adjusted and your landlord be all other the place to find why the powerbill suddenly doubled.

With 2x 6870s?  Get real. 

[RealSolid]

I agree that 1) 6870's are not worth getting into mining with, and 2) 6870's won't make a huge dent in the power.

[Vanderbleek]

I have a double 6870 box, though it's also for gaming. I get 580Mhash @ 430 W.

If you want to "just get by" with a rig, it would be cheaper -- but if you decide to expand, it will cost more, since instead of just adding cards you'd have to add a new everything. Regardless:

Mobo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130591
2 slots, and cheap.

CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103888
Single core, but cheap as they come.

PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028
Reputable brand, cheap, and enough wattage to cover your 6870s and fans (my box is running 2 6870s, 4 130CFM fans, 2 HDDs on a 600W PSU).

Ram:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139924
Same as before.

Total is just over $200 before rebates. You wont have any room for upgrades, though.

[DeathAndTaxes]

I have a double 6870 box, though it's also for gaming. I get 580Mhash @ 430 W.

One thing I would point out to the OP it that works out to little over 1.3 MH/W.  If you have free power that is fine but if you don't that makes you the marginal miner and the one forced out when (price)/(difficulty) falls.

If you want to "just get by" with a rig, it would be cheaper -- but if you decide to expand, it will cost more, since instead of just adding cards you'd have to add a new everything. Regardless:
 snip

That is a good setup and likely as cheap as you can get.

I do agree that most likely you will want to upgrade in the future.
Swapping the MB for the "miner's choice" MSI 890FXA-GD70 is some good "insurance"

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130274

Yeah it is $100 more making your system total ~$300 but reselling the GD70 is pretty easy as it is desirable for mining.

It has 8 pin connector (more power to PCIe bus), lots of PCIe slots, power/reboot switch on the board, easy BIOS reset on the backpanel, no issues booting from USB (ASUS grr...) and best it has proper slot configuration to allow 3 double slot cards w/ room between them.  This config (PCIe x16 in the 1st, 4th, 7th slot) is pretty rare and allows up to 3x5970 (2.2 GH/s) without needing expanders.

The config above is about as cheap as you can get but sometimes spending a little more pays off.

[Vanderbleek]

D&T, doesn't the GD-70 let you run a card in 1, 2, 4, 5 (numbered PCIe-2.0 slots)? Looks like there's enough space there, so you could run 4x 5970s and max out your 8 GPU limit. That's not really relevant to the original post though.

What he says about the Mhash/W is very true -- I do not pay for power, if I did I would not be able to make very much profit (about $0.70 a day).

The upside is, if you replace the Sempron with a Phenom II, and add more RAM you could sell it off as a gaming box pretty easily.

[DeathAndTaxes]

D&T, doesn't the GD-70 let you run a card in 1, 2, 4, 5 (numbered PCIe-2.0 slots)? Looks like there's enough space there, so you could run 4x 5970s and max out your 8 GPU limit. That's not really relevant to the original post though.

True but you need extenders.  There are other (potentially cheaper) boards which can do that too.  The nice thing about the GD70 is you can:
a) use slots 1, 4, 7 to run 3 dual slot graphics cards without extenders (including 3x5970s)
b) use slots 1,3, 5, 7 to run 4 dual slot watercooled graphics cards without extenders (including 4x5970s). 
c) use all slots except #6 to run 6x graphics card with extenders.

It allows you do Just bout anything you need today or tomorrow without needing to replace the board.  The only thing it can't do is 7 or 8 physical graphics cards and board that can do that tend to be $300+.

[Vanderbleek]

So the only thing stopping you from cramming 4x 5970s in there is heat dissipation? 4 dual slot cards will physically fit though, right?

[DeathAndTaxes]

So the only thing stopping you from cramming 4x 5970s in there is heat dissipation? 4 dual slot cards will physically fit though, right?

Yes. The 5970 pulls air from the "side" so the intake will be press up against the backside of the next card.  Watercooled (example) is fine as you don't need airflow.    Putting 3 of them (or any dual slot card) in slots 1, 3, 7 puts one "slot" worth of an air gap between each card.

[andy345]

I have a double 6870 box, though it's also for gaming. I get 580Mhash @ 430 W.

If you want to "just get by" with a rig, it would be cheaper -- but if you decide to expand, it will cost more, since instead of just adding cards you'd have to add a new everything. Regardless:

Mobo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130591
2 slots, and cheap.

CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103888
Single core, but cheap as they come.

PSU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028
Reputable brand, cheap, and enough wattage to cover your 6870s and fans (my box is running 2 6870s, 4 130CFM fans, 2 HDDs on a 600W PSU).

Ram:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139924
Same as before.

Total is just over $200 before rebates. You wont have any room for upgrades, though.

Thank you. I will be buying what you suggested.

And thank all of you for the suggestions. I truly appreciate it.

[Vanderbleek]

Glad to hear I was able to help. Just be warned: you may catch the mining bug, and find yourself wishing you could add "just one more card."