Budget mining rig - need advice!

[Starssadar]

Hi

I'd like to build a budget mining rig from an old Dell I had in my basement. But I'm not sure how many GPUs I can run on it? How many risers or special stuff do I need? 
I know I will have to buy a new power supply. I'd like to run GTX 1070s in aedition to the 960 already installed. I'll also take any advice you wish to throw at me!

Here are some pics of the PC

 

 

 

 

  

[benji_]

no such thing as a budget mining rig

[Sir Asvald]

3 minutes ago, Starssadar said:

Hi

I'd like to build a budget mining rig from an old Dell I had in my basement. But I'm not sure how many GPUs I can run on it? How many risers or special stuff do I need? 
I know I will have to buy a new power supply. I'd like to run GTX 1070s in aedition to the 960 already installed. I'll also take any advice you wish to throw at me!

Here are some pics of the PC

 

You need a better "PC" you also need more PCI-E slots and a MUCH better PSU.

[TheGlenlivet]

If this is a 990 and you upgrade the power supply, you could run 3 1070s, 1 in the chassis and 2 on risers.  The 2 on risers you would need to mount somewhere, but your system has 3 PCIe lanes, according to this -

http://i.dell.com/sites/doccontent/shared-content/data-sheets/en/documents/optiplex-990-spec-sheet.pdf

Good luck.

[Starssadar]

2 hours ago, TheGlenlivet said:

If this is a 990 and you upgrade the power supply, you could run 3 1070s, 1 in the chassis and 2 on risers.  The 2 on risers you would need to mount somewhere, but your system has 3 PCIe lanes, according to this -

http://i.dell.com/sites/doccontent/shared-content/data-sheets/en/documents/optiplex-990-spec-sheet.pdf

Good luck.

Ok so I just need 2 risers, 3 GPUs and a power supply...
Is 650W enough or should I buy something more powerful?

[TheGlenlivet]

4 hours ago, Starssadar said:

Ok so I just need 2 risers, 3 GPUs and a power supply...
Is 650W enough or should I buy something more powerful?

http://www.coolermaster.com/power-supply-calculator/

Try this.

[Starssadar]

16 hours ago, TheGlenlivet said:

http://www.coolermaster.com/power-supply-calculator/

Try this.

Thanks for this tool!

I ordered 2 risers and a 850W power supply so I should be fine. I also got a free GTX 670 from a friend.
Total cost of my build should be under 600$, I'll post pics when it's done!

[Dark]

Should've just bought an HP 750w powersupply off ebay, along with a breakout board and cables (from ebay or parallel miner).  

($20 for the 750w psu, $16 for the breakout board, ~$3/ea 6-to-8pin cables.  Roughly $60 to power the risers and 3x 1070 gpus)

PSU: https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-512327-B21-511778-001-506821-506822-750W-CS-HE-Hot-Plug-Power-Supply-G6-G7/170845122754?hash=item27c729b0c2:m:mDWwODoPtn6Q0JOY_gkXj2w

Breakout: https://www.ebay.com/itm/1200W-750W-Watt-Power-Supply-Breakout-Board-for-HP-PSU-GPU-Mining-Ethereum-ZEC/322953947905?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

Cables--

8p: https://www.parallelminer.com/product/24-inch-16awg-6-pin-male-to-8-pin-62-male-pcie-power-cable/

6p: https://www.parallelminer.com/product/24-inch-16awg-6-pin-male-to-6-pin-male-pcie-power-cable/

Use risers that accept 6-pin power so that can you power them with the server psu.

 

Also, one of the better boards to run is the Asus Z270-P with the cheapest 1151 cpu you can source.  With two m.2 adapters you can run 8 gpu with relative ease.

 

 

[Starssadar]

Thank you for that! Will definitely go that way for my next rig! You sound like someone who knows his shit.
What are your thoughts on 2018 GPU mining? Will it still be worth it? What will be the impact of the new GTX line?

[Dark]

I can't see the future nor do I have details on upcoming gpus.

 

As of right now, GPU mining is fairly profitable depending on your scale. 

 

[Starssadar]

I mounted the Mobo on the tray and started installing my GPUs... but the system won't boot.

It boots only if I use 1 GPU, otherwise I have no image at all. I tried plugging my screen from 1 to the other, I tried plugging it in the VGA port from the mob... nothing until I remove 1 of the GPUs. Anyone got this problem before?

I can't find anything on the BIOS, can anyone help?