Building a ZEC Mining Rig from the ground up

Im trying to build a ZEC mining rig from the ground up. I got some specs on a rig.

However the wealth of knowledge in this forum pails in comparison to the design specs I have received. This is what I was given:

Parts list
MotherBorad: ASUS Prime Z270-A
CPU: Intel i3 Kaby Lake
Ram: Corsaire Ballistix 8GB DDR4 2400
SSD: 120GB Sandisk 530MB/s
PSU: EVGA 1000Wx2 Gold G3
GPU:
RX 580 8GB
RX 580 8GB
RX 580 8GB
RX 580 8GB
RX 580 8GB
RX 580 8GB
RX 580 8GB
RX 580 8GB

Peripherals:
DualBand EDUP 2.4/5Ghz
Logitech Key/Mouse Wireless
AntiStatic Open Air Crate
AQV HDMI to VGA
17-19" VGA Monitor
8-Powered Riser Cables
6ft Cat 5e Ethernet cable
Power Switch
Microsoft Windows 10 Pro

From what I have learned in this forum, 1080ti or Radeon Pro Duo seem to be the best GPUs that offer the most Sols/s. If power costs are not an issue, strictly building for maximum Sols and duration of the rig, I would love to hear open opinions on the specs for building the best rig optimized across the board (motherboard, risers, all of it) for using these GPUs for mining ZEC.

If you are a builder in the US…please also reply with contact information.

Appreciate it folks.

Welcome to mining. I just put together my own rig this week, so I can’t claim deep expertise, but I can offer some opinions based on my own research.

CPU: Intel i3 Kaby Lake

You really don’t need CPU for anything in mining, so the absolute cheapest Celeron will be fine.

Ram: Corsaire Ballistix 8GB DDR4 2400
SSD: 120GB Sandisk 530MB/s

Same with RAM and HDD. You really only need maybe 2GB RAM (512MB on a good minimal linux distro), and I dunno, 12GB of HDD. Unfortunately the Z270-A mobo (which I also have) requires DDR4, so you’re stuck paying a lot for 2x4GB AFAICT. If you have an old hard drive somewhere, or even an >8gb usb stick, that should be fine.

PSU: EVGA 1000Wx2 Gold G3

You might also look into HP server PSUs + an ATX conversion board. A few of the speciality mining shops sell these, and they’re a lot cheaper for the same efficiency than regular PSUs. They require 220v input for full power though.

Peripherals

You won’t need a keyboard and mouse or monitor permanently if you set up your miner headlessly (straightforward on linux, apparently possible on windows), so I’d just borrow these from your regular computer during initial setup, then you can leave them unplugged.

8-Powered Riser Cables

Make sure to get the 4 cap risers, not the cheaper kind, especially as you’re running full power instead of underpowering the cards for power efficiency.

Power Switch

The Z270-A has a built-in power button, so you don’t strictly need this. Could still be nice to have on a cord though.

Microsoft Windows 10 Pro

This is of course a point of contention, but IMO if you have the free time to research, build, and maintain a mining rig, you should really consider learning linux sysadmin skills while you’re at it. My feeling is that a lot of the actual maintenance and tuning work that mining requires is basically the same as with traditional physical servers, and linux distros have a lot more tooling for running in this kind of environment than a consumer windows 10 OS. Plus, if the government outlaws crypto, you’re still left with a bunch of useful transferable skills along with your pile of GPUs.

disclosure: I maintain many linux servers in my day job.

From what I have learned in this forum, 1080ti or Radeon Pro Duo seem to be the best GPUs that offer the most Sols/s.

That matches my research. My overall perception was that nvidia cards are generally better at equihash mining, while AMD cards do better at ethash, though I can’t cite specific sources for that.

1 Like

Dude you are friggin awesome!!! Thank you so much.

Out of curiosity, is there a good resource you recommend for the initiate to Linux (general would be fine, as would a mining-specific resource).

I’ve been mining for the last 6 months on Windows without too many problems, but as you say, it’s always good to expand your skill set. Thank you in advance for sharing your expertise!

@OP Sorry for momentarily hijacking your thread!

Great question. I want to know too.