Topic: Building Cheap Miners : My "Secret" - page 52. (Read 60235 times)

I get them on a grey market. Unit replaced by newer computers in a big companie.

@cptfisher: I have some constraint that make it the better option for me.

What MB do you use for 8 GPU?

I will be sure to update the forum if I have any issues with these cards and/or if I have NO issues as well.

Although, direct from the MFG a B-Stock and/or Refurbished product should be pretty good.

Rolling the dice on this batch I suppose -- all my other cards have been new.

I've thought about doing this as well, but the overhead of maintaining more systems is a PITA.

The largest expense are the GPUs anyway. I can build an 8 card rig for ~$500 (+ cost of gpus). I could get that down much further by using smaller SSD and using Linux, but I pay for the convenience. Maintaining and optimizing 1 8 card rig is worth the extra cost compared to maintaining 2x smaller rigs. Plus, it costs more power since you have to power 2 separate motherboards, CPUs, and SSD.

Last gen server/workstation hardware is cheap af though. I wish there were some options with more PCIe slots then I'd be all over it.

GIGABYTE GA-970A series (5 PCI-E) AM3 Socket 30-50usd
AMD Athlon II X2 240 AM2+ AM3 65W 10-15usd
4GB DDR3 20usd

Since we are sharing our ideas -- can you share which components you are referring to for that amount ?

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I prefer to have a fully functional computer even if I sell off GPUs and stop mining -- which these refurbished systems allow. Almost all of the PCs I use around my business were originally built as miners =)

I really like this idea, i have been comparing pricing on parts for next rig build... this is a viable option.. but i plan on going the multi psu route.. Block Operations did a post on his findings between the 1200watt server PSU vs normal ATX PSU's... he found running no matter what type of PSU at 50% of its watt rating was the most efficient at the wall on actual usage.. He switched one of his open case rigs over to a Pico PSU for motherboard, then 2 of the HP server PSU's  on a 6 card rig, the actual wattage draw at the outlet was 48 watts an hour less running the 2 server psu along with the pico psu over 1 platinum rated 1600 watt psu on the same rig with the same miner going...

whats the use of this when you can have NEW COMPONENTS for 5 cards (cpu motherboard ram and PSU )for 180 USD  ?  (80+ gold psu evga supernova)

That's great -- are they readily available at that price or a special deal situation ?

With the PSU in mind that is a great deal for sure even at a bit more money.

Thanks for sharing =)

I have even cheaper:
I bought several Dell T5500,100$ each. They have plenty of Ram, 4 PCIe and 875W PSU. The case comes with a HDD support plate where you can put a GC.
with some risers and adapters you're setup for less than 150$

UPDATE : 1/30/18

I made this original post below in June 2017 -- to keep up with later developments keep on reading.

I've learned a lot along the way & have shared as much as I can in this thread.

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Hey guys,

Figured I'd share since I've learned alot on these forums.

I came across a "trick" to build cheaper 3-4 GPU miners.

I've bought 9 of these workstations so far and am having fantastic results -- they are rock solid:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883284912&cm_re=HP_Z400-_-83-284-912-_-Product

It's hardly any more than just buying a full copy of Windows 10 to buy the whole system.

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In any event... there is a "secret" to these things... the power supply plug on the motherboard is "EPS" and an ATX supply will NOT work.

So what you do... is buy a PSU extension cable and modify it like so:

https://plus.google.com/photos/111388964237560787781/album/5362166283613539361/5366587361195860994

** -- This is NOT my data but it is what I found when doing my research.

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I have build 3 & 4 GPU rigs using PCI-E extenders with these systems -- I am using 750-watt Rosewill Quark PSUs for mine.

Total cost is quite low... and I can still use cheap PSUs to keep my initial cost down (I stay away from more than 4 GPUs... generally I just use 3 per system).

I plan to build up about 30 of these total over time. But I am tapped out on buying them for now so I figured I'd share the info.

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I've also found dirt cheap RAM for them... since they only come with 4 GB:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/132163798234?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Some of them have 6-slots for RAM and others have 4-slots so you can do from 8-12 GB per system with these cheap 2 GB sticks.

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One more thing... EVGA has good deals on B-Stock Geforce cards... I ordered some today:

https://www.evga.com/products/productlist.aspx?type=8&family=GeForce+10+Series+Family

You can use 4x 1060 or 3x 1070 with those HP systems & a 750-watt power supply no problems (the 750-watt QUARKS are on sale for $84.99 on Newegg right now too).