Bit Coin Mining?

[RuecanOnRails]

Sapphire AMD Radeon DUAL-X R9 280X OC with Boost 3GB GDDR5 (11221-00-20G ) PCI Express 3.0 Video Card

i believe that looks like a good one. Should be able to get a high hash without much work.

 

 

What hash rate  are you getting out of it? 

@RuecanOnRails Do you have any more information on which 280x is best, or links to flashing information?

 

It's hard to say. Generally you look up the exact model number before hand and see what the expected hash rate is. If you find you're only able to achieve a certain amount search for that specific card and problem. You will likely come across someone else who has the same issue and possibly solved it. You can find a list of Bios's here http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/

 

You can check a list of hashrates achieved by others here https://litecoin.info/Mining_Hardware_Comparison It's not comprehensive but it can give you a general idea. Because the 7970 and 280X are the same card more or less, you can assume the same name/brand of 280X will work the same as the 7970. I believe in most cases you can flash the equivalent 7970 bios over the 280X and vice versus. (Don't quote me on that, and it may cause issues) Hopefully before you do any flashing you have a dual bios switch, if not learn how to do blind flashing.

[AK0490]

I figured it was the same story as before, MSI, Sapphire, and Gigabyte, just like the 7970's. I just haven't been keeping as up to date as I used to be. Unless there are some decent sales on 7970s I don't think a 280x sounds to bad. Even on ebay most good 7970s are going for well over $250. At that price the free games and warranty might swing it to the 280x for me. I wouldn't mind finding a few $100 7850s to pick up either.

[DarrenP]

i believe that looks like a good one. Should be able to get a high hash without much work.

 

It's hard to say. Generally you look up the exact model number before hand and see what the expected hash rate is. If you find you're only able to achieve a certain amount search for that specific card and problem. You will likely come across someone else who has the same issue and possibly solved it. You can find a list of Bios's here http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/

 

You can check a list of hashrates achieved by others here https://litecoin.info/Mining_Hardware_Comparison It's not comprehensive but it can give you a general idea. Because the 7970 and 280X are the same card more or less, you can assume the same name/brand of 280X will work the same as the 7970. I believe in most cases you can flash the equivalent 7970 bios over the 280X and vice versus. (Don't quote me on that, and it may cause issues) Hopefully before you do any flashing you have a dual bios switch, if not learn how to do blind flashing.

I was looking at the models on the comparison chart that card looked like it woulr preform close to one of the others. I'm not sure though if i'll even get the free games... (ordering from my work supplier...) I sure hope i do

 

anyway as it stands i think i'm getting the card for like 275... So we'll see. 

[DarrenP]

i believe that looks like a good one. Should be able to get a high hash without much work.

 

It's hard to say. Generally you look up the exact model number before hand and see what the expected hash rate is. If you find you're only able to achieve a certain amount search for that specific card and problem. You will likely come across someone else who has the same issue and possibly solved it. You can find a list of Bios's here http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/

 

You can check a list of hashrates achieved by others here https://litecoin.info/Mining_Hardware_Comparison It's not comprehensive but it can give you a general idea. Because the 7970 and 280X are the same card more or less, you can assume the same name/brand of 280X will work the same as the 7970. I believe in most cases you can flash the equivalent 7970 bios over the 280X and vice versus. (Don't quote me on that, and it may cause issues) Hopefully before you do any flashing you have a dual bios switch, if not learn how to do blind flashing.

One other question. I would have any problems running an R9 280X and a 7950 in the same computer would i? Wasn't planning on crossfiring. just running them... 

[RuecanOnRails]

I was looking at the models on the comparison chart that card looked like it woulr preform close to one of the others. I'm not sure though if i'll even get the free games... (ordering from my work supplier...) I sure hope i do

 

anyway as it stands i think i'm getting the card for like 275... So we'll see. 

 

If you don't mind rebates, http://ncix.com/products/?sku=70111&promoid=1284

I have that card running at 759 K/hash. Plus you will get the games.

 

 

No issues, you can mix and match any cards you like, they all run independent of each other. Setting them all up to mine can be a bit of a hassle to get the settings all in order, but it works fine. The 280X is a rebranded 7970, you could crossfire it with a 7950, or 7970 if you wanted.

 

Only time mixing cards becomes problematic is when you have an Nvidia and AMD card in the same rig. 

[DarrenP]

If you don't mind rebates, http://ncix.com/products/?sku=70111&promoid=1284

I have that card running at 759 K/hash. Plus you will get the games.

 

 

No issues, you can mix and match any cards you like, they all run independent of each other. Setting them all up to mine can be a bit of a hassle to get the settings all in order, but it works fine. The 280X is a rebranded 7970, you could crossfire it with a 7950, or 7970 if you wanted.

 

Only time mixing cards becomes problematic is when you have an Nvidia and AMD card in the same rig. 

Don't have the time for mail in rebates. Plus i get supplier not reail pricing due to my job. So the R9 280X is more than good enough. I also hear that crossfiring can take away from the hash rating a little, is this true? 

[RuecanOnRails]

Yes it can.. Sometimes. It's recommended to mine without crossfire, makes it easier to disable one GPU and keep the other running at full speed while gaming or some other gpu intense task.

When you run Crossfire, the Vram is cloned between both cards which can create a bottleneck.

 

Switching between crossfire and no crossfire is fast and easy. Just power down the system and attach/detach the crossfire bridge. It's quick enough for you to try and determine which is best for you.

[RatedBlam]

Don't have the time for mail in rebates. Plus i get supplier not reail pricing due to my job. So the R9 280X is more than good enough. I also hear that crossfiring can take away from the hash rating a little, is this true?

Have fun mining, I just started my self and I've already earned the first dollar with my 7770

[Mentalguy]

Yes it can.. Sometimes. It's recommended to mine without crossfire, makes it easier to disable one GPU and keep the other running at full speed while gaming or some other gpu intense task.

When you run Crossfire, the Vram is cloned between both cards which can create a bottleneck.

 

Switching between crossfire and no crossfire is fast and easy. Just power down the system and attach/detach the crossfire bridge. It's quick enough for you to try and determine which is best for you.

I think you can do it from CCC

[AK0490]

I think you can do it from CCC

Yes, you can. I leave my crossfire bridges on all the time. Very rarely when I switch crossfire on or off it will lock up the computer though. You don't want to be doing anything that  loads the cards when you switch it.

[DarrenP]

Yes it can.. Sometimes. It's recommended to mine without crossfire, makes it easier to disable one GPU and keep the other running at full speed while gaming or some other gpu intense task.

When you run Crossfire, the Vram is cloned between both cards which can create a bottleneck.

 

Switching between crossfire and no crossfire is fast and easy. Just power down the system and attach/detach the crossfire bridge. It's quick enough for you to try and determine which is best for you.

Thanks for all your help! 

 

If this all pans out, you should keep checking your LTC wallet

 

I think what i'm going to do is pay the money upfront for the GPU's and from there as soon as i pay one off i'll add another GPU. How's that sound? 

[RuecanOnRails]

I think you can do it from CCC

 

I think you can enable it through there, but disabling requires a power cycle. I found it finicky trying to enable/disable crossfire through CCC. Now I just keep a spare crossfire cable near my tower, when I want to play an intense game power off my computer, connect the cable, reboot and I'm good to go. Reverse the process when I'm done and want to go back to mining.

Although most of the time, I'll game with only one GPU and keep the other mining. With recent price increases I've been gaming less and less. It feels like it costs me when I'm gaming and I'm constantly working out how much it costs me per hour to play a game.

[AK0490]

I think you can enable it through there, but disabling requires a power cycle. I found it finicky trying to enable/disable crossfire through CCC. Now I just keep a spare crossfire cable near my tower, when I want to play an intense game power off my computer, connect the cable, reboot and I'm good to go. Reverse the process when I'm done and want to go back to mining.

Although most of the time, I'll game with only one GPU and keep the other mining. With recent price increases I've been gaming less and less. It feels like it costs me when I'm gaming and I'm constantly working out how much it costs me per hour to play a game.

I know what you mean. Those 96 hr I have in Bf4 are looking awfully expensive right now.

[DarrenP]

I'm getting the R9 280X for 300 plus tax. So i'm saving a few dollars, but not many. 

[DarrenP]

I think you can enable it through there, but disabling requires a power cycle. I found it finicky trying to enable/disable crossfire through CCC. Now I just keep a spare crossfire cable near my tower, when I want to play an intense game power off my computer, connect the cable, reboot and I'm good to go. Reverse the process when I'm done and want to go back to mining.

Although most of the time, I'll game with only one GPU and keep the other mining. With recent price increases I've been gaming less and less. It feels like it costs me when I'm gaming and I'm constantly working out how much it costs me per hour to play a game.

I have a question. I want to build a computer just for this, i have 750 bucks i can put into it. What should i get? What would you recommend. I'll be running r9 280X's 250W TDP models. What hardware should i go with?