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Topic: Litecoin build for noobs: 3x 7950s (1.8 MH/s) in a $10 crate case - page 10. (Read 78987 times)

full member
Activity: 126
Merit: 100
NOOB QUESTION OF THE DAY........





(Wait for it)



(A)    What would happen if  I buy all the parts at microcenter and have them put it together for me?

(I have never built a computer before, I am a mac user, haven't owned a PC in about 8 years)



(B)    Would the main problem be overheating?

(C)    Could I remedy that (overheating) by installing a really good fan/cooling system?



legendary
Activity: 2058
Merit: 1431
why do you need 8 gb of ram? cgminer barely uses 50 MB when mining (scrypt) on 2 cards.
full member
Activity: 147
Merit: 100
Awesome guide, really appreciate the info and tips you have here and other posts. 

One question...  Has anyone seen the PCI extension cables anywhere other than from sellers in China?  I am thinking of building one or two of these rigs but not sure I want to wait 15-28 days shipping...  Quick search on Amazon and a few other places not showing anything similar price or faster shipping to the US. 
newbie
Activity: 23
Merit: 0
I can smell the plastic from here... lol.
thanks for the write up.  I'm out of date on the latest - quick boost back - thanks.
legendary
Activity: 1484
Merit: 1005
Well that green plastic box has a ...certain charme... I seriously doubt it's open enough to provide 4 7950's with enough cool air. What temperatures do you get after half an hour ?

As I  understand it, one should aim to keep the temperature under 80 degrees c. Above 90 you are really starting to do damage.

My prototype runs up to 74c, and that's with only 2 7950's and no case at all.

Yeah you are right, the box is really bad for cooling, I couldn't run the 4 cards at max intensity, they would only stably work at intensity 13 on cgminer.

Time to cut out some windows with an old soldering iron!
legendary
Activity: 1806
Merit: 1003
Well that green plastic box has a ...certain charme... I seriously doubt it's open enough to provide 4 7950's with enough cool air. What temperatures do you get after half an hour ?

As I  understand it, one should aim to keep the temperature under 80 degrees c. Above 90 you are really starting to do damage.

My prototype runs up to 74c, and that's with only 2 7950's and no case at all.

Yeah you are right, the box is really bad for cooling, I couldn't run the 4 cards at max intensity, they would only stably work at intensity 13 on cgminer.
BKM
sr. member
Activity: 315
Merit: 250
Plug the card into the extender and connect remaining power bits.

I want to build one of these just so I can start it with a screwdriver!!!!!

I LOVE that!

I hope there are sparks - harmless and just for effect.
legendary
Activity: 1274
Merit: 1050
Thanks a bunch for this guide mate, It's really helped. And I got the rig up and running pretty smoothly as well.

There's just 2 of the 3 cards in the mobo right now though - I'm still waiting for those PCIe extenders (harder to find than I thought...) but the rig's kicking out a solid 1.2Mh/s and the third card is in my other PC for the moment kicking out an extra ~500 Kh/s. Thought I'd better get them all up and running somehow before the difficulty starts going proper nuts...

I tried putting all 3 cards in the same mobo, but the proximity caused one of the cards to heat up to 85C (with 100% fan override) and was still climbing fast... needless to say I got a bit scared and took it out.

pics to come when it's all complete, and expect a tip tacotime once I mine a few Liteys!!!

 Smiley

Heh. Seems like we are in exactly the same spot. Scroll up a few posts and you'll see..it's like you copy pasted my words
legendary
Activity: 1188
Merit: 1016
Thanks a bunch for this guide mate, It's really helped. And I got the rig up and running pretty smoothly as well.

There's just 2 of the 3 cards in the mobo right now though - I'm still waiting for those PCIe extenders (harder to find than I thought...) but the rig's kicking out a solid 1.2Mh/s and the third card is in my other PC for the moment kicking out an extra ~500 Kh/s. Thought I'd better get them all up and running somehow before the difficulty starts going proper nuts...

I tried putting all 3 cards in the same mobo, but the proximity caused one of the cards to heat up to 85C (with 100% fan override) and was still climbing fast... needless to say I got a bit scared and took it out.

pics to come when it's all complete, and expect a tip tacotime once I mine a few Liteys!!!

 Smiley
legendary
Activity: 1274
Merit: 1050
Well that green plastic box has a ...certain charme... I seriously doubt it's open enough to provide 4 7950's with enough cool air. What temperatures do you get after half an hour ?

As I  understand it, one should aim to keep the temperature under 80 degrees c. Above 90 you are really starting to do damage.

My prototype runs up to 74c, and that's with only 2 7950's and no case at all.
legendary
Activity: 1204
Merit: 1001
RUM AND CARROTS: A PIRATE LIFE FOR ME
Thanks for the post, I liked the idea and thought it's a fun project, so here's My poorly constructed plastic container rig, 4x 7950, 1200W cooler master PSU, 8GB system ram



I had a thought for something like that durring the winter. Leave it out side, but upside down so it could have access to fresh air without being covered (the bottom would be open). I ended up using a small unheated glasshouse instead, but it seemed like a cool idea at the time.
legendary
Activity: 1806
Merit: 1003
Thanks for the post, I liked the idea and thought it's a fun project, so here's My poorly constructed plastic container rig, 4x 7950, 1200W cooler master PSU, 8GB system ram

legendary
Activity: 1274
Merit: 1050
First, I'd like to share a tip. Just a little something to make life easier for noobs like us.

- If you can't get MSI Afterburner to unlock everything ( that happens for some people, even if you follow all the steps ), download Sapphire TriXX. It doesn't need any unlocking it all, just install it and you're good to go. I have Sapphire 7950's, but it will probably work for other cards too.

Now for an update on how my rig is coming along : Well, it works. Not much to look at yet because I don't have risers yet, so right now it's just a mobo on plastic with 2 7950's connected. Once I find a crate and get my risers I'll post a picture. I had a big headache with the motherboard seemingly not detecting multiple GPU's, and was about to disassemble everything and get a new mobo, when I noticed one of the powercables wasn't connected. That was a big relief and , yes, more then a little bit emberassing. I don't mind sharing that though. Always remember, it's rule number one in hardware troubleshooting. Check all cables caaaaaaarefully.  Roll Eyes

My current hurdle is to make the system run with stability. Right now, the card that is NOT hooked up to the screen has no problems. It keeps chugging along at a modest 558 khash/sec. The primary GPU, however, has problems.

-I get visual  artifacts on screen, ( probably due to the settings GUIminer scripts send to the GPU )
- Windows reports a problem with the gpu driver
- Catalyst reports a disabled driver
- after a while the haashrate drops to around 270khash/sec, a little while longer, 7khash/sec ( but Afterburner reports 0 activity on the card. I guess at that point the GPU is asleep and is simply dreaming of mining litecoins hahah

Can anyone help me with thse problems ?

TacoTime, as promised, I've sent my first ever mined litecoin to the adres in GUIminer-script. Thanks for all the info and programming you provide !
full member
Activity: 126
Merit: 100
First-   THANKS!!!

Second-   could I substitute 7970 for just a little bit more $$$ and get faster Mhash/s ?

(asking because in checking the chart the 7970 gets very high Mhash/s.... am I missing something? Is it that the 7970 create more heat and need a fan also or something like that? sorry I 'm a noob)
legendary
Activity: 1484
Merit: 1005
What do you mean guaranteed voltage control? I have three of these right now, and even though you can move the slider up and down in Afterburner, GPUZ doesn't read any change in voltage. Actually, now that I've looked, neither does the graph in Afterburner.

Contact MSI in their forum, they should all allow voltage control through afterburner.
full member
Activity: 185
Merit: 100
If you had to buy a case, what case would you get?

Also, do you mind sharing the config and what program you are using to mine?
member
Activity: 112
Merit: 10
Not a bad setup for the price. I built mine a year ago and each level was a add on and its all slides on and apart within a minute. Each motherboard tray pulls out to be serviced if it needs. Each level costs about $15-$20 to make. Some cheap thin aluminum angle with a few gussets makes for a decent structure that open exhausts well. You can see the top two levels I added an aluminum bar to screw the video cards into which was a nice addition to the setup. All the other cards are cable tied to the motherboards rails that hold the acrylic plastic.

Any chance you could provide a bit more detail about how you put your trays together?
sr. member
Activity: 388
Merit: 250
What do you mean guaranteed voltage control? I have three of these right now, and even though you can move the slider up and down in Afterburner, GPUZ doesn't read any change in voltage. Actually, now that I've looked, neither does the graph in Afterburner.
newbie
Activity: 56
Merit: 0
this one and no other, guaranteed voltage control and runs extremely cool

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127667
What kh/s are you getting from those, exactly?  I see on the hardware comparison page that they vary a bit and I'm trying to forecast if it's worth it to upgrade from my 6870s.
How about wattage?
How about temps?

Have you run them in an enclosed case before?  I'm kind of stuck running GPUs in a case in a room where the sound and temperature are a concern.  I'm running two 6870s at intensity 17 & 18, at about 73C and 79C now inside of a case.

Thanks!
member
Activity: 89
Merit: 10
hi taco, is possible to use 7970 cards in this setup? does it make some difference in hashing power?
and other question, what if i put those gpus to motherboard directly without cables? would it be a big heating for mobo?
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