Mother Mine - Extreme Mining Setup

[wndsr]

Not content with my current mining setup of 3 x R9 290 and 3 x R9 280, I have decided to expand. Massively.

My current idea is to run 4 systems each with 4 x R9 280 - so 16 in total, and one system with 3 x R9 290, maybe 4 if I have some pennies left over to buy another one.

I am looking at getting under way as soon as possible, but for now my current list of things to do looks a bit like this...

1. Draw a plan of how the new setup will look in the cellar, including identifying where new plug sockets will go.
2. Clear out the cellar to accomodate all the new desks that will be going in.
3. Electrician to fit new plugs and lights
4. Purchase hardware, desks, fans, network hardware
5. Get them all set up one by one
6. Enjoy a nice strong drink.

It's pretty daunting at first but I will keep the thread updated with how I am getting on. It's going to be a quick project as I'd like it up and running as soon as possible.

Update 1: Current State of the Cellar









The last photo is the hole in the wall that I was planning to use as an intake of cold air, but the more I think about, the more it makes sense to try and pump the warm air into there?

Would greatly appreciate some guidance on this!

 

[wndsr]

Hardware Arrival & Set Up



To be continued - can't start until I have desks and electricity in the cellar!

 

[wndsr]

Had a very busy weekend getting things set up... In total I'll be running with 20 x R9 280X and 4 x 290. I'm not a fan of the 290's, though I did buy another one just to round it up to 4

Apologies in advance for the quality and quantity (or lack thereof) of my photos - I get so carried away I don't stop to take a photo!

First thing is first - get everything unboxed and plugged in.

Intel Celeron 2.7Ghz and AsRock H61 Pro BTC Motherboard


2 x 4GB Team Group Xtreem Memory in each one.


Antec 1300W Platinum PSU



Lots of red aluminium!


Soon becomes this...


Damp cellar has dried out considerable in the past few days. New plugs fitted too!


Most annoying thing of the build was how the GPU would slide around on the rail because the PSU wires were so stiff. Had to screw 3 holes in the rail to screw it in. Now it's perfect.


New switch to ensure everything is connected.


Worlds largest enter button.


MSI rig (only have 1 MSI rig, all the others are Power Colour)


Motherboard view. Have one GPU in the motherboard just for ease.


4 of the 6


The 5th one in the corner. Plus my sledge for when it's snowing


PowerColour 280X comes with a very nice backplate




Post-build treat...




Comments so far...

Before getting into this I was a bit of a brand snob and thought the Power Colour cards would be cheap versions and wouldn't compare to Asus, MSI etc... I was so wrong. They are built really well and perform exceptionally. One added bonus is the default unlocked voltage control, which for mining is a huge plus. The black backplate is an added extra too.

For anybody who is a bit like I was and questioning whether they are a good choice - they absolutely are. They actually perform better than my MSI cards.

I'm yet to do some accurate power consumption tests, but I'm working on the basis that each rig will pull approximately 1000W once I've finished undervolting.

I still have to set the 4 x 290 cards up - will do that some time this week. Will most likely need a new motherboard though.

 

[wndsr]

Just to answer a couple of points made

with regards to the ASIC Miners - It is my personal belief that these are further away than what some people would like us to believe. Perhaps I'm going to make a huge mistake and ASIC miners will be out in March, but I just don't see it happening yet. That's my personal view and if it backfires - well at least I'll have lots of stuff to sell on the Members Market!

I have been following Alpha Technology and other companies who claim to be creating the ASIC's but I just don't yet have much confidence in their claims.

With regards to heat - our cellar is split into two sections, connected by a hole in the wall about 2ft x 2ft - it's my intention to suck all the hot air out of there and pump it into the other section of the cellar that currently isn't used - hopefully heating the dining room too.

I totally appreciate the risk involved in this and you may call me mad for doing it. But if I don't do it and it later turns out I could have made a small fortune, I'll be forever kicking myself.

I've also done some of the figures around this... This hardware alone could allow me to pay off £500 a month and still make a very healthy profit.

 

[wndsr]

It's all so daunting! Aaaah! But also so exciting!

Electrician is coming next week to get the plugs fitted. I've order another 280X today to go in my current 3 card rig. If it plays fine in Windows I know I will be safe to proceed building 4 more.

 

[wndsr]

Thanks for the comments guys.

Bought myself two desks from Ikea today, basically just big pieces of wood with legs! Also started to buy various cabling.

Got myself an 8-port network switch
Lots of Ethernet cable
10M HDMI cable so I can have a monitor at the end of the desks and just plug the cable into whatever PC I need to use.

 

[wndsr]

I'm waiting on deliveries chaps, patience is a virtue! Unfortunately OcUK are out of stock with the GPU's at present.

You'll be the first to know about it when I get it all!

Edit: Just updated the OP to show current state of our cellar. It seems to love to keep stuff in this house and can't bring ourselves to bin anything! Oh how that will change!

 

[wndsr]

Hahha oh Josh you pleb!

It's going to be epic. Think I'll need a skip for the cellar though.

 

[wndsr]

For the temperature of the room have you thought about a cellar cooling system similar to that which you would find in a pub?

The cost will probably far outweigh the benefit, but may give some food for thought.

Couple that with some sort of heat extraction system from the GPU exhausts, as you have eluded to, into the other portion of the cellar.

Ah Chiefington - I replied to your PM - not sure if you have seen it. Pretty sure I will need to look into something 'proper' soon. Most, if not all of my heat currently is coming from the insanely warm 290 cards.

 

[wndsr]

Oh gosh not that dreaded worm air! I'm quite nervous about this now...

Might be worth waiting for the non reference coolers on the 290's.

I already have 3 x R9 290 buddy, bought them a few weeks ago. The Mother Mine will consist of mainly 280X cards not 290. I may buy another cheeky 290 just to bring it up to 4

 

[wndsr]

Hahah of course!

 

[wndsr]

Wndsr, I have a fairly good solution for you.
If it comes to mad projects involving rads, I am a master of it
Why not build a mininig tower?
By tower, I mean a box locker - the type you see at gym clubs, but large enough to accomodate rads and add shelves for each rig.
Then cut holes in right wall, attach a Phobya 1260 or 1080, they come with some nice accessories, like mounting system/box etc. If one per rig is not enough, add another on the left side as well
If you cant find a suitable locker, get some aluminum from a company called aluminiumwarehouse, they have everything in their shop to build custom furniture - I made a computer desk from their stuff.

As much as I would love to watercool all these cards, it just isn't financially possible. My biggest challenge at the moment is figuring out how to get all the hot air out from my cellar as efficiently as possible.

 

[wndsr]

I'm sure you've considered this but I have to ask! I hope you have considered the amperage you are going to be pulling from the wall from these machines! Definitely worth making sure your home mains can take the load!

Good luck with this! I think its a great project! Why not build a rack with all the machines in and set up hot/cold sides and use a large boxfan to channel the air away?

We have an electrician coming on Wednesday to hopefully sort all this stuff out. I am currently pulling approximately 2000W with 3 x 290 and 3 x 280. This is obviously going to be on a pretty huge scale so will need to ensure my electrics are managed.

Could you not have some fans blowing the heat from the rigs towards the entrance of the cellar?.

Just a heads up a competitor has gigabyte 280x windforce cards in stock at £224 but only 20 in stock . OCUK said they cannot price match, around £60 cheaper.

Bargain .

Thought about doing this and the only thing stopping me from doing it is the fact the cellar door would need to be open all the time. Given the amount of noise I anticipate this setup making, I think having the door open would bring too much noise up into the house.

Ideally I would like some sort of exhaust built into the brick at the front of the house that could suck all the hot air out, but I have no idea if this is even possible. It seems a shame to waste the heat though, especially during winter.

Wndsr, apologies, only just seen this now.

Looks like it's going to be fun. Good luck, and try not to burn the house down

Let's hope so buddy! If it fails at being a mine, at least it will be a very exciting sauna!

 

[wndsr]

Could you not knock out some bricks, make a wooden frame insert and add some of these http://m.screwfix.com/reviews.htm?id=12523. That should be pretty easy.

That link isn't showing up for me buddy - you got the product name and I'll check it out?

 

[wndsr]

These fans look great and would probably be idea for sucking hot air out of the mine room and into the other part of the cellar. Just wondering what happens to it then though...

 

[wndsr]

I know you are all hungry for photos, they will come tomorrow!

Everything has arrived now. My final specification for the rig was as follows:-

Intel Celeron 2.7Ghz Dual Core CPU
8GB Team Group DDR3 2400Mhz RAM
4 x Power Colour 280X GPU
1300W Antec Platinum PSU
30GB Kingston SSD
AsRock H61 Pro BTC

The frames will be made from aluminium with 3 cards mounted and 1 in the actual motherboard. I've struggled to find long riser cables for PCIx16 so this will do for now.

Total setup...

20 x 280X
4 x 290

Will post pictures soon.

 

[wndsr]

Is there any reason for 8Gb of ram and the SSD?

I'm thinking about getting 2 machines like that and running linux from a pendrive without a HDD/SSD.

Scrypt Mining likes RAM because it allows for a higher thread concurrency. One of my current systems is limited to how 'intense' it can mine because of its lack of RAM.
The SSD uses less power than the HDD - only reason. Linux is very good and seems stable though as you can't easily get it to mine to multiple pools I favour Windows.

Looking forward to seeing this. May I ask how much this will cost and have you worked out what your monthly electricity cost is going to be?

My costs have been just over £5000 currently. That's including everything from all the hardware, the networking stuff, the fitting of new plug sockets, the PCI risers.

Power wise I am probably looking at over £300 per month. Will do a full power test when I am up and running.

As promised...

 

[wndsr]

Electrician has been and didn't say it would be a problem...

 

[wndsr]

He didn't specifically say it wouldn't be either

However, I don't reckon it will be much more than 5KW...

 

[wndsr]

Oh my god... I think you have just terrified me.

Anybody want some free GPUs?!