Mein miner

[ChrisD.]

So, I've jumped on the band wagon and decided to build a mining machine. Here's the run down of specs:

Seasonic 860w '80 Plus Platinum' Modular Power Supply
Gigabyte 990XA-UD3 AMD 990X (Socket AM3+) DDR3 Motherboard
AMD Bulldozer FX-4 Quad Core 4130 Black Edition 3.80GHz
Corsair Value 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Low Voltage Dual-Channel Kit
Kingston 30GB SSDNow S200 Drive SATA 6Gb/s 3 2.5" (9.5mm height)
2x Powercooler R9 280X

Here's where I started, main Titan based gaming rig in the background. Also the build station.

The Power Coler brand has bad press for poor support. I hope I don't have any issues. The cards themselves seem to be of good quality.

I started off by putting it all into a few crates.

I hat to cut the boxes to get the cables where I needed them.

My main problem with the crate was that I wasn't very happy with how the GPUs sat. They seemed to lean one way or another, and it wasn't particularly easy fixing them in. So I thought about getting a case. Luckly, my old Lian Li case was gathering dust at my friends house so he's let me have it in exchange for a gigabit switch. I originally bought the case back in 2007 from a member on here so I know its history well. I sold it when I bought the FT02. The case is not really fit for use now, it's old and has a lot of parts missing, but is ideal for my build.

In the new (old) case:

GPUs should still have enough room to breathe.

And in its final resting spot where it can make as much noise as it wants (garage).

Currently seeing 680khash each, 1050mv, 1000/1500. GPU 1 at 81 degrees, GPU at 60.

 

[ChrisD.]

Got them from Staples I think, few £ each. Can't move the GPU down one as it'll be too close to the edge of the case. I could get it cut though I guess.

Lowered core voltage to 1030mv, GPU 1 at 71 GPU 2 at 57.

 

[ChrisD.]

Well, I'm going to order a third 280X, which means I need to Dremel the case to allow a third card to fit (read that as I get to cut **** up).

 

[ChrisD.]

So I've been and cut up the case slightly. I swapped the Powercolor cards over for MSI ones.

Anyway, with the way that it was due to the corner of the case and the design of the motherboard, getting a card in wouldn't have worked as you can see as the fan side of the PCI slot wouldn't fit. This is with one GPU in slot one and the second in slot two.



So I cut it out:



Not the cleanest I admit, but the card fits.





There's not much room now, and with the third card on its way, I have to debate running a desk fan pointing at the GPUs or look to cut the roof of the case for more air. When slot two and three are populated, there is not a lot of breathing space!

 

[ChrisD.]

Yeah, I think I will probably go with the desk fan route, or try to mount some 120mm fans pointing right at the cards, I have three spare.

 

[ChrisD.]

Right, third 280X in and working. 555 Watt being drawn from the wall, seems like there's enough headroom on the PSU (Silverstone Strider 1050W Gold) for a fourth card. But, I am going to wait till my current hardware has paid for itself before getting anything else! Current hashrate is 2100 khash for the three cards, plus 850 odd on and off with my 290X in the main gaming PC.

Here's the rig now, one 120mm fan at the front of the cards and one over the back of them. Temps seem to stay below 90, so I may look at cutting up the case some more and using a riser maybe.

 

[ChrisD.]

No, just checked, it's 850 W. No idea where I get the above number from.

 

[ChrisD.]

Seems to have settled to around 800W now, I've allowed the CPU to clock down as well.

 

[ChrisD.]

Chris buddy,

Are you still getting about 700 per card or have you managed to get more? I am very keen to get in excess of 720 per 280X...

I can get over 740 on card one and two, but card zero then lags well behind. I might run two difference instances of cgminer though, there's an idea.

You bitcoin or litecoin?

Litecoin and alts of course. Bitcoin is only profitable if using ASIC miners.

 

[ChrisD.]

Bit of a change today. I'm wanting another two 280X's so the old setup had to change:







The temps are much better as you'd expect.

 

[ChrisD.]

You can get the risers from eBay. The 1650 Watt is with two ASIC miners on the go as well. The Scrypt rig draws around 800W or so. I need to do some maths as I'm not 100% on the return with all the changes.

 

[ChrisD.]

I have two arriving tomorrow.