Mining rig

[HonorMe]

Hey, i am looking to set up a mining rig, are 5850s the best cards to be going with, or are their better options out there at the moment?

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[pekv2]

Hey, i am looking to set up a mining rig, are 5850s the best cards to be going with, or are their better options out there at the moment?

They are running around 145 usd, they use less electricity than 5830's. They produce more hash than the 5830's, I'd say right now they are pretty good atm, I don't know about the 5870's maybe someone could chip their knowledge in. I believe any series higher, like 6 and 7 series are priced higher.

5850 uses 1.088v vs 5830 uses 1.163v, you can even undervolt them.

[HonorMe]

Thank you for the info. Yeah 5850s are what i have my eye on at the moment as i know they are sold quite often on this forum. If they run as smoothly as you say then they are top on my list.

[BasementMiner!]

You can get a BitForce Single.

[pekv2]

Thank you for the info. Yeah 5850s are what i have my eye on at the moment as i know they are sold quite often on this forum. If they run as smoothly as you say then they are top on my list.

np, that's what I did, I felt that the 5850's was the best deal atm, and snagged me two 5850's.

[HonorMe]

Could anyone explain to me how i would run 8 cards on a system when 4 is the max allowed? I have a GD70 which has 8 PCIx16 slots, so theoretically could run 8, but surely only 4 are supporteD?

[pekv2]

Could anyone explain to me how i would run 8 cards on a system when 4 is the max allowed? I have a GD70 which has 8 PCIx16 slots, so theoretically could run 8, but surely only 4 are supporteD?

Which gd70 board? Got the full model name? Then we may start from there.

[Dargo]

Could anyone explain to me how i would run 8 cards on a system when 4 is the max allowed? I have a GD70 which has 8 PCIx16 slots, so theoretically could run 8, but surely only 4 are supporteD?

The GD70 has six pcie slots and 1 pci slot. You could run 6 cards in the pcie slots with risers and one more in the pci slot with a pci to pcie adapter. So unless you are going to get dual GPU cards, the max is 7, though it may be a job actually getting that many running on the board (I'd search the forum to find out what others have experienced). Linux (x32 or x64) or Windows 7 (x64 only I think) will support that many. But at the very least it will be no problem getting 5 to run on that board (I think the x1 pcie slot might require pin shorting to make it work, so that's when it starts to get less straight forward).

+1 for 5850s - great bang for the buck used right now.

[dellech]

I run a 5850 for a few days now and am very satisfied with.
It does 354MH7s at 900MHz and 45% fan speed with cgminer ... I did not try to over- or undervolt it yet.

[HonorMe]

Could anyone explain to me how i would run 8 cards on a system when 4 is the max allowed? I have a GD70 which has 8 PCIx16 slots, so theoretically could run 8, but surely only 4 are supporteD?

Which gd70 board? Got the full model name? Then we may start from there.

Yes its an MSI 890FXA-GD70

[HonorMe]

Could anyone explain to me how i would run 8 cards on a system when 4 is the max allowed? I have a GD70 which has 8 PCIx16 slots, so theoretically could run 8, but surely only 4 are supporteD?

The GD70 has six pcie slots and 1 pci slot. You could run 6 cards in the pcie slots with risers and one more in the pci slot with a pci to pcie adapter. So unless you are going to get dual GPU cards, the max is 7, though it may be a job actually getting that many running on the board (I'd search the forum to find out what others have experienced). Linux (x32 or x64) or Windows 7 (x64 only I think) will support that many. But at the very least it will be no problem getting 5 to run on that board (I think the x1 pcie slot might require pin shorting to make it work, so that's when it starts to get less straight forward).

+1 for 5850s - great bang for the buck used right now.

Thank you for the explanation. Well without using risers, i can see myself being able to fit 4, as all the cards are dual slot. If i run them through adapters, i'm guessing you are right with 7, 6 easy. I guess i don't run them through crossfire, but instead just use them as single cards through cgminer.

[pekv2]

I guess i don't run them through crossfire, but instead just use them as single cards through cgminer.

Yes, you do not use crossfire. Either have the ATI/AMD driver manage the card or use dummy plugs.

[HonorMe]

Ah okay, i figured as much

[macromode]

I have been running an MSI 890FXA-GD70 for almost a year now and I can say that, for me, it has been running rock solid. I used to run 4 5830s so as to occupy all the slots, but found trouble keeping the cards cool. The GPUs would overheat and the hashing rate would throttle back. So instead, I have been running 3 5830s with a single unoccupied slot in between them and they've been running happily ever since. I guess the point I'm trying to make it: cooling matters a lot. If you want to cram as many GPUs in on this motherboard as you can, look to risers.

[HonorMe]

Yeah, i am going to have to get risers, i already have 4 5850s in one computer as a gaming rig, and they end up hitting temps of 70 degrees each under load and the fans spinning at 100% (JET PLANE). So i am going to have to get risers. I am glad you all recommend 5850s as i have 14 ordered, will ideally be running 3 rigs of 6 cards on risers.

[chefjc]

How much money are you putting into this? Hopeful Mh/s and electricity consumption?

[HonorMe]

I am hoping for 3-4 G/hash and i dont expect to be spending more than £1 a day on electricity.