Wanting to get into mining

[Drunkenvalley]

So as of recent I've been pondering getting into mining. I can afford doing this perfectly fine.

Offhand I've got a server at a friend's place. If I was to upgrade this into a mining rig I'd move it here.
But anyhow, its specs are:
i5 2500k w/ stock cooler
P8Z77-V Deluxe
Corsair Vengeance LP 8GB (2x4GB)
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB, if memory serves me right
A Corsair HX PSU that I don't recall the size of
And a Corsair 650D

Out of all of these components, the PSU belongs to a friend of mine. We put this server together for giggles, and then it's just gathered dust. What I'm considering is moving it home to me, where I don't pay electricity anyhow. Put in a new powersupply, and put in graphics cards.

Here's what I'm not decided on:
What powersupply should I get?
I'm considering replacing my own powersupply, a Corsair AX 850, with an AX 1200i. Then put the old AX 850 in the mining rig.

What graphics cards should I get?
I can get myself a couple of R9 280X cards from MSI. These cards have an aftermarket cooler, but the PCB is identical to an HD 7970. I already have one waterblock for cards like these, but I can't obtain a second one. These are also not upgrades for me should mining ever become useless, since I already run two GTX 680s.

So what I've been contemplating now is getting two R9 290 or R9 290X cards. Should mining fail these'll be upgrades for me at least, and getting waterblocks for them is easy. The R9 290 would be with an aftermarket cooler, probably the MSI one. If it's the 290X they'll be completely reference cards. (And also only cost a fraction more than the MSI 290 cards.)

Finally, will two reference R9 290X cards require very active cooling when installed in the Corsair 650D?

[Deleted]

When my Asus TOP is running at max while mining it's sitting around 84C, I can't imagine two 290X being any better so you will definitely want the best cooling you can get.

290 would be better kh/W but if you're not paying extra for electricity I guess that's not a big concern. Still a premium for an extra ~50kh/s

[Drunkenvalley]

When my Asus TOP is running at max while mining it's sitting around 84C, I can't imagine two 290X being any better so you will definitely want the best cooling you can get.

290 would be better kh/W but if you're not paying extra for electricity I guess that's not a big concern. Still a premium for an extra ~50kh/s

Here's the cards in question that make me undecided on what to pick:
3389 NOK, R9 290 reference card
3795 NOK, MSI R9 290 w/ aftermarket cooler
3995 NOK, R9 290X reference card
4799 NOK, Sapphire 290X Tri-X

See my problem? It seems like such a low pricejump for the 290X when comparing it to some decent cooling. :/

[tielknight]

Look into getting a USB miner. Much cheaper and uses less power and much more efficient.

[n0cturnal]

Look into getting a USB miner. Much cheaper and uses less power and much more efficient.

There are no ASIC for scrypt yet and probably wont be for a few months, also they are VERY expensive.

[Drunkenvalley]

I've little interest in mining currencies that have ASICs available to them.

[tielknight]

I'm seeing ones for in the $20-30-range that give you 300+ Mh/s that work with PPCOIN(sha-256), seems like a much better deal that way though I don't know a whole lot about mining and whatnot, I just see the damn things on ebay all the time

I've little interest in mining currencies that have ASICs available to them.

Here's a nice little comparison chart I found for litecoin.

https://litecoin.info/Mining_hardware_comparison

Should give you a idea of what you can get and which GPU would be worth the most.

[Drunkenvalley]

I'm seeing ones for in the $20-30-range that give you 300+ Mh/s that work with PPCOIN(sha-256), seems like a much better deal that way though I don't know a whole lot about mining and whatnot, I just see the damn things on ebay all the time

That's for currencies like Bitcoin though. Scrypt is something else.

[n0cturnal]

I'm seeing ones for in the $20-30-range that give you 300+ Mh/s that work with PPCOIN(sha-256), seems like a much better deal that way though I don't know a whole lot about mining and whatnot, I just see the damn things on ebay all the time



Here's a nice little comparison chart I found for litecoin.

https://litecoin.info/Mining_hardware_comparison

Should give you a idea of what you can get and which GPU would be worth the most.

4 years, 253 days to break even on a USB 333MHash/s ASIC for $20

[Drunkenvalley]

So it generally looks like I'll probably grab the R9 290X cards, after talking with Notarget. But that still leaves me with a different decision... The PSU replacement I need to do.

What I'm contemplating is grabbing the Corsair AX 1200i and put it in my main system, reusing the AX 850 I have in that for the mining rig. Alternatively, I'm considering grabbing the RM 1000 and a Vengeance C70 case, since that's got better options for fitting better cooling than the 650D...

[chazus]

First off, I wouldn't use your main rig. You said it's a 'server' but.. it looks like a gaming rig? Bit confused there.

If it were me (and Ive been considering doing this) I would build the system from the ground up. Cheapie CPU, get a good bitcoin board, and load it up. Just remember that, like youtube channels, people get $_$ faces and thing its literally cranking out money. It's not, not anymore anyway.

Personally, I'd load up on 7850's. Why pay $500 for a 290, when it only does double the rate of a $140 7850?

[Drunkenvalley]

Etc.

The server is built from old hardware I happened to have on the side. My main rig is quite a bit different. :P Seeing it's doing literally nothing anyway, I can grab it whenever. But I need to replace the powersupply, since that's the one component that doesn't belong to me.

I'm considering upgrading my own powersupply for the main rig. I have an AX 850. Upgrading that to an AX 1200i would leave me an AX 850 doing nothing, so why not put that in the server/mining rig?

If mining fails it would be nice to have a use for the cards, hence cards that would be upgrades. I'm a very poor salesman, so I don't expect to be able to wrest money out of folks for cards alike the 7850s and such. I'd probably, in the best case scenario, simply hand them off to friends.

Does this make sense?

[n0cturnal]

The AX850 should be fine, you will probably be sitting around 600W of powerusage for the full system and that leaves a lot of head room for the PSU, I think getting a different case than the 650D is a good idea though, dual 290x will create a lot of heat and the 650D isn't exactly the best cooled case on the market.

[Deleted]

Watercooled should help a lot too.

[chazus]

If thats the case.. I'd replace the 2500K with a cheapie CPU and poof, you haven't mined a single hash, and already made $100.

The rest makes sense though. An odd situation but you can make what you can with it. My brother's gf turned her gaming system into a bitcoin miner since she doesn't use it anymore >.<

[n0cturnal]

If thats the case.. I'd replace the 2500K with a cheapie CPU and poof, you haven't mined a single hash, and already made $100.

Why buy a new CPU when he already has one?

[Fluffygong]

Why buy a new CPU when he already has one?

You can mine with a $50 CPU and can probably sell the 2500k for $150 plus I'd imagine, not from the US so don't quote me on prices. However that would incur some effort. Also a cheaper CPU/mobo combination is normally used by miners for a lower power cost. As Drunken has already mentioned the power costs aren't his to pay, I don't imagine that matters though.

[chazus]

Why buy a new CPU when he already has one?

Because CPU's really have no relation with mining... Why sit on a $150 CPU that isn't doing anything when you can swap it out for a cheap one that does the same thing, and make a bit of money back on that system.

- - - Updated - - -

I thought I might also just toss in... You might not pay electricity... But you MIGHT want to ask the people who do (If its someone you know, family, spouse, etc) if it's a problem. Some people might have issues with the bill jumping.. Good to know BEFORE you invest.

[Drunkenvalley]

Can we please just fucking ditch the CPU conversation? It's a waste of effort to try and sell it imo, and it's got so little impact from my POV. :/

Etc.

My contract for renting this place is that the landlord pays for electricity "within reason".

I've no reason to believe a single mining rig is going to meaningfully impact the powerbill when the building has two kitchens, etc. I mean the fridge and freezer measure their use in kWh, as does the heater/AC. These units are actively drawing power for large parts of the day. Am I wrong in thinking a rig @ ~750w from the wall's going to be basically a tree in a forest?

[n0cturnal]

My contract for renting this place is that the landlord pays for electricity "within reason".

I've no reason to believe a single mining rig is going to meaningfully impact the powerbill when the building has two kitchens, etc. I mean the fridge and freezer measure their use in kWh, as does the heater/AC. These units are actively drawing power for large parts of the day. Am I wrong in thinking a rig @ ~750w from the wall's going to be basically a tree in a forest?

It should be somewhat noticeable but it also helps with heating the house so Might bump the electrical bill with 300-400kr a month or so.