Best products from r/litecoinmining

I have a setup pretty similar to yours (same mobo, same cards, maybe same processor, can't see your fully); here are some things I've learned about it.


First is that to run more than 5 cards per rig you are going to need to run Linux. I've tried 5 cards on Windows 7 and it ran but unstably for a while with hand-picked older drivers. Supposedly Windows 8 can handle 5 without trouble, but I haven't tried it. I haven't been able to get Win7 to run 6; I don't think Win8 will either. I wanted to run windows for voltage control (my first cards were Sapphires), but it wouldn't do what I needed. Linux doesn't have voltage control, but with your cards that shouldn't be an issue because they can (usually) run the F43 BIOS that runs at a much more reasonable 1.09v. I would strongly suggest flashing them sooner rather than later; it really helps with heat among other things.


(btw, if you are using milk crates for cases, these will fit 6 cards better than the staples/home depot ones: http://www.amazon.com/24qt-Blue-Red-Green-Crates/dp/B007IUPR0I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370712198&sr=8-1&keywords=milk+crates)


I tried Xubuntu 13.04, Lubuntu 12.04, and BAMT on usb drives. I could not get the 'buntus to run stably. They would crash, and they had issues/bugs with rebooting where I would have to be physically next to the machine pushing the power button. I'm not blaming it on the distro; the problem may have been installing it to a usb flash drive. BAMT Litecoin ran like a rock with 5 cards after I updated the Catalyst drivers, but I could not get it to run with more than 5. Any time I plugged a 6th card into the mobo anywhere, X Windows would not start. I eventually went with Debian 7.0 Wheezy, Catalyst 13.4, and the latest cgminer installed on a regular HD. Note that you have to compile Cgminer to work on wheezy (the readme has instructions and dependencies); don't forget to download and copy the ADL includes into the ADL_SDK folder if you go this route.


So far, Debian has been running smoothly with 6 cards. You might even be able to do 7, but you would probably need another power supply with an Add2PSU, and 7 cards don't fit very well in even a 24 qt milk crate.


For linux, your remote admin choices are more limited, but the OS is designed to use them so I think it works more seamlessly. You can use simple SSH to control the boxes via command line. If you don't know the linux command line this may be a pain. You can also use xrdp ("sudo apt-get install xrdp" without the quotes at the command line) to connect from any computer and get a full graphical interface. You can connect through windows using Remote Desktop Connection. There are other options including various versions of VNC, but those are the ones I like.


I am planning on running ANUBIS on a Raspberry Pi to get a similar kind of remote monitoring capability to the one BAMT provides out of the box. I haven't yet set that part up; if you message me I can give you an update when I do. Anubis is also supposed to be able to do remote control of cgminer; this would be good because then you'd only need one computer that was accessible from the internet.


Oh, and you will need powered risers. I got mine from BuyAHash. His username on Reddit is mrstickball . I had a great experience; he had great communication and the shipping was fast once the risers arrived from the factory.

Sysadmin here. I had the same idea back in December and moved some of my rigs to my homelab cabinet in my garage. The trouble with typical 42U racks is that they're really intended to consolidate equipment as densely as possible, which makes cooling harder.

I moved some of my PVC frame rigs into the cabinet, replacing the front/back doors with box fans in push/pull, but temperatures weren't any better than they had been on utility shelves with push only box fans. (ambient +50C)


I DID manage to get good temperatures in a rack by moving my rigs into cases and replacing the stock fan closest to the GPUs with this 250CFM fan. (ambient +25C)

PROs: rigs are tidy and very well protected. cheaper than watercooling for the same temperatures.

CONs: airplane engine loud.

Ultimately, with the massive devaluation vs fiat in the first week of February, I was spending more on electricity than I could earn from crypto. Most of those rigs are offline now.

As an alternative, the best (most efficient for parts/labor invested) heat management system I've seen so far is this cold air containment system.

They are usually around $290-$340, I got mine from on Amazon from a Prime seller, I hate waiting for stuff and I know I can trust Amazon Prime. Price isn't bad at $319 now: http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-Radeon-PCI-Express-Graphics-11217-02-40G/dp/B00FLMKREQ/

IMO these cards are the best overall GPUs available right now, best mix of hashrate, watts, availability, and most importantly to me, cooling ability. I'm running all of mine on the ASrock H81 BTC boards, works great with 6 GPUs and a 1000W PSU.

I would not use L6. You don't need the locking ability, it will just cost you more, and you won't be able to use duplex outlets, which will increase your costs even more. Use regular 6-20. This outlet: https://smile.amazon.com/Leviton-5822-I-Receptacle-Commercial-Grounding/dp/B000U39UY4/ for example.

I got some ordinary 110V C13 Y-cables (i.e. one regular 110 plug, two C13 computer connections). Cut off the 110v plug, and replaced it with a 220v plug. (The C14 part is the same for both voltages - you can get them already made that way, it was just more expensive for some reason, so I made my own.)

This: https://smile.amazon.com/NEMA-6-20P-C13-Splitter-Cord/dp/B00CP6BYFC/ if you don't want to make your own. (There are probably cheaper ones, I didn't look very hard.) Edit: actually these: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00CP63IX8/ since you need 12AWG wire, not 14.

That way you can run 4 devices per duplex outlet. (Up to around 4amp each.)

/u/mikexli said an L3+ consumes 4.5A, so that's perfect - 4.5 * 4 = 18, which fits perfectly in a 20A circuit.

You don't need a PDU, that just increases your costs. Simply plug the L3+ in the way I describe and you are good.

Have the electrician run 1 circuit, with 6-20 duplex outlet, per 4 L3+. It's MUCH cheaper than running say, 1 50A circuit, or 30A, and using a PDU.

If you buy the outlets (electricians don't typically stock them in their truck, although they can get them if you tell him ahead of time), then the electrician can use ordinary 12/2 cable which they have mountains of, to wire it. This will save you money. Make sure to tell him to do a dedicated circuit for each outlet.

Thanks a ton for this info!

I have small sinks coming for my VMRs, I got these. I figure I'll jam them on as tightly as I can to make something like the one-piece sink described in the guide you linked. The 92mm fan I went with is pretty high CFM too so I think I should be ok. Depending on how many I use I'll throw the rest on my RAM.

What I didn't know was the fact that cgminer would want a temp so I will definitely get the adapter.

I actually just had an electrician in to do a circuit upgrade last week for my mining!

2000w at 120v is roughly 17 amps. This is actually a bit above the recommended continuous operation limit of a 20 amp circuit - you're only supposed to run at 80% rated capacity if running for more than 3 straight hours. It's close enough you could probably get away with a 120v 20 amp circuit per unit, especially if you're actually pulling less power - is 2000 watts the rated power of the PSUs (like two 1000 watt PSUs), or is that actually measured? I managed to burn out a GFCI pulling 19 amps through it, but that was actually measured with a clamp ammeter, not the theoretical max of the system.

You could have them do a single run of 240v 30 amp with an L6-30 plug, then run it into a PDU for distribution to the systems. The run would likely be $300, then another $100 for a dirt cheap PDU. Running at 240v is more efficient than 120v, plus it makes it easier to get the necessary power. One L6-30 would be enough to run your 3 rigs within the safety margins, and if they pull less current than they're rated for, you might be able to run a 4th on that. You could also spend a bit more for a metered PSU, which has a current display built into it so you'd know exactly how much power you're actually using (I am using this one from Tripp Lite, although I got a deal on it). You can find some cheap ones at http://www.refurbups.com/APC-PDU

As for what I specifically did - I had one big 100 amp line run to a subpanel, then put in 4 circuits in the mining room; 2 L6-30 240v 30 amp and two 5-20 120v 20 amp. The L6-30s each run 4 rigs with a bit of expansion room, and the 5-20s run cooling and peripherals (like routers).

Don't know about fast... but amazon has some for a decent price with free shipping.
I've gotten them in about a week to 10 days a friend of mine (same city) got his in about 4 days
http://www.amazon.com/PCI-E-Express-Extender-Flexible-Extension/dp/B008BZBFTG/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=2S236SVHXZ1XV&coliid=IGWD09SV4853G

Prior experience assembling normal computers is certainly helpful.
Also, here's the hardware I used to achieve 3.9 mh/s.

1 of these
http://www.amazon.com/MSI-Computer-Corp-Motherboards-Z77A-G45/dp/B007QWI9TY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375396364&sr=8-1&keywords=msi+z77-g45a

1 of these
http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Celeron-2-60GHz-Processor-BX80637G1610/dp/B00B4BJYVU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375396383&sr=8-1&keywords=celeron+g1610

1 of these
http://www.amazon.com/LEPA-1600-Watts-Crossfire-Certified-G1600-MA/dp/B007W5TV6K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375396400&sr=8-1&keywords=lepa+1600

6 of these
http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Mini-Displayport-PCI-Express-Graphic-GV-R795WF3-3GD/dp/B007581QHG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375396424&sr=8-1&keywords=gigabyte+7950

1 of these
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Series-120GB-internal-MZ-7TD120BW/dp/B009NHAF06/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1375396482&sr=8-2&keywords=samsung+840

1 of these
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003ZDJ42O/?tag=pcpapi-20

2 of these
http://www.amazon.com/Micro-SATA-Cables-Express-Flexible/dp/B0057M16Q8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1375396635&sr=8-2&keywords=pci+risers

1 of these
http://www.amazon.com/Powered-Flexible-Extender-Bitcoin-Mining/dp/B00CQB1RIU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375396667&sr=8-1&keywords=powered+pci+risers

3 of these
http://www.amazon.com/Powered-Flexible-Extender-Bitcoin-Mining/dp/B00CQBCKPY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1375396667&sr=8-2&keywords=powered+pci+risers

1 of these
http://www.lowes.com/pd_328959-80752-142430B-DS_0__?productId=3468765&Ntt=shelves&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNtt%3Dshelves&facetInfo=

2 of these
http://www.lowes.com/pd_95021-1621-3733_0__?productId=1114391&Ntt=box+fan&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNtt%3Dbox%2Bfan&facetInfo=

a shitload of these
http://www.lowes.com/pd_292678-1781-45-518UVL_0__?productId=3201639&Ntt=zip+ties&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNtt%3Dzip%2Bties&facetInfo=

And the lid from the cardboard box the motherboard came in. Makes a perfect motherboard tray.

Edit: Forgot to mention the important bits. Windows 8, catalyst 12.8, cgminier 3.1.1

setx GPU_MAX_ALLOC_PERCENT 100
setx GPU_USE_SYNC_OBJECTS 1
color 02
timeout /t 45
cgminer --scrypt -o coinotron.com:3334 -u user -p pass --no-submit-stale --gpu-fan 80 --gpu-reorder --thread-concurrency 22400 --lookup-gap 2 --gpu-engine 1125 --gpu-memclock 1250 -w 256 -I 19 -g 1

Card 0 Sapphire 7950 - 21196-00-20G

Clocks: 1100 Core, 1675 Memory

Voltage: 1087 VDDC

Temps: 70-75C

Fan: 60%

Running Guiminer with the following settings:

Thread Concurrency:21712, Vectors: 1, GPU Threads: 1, Stratum: Yes, Worksize: 256, Intensity: 20

KH/s: 659

Card 1 Sapphire 7950 - 21196-00-20G

Clocks: 1110 Core, 1675 Memory

Voltage: 1087 VDDC

Temps: 71-76C

Fan: 60%

Running Guiminer with the following settings:

Thread Concurrency:21712, Vectors: 1, GPU Threads: 1, Stratum: Yes, Worksize: 256, Intensity: 20

KH/s: 645

Running these side by side in a closed case with 6 case fans installed.

This is the model that I have:

http://www.amazon.com/P3-International-P4400-Electricity-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU

Not sure about getting one where you're located - if you can't find a kill-a-watt, any plug-in type electricity monitor should work. I just like the kill-a-watt because it's cheap. Good luck!

Google is your friend.

https://www.amazon.com/AntMiner-L3-~504MH-Litecoin-Miner/dp/B06Y6KTH7P

You don't want to mine with an industrial miner in your house/dorm/apartment unless you have a dedicated room. These are loud and create a lot of heat.

> I've heard good things about the 1x to 16x USB powered risers and actually have some on order. The USB cord gives quite a bit more flexibility over the other stock risers.

> 1x to 16x USB http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HZ0M9F2/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

With this Amazon USB riser you've shown.. you would then have to get another adapter for the molex to 6-pin connector, presumably?

A lot of GPUs, like AMD RADEON and nVidia 750 Ti, have 6-pin connectors on them... and so, presumably you'd have to get a 4-pin molex to 6-pin connector.

I wonder if one molex connector is actually enough power.

I noticed that my 750 Ti actually came with a molex to 6-pin adapter cable, but that it has 2 4-pin molexes.... and I just wonder if 1 molex is going to be enough.... Because the Amazon thing you linked only has 1 molex connector.

What do you think?

These are lower quality risers. I recommend something like this instead

http://www.amazon.com/Powered-Flexible-Extender-Bitcoin-Mining/dp/B00EX627A8/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1394213776&sr=8-6&keywords=usb+riser

http://www.amazon.com/Express-Powered-Extender-Litecoin-Bitcoin/dp/B00HH1MLGQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1394213776&sr=8-3&keywords=usb+riser

Fair deal is up for a whole lot of interpretation. After all, video cards that used to be $300 are now $1000 due to the mining surge. But, having said that, these are the risers I've bought and they work flawlessly. Click on the "more buying choices" link, and then choose Powered Risers as the seller. $14.62 as of this posting.

http://amzn.com/B00HH1MLGQ

Watts = Volts x Current (Amps)

900W = 110V x Amps

900W / 110V = ~8A

8A x 2 Miners = ~16A Total

16A < 20A

Should be fine, as long as there's nothing else on this circuit with the miners. If you are in a newer structure, the wires in the walls and outlet should be rated for 20A, especially if it was wired to 20A breaker. You can get one of these Kill-A-Watt electricity usage monitor if you want to keep an eye on it. It would just plug into the outlet before the surge protector.

You shouldn't lose any hash when using risers. I'm using 16x to 16x risers (ones without power source) and 16x to 1x on some R9 270s with no issue, same hash before and after install. But with the 750 TI I believe those are strictly powered from the motherboard and putting multiples on the mobo I hear isn't the best thing. I would look at powered risers to avoid possibly frying your mobo.

I've heard good things about the 1x to 16x USB powered risers and actually have some on order. The USB cord gives quite a bit more flexibility over the other stock risers.

1x to 16x USB
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HZ0M9F2/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Decent Guide on Risers
http://www.gobitgo.com/articles/1001/How-To-Correctly-Use-and-Install-PCI-E-Riser-Cables/

I just got a 7950 off Amazon for $280 a pop. That might change your calculations: http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-DisplayPort-PCI-Express-Graphics-21196-00-20G/dp/B00BXVFM3K

This is the alternative I was looking for. I completly forgot about this.
I am not UK based and I also did a search for pci-e(Idk if it matters at all)
I came across this one
Now, the only question would be is how would this work with a case?

You would want to use a device called a killawatt: http://www.amazon.com/P3-International-P4400-Electricity-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU

It will measure how much power your computer is drawing from the wall.

I have a few Kill-a-watts and I keep one plugged into each of the computers in the house to keep an eye on things.

This thing! http://www.amazon.com/P3-International-P4400-Electricity-Monitor/dp/B00009MDBU

Np, I just wanted clarification. I think you'll get $4k no problem based on what they've been selling for on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/AntMiner-L3-504MH-Litecoin-Miner/dp/B06Y6KTH7P/ref=sr_1_4?m=A1LBZI6C51C6OJ