Cheapo Miner

[cyberhelix]

I am sure someone has done this...

1. Motherboard w/Integrated CPU    $56.99
2. One Cheapo 480 Watt PS           $13.99
3. 2gb DDR3                                $10.99
4. 16GB Flash drive to boot            $10.99
5. WiFi Adapter (Nano) USB            $9.99

$100 system screwed to a piece of plywood the size of the MoBo.

Run OS from Flash Drive and WiFi network connection.

So basically add 100 to any PCIe card and a single card rig is born.

Thoughts?

[Red Emerald]

I think its better to spend a little more on the mobo and PSU and get more cards.

a 16GB drive is probably more than you need.  BAMT is less than a gig IIRC

Why spend any money on wifi? Every modern mobo has at least one ethernet port.

[cyberhelix]

True...

I have a really large plywood wall in my shop, the electricity there is .06

The vision is to hang these devices on the wall with a couple of hooks.

No net on wall, but power is easy.

[Gomeler]

So $100 per PCIe slot.


$50 Sempron 145
$10 2gb ram
$174 MSI 890FXA-GD70(I bought a number of them @ $125 open box)
$200-$250 your flavor of 1200w PSU
$25 5 PCIe extender cables
$5 4gb USB stick + BAMT/Ubuntu

Comes out to ~80/PCIe slot but you have 1 machine to manage instead of 6. The resale of hardware will also be higher.

With only 7 computers I wish I could combine them all in to one machine to manage. I couldn't imagine doing this with ~35 machines.

[dizzy1]

I think its better to spend a little more on the mobo and PSU and get more cards.

a 16GB drive is probably more than you need.  BAMT is less than a gig IIRC

Why spend any money on wifi? Every modern mobo has at least one ethernet port.

Bamt needs a stick that has more than 2gb. It is like 5 mbs too big for a 2gb stick.

[xurious]

So $100 per PCIe slot.


$50 Sempron 145
$10 2gb ram
$174 MSI 890FXA-GD70(I bought a number of them @ $125 open box)
$200-$250 your flavor of 1200w PSU
$25 5 PCIe extender cables
$5 4gb USB stick + BAMT/Ubuntu

Comes out to ~80/PCIe slot but you have 1 machine to manage instead of 6. The resale of hardware will also be higher.

With only 7 computers I wish I could combine them all in to one machine to manage. I couldn't imagine doing this with ~35 machines.

I was thinking 4 cards per rig until I thought... what happens when 1 board or PSU goes up in smoke? 4 cards are down.

If the op was thinking of these... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157209.

However, as others have said, I wouldn't necessarily go for the cheapest PSU. Cut the 16gb down to 4, get a used 24 10/100 switch for $10 or $20 bucks.

The other thing is your power inefficiency goes down when you have 1 underloaded PSU per board.

[1l1l11ll1l]

Used P4 system (e.g. HP DC7600) $25
4GB memory stick $8

Bamt, $33 per Pcie slot (max 1 GPU).

Or get a $50 PSU and use dual GPU boards, or the x1 PCIe slot they also have

[Gomeler]

So $100 per PCIe slot.


$50 Sempron 145
$10 2gb ram
$174 MSI 890FXA-GD70(I bought a number of them @ $125 open box)
$200-$250 your flavor of 1200w PSU
$25 5 PCIe extender cables
$5 4gb USB stick + BAMT/Ubuntu

Comes out to ~80/PCIe slot but you have 1 machine to manage instead of 6. The resale of hardware will also be higher.

With only 7 computers I wish I could combine them all in to one machine to manage. I couldn't imagine doing this with ~35 machines.

I was thinking 4 cards per rig until I thought... what happens when 1 board or PSU goes up in smoke? 4 cards are down.

If the op was thinking of these... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157209.

However, as others have said, I wouldn't necessarily go for the cheapest PSU. Cut the 16gb down to 4, get a used 24 10/100 switch for $10 or $20 bucks.

The other thing is your power inefficiency goes down when you have 1 underloaded PSU per board.

Let me know how your nightmare goes with dozens of computers running to get any appreciable amount of hashing power 

[1l1l11ll1l]

Let me know how your nightmare goes with dozens of computers running to get any appreciable amount of hashing power 

My Nightmare :-)

[ARapalo]

You can skimp on anything but the PSU. A cheap $14 PSU is guaranteed to burn out for 24/7 operations with a load. These kinds of cheap PSU's don't have good enough voltage regulations, and I'm sure the ripple tolerances are very bad. And killing a PSU is a dangerous way a system can go out, because it can take out other components too. You can skimp on a hard drive, CPU, memory, (maybe motherboard), but not a PSU.

[twoBitBasher]

That's right some cheapo psus come even with concrete blocks as PFCs. Plus such rubbish psus dump massive loads of heat in to your room due to their non existent efficiency. So don't skimp on this you'll just ruin perfectly good hardware and burn down your house.