Want to build a LTC/scrypt rig, can anyone help me w/proper PC components?

[AdamT]

I love this crypto currency stuff, hooked! Want to put together a decent rig, milk crate style. Looking for around 4000-ish k/hash range. Looked over a ton of sites and am still a bit confused on all the exact components. I don't want to get the wrong stuff.

I want to do either a 6x 7950 or a 5x r9 290 setup. Can't decide which way to go. Rig would require an adequate power supply, motherboard, CPU, a small SSD, powered 1x to 16x PCIe riser cables, a milk crate, and whatever other odds and ends.

Would probably set it up with Linux/Ubuntu, but from what I understand, this OS can't do under-volting? I want to over clock the GPUs though. I'd really like to avoid Windows if at all possible.

I'm a Mac guy all my life and am somewhat confused getting all the necessary PC components.

Is anyone willing to help me?

[kpitcher]

I don't see the reason for going for 6 GPUs. The added expense of that PSU and a MB can be offset by two machines with lesser power and a cheaper MB. Also the riser cards are PCI 1 while the r9s are power and bandwidth hungry and are best with PCI 3. I've seen issues with using risers on them for them not performing as well as directl in the slot.

You can get away with a flash drive instead of a SSD.

We've got a few good crypto coin people here but honestly, the best mining info is on bitcointalk. Especially if you're going for something a little.. out there.

[AdamT]

Just ordered everything for my rig! Went with 4x R9 290's. Should hash about 3600 k/h.

[torchbearer]

ur rig makes me jealous and i thought i had a beast.

[FindLiberty]

I, Battlestation: http://www.thefloorisnowlava.net/comic.php?id=177

[torchbearer]

I, Battlestation: http://www.thefloorisnowlava.net/comic.php?id=177

need more power!!!!!!!!

I cannot yet render real life through a VM!

[AdamT]

ur rig makes me jealous and i thought i had a beast.

What's your rig?

[torchbearer]

What's your rig?

once upon a time it was top of the mid-grade.

cpu: amd 1090t phenom II 6 core 3200mhz
ram: kingston 16GB 1600mhz
harddrive: WD velociraptor stripe raid 1TB (with win7 x64)
graphics: 2x ATI RadeonHD 6870 in crossfire
onboard sound and network.
also run linux mint 16 on the same machine, located on its on 500GB velociraptor.

I've done some projects on BOINC that used my gpu's for processing. though i mostly process SETI@home.

[brandon]

Just ordered everything for my rig! Went with 4x R9 290's. Should hash about 3600 k/h.

Can you link me to the GPUs you purchased? I was seriously looking into this a couple weeks ago, and it seemed like the good GPUs were either out of stock or marked up 100% nearly everywhere. Apparently the LTC bubble of last month caused a massive run on mining hardware. Though I was looking pre-christmas so wouldn't be surprised if they restocked by now.

Best of luck on your venture and keep us updated!

[AdamT]

Can you link me to the GPUs you purchased? I was seriously looking into this a couple weeks ago, and it seemed like the good GPUs were either out of stock or marked up 100% nearly everywhere. Apparently the LTC bubble of last month caused a massive run on mining hardware. Though I was looking pre-christmas so wouldn't be surprised if they restocked by now.

Best of luck on your venture and keep us updated!

4x Sapphire R9 290's
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GRNULDA/

[AdamT]

once upon a time it was top of the mid-grade.

cpu: amd 1090t phenom II 6 core 3200mhz
ram: kingston 16GB 1600mhz
harddrive: WD velociraptor stripe raid 1TB (with win7 x64)
graphics: 2x ATI RadeonHD 6870 in crossfire
onboard sound and network.
also run linux mint 16 on the same machine, located on its on 500GB velociraptor.

I've done some projects on BOINC that used my gpu's for processing. though i mostly process SETI@home.

You should be able to get at least 600 k/h out of that. Have you tried mining with it?

[torchbearer]

You should be able to get at least 600 k/h out of that. Have you tried mining with it?

no, i had started to look into mining, but i knew so little about it that i wasn't even sure if I was mining the right thing.. and some of the websites were as clear as mud, might as well been on a linux forum with 30 year pros mocking the questions being asked.

do you use a software client to mine, sorta like BOINC?

[AdamT]

no, i had started to look into mining, but i knew so little about it that i wasn't even sure if I was mining the right thing.. and some of the websites were as clear as mud, might as well been on a linux forum with 30 year pros mocking the questions being asked.

do you use a software client to mine, sorta like BOINC?

Cgminer, mining with different pools. I haven't done any solo mining yet, couldn't get it to work.

[torchbearer]

Cgminer, mining with different pools. I haven't done any solo mining yet, couldn't get it to work.

explain cgminer and pools, how does that work- both on your computer, and achieving coins for yourself.

[AdamT]

explain cgminer and pools, how does that work- both on your computer, and achieving coins for yourself.

So each coin has its own wallet app, which you download from a coin's official website. Once you get the wallet you can make an address or addresses unique to you inside the wallet. Coin websites usually have links to mining pools which support that particular coin.

You download cgminer and install that. Most of the pools have a "getting started" area that gives the codes to put into cgminer to mine a certain coin. In the settings of the pool (once you create an account) there is an area to paste in your wallet address, and a threshold of when to send payments. So if you set it to 1, your wallet will get a payment when you mine 1 full coin. Set it to 100 and you'll get a payment when you mine 100.

Basically that's it.

[XTreat]

I have three rigs running I built about 8 months ago but they are using 3x 6950 or 6970 each so I get a total of 4k from all three, looking to start upgrading to 7950's ( they are much more energy efficient than the r9's).

So I know just enough to be dangerous, but I use windows 7 as I prefer it and had a copy anyways. I also use cgminer and MSI afterburner.

[danda]

if you are using 2 or more high end GPUs, make sure to get a quality modular power supply with enough power for all your cards. Do NOT skimp. I skimped the first time and the system would not even boot, even though it was supposedly a 1000 watt PSU. This is a good one:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002BH3Z84/...I2XQAZ9UW83OGZ

Also, if going without a case, do not forget a power switch, like this one:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000NWFEZQ/...I1QYUMXWUJK8CL


A lot of people say to skimp on the RAM, but if you are going to be mining several different scrypt alt-coins it is very nice to have several of them running at once, and those blockchains get big. I start with 4gig, then 16, now 24 and am happy with that. I'd suggest 16 for starters.

Likewise, the oft given advice is that CPU doesn't matter. But in fact, CPU is used a lot for blockchain parsing, for proof-of-stake calcs, and then there are the various CPU only coins that come out. If I was doing it again, I'd get a nice quad or hex core CPU. The more cores the better.

Another tip on proof-of-stake coins. Disable the proof-of-stake interest calculation by setting reservebalance very high in conf file. Otherwise they tend to burn CPU endlessly and for insignificant return. learned this the hard way.

Also, a 1TB drive is a good idea, for multiple coins + blockchains. SSD not really necessary. Anything you need to be fast can be in RAM or ramdisk.

I found these risers to work nicely. But they were $6 then. Now they are $30?!
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008BZBFTG/...I3TJPN0ZCPMLL0


Be sure to automate the backup of all your keys.

Hope that helps. good luck.

[HOLLYWOOD]

$1141.99 - Miner's Starter Set on Newegg. 3x XFX 7970, 3x Toshiba 500gb HDD, 1x 4gb memory, 1x amd 2.8ghz cpu

http://slickdeals.net/f/6606646-1141...amd-2-8ghz-cpu



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[kpitcher]

Different ways to mine. If you are making a new PC that you're going to use and mine when you're not using it then the advice given works. If you are making a machine solely to mine 24/7, not being used for anything else, then you're overdoing it.

Don't bother with a hard drive. Put linux on usb. There are existing projects for mining but it's not all that hard to start with a basic ubuntu live USB and put the required card drivers and files on. This saves on costs and also power. A HD will take 60 watts and every watt you save is a good thing. Again if you're only mining you don't need the wallet program on there at all. cgminer / bfgminer pulls the data from the pool and not from your local program. 5 bucks for an 8 gig stick and you're ready.
USB also makes it fast to get new miners going.

This also goes for memory. If it's solely mining then 4 gig will be enough for a 2 GPU system IF you're doing it on linux. I can't do 2 X 290x's on only 4 gigs on a windows box tho.

[amonasro]

Sounds like you have a pretty good handle on things. Linux is a bit fussier to get going (so I've read) but totally possible. It's just a matter of putting everything together correctly, getting the GPUs to run stable, and not cause a fire hazard by pulling multiple kilowatts from the wall

CGminer is tricky but take time to read all the documentation and it's not so bad. Remember 3.7.2 is the last version with scrypt mining support. I use a program called CGWatcher which is an absolute lifesaver and minimizes downtime. It has fun features like auto-restart, scheduling, separate coin profiles, pool management, remote monitoring, and auto switching to more profitable coins.

Power supplies. You'll need a great one. Corsair has a new line that regulates the 12V rails digitally, resulting in cleaner power. There's a 1200w model, I wish I had it The Lepa 1200 and 1600w models are also highly regarded. I use a Corsair HX1000 which is a few years old, rated @ 1000w but actually it's a dual 750w PSU in disguise. I plugged in my whole system to a single rail and pulled 720w from it for days, 100% stable. You could easily get 1200w from it. You might be able to find one used--I paid like $50 on the bitcointalk forums for it.

FTR I'm running a single 7990 @ 1.52Mh/s under water cooling, Windows 8, 6gb ram. It's my office computer so it can't be too noisy... the radiator fans and water pump hum slightly but it's nothing compared to the jet-engine 79xx fans running at 85%. Thinking about getting another 7990 as they perform better than two 7970s and separate waterblocks are expensive. My current temps are sub 50C so I have some overhead.

[torchbearer]

You should be able to get at least 600 k/h out of that. Have you tried mining with it?

i think my cgminer has lost its mind.
it says i'm getting 3481 K/H
if that is the case, i found the magic combination of hardware and tweak settings.
i'm about to become very rich selling this mining rig.
that's at 70C too. no way.


edit: back to 588K/H
must have been a bug.

[tangent4ronpaul]

I use a Corsair HX1000 which is a few years old, rated @ 1000w but actually it's a dual 750w PSU in disguise.

Does anyone know about or know of a source of info on how to a make "dual" power supply?

I've also seen reference to using a powerful power supply to power multiple computers, but haven't found any info on how to do this or parts to split out the power - like MB connectors.

Anyone?

-t

[torchbearer]

Does anyone know about or know of a source of info on how to a make "dual" power supply?

I've also seen reference to using a powerful power supply to power multiple computers, but haven't found any info on how to do this or parts to split out the power - like MB connectors.

Anyone?

-t

https://www.google.com/search?q=dual...icial&tbm=shop

[kpitcher]

When cgminer first starts up the stats will bounce around higher than normal. I don't know exactly why but within a minute it should settle down.

BFGminer on the other hand is totally wrong with their stats at all time.

[tangent4ronpaul]

https://www.google.com/search?q=dual...icial&tbm=shop

Thank you TB!

anyone on 1 PS and multiple computers?

-t