Please critique this mining rig build - page 2.

jake262144

full member

Activity: 210

Merit: 100

Quote from: rjk on January 05, 2012, 08:41:12 PM

No, Corsair is good.

Very few manufacturers actially build PSUs (the actual manufacturers are companies like Seasonic, CWT, Delta, Superflower, Impervio, or FSP).
The others just purchase built PSUs and put their labels on them.
Corsair doesn't manufacture PSUs.

That particular one was OEMd for Corsair By Channel Well Technologies (CWT).
The HX1050 is based on CWT's recent PUC platform which is a decent design.
Efficiency-wise it does 80 PLUS SILVER⁽¹⁾ though the HX1050 was never certified.

Links:
(1) http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story2&reid=245

Brunic

hero member

Activity: 632

Merit: 500

Do what gigasvps and DeathAndTaxes say.

Invest in:
-A motherboard with enough PCIe slots for your desires. (Don't buy Gigabyte though, they're awful for USB Boot).
-Video cards.
-A good power supply.

Everything else is money lost. Boot from USB and buy cheap.

DeathAndTaxes

donator

Activity: 1218

Merit: 1080

Gerald Davis

That is a nice system but a horrible rig.

RAM. Cheapo-cheaperson-cheap brand. 2GB max. 1GB is fine.
CPU. Sempron. Every dollar more spent is just more burned wattage.
CPU Cooler. The stock junk is more than adequate. My semprons barely get warm to the touch with fan spinning as low as it can go.
Case. Open frame. A case just costs more to raise your heat.
HDD. Forget a SSD. Use cheapest HDD you can find or even better Linux on a $5 USB stick.

The PSU is decent but for the long run you want nothing less than 80Plus-Gold. Efficiency wins.
GPU are a good pick but personally I would go w/ 3 used 5970s for $900. You will get about 50% higher hashrate. Granted 50% higher for 50% cost isn't great but now the rest of system cost is ammortized over more hashes.

You can build a 3x5970 rig (used GPU) pushing 2.2GH/s on 870W for roughly the same price.

jamesg

vip

Activity: 1358

Merit: 1000

AKA: gigavps

Hi Nyte,

Your $$$/Mh is pretty high right now. I would like to make some suggestions to get this down. Please look through my post history to see my credentials.

Quote from: Nyte on January 05, 2012, 06:44:03 PM

Motherboard:

Biostar TA990FXE AM3+, AND 990FX chipset, $130

I would recommend going with this motherboard -> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157262

Saves you $20 and you can run 5 cards with extenders if you want some day.

Quote from: Nyte on January 05, 2012, 06:44:03 PM

Processor:

AMD FX-6100 3.3 GHz (3.9 GHz Max Turbo Core), Hexa-Core, 8 MB Shared L3 Cache, $160

If this is a dedicated mining rig, I would recommend using a sempron CPU -> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103888

Saves you $120.

Quote from: Nyte on January 05, 2012, 06:44:03 PM

CPU Cooler:

Xigmatek Gaia SD1283, $30

If this is a dedicated mining rig, you can just use the stock cooler with the CPU.

Saves you $30.

Quote from: Nyte on January 05, 2012, 06:44:03 PM

Memory:

Mushkin Enhanced Redline 4 GB (2 x 2 GB) 240-Pin DDR3-1600 Kit Dual-Channel Desktop Memory Kit, $40

Just get two value sticks of 1Gb memory -> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139343

Saves you $20.

Quote from: Nyte on January 05, 2012, 06:44:03 PM

Graphics:

3 x Radeon HD 5870 2GB GDDR5, $600

Get these at ebay -> http://www.ebay.com/itm/AMD-ATI-Radeon-HD5870-HD-5870-PCI-e-3D-Video-Graphics-Gaming-3-Port-Card-w-HDMI-/130608691744?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item1e68e27a20#ht_2994wt_1348

At $170 each, you can get three for $540.

Saves you $60.

Quote from: Nyte on January 05, 2012, 06:44:03 PM

Hard Drive:

OCZ Vertex Plus 60 GB SATA II SSD 60 GB, SATA 3Gb/s, $80

Don't do a hard drive if it's a dedicated mining rig. Do this -> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139246

Saves you $70.

Quote from: Nyte on January 05, 2012, 06:44:03 PM

Case:

Antec Three Hundred, $58

When I first started mining, I tried 3 6950s in a high air flow case. It did not work. Look around on the forums and figure out how to build an open air case. You'll save your cards and your sanity. Build it out of wood, it's less expensive.

Quote from: Nyte on January 05, 2012, 06:44:03 PM

Power:

Corsair Professional Series HX1050 80 Plus Silver Certified 1050-Watt, $210

Do this PSU -> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817517008

Save you $100.

As for the OS, use BAMT. Look it up on the forums. Donate to the creator.

Looks like if you follow my instructions above, you'll save ~$300 and build a 1.2Gh rig for under $900. Your $$$/Mh would be around $0.75 which is a good target for all new equipment.

Let me know what you think.[/list]

jjiimm_64

legendary

Activity: 1876

Merit: 1000

if your not going to have an open case rig, at least make sure you have tons of air flowing into the case for cooling. 3 cards side by side will get very hot

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/112408294399222065988/albums/5658727447810944545

rjk

sr. member

Activity: 448

Merit: 250

1ngldh

Quote from: Nyte on January 05, 2012, 07:08:02 PM

Did I go cheap on the PSU?

No, Corsair is good. 5870=188watts each with no overclock, so 3x188=564, which is about 53% of your PSU, not including proc, mobo, fans, etc. If you are making a dual-purpose rig, by all means go for the faster proc, etc. I am just saying what I would do for a single-purpose dedicated miner.
Good Luck.

Nyte

newbie

Activity: 13

Merit: 1

Quote from: rjk on January 05, 2012, 07:02:05 PM

Litecoin probably won't make you enough to justify the increased power draw from the CPU running full throttle.
If it is dedicated to mining, you might not even want a case - they don't have quite as good ventilation as an open fram rig (my current build).

If I were you, I would cheap out on the CPU, say a Semp140 or 145, but also an ASRock mobo (because Biostar is cheap as well as crap, and ASRock is cheapish and high quality)

Also, memory could be a $13 2gb kit.

Finally, never go cheap on the PSU. You should size the PSU to be running about at 50-60% load with your hardware, for maximum efficiency.

Thanks for the feedback.

I love building gaming rigs, so I'm approaching this with that background and mentality. I'm sure I'm going overboard on some components (which is why I'm doing this post, of course Wink

)

I could take it or leave it on the case. I've had good experience with the Antec 300 case and they are cheap atm, so I threw that in.

I usually build with Intel i5s or i7s. I just can't bring myself to cheap out too much on the CPU. But I will if it's not worth it.

Did I go cheap on the PSU?

rjk

sr. member

Activity: 448

Merit: 250

1ngldh

Litecoin probably won't make you enough to justify the increased power draw from the CPU running full throttle.
If it is dedicated to mining, you might not even want a case - they don't have quite as good ventilation as an open fram rig (my current build).

If I were you, I would cheap out on the CPU, say a Semp140 or 145, but also an ASRock mobo (because Biostar is cheap as well as crap, and ASRock is cheapish and high quality)

Also, memory could be a $13 2gb kit.

Finally, never go cheap on the PSU. You should size the PSU to be running about at 50-60% load with your hardware, for maximum efficiency.

Nyte

newbie

Activity: 13

Merit: 1

Hello all!

I'm pretty new here. You might have seen my "Diary of a Bitcoin Virgin" post I made last month. I've stuck it out and am still lurking the forums.

I want to build a mining rig, and I've searched quite a bit for rig builds. But posts with actual builds don't seem to exist.

So from what little I've pieced together, I'm come up with this. I'd appreciate if you could critique this and let me know why or why not it would be a decent build for a mining rig.

Motherboard:

Biostar TA990FXE AM3+, AND 990FX chipset, $130

Processor:

AMD FX-6100 3.3 GHz (3.9 GHz Max Turbo Core), Hexa-Core, 8 MB Shared L3 Cache, $160

CPU Cooler:

Xigmatek Gaia SD1283, $30

Memory:

Mushkin Enhanced Redline 4 GB (2 x 2 GB) 240-Pin DDR3-1600 Kit Dual-Channel Desktop Memory Kit, $40

Graphics:

3 x Radeon HD 5870 2GB GDDR5, $600

Hard Drive:

OCZ Vertex Plus 60 GB SATA II SSD 60 GB, SATA 3Gb/s, $80

Case:

Antec Three Hundred, $58

Power:

Corsair Professional Series HX1050 80 Plus Silver Certified 1050-Watt, $210

Total Cost: $1308

I'm pretty sure it's a given, but I'm going for max value - lowest time to break even. I also went with the 6-core AMD for some CPU mining too (litecoin).

I appreciate you checking this out and look forward to your feedback!

Topic: Please critique this mining rig build - page 2. (Read 3182 times)