I’ve been interested in crypto for a few months, and while I have been using dollar cost averaging to build my investment, I wanted to accumulate more crypto than my stingy nature would allow. Thus, I started mining it myself with hardware I already possessed. In addition to the monetary rewards, it appeals to the side of me that likes tinkering with things for the sake of it. Spending hours of trial and error to improve hash rate by 5%, decrease power consumption by 2% or reduce operating temperature by 3 degrees might not make much sense on a time/returns basis, but fuck it, I’d be tinkering with something anyway, might as well do it with a single purpose in mind. I’m by no means an expert, but through a couple of months of trial and error I’ve come from no knowledge at all, to a reasonable level of understanding that I can share to save others some trouble.
There are 3 types of crypto mining devices:
1. CPU mining – the power of your CPU can be utilized, but this is the least powerful, and returns specifically from CPU mining are supplemental at best. In fact, many miners choose to leave their CPU idle, as the small returns are not worth the power costs and wear and tear.
2.GPU mining - the miners this guide revolves around. Graphics cards are far more powerful for mining than CPU’s while still being accessible to regular people with regular hardware. The more powerful the card, the higher the hashing power, but it tends to come at the cost of higher power consumption.
3.ASIC mining – the invention that “broke” bitcoin mining. Short for Application specific integrated circuit, these machines are designed to mine and nothing else, thus are incredibly powerful and efficient at it. They are however, beset by supply, noise and power consumption issues. Some coins have been developed to be ASIC resistant, but as far as mining specifically for bitcoin goes, if you’re not using ASIC, don’t bother.
Components and design
Frame – I started with just a normal ATX case but for any more than 2 GPU’s the limitations on cooling make it less than ideal. For greater than 2 GPU rigs you’ll want an open air frame – popular designs are like this:
![[Image: $_1.JPG]](http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTAwMFgxMDAw/z/GoMAAOxyeR9TLk24/$_1.JPG)
They’d be easy to make for cheap, or you could waste $300 buying one. But being the cheap cunt I am, I made one based around an old milk crate. Not pretty, but every bit as functional and cost me nothing.
PSU – anywhere from 700 – 1400 watt PSU depending on load. This is the backbone of your system, so don’t cheap out. Check the power draw of the cards you plan to use, multiply by the number of cards and then add some for the motherboard, memory, HDD etc. ie If a card has a TDP of 135W and you want to use 6 of them – 6x135 = 810W just for the GPUs. You wouldn’t use anything less than a 1000W PSU for this. Alternatively you can power the GPUs from one PSU, and the motherboard from another. The important thing is the efficiency rating – you’ll want gold or better. Cut corners on the efficiency rating, and you’ll end up paying for it in wasted power costs.
Motherboard – Look for a full ATX motherboard with 6 PCI slots. To utilize them all you’ll need to use powered risers. Most gaming motherboards fit the bill, though dedicated mining motherboards are available too. Not sure what benefit they purport to offer, probably nothing.
CPU – most mining rigs just have the cheapest, lowest spec CPU to get the thing to run, as it’ll likely remain idle.
RAM – hardly used, so you can afford to cheap out. You could get by with 4GB with a linux system, but I’d probably go with 8GB since I haven’t got a fucking clue how to use linux.
GPU – the most popular cards are the AMD RX470/480/570/580 cards or Nvidia GTX1070, each with their own pros and cons. They all have similar hash rates, but for example the GTX1070 has lower power consumption but higher initial outlay while the AMDs are cheaper to buy but are more power hungry. For me, the ideal would be the RX570 on balance of its hash power, power consumption and purchase price.
Getting started
With the rising popularity of GPU mining, supply has outstripped demand for GPU’s, thus prices for new hardware are inflated and availability is scarce. For the most popular mining cards retailers typically have a limit on how many can be purchased at any one time, meaning you might need to build your rig piecemeal, or pay a considerable premium. Keep an eye out for specials, and snap them up when you can. I recently ordered an RX580 for $300 AUD, when the regular price was about $450. Problem is, there was a limit of 1 per customer, but I can wait until the next special comes around to grow my rig. You could look around for second hand cards, but this comes with added risk. You never know what the previous owner has done to the card – they could have been running it for their own mining operation, constantly at high temperatures and burnt out half the cores by the time you get your hands on it. Still, some older cards like the AMD R9 series or HD7970 still offer good hash rates at a much lower cost than new cards so you may want to take a gamble. Bear in mind they are less power efficient than newer models and will gradually deteriorate, so second hand cards will incur replacement costs sooner than brand new ones.
Running costs – the components will be drawing power 24/7 so it is a balancing act between hashing power and power consumption. For most miners, the increased purchase price and power consumption of the absolute most powerful cards like GTX1080(Ti) or RX Vega make them a little less desirable than slightly lower-spec components – the cards that are generally considered to sit in the “sweet spot” are the AMD RX470/480/570/580 or Nvidia GTX1070. I started mining with a couple of nvidia 1050ti’s which are one of, if not the most power efficient cards on the market, as I live in a city with relatively high power costs so I need to place a fair bit of weight on the power consumption side of things. I do have solar panels that provide enough to power it through the day, but the costs incurred at night will still be significant. If you’re lucky enough to have cheap or free power, load up with as much hashing power as you can and to hell with the power consumption. Make sure to get a kill-a-watt or similar energy consumption meter, so you can make accurate calculations.
There are 3 types of crypto mining devices:
1. CPU mining – the power of your CPU can be utilized, but this is the least powerful, and returns specifically from CPU mining are supplemental at best. In fact, many miners choose to leave their CPU idle, as the small returns are not worth the power costs and wear and tear.
2.GPU mining - the miners this guide revolves around. Graphics cards are far more powerful for mining than CPU’s while still being accessible to regular people with regular hardware. The more powerful the card, the higher the hashing power, but it tends to come at the cost of higher power consumption.
3.ASIC mining – the invention that “broke” bitcoin mining. Short for Application specific integrated circuit, these machines are designed to mine and nothing else, thus are incredibly powerful and efficient at it. They are however, beset by supply, noise and power consumption issues. Some coins have been developed to be ASIC resistant, but as far as mining specifically for bitcoin goes, if you’re not using ASIC, don’t bother.
Components and design
Frame – I started with just a normal ATX case but for any more than 2 GPU’s the limitations on cooling make it less than ideal. For greater than 2 GPU rigs you’ll want an open air frame – popular designs are like this:
They’d be easy to make for cheap, or you could waste $300 buying one. But being the cheap cunt I am, I made one based around an old milk crate. Not pretty, but every bit as functional and cost me nothing.
PSU – anywhere from 700 – 1400 watt PSU depending on load. This is the backbone of your system, so don’t cheap out. Check the power draw of the cards you plan to use, multiply by the number of cards and then add some for the motherboard, memory, HDD etc. ie If a card has a TDP of 135W and you want to use 6 of them – 6x135 = 810W just for the GPUs. You wouldn’t use anything less than a 1000W PSU for this. Alternatively you can power the GPUs from one PSU, and the motherboard from another. The important thing is the efficiency rating – you’ll want gold or better. Cut corners on the efficiency rating, and you’ll end up paying for it in wasted power costs.
Motherboard – Look for a full ATX motherboard with 6 PCI slots. To utilize them all you’ll need to use powered risers. Most gaming motherboards fit the bill, though dedicated mining motherboards are available too. Not sure what benefit they purport to offer, probably nothing.
CPU – most mining rigs just have the cheapest, lowest spec CPU to get the thing to run, as it’ll likely remain idle.
RAM – hardly used, so you can afford to cheap out. You could get by with 4GB with a linux system, but I’d probably go with 8GB since I haven’t got a fucking clue how to use linux.
GPU – the most popular cards are the AMD RX470/480/570/580 cards or Nvidia GTX1070, each with their own pros and cons. They all have similar hash rates, but for example the GTX1070 has lower power consumption but higher initial outlay while the AMDs are cheaper to buy but are more power hungry. For me, the ideal would be the RX570 on balance of its hash power, power consumption and purchase price.
Getting started
With the rising popularity of GPU mining, supply has outstripped demand for GPU’s, thus prices for new hardware are inflated and availability is scarce. For the most popular mining cards retailers typically have a limit on how many can be purchased at any one time, meaning you might need to build your rig piecemeal, or pay a considerable premium. Keep an eye out for specials, and snap them up when you can. I recently ordered an RX580 for $300 AUD, when the regular price was about $450. Problem is, there was a limit of 1 per customer, but I can wait until the next special comes around to grow my rig. You could look around for second hand cards, but this comes with added risk. You never know what the previous owner has done to the card – they could have been running it for their own mining operation, constantly at high temperatures and burnt out half the cores by the time you get your hands on it. Still, some older cards like the AMD R9 series or HD7970 still offer good hash rates at a much lower cost than new cards so you may want to take a gamble. Bear in mind they are less power efficient than newer models and will gradually deteriorate, so second hand cards will incur replacement costs sooner than brand new ones.
Running costs – the components will be drawing power 24/7 so it is a balancing act between hashing power and power consumption. For most miners, the increased purchase price and power consumption of the absolute most powerful cards like GTX1080(Ti) or RX Vega make them a little less desirable than slightly lower-spec components – the cards that are generally considered to sit in the “sweet spot” are the AMD RX470/480/570/580 or Nvidia GTX1070. I started mining with a couple of nvidia 1050ti’s which are one of, if not the most power efficient cards on the market, as I live in a city with relatively high power costs so I need to place a fair bit of weight on the power consumption side of things. I do have solar panels that provide enough to power it through the day, but the costs incurred at night will still be significant. If you’re lucky enough to have cheap or free power, load up with as much hashing power as you can and to hell with the power consumption. Make sure to get a kill-a-watt or similar energy consumption meter, so you can make accurate calculations.
