Proof of Walken - Finishing your Mining Rig Parts List. RAM, Hard Drives and Risers Oh My!
So we are nearing the end of our mining rig journey. We've picked our graphics cards, selected the best power supply, and found the best bang for your buck Motherboard and CPU. So what's left? Everything else! Finding the rest of the parts can be a daunting task, but that's what I'm here for!
RAM
DDR4
CORSAIR ValueSelect 4GB 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 2133
Price: $48.99
DDR4 2133 (PC4 17000)
Timing 15-15-15-36
CAS Latency 15
Voltage 1.2V
DDR3
Mushkin Enhanced Essentials 4GB (2 x 2GB)
Price: $28.99
DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)
Timing 9-9-9-24
CAS Latency 9
Voltage 1.5V
When it comes to RAM. The biggest thing is finding cheap but reliable RAM. 4GB is enough to run a 6 card rig on Windows 10 and enough for a 12 card rig on Linux. If you plan on running more then 6 cards on windows, I recommend 8GB.
Hard Drive
Internal HDD
Western Digital Caviar SE WD800AAJB 80GB
Price: $33.99
InterfaceIDE Ultra ATA100 / ATA-6
Capacity: 80GB
RPM: 7200 RPM
Cache: 8MB
USB Thumb Drive
Samsung 32GB BAR (Metal) USB 3.0 Flash Drive
Price: $11.99
Up to 150MB/s Transfer Speed
High-quality metal casing for durability with key ring to prevent loss
NAND Flash Technology
Water proof, Shock proof, magnet proof, temp proof, and X-ray proof
High-speed USB 3.0 flash drive for fast data transfer
So just like it was for RAM. Your hard drive just needs to be cheap and reliable. You also don't need much space as all you need is enough room for your OS, graphics drivers, and your mining software. I also included a thumb drive since as I stated before, LINUX is a much better for mining, and it can be ran off of a small thumb drive.
Risers
Mining Card, Riser Card, PCIe (PCI Express) 16x to 1x Riser Adapter
Price:$8.99
Package Includes:
1x PCI-E 16X riser board
1x PCI-E 1X adapter card
1x 60cm USB 3.0 cable
1x 6-pin PCI-E power to 15-pin SATA power cable
6-Pack VER 009S PCIe USB RISER 6-Pin PCI-E 16x to 1x
Price: $39.99
Powered by PCI-E or SATA Connector
Works in any PCI-E Slot, 1x, 4x, 8x, 16x
Here is what I'm going to say about risers. Be careful with them. The Roswell I have listed first is the best riser on the market. I have had zero failures with them. Now for the 6 pack. They are a much better savings then buying 6 of the Roswell ones. But be warned, there is a high likelihood that when you receive them. One will be bad. So if I order the 6 pack. I normally order 1 Roswell just in case.
Fans
Cooler Master SickleFlow 120 - Sleeve Bearing
Price: $8.99 120mm 2000 RPM 69.69 CFM (maximum RPM) Long Life Sleeve 19 dBA
Keeping your GPU's cool is vital to stability and hash rate. Coolermaster makes the best case fans hands down. Plus these fans are quiet. Which is important because your screaming GPU's will be loud enough. 5 fans cover 6 GPU's.
Rig
Kalolary 6 GPU Miner Mining rig Aluminum Stackable Open Air Mining Case
Price: $84.99 6 GPU Enhanced Generous space between the GPUs, making them Cool n Quiet. Full Anodized Aluminum Alloy, precision crafted for the pro miners, with love. Support ATX/MATX Motherboard. Support Single or Dual PSU hosting, hard drive, PSU mounting Kit. Support Five 12CM Computer Fan mount position Support Dual PSU.
A Wood Frame
Price: About $20 in supplies
The aluminum framed rig is a very nice option. It doesn't come with the fans (why I have them listed above) but it is stackable so your setup will look nice and clean and also have some space savings. There are many options for this but this is the one I like the most. The wood option is the cheapest route to go. About $20 worth of supplies at LOWE's and an hour of your time and you have a cheap and easy frame.
Conclusion
We are now near the end of our journey. We have all the pieces. Now its time to build some rigs! Stay tuned for my next article where we will put together a 12 card beast, and a budget 6 card rig. If you haven't read my other articles up to this point. Please check them out below.
Top 5 Profitable Mining Cards from AMD
Top 5 Profitable Mining Cards from NVIDIA
Top 5 Mining Power Supplies for Any Budget
Top 5 Mining CPU and Motherboard Combinations
Check me out on twitter (Suspended again...) @Cryptochrisuw
Also check out my Mining and IDEX gem channel: Walken on the Moon