Topic: BAMT Mining rig... up and going. Need tweaking (Read 1749 times)

So, thanks for all you guys, for your help.

I got my rig setup and running with BAMT. Thanks to aaron for a great tool! I have a single HD5870 doing ~438MH/s. Haven't received the 5850, yet, guess i got scammed... Have to file a dispute with ebay and Paypal. What company should i get to this lonely 5870? A budget company... I'm on a 550w PSU, i'll have to change it to get 2 cards mining so what would be my best buy for pairing with my 5870 ?



Here are the specs of the rig, running and hashing away.

Now... where can  i tweak this? I guess lowering more the memory clock would be one. Is it worth steping up the core clock? I get cruising at 60º/60.5º, all day long, is it worth to change or it's just fine as it is? I don't want to fuck up the GPU, want it lo last and be stable. I have it on stock voltage too.
I got a period of stop last night, don't know why, maybe something with the network, or could it be that the OC is not so stable?

Next question is, i'd really like to access the rig remotely. I can do it at work, trough SSH, with the rig's IP. I can have remote access with TightVNC, by tunneling with Putty. The problem is i can't get to the rig if i'm outside. The rig's behind work router/firewall, how can i get to VNC from outside to the rig?? or just trough SSH by Putty. Just to check on things whenever i feel to.

Once again, thank you for your tips and help on getting this rig up and going. 

No need with delayed start for the miners in bamt... they start when the computer starts, just poke thru the config files in /etc/bamt
So in a root console you type this:
cd /etc/bamt
ls
and you should see the config files
I strongly recomend you setting the memory clock to 300mhz the temperature diffrance is 10C degrees diffrance.
And i'd set the fans to 100%.
Just type nano configFileName.cfg
and press Ctrl+X and then Y and Enter to save the file ( read the info text at the bottom ).

And Nvidia cards are realy not good at all with bitcoins so it's just a waste of power... for more info on what card does what speed check this page out:
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_hardware_comparison
Just remember some of the 5870 and 5970 are overclocked to the brink of melting point and i DONT recomend you even trying that for now let's just get started with getting you up and running for now and then we can talk about overclocking.

As far as getting up and running with ubuntu there is alot of steps to take and it even takes me a while to get up and running with a vanilla ubuntu and i'm use to Debian and Ubuntu.
https://bitcointalk.org/?topic=7514.0

And if i dont remember it incorrectly you would hafto start over if you first get up and running with Ubuntu+Nvidia and then chose to go with ATI instead.
It was something to do with the python ( scripting languge ) and opencl that was realy diffrent with Nvidia and Ati in the installation process ( again if i remember it correctly ).

Thanks for your answers.

I'll check BAMT, i understand that it is "pre-configured"... Last night i tried to get the machine done but failed to "install" any miner in Linux (was using MintLinux). I am a bit of an ignorant about Linux. Only used it for a couple of times, and always use the synaptic way of installing...very few i used the terminal. I'd like to upgrade my skills in Linux, but yesterday it was hard...
I followed the tutorials on here, but they are way too hold and some stuff have changed. And i can't figure out how on earth i can "install" CGminer, Diablo, Phoenix or whatever other miner on Linux... yes i'm that stupid!!

I'm still using an nvidia card, as my 5850 hasn't arrived yet...(starting to get the feeling i'll have to contact paypal  and ebay  ) and i failed to get any testing mining going. Well got Linux installed, updated, but no mining software... Today i'll reinstall with Ubuntu, or try and get a 2gb usb stick and go from there.

BTW, i'd like to have the rig to auto reboot if i get a power loss, done that in the BIOS, is it enough? And what about start linux, and delayed start of miners, that is possible too right? What do i need, a script? Like a bat file in windows startup??

Once again thanks for your answers.

1. Yes you can use Pci-e 4x and 1x slots, iwe seen ppl cutting some plastic ( DO AT YOUR OWN RISK ) from the end of the pci-e slot so the card fits.
But the best way is to buy a Pci-E 1x to 16x extender that way you dont need to do any permanent changes to your motherboard, check this forum or ebay for ppl that sell them.

2. Yes aslong as ther Pci-e 1x or Pci-e 4x or Pci-e 8x.

3.  Yeah ther used as individual cards and the hashing power does not count as 1 so most common is that you need to start once instance of your prefered mining software per card or gpu ( 5970 got two GPU's so it's like two cards )

4. Your using the same setup as i got in one of my rigs, i bought a 80plus certified PSU since power usage is of importance for me but dont buy the cheepest psu you can find since some are only 800Watt "Peek" and that means they can deliver 800Watts but not constantly, go for one of the known brands and not a brand you never herd about.
I bought a Corsair TX850 V2 since i did not want to risk getting one that did not deliver enuff power coz then it's just waste of money.

5. Well Ubuntu is easy to start with but if you want the most easy way then check BAMT, all you need is a 2gb usb flash drive and a few minutes of your time.
Let's just say Ubuntu is a branshoff from debian, and BAMT is made with debian too so they are werry simular.
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/bamt-version-05-easy-usb-based-mining-linux-with-farm-wide-management-tools-65915

6. Without any overclocking with my 5870 and my 5970 i get 1040Mhash/s in bamt.

7. Yeah you could, since as i understand it you dont have any electricity to pay for... i do wich is around half of the bitcoins you earn goes to the power company.
FPGA's are only worth it if power usage is an factor... if you dont pay for the electrisity you use then GPU's are cheeper to get started with... while FPGA's are more long term investment


Oh and dont forget the difficulty lvl can change and the worth of 1bitcoin could change so your 4months could turn into more if your unlucky... so it's never 100%.

AD 2. Yes.
AD 3. The cards are used independently. Crossfire or SLI will be of no use.
AD 4. 850 W should be enough if the PSU is not a cheap one.

How did you calculate your break-even price? Did you include electricity costs? It seems to me like you shouldn't be able to break even in 4 months at 1GH/s unless you have free electricity.

As for the reward drop, I'm placing my bets on this driving the USD/BTC rate higher, though the reduced electricity cost of ASICs might offset it.

Hi,

i'm planning on building a dedicated mining rig. Initially i had a bunch of hardware laying around so not so much of an investment. I'm a Nvidia kind of person, so i only have nvidia cards... went on the hunt for some good Ati card and found a 5850 on ebay for €90, on it's way, should arrive tomorrow.

So i have a crappy asrock mobo, 2gb of ram, a p4 cpu and the 5850 on it's way. Ask the IT guy from my work if he could keep my rig, everything in a nice case, in the data center as it's always very cold. He agreed to it, just need a power cord and a ethernet cable and i'm on my way... free power and internet, not bad. hehehe

Then i started looking for some more hashing power. I found a couple of 5970 a little too expensive for my taste, and a 5870 that can be negotiable...maybe. Started thinking how could i fit everything nice and tidy in my case and park it at the data center. Run in a couple of doubts i hope someone could be kind enough to explain for me, or direct me to the right place.

1. My mobo only have 1x pci-e x16. I learned that i can use other pci slots to connect graphic cards. can someone explain this better to me? I won't need to have a screen, will use remote access.
2. If i buy the 5970, can i couple it with the 5850 in the same board using that method of using another pci adapter?
3. As for mining, will they be independent? i mean, i thought that to use 2 cards, they would have to be the same, and be connected. Sli, Crossfire nad such... or mining as nothing to do with this?
4. If i decide to get more hardware, the 5970 or a 5870, i'll need to upgrade my PSU. I have now a 550w for the 5850. What kind of PSU can run both the 5850 and the 5970? If it's possible of course. I was thinking 850w, is this enough?
5. I will use ubuntu x86 for the rig, probably in a hdd. Is there a better distro or ubuntu does fine?
6. Is it too ambitious to estimate to get 1.1GH/s with both cards? 350MH/s with the 5850 and 750MH/s with the 5970?
7. i estimate to break even in about 4 months, at current difficulty and BTC/€ rate, if i can get >= 1Gh/s. What do you think? Is it worht it? As BFL release date for ASICs, FPGA beeing a bigger investment (as i will have free power), rewards halving by december...

I hope that this is not too much boring...

Thanks in advance.