Building a Mining Rig

[SchizophrenicX]

Thanks for the verification grndzero. I'll be building these 2 rigs within these few days and update on how they are doing. I'm still worried if I could get them running Linux on thumbdrives/usb-HDDs since I have no prior experience using linux or OS on thumbdrives. This has already be very rewarding learning these new stuff

Also, after crunching a few numbers. I'm willing to bet that bitcoin will stay strong and is planning to, when these 2 rigs start to payout, expand my mining. (Subject to figures at that time)

Thus I'll keep this tread alive serving as a simple rig-building guide for others. I'll be looking into how to build a more cost-efficient rigs like you're doing, however. Instead of just going for as low cost as possible, I'll be looking into how to strike a balance between being cost-effective but also provide upgrading option when if GPU-Mining were to be phased out so that these rigs will still be able to be upgraded into mid-high end PCs worth owning.

I hope you guys can continue to contribute to this tread like you have thanks a lot. I'll be back to update on how the rig is looking. Thanks again

[1714188656]

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[SchizophrenicX]

Hi all,

I've just read this thread and saw this awesome build. I am probably changing over to this set up. Would anyone mind sharing any forethought before I go ahead and buy these stuff. Like any foresee-able problems I might have and stuff like that. Please share because in 6 hours time I'll be buying this set of items.

GPU1: ATI Radeon HD 5970 - $488- 350 W
GPU2: ATI Radeon HD 5970 - $488 - 350 W
GPU3: ATI Radeon HD 5850 - $162 -200 W
GPU4: ATI Radeon HD 5850 - $162 -200 W
GPU5: ATI Radeon HD 5850 - $162 -200 W
MOBO: GA-890GPA-UD3H + CPU: AMD255 - $219 (It says 1x16 1x8 3x1 PCIe slots if I'm not wrong plz clarify)
PSU: 2 x Seasonic 850 AT80+ - $126  x 2 = $252
RAM: 2GB = $23 (10 W)

I might need to get some extenders and I hope I can find them in my local PC Hardware stores. I'm not sure about how much power I'll need... the power supplies and how to hook them up... I hope you guys help me out here. Thx

(I'm still looking for 5 slot PCIe Mobos that are cheaper and also available in my area. Please suggest any cheaper ones that you know so I can check if my local store holds them. And also 6 slots are welcome too

[SchizophrenicX]

I found and added the link to pcie adapters and extenders in this thread to my first post. I'll be looking in my local stores to see if they sell them. And also the OS I'll probably be using. LinuxCoin or Ubuntu.

I still need help on how to hook up 2 PSU for 1 machine and also the choice of MOBO as someone confirmed that PCIex1 can be use with adapters. I'm just wondering if the cost of these extenders and adapters add up would justify themselves against the cheaper MOBO. Suggestions for MOBOs are still welcome.

[trueimage]

this probably isn't the best spot for this, but fits with a build thread.

can you mix and match gpus? i.e get a 5770, 5850 and 5870 and put them all in as long as you have free pcie slots? they don't need to be in crossfire mode right?

[grndzero]

this probably isn't the best spot for this, but fits with a build thread.

can you mix and match gpus? i.e get a 5770, 5850 and 5870 and put them all in as long as you have free pcie slots? they don't need to be in crossfire mode right?

Yes, you can mix and match GPU's. The ATI driver package should have drivers for all those cards in it. If you are on windows you can put them in crossfire mode, but it will impact the performance. If you want full performance from all cards you do not put them in crossfire mode and put a dummy plug on each card (search forums for dummy plug and how to use it). If you are using linux you don't have to worry about cossfire or dummy plugs.

[fasti]

I have been checking how much coins I get daily compared to how much I should get with my hash power + pool luck. I have been getting more(~10%) on avg than I should.

I think this is because I manage to get share done faster than other people on avg. I have 2x 6950 clocked to 880 = 340Mhash/s each. I presume this is more than avg per gpu of all of the people mining.

So someone with higher performance GPU actually gets more chance to get shares done for those small quick rounds. Leaving someone with lots of lower powered gpus gain little less. You won't see this difference for long rounds, but when pool gets very big (Deepbit)...

Wondering if you could combine the haspower of multi gpu's into one. Maybe with hashkill? Would like to see results of that kind of mining software, when ever it gets stable and optimized :)

[SchizophrenicX]

I Bought everything I needed but I don't know how to daisy chain 2 PSUs and somehow LinuxCoin isn't working properly. I think it doesn't have the driver for 5970?

I'm not sure but can some one please help me get my rig started -.- I've been looking to install ubuntu on USB but theres just so many sites out there and none of them have a working solution I've tried...

[w128]

I Bought everything I needed but I don't know how to daisy chain 2 PSUs and somehow LinuxCoin isn't working properly. I think it doesn't have the driver for 5970?

I'm not sure but can some one please help me get my rig started -.- I've been looking to install ubuntu on USB but theres just so many sites out there and none of them have a working solution I've tried...

If I were you, I would get as much as possible up and running by booting from a Ubuntu desktop CD in order to produce while doing additional research.

[SchizophrenicX]

Yea that is what I'm doing. I have like 3 GPU up although I have a total of 6 and the Ubuntu live thing I can't really understand. You think you can help? I've been having a really hard time getting it down. Been doing this for >20 hours

[Yanz]

Where are you finding 5970's for $488? They seem to be in the $700's.

[Basiley]

Where are you finding 5970's for $488? They seem to be in the $700's.

for $700 you can find OC-ed 6990.
5970 was under $550 for months and nobody wanted it :/
before BTC mining madness start.

[max in montreal]

SchizophrenicX get me on msn, Ill guide you, you will be up and running in no time if you use win 7, and get a hash rate of 400-460 depending on how you tweak it.

maxinmontreal at hotmail dot com

[Yanz]

Where are you finding 5970's for $488? They seem to be in the $700's.

for $700 you can find OC-ed 6990.
5970 was under $550 for months and nobody wanted it :/

:/ missed out on that lol. Though the 6990's are on back order. Newegg's sold out and Amazon says 1-2 months wait. By then who knows what the mining scene will look like by then...

[SchizophrenicX]

I got 'em from a friend though I'm still learning a little about Linux to get things going however my own desktop died on me yesterday and fortunately I had USBLiveCD linux on me hahaha

[SchizophrenicX]

I've finally got my desktop back up running (sort of), still having trouble installing x64 Windows 7. Anyway I've got both my 5970 running on this desktop and I'm kind of having trouble hitting the 340 MHash/s that is reported on Hardware comparison. I need some help.

When I head over to ATI CCC - Overdrive. I OC'd the first card to 850 MHz and set the Fan Control to 100%. However, I can't find the Fan Control on the 2nd Card's Tab and thus left it at it's original clock speed of 725 Mhz. I'm getting these Speeds.

D0: 290 Mhash/s
D1: 280 Mhash/s
D2: 340 Mhash/s
D3: 290 Mash/s
Total: 1.2 GHash/s

Far from my expected 1.4 GHash/s. Also I have a monitor plugged into each card (Don't have dummy plugs yet), I'm in need of some help here.

For the 2x5850 that I have, they are running on LinuxCoin but I was not about to get ATIOverDriveCtrl to select different cards to Overclock, So I have 1 running @ 340 Mhash/s while the other is doing around 280 MHash/s. I'm trying to get Ubuntu to install the right drivers and every now.

Can someone please advice?

[SchizophrenicX]

Blah I found my problem. *Slaps Head* I'm looking at the wrong places.

Anyway I got them running at 350 Mhash/s each by clocking to 850 Mhash/s on Windows. However, the poclbm is taking up all the resources and sometimes crashes windows. I couldn't use the computer while it is running. This should not happen and I really need help on this.

[bitcool]

for $700 you can find OC-ed 6990.
5970 was under $550 for months and nobody wanted it :/
before BTC mining madness start.

The lows hovered around 600~650, used ones were under $550, I picked up two 

[SchizophrenicX]

Just an update. I have all my cards running now and am getting around 2 Ghash/s on LinuxCoin v2.0a with Poclbm Stably for 2 days now

OC'd with AMDOverdriveCtrl
I have 2 5970 running @ 850, 300 getting around 2x(350+350) Mhash/s (75 degree Celsius)
A red Sapphire 5850 getting only 280 Mhash/s @ 765, 300 (Max OC 775 -.- 75 degree Celsius)
A blue Sapphire 5850 getting 350 Mhash/s @ 900, 300 (Max, 62 degree Celsius)

I have had problems with my working computer as the MOBO and HDD died on me, just got sort of a more stable one up and running.

A little deviation from my initial plan since I don't know how to hook up 2 PSU together, I ended up with a GD70 (5 slots, 3 used) on 850W PSU and my 'new' computer is M4A88TD-V Evo/USB3 (2 slots 1 used) on another 850W PSU.

I'd like to optimized the rigs more in terms of hardware and at the same time the overclocking, OS used, miner (kernel?) and such. However, I'm not sure where to head to now.

If you have any advice please do let me know. The rigs are running on USB, I've read another thread recently on using Ubuntu, Pheonix and proper OC'ing. however these are not my forte and I'd like some help in direction right now. (especially on the 5850 which seems to have a lot of potential for OC'in right now)

I'm also trying to source for investment to build another rig. I'd like to ask if any knows running 4/5x5850 what kind of Power Supply would I need. And I have been struggling with the 100% CPU usage on Windows (Poclbm) problem at the same time. Apparently this hasn't been solved it.

Please suggest some MOBO that might drop the cost, I'm intending to get more rigs and now cost has become a focus on my list of todo.

I intend to get another rig up with 5850.

[SchizophrenicX]

Updated with some of the more recent threads/discussions, added here since those are focused on builds. Also hoping for some help request from my previous post.

[nathan_jc99]

Hi everyone,

This thread started out with me trying to ask for help building my own mining rig, since mining is a highly specialized deal. I was not able to find off-the-shelf PC that is cost-efficient (I did find some) and neither did the wiki page help much.

Reasons I felt being some of them weren't within my budget or that in the age of GPU-Mining, CPU/RAM Power and other apparels are of less importance, the cost of these could go into more GPU power or simply lessen the burden of the investment by having a lower return of investment.

I also found a few other similar threads that eventually help me decide on what I'll be building in a few days from now. Many thanks to grndzero and many others who have been nothing but a great help to such a DIY-PC newbie like me to actually putting together one by myself.

I've found myself thinking of building more rigs with a focus of balancing cost-effective with future upgrade option and thus will continue to keep this tread alive with my findings and possibly discussions with many experts from this forum. I also intend to consolidate the different guides/treads/builds that are around into this one tread so that it'll be a lot easier for everyone who'd need this info.

Hopefully this tread will be of help to new people like myself in this massively confusing and technical world and also serve as an updated guide between the same fast-paced PC world and Bitcoin Mining world.

This is not yet complete but I intend for it to. Let me know what you think about it and give me suggestions and feedbacks. I gotta go get some sleep now and do some other stuff.

1. Before you start
You have to ask youself where is your balance for this machine, is this a
 - Dedicated Mining Rig
 - Mining/Gaming Rig
 - Entry/Trial Mining Rig
Head over to here and see some of the rigs that people are showing off and discussing to have a better idea of what I meant by balance.

2. Budget
After you've decided, you'll want to have a rough gauge of the amount of budget you'd want to throw into building this rig. The general guide is that don't spend over $1 per Mhash/s for your rig or it might not even be profitable enough to cover it's own cost in future [subjective] ($0.75/(Mhash/s) for best but hard to achieve)

3. Picking out the stuff
After budgeting you can have a general idea of how much Mhash/s will you be generating from this rig, with that we can start off with the Graphics Card (GPU) which is the core of generating Bitcoins, there isn't really much to say here as the Hardware Comparison Chart shows all the hashing rates for most of the modern cards.

The rest of the components are discussed but subject to availability in your local store, I agree to the general consensus of not accepting backorders as the difficulty adjustments recently are going all over the place and it is becoming very difficult to grasp the situation and make any predictions. The calculations that you've made would be best carried out as soon as possible.

  - 3.1 Graphics Card
    - Hardware Comparison Chart
    - 5830 @ 320 Mhash/s
    - 5850 @ 340 Mhash/s
    - Best GPU for price
  - 3.2 Motherboard
  - 3.3 Processor
  - 3.4 PSU
    - Best PSU to buy?
  - 3.5 Other Stuff
    - RAM
    - HDD
    - OS
      - Windows
      - Mac
      - Linux
         - LinuxCoin
         - Ubuntu 11.04 Natty 64bit Headless Bitcoin mining with ATI 11.5 binary driver
         - Ubuntu Natty Narwhal 11.04 Mining Guide / HOWTO
    - MISC

4. Build Treads
building a mining rig with $1800
Building a 4x GPU setup. Need some advice
What I Learned from Building 3x5850 Rigs; May 2011
Building first time under $1000 rig
Best bang for the buck? Whole rig
Best Coin/Buck rig V2
4x Radeon HD 6990
Problem running 4x 5830, please help!

5. References & Others
Windows Sidebar Gadget Supports (Deepbit/Slush/Eligius/BTCMine/BTCGuild)
FOR SALE: PCIe 1x & 16x Extender Cables, Mining Chassis & GPU Dummy Plugs
PCI-e 1x Extender not work in 16x connector
Auto Run Miners, Run Miners in Background/as Service?
run your miners invisibly with different arg when pc idle and pc used (Download)
run your miners invisibly only when pc idle (Download here)
How To Open 6 Terminals, Set GPU Clocks, And Start POCLBM On Ubuntu Startup???
Whitepixel breaks 28.6 billion password/sec
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD5850 Xtreme 1 GB Review

P.S If you found my post helpful, feel free to send me a tip | 13kHaYGkF9W5xNjF2Ck5hTgVR9MNjr8c3U |

P.P.S I realized I've quickly transited from a rig-building consolidation to looking more like a simple newbies guide so I've started this tread instead so I may continue updating here with my rig-building stuff.

EDIT: I've been pretty busy learning more stuff and updating the Beginner's Thread and have been lacking in this thread. However, I've added many links here regarding builds as I try to optimize my build and future builds.

Original Post
Hi everyone,

I'm in this weird position and need some help.

Where I stand,
1. I'm in need of a new desktop (mine's 'bout 9 years old), albeit not desperately
2. I intend to build a least 1 mining rig
3. I don't have that much cash to burn
4. Worried about Bitcoin's collapse (thus breaking even)

So I this is what I think, I get a basic comp jam some GPU hashing power in there and get it mining (2.). If (4.) were to ever happen I'll rip  the GPU out and build my 'new' desktop (1.), while the basic comp will be fitted with some basic GPU and be given away to my relative. In my mind this essentially utilize whatever 'cash' I have to play around with (3.)

Let me know if this makes sense to you and share some perspective

However, right now I'm presented with the problem of acquiring the mining rig, I've usually just bought desktops off the shelf and is not technically inclined to build my own desktop (which I know is cheaper [3.]). Seems like mining is highly specialized and there isn't much choice of readily available systems out there

I've read that GPU is the main focus on OpenCL mining and the subsidiary problems would be supplying it with power, cooling and the motherboard. What is less of a concern are the processor, RAM, OS and HDD.

So I came across a 2x5970 (Used) for $810 (good deal?) and would probably go for it. But I don't have any idea what other components to purchase for. Can you guys please help me make the most of my money, I'm not sure of how to complete the rig other than the GPU (From the comparison chart).

1. GPU - 2x5970 ($810)
2. Power Supply - Seasonic X-850 ?? 80+ Gold PSU ??
3. Mobo - 2xPCIe16x ?2.0/2.1/3??? This I totally have no idea
4. Processor - Sempron 140 ??
5. RAM - 1 GB ?? DDR2 or DDR3 ??
6. OS - I read there are readily scripted ubuntu/linux distro for mining. Please point me to the right thread plz
7. HDD - I also read that I may be able to just run (6.) off a USB stick/ext. HDD (Which I own) Plz clarify and point me to the right thread
8. Casing - I don't wish to go for good cooling casing, I might just leave the case open with my huge-ass fan on it

The stuff I have up here are from reading the forum. Please advice on the build and really, where can I get the stuff. Thanks in advance

If I bought some brand new gpu's, could I build a mining rig with some old computer parts.