Problems experimenting with GPU bitcoin mining.

[Ivan Ivanov]

Hi All

I've decided to experiment with mining bitcoins for fun. It's not that I hope of making any money (I know that ASICs have pretty much killed GPU mining), I just want to see how the system works. And because of that I thought that my gurrent PC will be enough, but I encountered many unexpected problems.

Now, I'm running Kubuntu Linux 14.04 LTS and that's the OS I want to use for my mining operations. The problem is that I have an outdated graphics card. It's Radeon HD4850x2 1GB (Over 5 years old). Now the card is powerful enough for the experiment (I think) But I can't seem to get a working OpenCL capable driver installed on my system. The open source one is not suitable and all the versions of the proprietary ATi driver I tried, either sayed "Hardware not supported" or installed with errors and didn't work properly.

I tried to setup Windows 7 on a external USB HDD (Since if I install it on a local hard drive it'll destroy my current boot record) but it didn't work.
I have one more shot installing Windows XP x64 on that ExtHDD and if that doesn't work I'll have to go with buying new hardware (Since it's already time for upgrade any way)... Also I'm not sure wherher bitcoin associated software (Miner/Wallet) will even work no WinXP?...

So if I end up buying new hardware, these are the things that bother me:

1. Will two R9 290X cards work properly with my 'Rampage II Extreme' motherboard?

2. Will my 700W PSU be enough to power the two cards (Or even one) and the rest of the machine? And if not, how powerful PSU should I go for?
To answer that question you'd probably like to know what my current setup is:
CPU: Core i7 - 920;
MB: ASUS Rampage II Exterme;
RAM: 2x2GB Corsair 1333MHz;
GC: Radeon HD 4850x2;
and 3 Hard Drives;

3. If I install two cards, will the gap between them be enough for the upper one to be porperly cooled?

Thanks a lot in advance!

 

[viewtyjoe]

The 4000 series was the last line before proper GPU compute was available on Radeon cards, and they aren't compatible with most, if any, GPU compute software.

1. They probably should work fine.
2. One should be fine, two is pretty much a hell no, since a single 290X can pull around 350w at full load at stock clocks.
3. Stock coolers are a blower which is pretty decent in cramped conditions from my understanding (correct me if incorrect), aftermarket coolers vary. As long as your PCIe x16 slots are two slots apart they should fit fine, though.

 

[Ivan Ivanov]

The 4000 series was the last line before proper GPU compute was available on Radeon cards, and they aren't compatible with most, if any, GPU compute software.

1. They probably should work fine.
2. One should be fine, two is pretty much a hell no, since a single 290X can pull around 350w at full load at stock clocks.
3. Stock coolers are a blower which is pretty decent in cramped conditions from my understanding (correct me if incorrect), aftermarket coolers vary. As long as your PCIe x16 slots are two slots apart they should fit fine, though.

So if 700W won't be enough I'm guessing 1000W will be? How do you think? Or maybe 1200W?
Unfortunately My slots are only one apart, that is there is only one PCI-E 1x between them. So since they are two-slot cards the gap would be pretty slim. And I gues that would be a problem?