This insight is about helping you to build a miner. If you are new to the Cryptocurrency mining rig world, this can help you grab a basic concept of what a mining rig made of.
So let’s take a look at components we used for our latest rig:
RX580 GPU 8GB x 6 – the main part of the whole rig. The graphics processing unit itself can be different brands, but if you do indeed use GPUs of multiple brands on one rig, the drivers for each vendor need to be insstalled. For example if you are using AMD and NVidia chips, separate drivers will need to be installed.
CPU – Get the cheapest latest gen CPU. We opted for a 4GDual-Core 2.9GHz Desktop Intel Celeron chip (beware of the version)
Motherboard – 6 PCIE DDR4 slots ones, which are designed for mining.
RAM – Kingston 4G DDR4. A motherboard compatible 4GB stick is more than enough memory to run your miner.
PSU – It is very important that you make sure you get a good one for your rig. For a 6 card rig I would recommend a good quality, branded 1,200W PSU as a minimum. I prefer 1300W-1400W to be safe. You can stretch to a 1500w or 1600w if you are really nervous about the PSU failing - and in turn damage the rest of your hardare - but the price starts to increase a lot at this point.
Hard Drive – SanDisk 120G SSD
Riser – 6 x 6pin PCIe 16x to 1x Powered Riser Cards, one for each GPU.
Frame – Get a rack from your chosen market and build it up with a drill. Tie up the components with some zip ties. This can be done at the marketplace for a small fee.
Miscellaneous:
Power Switch – Generic on/off and power rest switch £1 (any can do)
Operating System – Ubuntu Server/Linux preferred, with Windows 10 being an easier alternative.
Options Extras:
Wifi card – however a wired connection is recommended.
Case fans – To cool down the components, 120mm standard low noise case fan is fine, brand doesn’t matter much. You don’t need it if you are confident on the room temperate, overheating is the last thing you want.
Screen Monitor - It’s your choice for the type of monitor as long as the port is compatible with the miner. Beware of the cable port connection between the monitor and the motherboard, and make sure they are the same type.
Thermal paste – It normal comes with your CPU, change it to Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound 3.5g Tube if you don't like it.
So in total at the time of this writing, you are looking at around £2,200 for 6 GPUs on the mining rig bill if you find the components on Ebay or Amazon if they are available. Some of them are slightly cheaper if you can find a better market to buy.
The main takeaway here is if you have time, get all the components from the local electronic markets if you have one nearby, or buy as many of the different components as possible from one supplier on or offline (save yourself some time on after service in case something goes wrong or you get confused installing them) instead of buying the whole piece online. But beware, the price for GPUd are increasing with the Cryptocurrency market prices.
Finally, consider the room temperature of your miner; it’s good that you can keep it in a 0 - 10 degrees celsius environment. Anywhere under this might be risky because condensation could occur on your hardware.