With the development and distribution of cryptocurrencies, their mining is becoming more and more relevant and profitable. And if just two or three years ago a PC with a good graphics card was enough for mining, now only farms for mining cryptocurrencies bring a steady income. We will tell you how a mining farm is organized and how to set it up yourself, without outside help.
DIY mining farm: what is needed?
And so, to set up a mining farm, we need:
The core of Cryptocurrency is the video cards and to get a good hash you need minimum 3-4, or even all 6 cards in terms of performance not inferior to that of the RX470-480. In 2018, it still remains relevant RX 480, but the market can offer more powerful hardware, for those who are willing to pay for it, of course. Choosing a card yourself, you should give preference OMG – they are easier to sell, require less power, and the new mining software is designed specifically for AMD.
Due to the sudden increase in demand for graphics cards from miners, it is not easy to find the ideal models for mining. It's better to order from a foreign store (like Amazon) or buy a cheap used card again.
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Motherboard
The most common is ASRock H81 Pro BTC Bitcoin, which was developed specifically for mining. Its main feature is 6 connectors PCI-E, to which the video cards are connected. It is not necessary to choose this model, the main thing to remember is the more connectors, the more cards you can connect.
These are adapters needed to connect a video card with PCI-E x16 to a motherboard, on which PCI-E can be x1 (in most cases, “motherboards” contain 1-2 x16 connectors and multiple x1) They can be purchased at any hardware store or on the Internet, the cheapest is the good old AliExpress, but that's when you're ready to wait for a purchase for up to a month.
It is better to use USB risers of version not less than 006, the old “buses” provide a lower data transfer rate, and it is not so convenient to work with them.
To power 6 GPUs you will need at least 1.5 kilowatts. With a budget build, it's best to use 2 ATX units of 750 watts each and connect them to a synchronizer. More reliable and stable will be server power supply, but, firstly, you need to order a wiring for it, and secondly, it costs an order of magnitude more expensive. Here, if finances allow.
Since the main work in mining is done by graphics cards, a modest dual-core Intel Celeron or similar by processor parameters. The market value of this type of CPU is around US $ 40-50, the main thing is that it fits your chosen motherboard.
No special preferences, you can choose so old HDDand modern SSD… The latter, however, run an order of magnitude faster and require less electricity. The amount of memory when working with six video cards must be at least 60-80 GB, but experienced miners recommend installing more than 120GB just in case.
When choosing, it is important to consider that the type of support must be compatible with the motherboard connector. For stable operation, it will be enough 4 GB DDR 3, but for performance it is better to take DDR 5.
All elements are mounted on a profile metal frame, which can be ordered on the Internet for a few tens of dollars, or twisted by yourself using a wrench and screwdriver. The distance between the video cards must be not less than 15-20 cm, it is recommended to move the motherboard further away, and when working with 6 video cards, you will not be able to do without additional fans.
As a result, a not-too-expensive mining farm will cost from 2 to 4 thousand dollars, which is significantly cheaper than a turnkey mining farm with the same parameters. But to assemble it yourself, you need basic knowledge of PC hardware or a strong willingness to understand it.
How profitable is a crypto farm?
So how much does a mining farm earn? To estimate potential profit, use one of the mining calculators, which we wrote about in a separate article. Actual income will depend on equipment capacity, mining rate and complexity of the selected currency, as well as farm maintenance cost.
Be prepared for the amount of energy consumed 1 farm is equivalent to a small office (up to 24 kW per day)then the light bills will be adequate. Also, due to the continuous operation of the graphics card, the rest of the equipment wears out faster than under normal operating conditions.
At the same time, even though the entry limit for miners only grows every year and not everyone can buy a farm to mine, mining on a farm for most cryptocurrencies (except Bitcoin and “dark” coins) is still a profitable way to do business. , whose revenues cover all costs.
And finally – the farm described above of six graphics cards and auxiliary equipment allocates lots of heat and noise, therefore, it is not recommended to install such a structure in a residential area. The air temperature in the apartment can rise byabout 40 degrees or more, which does not make for comfortable living, so for a cryptocurrency it is worth allocating at least a separate room, or even a separate apartment.
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