Topic: ETH mining rig. Buy or Build? - page 2. (Read 889 times)

You should definitely learn and build it yourself. There isn't any decent mining rig that is pre-built and even if there is, it's probably too expensive and you could get the same for less, or better for the same money.
It's already getting less profitable. You want to go with the most cost-effective choice there is even if it forces you to learn something new.
Keep in mind that mining rigs require additional research along with PC building but is generally a very fun thing and you should definitely do it.

Very few "off-the-shelf" desktops would work well for ETH mining, simply because most consumer desktops don't have the number of graphics cards that you'd want. (Graphics cards are what do the actual ETH mining, everything else in the system mostly play supporting roles, albeit necessary ones.)

You could attempt to purchase a "prebuilt" rig from another miner or former miner, but do note that the miner selling it to you would probably list it at a price greater than what they consider are the potential earnings. (Perhaps they're even mining using their rig while it's listed for sale, only intending to down the rig and accept the one-time payment if the price is higher than they expect to make over the effective lifetime of the rig.)

You could also purchase a prebuilt desktop (typically a cheap used one) that has the ability to accept several graphics cards, then buy a supplementary power supply (more graphics cards = higher power requirements), and essentially just use the prebuilt system as a host for your cards. This isn't an uncommon practice.


However, learning the build a PC in general is a good skill to have. The main additional bits for mining-specific systems are [usually] extra graphics cards, beefier/more power supplies, PCIe risers, unconventional enclosures/frames, and perhaps more troubleshooting.

Also note that you need to be the judge as to whether or not this venture is somehow worth it to you, either as a learning experience or for profit. If you do not have low/free electricity (or electricity costs that are independent of use), you'd better do your research. (Even with free power, there are no guarantees here.)

Build!!!!

Can you still use the built rig like a normal desktop to log onto other websites to check trading accounts, print pages, and run my S7 for bitcoin?

That's a good question.

It depends on your own will and intention. If you're too lazy to build your own mining rig and just want to get into ETH mining faster - go with the first choice; If you're looking to gain more experience building up your own mining rig - then the latter choice would be the ideal one.

So, what's your own decision?   

Starting from scratch with no computer or computer building experience. Is there an off the shelf desktop that would work decent for ETH mining or would you still research and build one?