Author

Topic: Need help selecting hardware for first rig (Read 1089 times)

newbie
Activity: 28
Merit: 0
January 01, 2014, 05:37:59 AM
#10
add2psu is a waste of money.  use a piece of wire or a paperclip to jumper the green and black wire on the end of the atx connector.  Just be sure not to bond the power supplies together anywhere.(which would smoke the shit out of one or both even with the overpriced add2psu crap)

Also, I have never dealt with seasonic, but corsiar makes a great power supply.

I don't think I'll be comfortable in entrusting $4000 worth of hardware to a paperclip. :-P

I just heard back from the Add2Psu company. They ship worldwide. So availability is not a problem.
sr. member
Activity: 252
Merit: 250
December 31, 2013, 04:52:28 AM
#9
add2psu is a waste of money.  use a piece of wire or a paperclip to jumper the green and black wire on the end of the atx connector.  Just be sure not to bond the power supplies together anywhere.(which would smoke the shit out of one or both even with the overpriced add2psu crap)

Also, I have never dealt with seasonic, but corsiar makes a great power supply.
sr. member
Activity: 266
Merit: 250
December 31, 2013, 04:44:02 AM
#8
watch Smiley
newbie
Activity: 28
Merit: 0
December 31, 2013, 02:38:49 AM
#7
...
The last time I tried to use two PSUs on one mobo. I killed one of the PSU. So not a good idea to use 2 on the same board. I think you need to buy ADD2PSU. They are only for sale in the US.

I also use Corsair. But a lot of people are in the Seasonic camp.

I was planning to order Add2PSU from their website. I'll need to check if they have issues shipping internationally.

I was planning to power the system and 3 GPU with one 860W PSU. The other 3 cards, and their powered risers will be connected to the other 860W PSU.

Do you think this configuration will be fine?

sr. member
Activity: 280
Merit: 250
December 30, 2013, 09:06:25 PM
#6
Recommend you get the following:
PSU: LEPA G1600 - 1600 Watt power supply

GPU: MSI R9 280X <- You can overclock easier with MSI afterburner.

Quote
Now, regarding the build itself:

I'm planning to work with R9 280x cards. I'll start off with 2 cards, and eventually build it up to 6 cards in the rig. Regarding this, I have a few questions:
Someone suggested that I split this between 2 rigs, so as to not keep all my eggs in one basket. I definitely understand the wisdom in this; however, knowing the fact that a computer alone will cost me as much as roughly 1.5 GPUs or 2 PSUs, would you suggest that I go for two rigs or one?

I recommend get a most powerful PSU, then you can run 6 GPUs in one rig. LEPA G1600 can power 6 GPUs.

Quote
How much power will I need to run 6 cards eventually? The highest available PSU in the market is 1200W. I don't think this will be enough. So eventually, I'm going to have to add a secondary PSU anyways. Keeping this in mind, what should be the rating of my PSUs? 2x 860W or 2x 1000W or 2x 1200W ? Note that I will try to under-volt the cards, but I don't want to rely on this.
Is Corsair better or Seasonic better for PSUs ?
Does the Platinum/Gold make that much of a difference? I'm less concerned about the power draw off the wall, and more concerned about the safety of my hardware.

You can run 6 using LEPA G1600. Platinum Rating is better than Gold.

Quote
I was planning to use ASRock 970 Extreme 4 as the MoBo, but I read on a thread that it only supports up to 5 GPUs. Which MoBo can I use for 6 cards if I decide to go for the one rig option?
Related to this question, the ASRock 970 Extreme 4 is an older board, if I'm not mistaken, and its availability is dicey. Which MoBo is everyone using these days for their rigs?

Get this mobo --> MSI Z77A-GD65 Motherboard (Intel Core i3/i5/i7/Pentium/Celeron, Intel Z77, ATX, RAID, Gigabit LAN, Socket LGA1155)

You can have up to 7 GPUs using this one. This is the one I am using.

You will need Intel Celeron, i3, i5 or i7. I am using i7, because I am also mining CPU crypto such as Quark, Primecoin and Protoshare.


I'm planning to use Linux on the system, since its meant to be a headless mining rig. So MSI Afterburner won't work.

I'd love to get the PSU that you recommended (LEPA G1600), however, its not available in my country. But since you said that a 1600W PSU will be enough, would you recommend going with 2x 860W Platinum PSUs? And would you recommend Seasonic or Corsair?

I looked into the motherboard you recommended (MSI Z77A-GD65). It looks good. The specs do say that its compatible with Celeron processsors. Since I don't plan to do any CPU mining, I don't mind going for a cheap processor. Will the board be compatible with one of the older celeron processors? (Intel G2010)

Thanks!

Good, Somewhere you could save your price in PSU and you need to add price of a cooler as I noticed that in india its too hot so you must think about cooling. Other is good

Thanks for your reply. I'm just planning to put a table fan for the cooling. Its going to be an open rig, and I don't think any CPU fan can ever match the power of a table fan. :-P

The last time I tried to use two PSUs on one mobo. I killed one of the PSU. So not a good idea to use 2 on the same board. I think you need to buy ADD2PSU. They are only for sale in the US.

I also use Corsair. But a lot of people are in the Seasonic camp.
sr. member
Activity: 840
Merit: 255
SportsIcon - Connect With Your Sports Heroes
December 30, 2013, 07:01:19 PM
#5
Since I can't run 4 cards in 1200W...
This is incorrect, considering the excellent PSUs you mentioned. One can run 5 cards on such PSU, 4 on 1050W and 3 on 850W, if the videocards have undervolted bios to 1.05V. You need 20A per card on the 12V line.
newbie
Activity: 28
Merit: 0
December 30, 2013, 06:27:59 PM
#4
Recommend you get the following:
PSU: LEPA G1600 - 1600 Watt power supply

GPU: MSI R9 280X <- You can overclock easier with MSI afterburner.

Quote
Now, regarding the build itself:

I'm planning to work with R9 280x cards. I'll start off with 2 cards, and eventually build it up to 6 cards in the rig. Regarding this, I have a few questions:
Someone suggested that I split this between 2 rigs, so as to not keep all my eggs in one basket. I definitely understand the wisdom in this; however, knowing the fact that a computer alone will cost me as much as roughly 1.5 GPUs or 2 PSUs, would you suggest that I go for two rigs or one?

I recommend get a most powerful PSU, then you can run 6 GPUs in one rig. LEPA G1600 can power 6 GPUs.

Quote
How much power will I need to run 6 cards eventually? The highest available PSU in the market is 1200W. I don't think this will be enough. So eventually, I'm going to have to add a secondary PSU anyways. Keeping this in mind, what should be the rating of my PSUs? 2x 860W or 2x 1000W or 2x 1200W ? Note that I will try to under-volt the cards, but I don't want to rely on this.
Is Corsair better or Seasonic better for PSUs ?
Does the Platinum/Gold make that much of a difference? I'm less concerned about the power draw off the wall, and more concerned about the safety of my hardware.

You can run 6 using LEPA G1600. Platinum Rating is better than Gold.

Quote
I was planning to use ASRock 970 Extreme 4 as the MoBo, but I read on a thread that it only supports up to 5 GPUs. Which MoBo can I use for 6 cards if I decide to go for the one rig option?
Related to this question, the ASRock 970 Extreme 4 is an older board, if I'm not mistaken, and its availability is dicey. Which MoBo is everyone using these days for their rigs?

Get this mobo --> MSI Z77A-GD65 Motherboard (Intel Core i3/i5/i7/Pentium/Celeron, Intel Z77, ATX, RAID, Gigabit LAN, Socket LGA1155)

You can have up to 7 GPUs using this one. This is the one I am using.

You will need Intel Celeron, i3, i5 or i7. I am using i7, because I am also mining CPU crypto such as Quark, Primecoin and Protoshare.


I'm planning to use Linux on the system, since its meant to be a headless mining rig. So MSI Afterburner won't work.

I'd love to get the PSU that you recommended (LEPA G1600), however, its not available in my country. But since you said that a 1600W PSU will be enough, would you recommend going with 2x 860W Platinum PSUs? And would you recommend Seasonic or Corsair?

I looked into the motherboard you recommended (MSI Z77A-GD65). It looks good. The specs do say that its compatible with Celeron processsors. Since I don't plan to do any CPU mining, I don't mind going for a cheap processor. Will the board be compatible with one of the older celeron processors? (Intel G2010)

Thanks!

Good, Somewhere you could save your price in PSU and you need to add price of a cooler as I noticed that in india its too hot so you must think about cooling. Other is good

Thanks for your reply. I'm just planning to put a table fan for the cooling. Its going to be an open rig, and I don't think any CPU fan can ever match the power of a table fan. :-P
sr. member
Activity: 252
Merit: 250
December 30, 2013, 05:20:37 PM
#3
Good, Somewhere you could save your price in PSU and you need to add price of a cooler as I noticed that in india its too hot so you must think about cooling. Other is good
sr. member
Activity: 280
Merit: 250
December 30, 2013, 05:15:46 PM
#2
Recommend you get the following:
PSU: LEPA G1600 - 1600 Watt power supply

GPU: MSI R9 280X <- You can overclock easier with MSI afterburner.

Quote
Now, regarding the build itself:

I'm planning to work with R9 280x cards. I'll start off with 2 cards, and eventually build it up to 6 cards in the rig. Regarding this, I have a few questions:
Someone suggested that I split this between 2 rigs, so as to not keep all my eggs in one basket. I definitely understand the wisdom in this; however, knowing the fact that a computer alone will cost me as much as roughly 1.5 GPUs or 2 PSUs, would you suggest that I go for two rigs or one?

I recommend get a most powerful PSU, then you can run 6 GPUs in one rig. LEPA G1600 can power 6 GPUs.

Quote
How much power will I need to run 6 cards eventually? The highest available PSU in the market is 1200W. I don't think this will be enough. So eventually, I'm going to have to add a secondary PSU anyways. Keeping this in mind, what should be the rating of my PSUs? 2x 860W or 2x 1000W or 2x 1200W ? Note that I will try to under-volt the cards, but I don't want to rely on this.
Is Corsair better or Seasonic better for PSUs ?
Does the Platinum/Gold make that much of a difference? I'm less concerned about the power draw off the wall, and more concerned about the safety of my hardware.

You can run 6 using LEPA G1600. Platinum Rating is better than Gold.

Quote
I was planning to use ASRock 970 Extreme 4 as the MoBo, but I read on a thread that it only supports up to 5 GPUs. Which MoBo can I use for 6 cards if I decide to go for the one rig option?
Related to this question, the ASRock 970 Extreme 4 is an older board, if I'm not mistaken, and its availability is dicey. Which MoBo is everyone using these days for their rigs?

Get this mobo --> MSI Z77A-GD65 Motherboard (Intel Core i3/i5/i7/Pentium/Celeron, Intel Z77, ATX, RAID, Gigabit LAN, Socket LGA1155)

You can have up to 7 GPUs using this one. This is the one I am using.

You will need Intel Celeron, i3, i5 or i7. I am using i7, because I am also mining CPU crypto such as Quark, Primecoin and Protoshare.


newbie
Activity: 28
Merit: 0
December 30, 2013, 05:02:36 PM
#1
Hey everyone.

I need everyone's opinion/advice for selecting the hardware for my first rig. To describe what I'm looking for, I'm going to ask some questions, and state some facts about equipment availability and prices.

Please go through the information, and let me know your thoughts. I know it may be a long post, so I really appreciate your responses.

Here is some basic pricing in my country. These values are in my country's currency (INR) as opposed to dollars, since equipment here is generally more expensive than in the US. I've added dollar values of the final rigs, for the readers' convenience.

PSU

Brand/ModelRatingPrice
Antec HCP 1300 platinum1300WINR 22,500
Seasonic X 1250 80+ Gold1250WINR 18,500
Seasonic SS 1000XP Platinum1000WINR 17,950
Seasonic X 1050 Gold1050WINR 14,950
Seasonic 860 XP2 Platinum860WINR 15,499
Corsair AX 12001200WINR 21,500
Corsair HX 1050 80+ Gold1050WINR 16,250
Corsair AX 860 Platinum860WINR 15,000
Corsair HX 850850WINR 12,626
Corsair HX 750 80+ Gold750WINR 10,650

GPU

Brand/ModelPrice (INR)
MSI R9 280XINR 26,500
Sapphire Radeon R9 280X Dual-X OCINR 25,000
Sapphire Toxic R9 280XINR 29,000

Now, the reason behind these detailed tables is for the readers to notice that the high rated PSUs will cost me almost as much as the GPUs. We'll keep this observation in mind while we build the rig.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the computer (MoBo + Processor [AMD Sempron 145] + RAM [4GB 1600 MHz Corsair/GSkill] + Pendrive [for storage] + other misc items) will cost me roughly INR 30,000
I'll add a Sine wave inverter to this for protection against power surrges or power loss. This will cost me an additional INR 10,000
So total cost of 1 Rig (without PSU and GPU) = INR 40,000 (Which is quite significant)

Now, regarding the build itself:

  • I'm planning to work with R9 280x cards. I'll start off with 2 cards, and eventually build it up to 6 cards in the rig. Regarding this, I have a few questions:
    • Someone suggested that I split this between 2 rigs, so as to not keep all my eggs in one basket. I definitely understand the wisdom in this; however, knowing the fact that a computer alone will cost me as much as roughly 1.5 GPUs or 2 PSUs, would you suggest that I go for two rigs or one?
    • How much power will I need to run 6 cards eventually? The highest available PSU in the market is 1200W. I don't think this will be enough. So eventually, I'm going to have to add a secondary PSU anyways. Keeping this in mind, what should be the rating of my PSUs? 2x 860W or 2x 1000W or 2x 1200W ? Note that I will try to under-volt the cards, but I don't want to rely on this.
    • Is Corsair better or Seasonic better for PSUs ?
    • Does the Platinum/Gold make that much of a difference? I'm less concerned about the power draw off the wall, and more concerned about the safety of my hardware.

  • I was planning to use ASRock 970 Extreme 4 as the MoBo, but I read on a thread that it only supports up to 5 GPUs. Which MoBo can I use for 6 cards if I decide to go for the one rig option?
    • Related to this question, the ASRock 970 Extreme 4 is an older board, if I'm not mistaken, and its availability is dicey. Which MoBo is everyone using these days for their rigs?

--

If I decide to go with multiple rigs option, then I'll try to fit 4 GPUs in one rig. With 280x cards, I think I need more than 1200W on each rig, in this case too.

So we have several options available:

2 rigs with 4 cards and 2 cards (Eventually, I can add 2 more cards to the 2 card rig, when I decide to expand more)

Rig 1: Computer cost (40,000) + 2x 860W PSU (Seasonic:: INR 15,500) + GPU cost (4 x 26,500). Total= INR 180,000 ($2920)
Rig 2: Computer cost (40,000) + 2x 860W PSU (Seasonic:: INR 15,500) + GPU cost (2 x 26,500). Total= INR 127,000 ($2060)

Important note: Since I can't run 4 cards in 1200W, and I'm going to have to go with a dual PSU setup for every rig. For a 4 card set up, I think 2x 860W should suffice. Please correct me if I'm mistaken.

Total for 2 rigs = $4980 (approx.)


2 rigs with 3 cards each

Per rig Cost: Computer cost (40,000) + 1200W PSU (Seasonic/Corsair/Antec :: 18,500 / 21,500 / 22,500) + GPU cost (3 x 26,500). Total= INR 138,000 to INR 142,000 ($2240 to $2300)

So, for 2 rigs, total = $4500 to $4600 (approximately)

Important note: I'm not particularly fond of this setup since I only have 3 cards per rig. If I go up to 8 cards, I'll have to start another rig. Which will cost me more. Another option is to use the previous set up, which has the option to add 2 more cards without any increase in cost for computer components.


1 rig with 6 cards.

Rig 1: Computer cost (40,000) + GPU cost (6 x 26,500). Total= INR 199,000 ($3220)

The PSU cost needs to be added.

2x 860W    : INR 34,000 ($550 :: including one add2psu component)
2x 1000W  : INR 33,000 to INR 39,000 ($535 to $630)
2x 1200W  : INR 40,000 to INR 46,000 ($650 to $750)

Total cost of rig: $3770 (with 2x 860W) to $3970 (with 2x 1200W)

As you can see, this setup saves me $1000 easily.



So, what are your thoughts / comments / advice? Also, please don't forget to answer the questions mentioned above.

Thanks a lot for going through this painfully long post!

Happy New Year!
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