Help with a basic rig - 1.0 BTC bounty

[PolymorphicAssasin]

So I've got 3 Sapphire Radeon HD 5830 Xtreme cards on the way, and I need to build out the rest of the rig.

Basic Requirements:

• It needs to run in a case.
• Can be loud but not obscenely so. (ie, I should be able to have a phone conversation while standing within 4-5 feet).
• Electricity is included in the lease, so it's not a huge factor.
• It should be headless (at least after setup) with remote monitoring capability.  I'm assuming once setup I can use SSH or something to monitor it. Please include suggestions...
• Solution should include actual available parts (links to newegg/tigerdirect, ingram micro, etc a plus) with pricing. "You should be able to find a Flux Capacitor 9000 on ebay for like 10 bux dude" would weigh down your response score.
• Some explanation as to why you chose certain components.

I'd like to keep the costs for the Case, PS, MB, Ram, etc to a minimum, but reliability and hands-offish-ness (new word!!)to a reasonable level. This is a pure mining rig, I'd like to set and forget for the next 6-12 months. (Of course I'll probably monitor performance obsessively on a daily if not hourly basis - but that's part of the fun.) I want to be able to NOT HAVE to check on it daily.

I have a 20 year history of building my own PCs, but they've always been for Desktop, Gaming, or DB/Web servers, and I'm hoping to draw on the vast experience of the community for this niche build.  I only claim this experience so you know what general knowledge level to tailor your responses to.

Best/cheapest/most efficient (by my sole determination) solution that I get will receive ONE WHOLE BITCOIN!!

Deadline for submissions 2012/05/23, 23:59 Eastern Daylight Time.  I'll pay out the BTC within 72hrs following the submission deadline.

Apologies if this is not in the correct forum location.

P.S. - if someone has something already built they're getting rid of for upgrading, etc... PM please and we can work something out.

[PolymorphicAssasin]

Reserved for FAQ & Winner Announcement

Dropt was the winner.  Just sent his 1 BTC.  If I knew how to go find that in the blockchain I would.  Dropt if you could confirm in this thread I'd appreciate it.  Every little bit of reputation helps.

The rig is up and running with 2 cards, burning in over the weekend.  Going to see how that goes before I add card 3 and start perftuning.  I'm hopeful for 1ghz even. (or very close 315x3 or so).

I'll post pictures etc in this thread once before I close it. Thanks to all for your advice!

[EDIT for winner announcement]

[bombo999]

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=9430.0

[dropt]

• Corsair Carbide Series 400R midsize Case - http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=684760&CatId=1842 - 99$
• XFX 850W Core PSU - http://ncix.com/products/?sku=63239&vpn=P1850SNLB9&manufacture=XFX - 85$ after MIR
• MSI 890fxa-gd70 Mobo - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130274 - 155$ after MIR
• AMD Sempron 145 Processor - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103888 - 40$
• Crucial 2GB Ram - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148352 - 13$
• Mushkin 4GB USB - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226212 - 5$
• Coolermaster 69CFM 120mm Fans x7 - http://ncix.com/products/?sku=42176&vpn=R4-L2R-20AC-GP&manufacture=COOLERMASTER - 9$ ea.
• Use BAMT - http://www.bamter.org (seems to be down ATM)  - Free, but I'd suggest making a donation to lodcrappo, he deserves it.

Reasons for selections:

• Case:  This case was the cheapest I could quickly find that has 8 pci expansion slots, you'll need 8 to utilize the brilliant PCI-E spacing on the motherboard I suggested.
• PSU:  It appears that XFX units are made by Seasonic, one of the best manufacturers out there.  It's a single rail unit and 80Plus Bronze.  Power isn't a concern for you so I didn't stress finding a more efficient unit.  They are IMO, one of the best bang-for-the-buck manufacturers out there when it comes to PSUs
• Mobo:  Has multiple X16 slots on-board and is one of the few boards that gives you the option of using 3 of those slots with equal spacing.  IIRC each card is separated by one slot giving them lots of room to pull air.
• Processor:  Shouldn't have to be mentioned, but they're low power users and on most you can unlock the second core should you choose to do so.  They're also dirt cheap and are the most popular option from what I've seen on here.
• Ram:  Cheap and 2GB is sufficient, not much more to say.
• Fans:  It looks like the case supports 7 fans.  These are what I use, they're cheap and flow 69 CFM.  They're pretty damn quite too.  You can get the deltas that are for sale in the Marketplace which flow ~120cfm IIRC but they're supposedly pretty loud.  I wouldn't know for certain since I don't use them.
• Flash Drive:  Flash drives with Linux are the norm, 4GB is more than enough and these were listed as one of the cheapest that don't come in some retarded form IE: a christmas tree or some such junk

Total:  460$.  

Caveat:  The parts I listed are all new, in stock and click to order.  You can save IMO ~100$ on this cost if look around and source used parts.  Since I'm aiming for your BTC I didn't bother finding used deals as you mentioned that would lower my "score".

Cheers and good luck.  If you feel my suggestions are the best you're given let me know in a PM and I'll send you an address for the BTC.

[AzN1337c0d3r]

Sempron 145 - $39.99
Asrock 970 Extreme4 - $99.99
Kingston 2GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 - $12.99 (Possible to run 1 GB and save ~$3-4 here if you want to, I just like 2 GB of ram =P)
Rosewill Capstone-650-M 650W 80 Plus Gold - $119.99 (This can change depending on whether you pay for electricity, I make the assumption here that you pay 10c/kwh and that you're going to mine for 2+ years so you want Gold since it will save you money in the long-run)
Corsair Flash Voyager 8GB USB 2.0 - $8.99 (Corsair is the only company who makes USB sticks that haven't failed on me within a year or two. I heartily recommend them)
Scytle Ultra Kaze 3000 RPM - $11.99x2 (Run these at 5V, they are silent at that rate and still move quite a bit of air, I have 4 of them on my radiator and can't hear them from 3 feet away)

For the case I'd recommend going out to the store and buying a cheap one yourself. It is expensive to return cases you dont like or doesn't work or something. I'll budget $30 here.

Tack on another $30 conservative budget for random other items like fans and cables.

Total Bill Of Materials: ~380 after tax and shipping

BAMT seems to be a good choice for no fuss mining.

[navigator]

MSI H61M-P23 $59
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130593
Celeron G440 $42
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116410
G.Skill 2gb DDR3 1333 $14
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231393

$115 for mobo, ram, proc that will support up to 4 5830's using unpowered pci-e extender cables.

I'm not sure about which case you should get. I really don't recommend having 3 5830's mining inside a case. That would involve a lot of unnecessary heat.

I almost want to recommend 2 Corsair CX430's for the psu. $25 each after rebate. There was an extra $8 discount a few weeks ago that pops up often. So for $34 you could have had ~860watts. A single CX430 will support up to 2 5830's and the system. And zero issues running 2 psu's instead of one. If you don't like that idea, I challenge anyone to find 860watts for under $34 or $50 even. There are many to choose from if you want a single psu to power everything, but it will be costly.


So the cheapest/minimal route would be
MSI H61M-P23   $59
Celeron G440     $42
G.Skill 2gb         $14
2 CX430           $50 after rebate
4 x 5830's         $440
PCI-E extenders $18 from 9mart.com

Total $623 for 1280mh/s @ ~700watts

Total $183 without cards/case

[PolymorphicAssasin]

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=9430.0

Thanks for the link Bombo, but I have been (casually) mining for almost a year and been following bitcoin slightly longer.  I could read that whole thread, but meh - that's the reason I put out the bounty - I'm too lazy & have other priorities than figuring out the optimal scenario myself.

[PolymorphicAssasin]

Rosewill Capstone-650-M 650W 80 Plus Gold - $119.99 (This can change depending on whether you pay for electricity, I make the assumption here that you pay 10c/kwh and that you're going to mine for 2+ years so you want Gold since it will save you money in the long-run)

I do not pay for Electricity - does that alter your choice here?

(thanks for the submission, BTW)

[PolymorphicAssasin]

• PSU:  It appears that XFX units are made by Seasonic, one of the best manufacturers out there.  It's a single rail unit and 80Plus Bronze.  Power isn't a concern for you so I didn't stress finding a more efficient unit.  They are IMO, one of the best bang-for-the-buck manufacturers out there when it comes to PSUs

Good to know.  Is this '..apears that...' meant as a factual statement, or an assumption?  Either way seems like a good choice.

Total:  460$.  

A bit more than what I'd like to spend, but if I get off my lazy a$$ and look I could probably do as you suggest:

...You can save IMO ~100$ on this cost if look around and source used parts.  Since I'm aiming for your BTC I didn't bother finding used deals as you mentioned that would lower my "score".

Cheers and good luck.  If you feel my suggestions are the best you're given let me know in a PM and I'll send you an address for the BTC.

So far you are in the lead.

[dropt]

• PSU:  It appears that XFX units are made by Seasonic, one of the best manufacturers out there.  It's a single rail unit and 80Plus Bronze.  Power isn't a concern for you so I didn't stress finding a more efficient unit.  They are IMO, one of the best bang-for-the-buck manufacturers out there when it comes to PSUs

Good to know.  Is this '..appears that...' meant as a factual statement, or an assumption?  Either way seems like a good choice.

I factually knew some of the models were but wasn't sure about this one in specific. I did a quick search and the results are that they're all made by Seasonic.

[jme621]

does it really have to be cased? i use these http://www.walmart.com/ip/Whitmor-Small-White-Household-Cart/6023189 makes it easy to move around(aka move to basement during summer and living area for heat during winter) and to work on, add some risers and zip ties and your good to go for cheap!

plus using the risers means you can get a much cheaper motherboard and save even more money.

[smracer]

http://www.frys.com/product/6249970?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG    - 890FXA-GD70 $69.99 after $40 MIR

http://www.frys.com/product/6755365?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG  - Sempron 145  $39.99

http://www.frys.com/product/6910767?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG - Patriot 2GB DDR3 Dimm - $12.99

http://www.frys.com/product/6704035?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG - 850W IN WIN Power Supply $105.99 after $40 MIR  
or if you plan on adding more cards I would go bigger.
http://www.frys.com/product/6704085?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG - 1200W IN WIN Power Supply $154.99 after $40 MIR

http://www.frys.com/product/6649034?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG - 4GB USB Stick - $6.99

Total - $235.95 for 850W or $284.95 for 1200W

I run the 1200W for all of my machines. 

Edit:  Forgot software.  Ubuntu 11.04 and cgminer.  Easy as rocket surgery.

follow the instructions here and you will be up and running in no time.

https://github.com/kanoi/linux-usb-cgminer/blob/master/linux-usb-cgminer

[PolymorphicAssasin]

http://www.frys.com/product/6249970?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG    - 890FXA-GD70 $69.99 after $40 MIR

http://www.frys.com/product/6755365?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG  - Sempron 145  $39.99

http://www.frys.com/product/6910767?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG - Patriot 2GB DDR3 Dimm - $12.99

http://www.frys.com/product/6704035?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG - 850W IN WIN Power Supply $105.99 after $40 MIR 
or if you plan on adding more cards I would go bigger.
http://www.frys.com/product/6704085?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG - 1200W IN WIN Power Supply $154.99 after $40 MIR

http://www.frys.com/product/6649034?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG - 4GB USB Stick - $6.99

Total - $235.95 for 850W or $284.95 for 1200W

Good inexpensive suggestion, but the motherboard is unavailable for shipment, and we don't have Fry's in my neck 'o the woods to find local stock.

Also:

Basic Requirements:

• It needs to run in a case.

[AzN1337c0d3r]

Rosewill Capstone-650-M 650W 80 Plus Gold - $119.99 (This can change depending on whether you pay for electricity, I make the assumption here that you pay 10c/kwh and that you're going to mine for 2+ years so you want Gold since it will save you money in the long-run)

I do not pay for Electricity - does that alter your choice here?

(thanks for the submission, BTW)

Actually it does:

I would go with this power supply in that case: Rosewill HIVE Series HIVE-750 750W Continuous @40°C - $89.99

Since you dont pay for power, I would overclock the heck out of those things.

[dropt]

+1 for PolymorphicAssasin!  Bounty has been claimed and received! 

Transaction id: f35c7a8972273e44d7befb8e279fb2b2e91f9e73f7bf252a183023cf0f9a6b0a