Crypto Currency Mining & Graphics Cards

[g-unit1111]

OK you asked for it - there there are already two similar discussions going on regarding crypto currencies:

- The first is in the CPUs forum started by moderator Reynod: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2041369/cryptomining-hardware-thread.html
- The second is on what makes up the rest of a rig suitable for coin mining: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2041828/crypto-currencies-coin-mining-rest-rig.html

This thread will focus on discussion with crypto currency mining and graphics cards.

This is a moderator sanctioned thread for discussing the best graphics cards and graphics hardware for mining the hottest crypto currencies. There has been a lot of discussion with crypto currencies and graphics cards, particularly of the AMD 78XX and Radeon R9-2XX series (and interest in currency mining has heavily driven up the price of these cards). The Radeon 79XX are also particularly adept at crypto currencies such as Bitcoin and Litecoin and as such the prices on those particular cards have skyrocketed due to the high demand.

We will be monitoring this in a week to see how this goes. Remember - keep it on topic and keep it civil! All off topic posts will be deleted and this thread will be monitored by myself and the other moderators to make sure that this will remain on discussion with crypto currencies and currency mining.

 

[RussK1]

Litecoin:

XFX 7870GHz (Pitcairn) 350kH/s x 2 = 660kH/s @ 360w (1000/1200)

CGminer 3.7.2

setx GPU_MAX_ALLOC_PERCENT 100
setx GPU_USE_SYNC_OBJECTS 1
cgminer --scrypt -o stratum+tcp://ltc.give-me-coins.com:3334 -u user -p password --thread-concurrency 8192 --lookup-gap 2 -w 256 -I 12 -g 2

(I run one command window for the 7870's)

Gigabyte GTX 780WF3 660 +/- kH/s x2 = 1320 +/- kH/s @ 500w (1084/1690)

cudaminer-2014-02-18 x86

cudaminer.exe -H 1 -d 0 -i 0 -l Z12x24 -C 0 -m 1 -o stratum+tcp://ltc.give-me-coins.com:3334 -O user😛assword

(I run two individual windows for the 780's)

I actually have an older entry HERE.

Point is, nVidia cards (GK110) with the newest CM have much better performance per watt as compared to the power guzzling Radeon cards.

 

[WonkeyDoo2]

I'm interested in the results of the GTX 750Ti. I believe the low power usage will make these the ideal card to use for mining.

 

[getochkn]

I'm interested in the results of the GTX 750Ti. I believe the low power usage will make these the ideal card to use for mining.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-750-ti-review,3750-17.html

Should have read the 750ti review, Tom's did a LTC mine with it.

246 kh/s

 

[RussK1]

I'm interested in the results of the GTX 750Ti. I believe the low power usage will make these the ideal card to use for mining.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-750-ti-review,3750-17.html

Should have read the 750ti review, Tom's did a LTC mine with it.

246 kh/s

That's phenominal for a card that uses 60w! Good eye getochkn.

I've been telling people not to overpay for Radeon because people would realize nVidia cards are far more efficient and prices would fall back in line.

 

[jjb8675309]

I am glad this thread was started, I am very interested in throwing money at this to build a rig or two, now to read the other threads mentioned at the top first.

 

[MagusALL]

This here is the .bat config for the Radeon 7850 GPU. You can drop this right into your cgminer config file and begin mining. These settings will give you 350KH/s for a single GPU and that usually costs less than 130w. This is configured to mine DOGECOIN at the mining pool shown.

cgminer.exe --scrypt -o stratum+tcp://dogus.nut2pools.com:5585 -u MagusALL.toms -p hardware --thread-concurrency 8192 --no-submit-stale -I 17 --worksize 256 --gpu-engine 1000 --gpu-memclock 1250 --auto-fan --gpu-fan 25-100 --temp-target 75 --temp-overheat 87 -g 1

I personally run two of these. You can, of course, register for any pool. I have this one set to mine for nut2pools which is a good mining pool that finds a good amount of blocks. Modify as needed. Simply edit for .bat file and cut and paste these settings then click on the config file to launch the mining application (cgminer 3.7.2 for Windows). After a few seconds to a minute you will see the miner level out at around 350KH/s per GPU and you should see numbers start to appear in the A: value place with zero in the R: (rejections) and zeros in the HW: (hardware errors). Once you see the numbers in the A: field that means you are properly mining DOGECOIN or whatever coin you want to mine. Just find the pool that you like, small ones are great too, download a wallet and do your thing. Hope this helps you new miners.

Please don't post this kind of information. If you want to give this kind of information to people about account access, use your PM function. - G

 

[Anik8]

I'm interested in the results of the GTX 750Ti. I believe the low power usage will make these the ideal card to use for mining.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-750-ti-review,3750-17.html

Should have read the 750ti review, Tom's did a LTC mine with it.

246 kh/s

That's phenominal for a card that uses 60w! Good eye getochkn.

I've been telling people not to overpay for Radeon because people would realize nVidia cards are far more efficient and prices would fall back in line.

I agree to most of what you guys say,but for me the 750 ti would have been an awesome option had nvidia allowed us to SLi.

 

[jjb8675309]

This here is the .bat config for the Radeon 7850 GPU. You can drop this right into your cgminer config file and begin mining. These settings will give you 350KH/s for a single GPU and that usually costs less than 130w. This is configured to mine DOGECOIN at the mining pool shown.

cgminer.exe --scrypt -o stratum+tcp://dogus.nut2pools.com:5585 -u MagusALL.toms -p hardware --thread-concurrency 8192 --no-submit-stale -I 17 --worksize 256 --gpu-engine 1000 --gpu-memclock 1250 --auto-fan --gpu-fan 25-100 --temp-target 75 --temp-overheat 87 -g 1

I personally run two of these. You can, of course, register for any pool. I have this one set to mine for nut2pools which is a good mining pool that finds a good amount of blocks. Modify as needed. Simply edit for .bat file and cut and paste these settings then click on the config file to launch the mining application (cgminer 3.7.2 for Windows). After a few seconds to a minute you will see the miner level out at around 350KH/s per GPU and you should see numbers start to appear in the A: value place with zero in the R: (rejections) and zeros in the HW: (hardware errors). Once you see the numbers in the A: field that means you are properly mining DOGECOIN or whatever coin you want to mine. Just find the pool that you like, small ones are great too, download a wallet and do your thing. Hope this helps you new miners.

Please don't post this kind of information. If you want to give this kind of information to people about account access, use your PM function. - G

I am going to be ordering some hardware in the next day or so. My confusion comes in with the risers and hooking up like 6 750tis... I would gladly join your mining pool.

I will def refer to your commands when it comes time to finally get the client running.

 

[jjb8675309]

I'm interested in the results of the GTX 750Ti. I believe the low power usage will make these the ideal card to use for mining.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-750-ti-review,3750-17.html

Should have read the 750ti review, Tom's did a LTC mine with it.

246 kh/s

Forbes reported 284 kH/s with a mild overclock. The question is which 750tis to buy?

 

[RussK1]

I would suggest staying away from DogeCoin due to the very recent dishonesty. And join pools that have a higher hashrate, minimal fees and DDoS protection.

Currently, GIVE ME COINS is awesome. No fees, high hashrate (almost 9GH/s) and all the data you need. Coinotron is good but expensive (2 - 3% PPS/RBPPS).

 

[jjb8675309]

Ok thanks for the info Russ.... I think I'm going to start with an MSI MPower 1150 (Because I want this board down the road) a celeron and a large psu, what cards would you suggest at the moment. I don't pay that much for power here. The 750tis are amazing for 60w and ~280kH/s but you need like 6 cards to make it marginally worth it imo.

 

[RussK1]

Ok thanks for the info Russ.... I think I'm going to start with an MSI MPower 1150 (Because I want this board down the road) a celeron and a large psu, what cards would you suggest at the moment. I don't pay that much for power here. The 750tis are amazing for 60w and ~280kH/s but you need like 6 cards to make it marginally worth it imo.

The 750ti's are awesome but yes you'd need quite a few. I would pick up as many GTX 780's as possible. Depending on clocks (especially memory) and setting's you could nearly reach 700kH/s while only consuming 250w max per card.

To put it into perspective look HERE.

Isn't it weird, I'm promoting nVidia? Go figure times change.

How's the 680 BTW?

 

[d359233drdrbcom]

The idea is very good but done very bad.If you want to recommend best gpu for mining then we can all collectively search on ALL (about 16 I guess) price comparing sites for best prices OR MAKE A SHOP ENGINE WHICH SEARCHES IN ALL THOSE 16 INSTEAD an post price here then compare th price to KH/S it gets and then the KH/S/Watts.

Also a thread is very bad for this should have a proper design layout so everyone can easily stay uptodate and contribute to this.

 

[RussK1]

The idea is very good but done very bad.If you want to recommend best gpu for mining then we can all collectively search on ALL (about 16 I guess) price comparing sites for best prices OR MAKE A SHOP ENGINE WHICH SEARCHES IN ALL THOSE 16 INSTEAD an post price here then compare th price to KH/S it gets and then the KH/S/Watts.

Also a thread is very bad for this should have a proper design layout so everyone can easily stay uptodate and contribute to this.

It's not hard, Performance per Watt is in nVidia's favor... this equals more Performance per Dollar.

The point is making money ASAP to payback hardware costs and making a profit. GTX 780's can be had for $500 with more than adequate cooling.

On a scale of performance (in kH/s) per watt, that puts Nvidia way out ahead of AMD.

NVIDIA kills it! The GeForce GTX 780s truly take the crown in power consumption wars against the R9 290X, thanks to the excellent work NVIDIA has done since the truly dismal Fermi-based GPUs of yesteryear. The latest GPUs are quite power efficient, but silent performers.

I hate sounding like an nVidia advertisment but it doesn't make it any less true.

 

[jjb8675309]

Hey Russ,

The 680 is fantastic, the best card I've ever owned by far. I'm gonna try to snag some 780s and an MSI M Power 1150 board. I already have an 1150 Celeron. Would you recommend getting ones with aftermarket cooling if the price is negligible?

 

[RussK1]

Hey Russ,

The 680 is fantastic, the best card I've ever owned by far. I'm gonna try to snag some 780s and an MSI M Power 1150 board. I already have an 1150 Celeron. Would you recommend getting ones with aftermarket cooling if the price is negligible?

I have the Gigabyte 780GHz x2. Great cards just wish the ASIC was better, but that's the way it is.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125488

But these refurb EVGA ACX 780's are sub $500. I would take a shot.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487014

 

[d359233drdrbcom]

What is the best way to find motherboard by pci-e slots amount per price?

Checking each motherboard is very tedious and it will probably take months?

 

[RussK1]

Boards:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007625%20600041411%20600041410&IsNodeId=1&name=3

Mining Kits:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=-1&IsNodeId=1&Description=ppssMiningKits&bop=And&Order=PRICE&PageSize=20

 

[jjb8675309]

Thanks Russ, I was looking at the Windforces too they are on sale today, I will also check out the reburb you linked

 

[jjb8675309]

I ended up buying some stuff today:

MSI Z87 MPOWER Mobo
CORSAIR CS750M 750W PSU
2 Windforce 780s
Wireless NIC
Crates/Misc Materials

Already have RAM, SSD.

I didn't buy any risers for now since its only 2 cards. Is this a bad idea?

I plan on adding 2 more 780s and another psu. Gotta wait for a paycheck or two before I make that move.

I was second guessing the crates. What do you guys think about this workbench and its ability to stabilize several GPUs.

Russ, do you just have your setup in a full tower?

 

[g-unit1111]

Personal attacks and bickering removed. Remember - multiple moderators are watching this thread.

 

[cst1992]

If the cards don't SLI, then can they be used as mutliple GPU's for mining?

 

[RussK1]

If the cards don't SLI, then can they be used as mutliple GPU's for mining?

Yes. SLI actually breaks hashrate. It's not recommended.

I ended up buying some stuff today:

MSI Z87 MPOWER Mobo
CORSAIR CS750M 750W PSU
2 Windforce 780s
Wireless NIC
Crates/Misc Materials

Already have RAM, SSD.

I didn't buy any risers for now since its only 2 cards. Is this a bad idea?

I plan on adding 2 more 780s and another psu. Gotta wait for a paycheck or two before I make that move.

I was second guessing the crates. What do you guys think about this workbench and its ability to stabilize several GPUs.

Russ, do you just have your setup in a full tower?

In a full tower yes. I was thinking about the milk crate idea too. Cheap, effective and easy to maintain. Once you get more cards then you can worry about the risers. But the two 780's will remain cool enough depending on the factory application of TIM on the GPU and it's ASIC quality.

Let me know when you're ready and I can help you with setting up CM and it's batch files. In the mean time, you could be testing out that 680... that thing runs on a low voltage and clocks like a champ. I miss that card!

 

[jjb8675309]

If the cards don't SLI, then can they be used as mutliple GPU's for mining?

Yes. SLI actually breaks hashrate. It's not recommended.

I ended up buying some stuff today:

MSI Z87 MPOWER Mobo
CORSAIR CS750M 750W PSU
2 Windforce 780s
Wireless NIC
Crates/Misc Materials

Already have RAM, SSD.

I didn't buy any risers for now since its only 2 cards. Is this a bad idea?

I plan on adding 2 more 780s and another psu. Gotta wait for a paycheck or two before I make that move.

I was second guessing the crates. What do you guys think about this workbench and its ability to stabilize several GPUs.

Russ, do you just have your setup in a full tower?

In a full tower yes. I was thinking about the milk crate idea too. Cheap, effective and easy to maintain. Once you get more cards then you can worry about the risers. But the two 780's will remain cool enough depending on the factory application of TIM on the GPU and it's ASIC quality.

Let me know when you're ready and I can help you with setting up CM and it's batch files. In the mean time, you could be testing out that 680... that thing runs on a low voltage and clocks like a champ. I miss that card!

Yes Russ, I started configuring the 680 for testing last night while I wait for my parts to come this week. I def could use some help configuring and tweaking. Perhaps you can assist me in dialing in some settings. Well I'm off to work, can't wait to play with it later.