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In the old days, CPUs were used for computing crypto algorithms. However, GPUs are equipped with thousands of Arithmetic Logic Units (ALU), which perform mathematical computations. Compared to 6-16 cores of a CPU at the same price, a GPU is hundreds times faster than a CPU. So that GPUs are more suitable and better for crypto mining than CPUs.
How about ASIC? ASIC miners are designed to mine only a particular coin, meanwhile GPUs can be used to mine different types of coins, even gaming, video editing and other heavy calculating tasks. On the other hand, GPUs have resalable value and are upgradable when new GPUs release.
NVIDIA RTX 3060 Ti is the GPU for the best mining rig in 2021. Why? Because its price is more reasonable, its hash rate is good enough, because of its low power consumption, it needs only one power supply connector.
AMD RX 6900 XT, NVIDIA RTX 3080, and RTX 3090 are high-end graphics cards, also great choices for mining rigs in 2021. However, they are mostly out of stock, it might be difficult to buy some of those. So the model which is available to shop in your area might be the right choice for you.
The components that you need for building a gpu mining rig are similar to a pc, but different details. Those components are: motherboard, cpu, ram, 3 to 12 graphics cards, power supply unit, ssd, frame (instead of a case for pc), and external cooling system.
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Motherboard: This is the most important part of your rig, it determines other parts in the rig. You need a motherboard with 6 to 12 PCIe slots. There are products with more than 12, even 20 PCIe slots, but 8 to 12 PCIe slots are enough. You can pick a motherboard for your mining rig here
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CPU and RAM: In a crypto mining only rig, you don’t need a powerful CPU and lots of RAM, just not too weak so it can run the rig smoothly, a 2 cores 4 threads CPU and 4GB of RAM is enough. However, if you plan to do something else with your rig, you might want to pick a better CPU, 6 cores 12 threads and 16GB of RAM maybe.
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Graphics cards: These are an essential part of a mining rig. The important thing when you pick your cards is to make sure those are suitable for the crypto coins you plan on mining. As a motherboard usually has 2 x16 PCIe slots, you also need to get some GPU risers to convert the x1 PCIe slots of the motherboard into x16 PCIe slots so that those GPUs can attach to the system. You can pick gpus for your mining rig here
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SSD: SSDs are more durable, more reliable than ssd and quite affordable now. Even so, a backup disk, or RAID, is recommended.
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Power supply unit: The rig is going to run 24/7, so the power supply unit needs to be reliable, at least a medium-tier one. If you can not find a suitable psu for your rig, you can set up dual power supplies by using a splitter cable or a sync module for dual power supplies.
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Frame: You will need a frame for your rig, because a pc case is not enough. You need to make sure your frame is sturdy enough to secure the whole machine.
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External cooling system: It is easy for cooling a pc case, but cooling one or more mining rigs are tricky. Try to make the best cooling system possible, or your rigs might not work properly.
First, you need to set up all parts into the frame, pretty much the same as a computer, but bigger, into a customized case. Make sure all components are in place, all the cables plugged.
- Insert CPU into the motherboard socket carefully.
- Put the thermal paste on the CPU lid, attach the CPU cooler to the motherboard, above the CPU, remember to plug in the cooler fan connector.
- Plug in the RAM sticks following the motherboard manual to active dual channel mode if your motherboard has 4 RAM slots or more.
- Place the motherboard into the rig frame, use screws to secure it.
- Plug in all the PCIe riser into the motherboard.
- Secure the PSU into the frame, plug the 24 pin 4 or 8 CPU pin, and all 6 or more gpu power connectors depend on number of your gpu cards.
- Connect the SSD to the motherboard, a m2 SSD is the best choice.
- Plug the gpu cards into the gpu risers, then secure all the GPU cards into the frame
- Plug power connectors into motherboard and GPU cards, and we are done.
Second thing is the software. You want to look for a secure software, which has great reputations and works perfectly in crypto forums. Install the software and configure the options depending on your system and your liking. Some worth mentioning softwares are CGMiner, BFGMiner, MultiMiner and Awesome Miner. Follow the instructions, your system will have to reboot several times before everything is in place. After this, your rig is ready to start mining crypto.
This is just a small step to walk in the crypto world. Choose reliable hardware and software for the job. Remember to secure your crypto wallet. Crypto wallets can provide high levels of security if used correctly. You can find a secure crypto wallet here
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