Cryptocurrencies

[Moltuae]

No, I registered after NiceHash went down but I guess I was lucky enough to get in just before they closed the doors. A friend of mine registered a day or so later and received the same message you did. He decided to leave it installed/running anyway and eventually (a couple of days later, I think) his rigs connected and started mining.

WinMiner is ok. I think profitability is a little less than it was with NiceHash though and the software is a little buggy. In particular some rigs frequently (once every day or two) show as disconnected in the DashBoard, even though they're online and appear to be mining. Simply restarting WinMiner gets them back online

 

[HCHTech]

I'm not having great luck with WinMiner on my rig, it frequently just stops. Restarting the software works, but the numbers always look too low when I do that. Rebooting the machine seems to bring it back, but a couple of hours later it is down again. I even got one of those USB watchdogs, but whatever is happening doesn't look like a crash to it, apparently, because it doesn't reboot the machine. I'm not overclocking, and I only have temp limits set in afterburner. I miss the days when I complained about having to reboot NH once or twice a week - haha.

 

[timeshifter]

I guess if SMOS boots and connects without any issues, there's no need to attach a monitor?

Correct. You can see what's on the screen by clicking the console icon and you'll see this. The console window shows what you'd see on the screen (although not it colors). You can also see the last message from the console in the dashboard.

 

[MudRock]

I see fee balance. How does SMOS work? Their website says $2 a month per system, but that shows fees? Is that on top of the $2?

 

[timeshifter]

I see fee balance. How does SMOS work? Their website says $2 a month per system, but that shows fees? Is that on top of the $2?

No additional fees. When you first start out they give you a little balance for a free trial, I think that's what you see.

 

[Galdorf]

wow litecoin is going up fast its at 370 up from 80 for last month.

 

[timeshifter]

@Moltuae care to share any updates and pics on the frames you've been building. I recall you had a pretty good design you were dialing in.

I'm really fancying this frame
https://www.parallelminer.com/product/all-aluminium-6-1-gpu-open-air-mining-case-barebone/

No telling when they'll ever have them in stock. Earlier in the week they said they'd have them Thursday but there not there. They get $179 for it. I figured out all the parts and you can get them and build your own for about $60 from esto connectors.

 

[Moltuae]

@Moltuae care to share any updates and pics on the frames you've been building. I recall you had a pretty good design you were dialing in.

I've been meaning to fully document it but I've been focusing more on Antminers lately and been snowed-under with other work, but I can share what I have so far ...

The forum is limited to 10 images per post, so I've uploaded them to Imgur instead. Here's a series of photographs I took, showing all the components and the construction of aluminium extrusion rig#2:

https://imgur.com/a/em71H

I've also attached a parts list I created. Most of the parts were sourced from Ebay so some of the listings probably no longer exist but it should be possible to find new listings of similar parts from the description.

 

[Moltuae]

Bitcoin battle: Winklevoss twins vs. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon
Article Link: http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/...levoss-twins-vs-jpmorgan-ceo-jamie-dimon.html

 

[NYJimbo]

Starting to see too many negative stories, not sure if this will cause panics at some point:

Bitcoin buyers should be prepared to lose all their money, top UK regulator warns
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/15/bit...e-all-their-money-top-uk-regulator-warns.html

Bitcoin is failing as a currency
https://www.yahoo.com/tech/bitcoin-failing-currency-191100799.html

Bitcoin CRASH imminent? Investor warns bitcoin bubble is ‘bloodiest DANGER of the century’
https://www.express.co.uk/finance/c...-eric-schiffer-cryptocurrency-investment-risk

 

[Moltuae]

not sure if this will cause panics at some point:

I don't think it'll have any significant impact. The mainstream press have always preferred to report the more dramatic/negative (and usually uninformed) opinions of regulators, politicians or those in the banking sector. It's been going on almost since the day Bitcoin began and it hasn't had any long term affect on the prices yet.

https://99bitcoins.com/bitcoinobituaries/ (212 and counting).

I think stories such as those may deter casual investors but anyone who is genuinely curious about cryptocurrencies or serious about investing in them, will likely do their own research. There may be an imbalance of negative news articles, but most of those articles are just a rehash of the same story about a comment made by some politician or bank's CEO. The 'quality' articles may be comparatively fewer, but they are usually supported by facts and figures rather than opinion.

I do think we're due another price correction though, probably before it passes through $20K. It could pull back to 15K or lower, at which point the mainstream press will declare Bitcoin dead (again).

 

[MudRock]

You read through the list there, and there a LOT by The Telegraph, CNBC and The Street. I mean, with CNBC, every time it breaks another $500, they put out another hit article. It is kind of sad. Reading it in that obit article, it's fairly obvious who is out there just to cause problems for Bitcoin.

 

[Moltuae]

a LOT by The Telegraph

I don't think The Telegraph has ever written a positive article about Bitcoin. They always go for the shocking/sensationalistic headlines .... but then they do have a paywall to maintain.

This (below) is a screenshot of Google News just a few moment ago: Price rising sharply today, and big news of another Bitcoin futures (CME Group) starting on Monday, yet The Telegraph choose to run with "How mining bitcoin is killing the planet" ...





.... I wonder if they'll remember to compare how much energy the present banking industry is using.

 

[MudRock]

I don't think The Telegraph has ever written a positive article about Bitcoin. They always go for the shocking/sensationalistic headlines .... but then they do have a paywall to maintain.

This (below) is a screenshot of Google News just a few moment ago: Price rising sharply today, and big news of another Bitcoin futures (CME Group) starting on Monday, yet The Telegraph choose to run with "How mining bitcoin is killing the planet" ...

View attachment 8385



.... I wonder if they'll remember to compare how much energy the present banking industry is using.

There have been a lot of hit pieces in Canada on power wasting of mining in the last while. I laughed, because they say it in the middle of our winter...

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk

 

[Moltuae]

Brilliant new talk from Andreas ...

 

[timeshifter]

I've been meaning to fully document it but I've been focusing more on Antminers lately and been snowed-under with other work, but I can share what I have so far ...

The forum is limited to 10 images per post, so I've uploaded them to Imgur instead. Here's a series of photographs I took, showing all the components and the construction of aluminium extrusion rig#2:

https://imgur.com/a/em71H

I've also attached a parts list I created. Most of the parts were sourced from Ebay so some of the listings probably no longer exist but it should be possible to find new listings of similar parts from the description.

Wow! Thanks for posting all that!!

So you're going with a three level design? Power supply, motherboard, cards?

Looks like you're using 20mm stock. 15mm probably too small?

 

[Moltuae]

Wow! Thanks for posting all that!!

So you're going with a three level design? Power supply, motherboard, cards?

Looks like you're using 20mm stock. 15mm probably too small?

I never really considered 15mm profile extrusion, though I can't think of any reason it shouldn't work. The main reason I went with 20mm profile was because I initially purchased one of these frames, which also used 20mm profile extrusion. I never used that frame in the end because I found it to be too limiting. It was difficult to mount everything and the result was untidy and provided little protection for the motherboard and graphics cards. I found that 20mm extrusion was readily available and inexpensive, as were most of the fixings, so I set about making my own rigs from scratch.

My reasoning behind the 3 level design I went with was: The PSU level (#1) is wide enough to take up to 2 PSUs if necessary, and the PSUs are securely clamped down by the level above. The motherboard level (#2), being the width of 2 PSUs, is just wide enough to take some of the larger (5+ PCIe) motherboards comfortably. The same width and depth used for the first 2 levels also works well for the GPU level (#3), providing enough space to mount 4 or 5 graphics cards, without any overhang, and with still enough space to mount 3 fans behind them. The layout also means that the PSU and graphics cards exhaust their heat forwards, something which can be further controlled by the addition of the acrylic side-panels and the rear fans, meaning that the rig can be placed close to a wall and used as a room heater.

 

[HCHTech]

Here's a series of photographs I took, showing all the components and the construction of aluminium extrusion rig#2:

First class - it looks really nice - well done!

Now for the inevitable questions...

How is the filter mesh attached to the rear fans? I assume perimeter glue, but the engineer in me wonders if you did something more clever.

Do you plan on affixing the risers to that flat bar, or will there be some other method of holding them the card/riser assemblies in place?

I've been planning rig #2 in my head for a bit and I really like three-level idea. What are the final dimensions of your frame? I think I'd like to keep things wide enough to handle 6 cards - by the time you build it to handle 4, the incremental cost of adding more cards is only in the cards themselves (risers are sold in six-packs, etc.).

Plus, the difference between a 1000 watt and 1200 or 1300 watt power supply is small. I'm also wondering about intentionally going with 2 650W supplies instead of one big one, but of course that introduces an additional point of failure, and by the time you buy the cable & such to tie them together, it's not that much cheaper...

 

[Moltuae]

First class - it looks really nice - well done!

Now for the inevitable questions...

How is the filter mesh attached to the rear fans? I assume perimeter glue, but the engineer in me wonders if you did something more clever.

Do you plan on affixing the risers to that flat bar, or will there be some other method of holding them the card/riser assemblies in place?

I've been planning rig #2 in my head for a bit and I really like three-level idea. What are the final dimensions of your frame? I think I'd like to keep things wide enough to handle 6 cards - by the time you build it to handle 4, the incremental cost of adding more cards is only in the cards themselves (risers are sold in six-packs, etc.).

Plus, the difference between a 1000 watt and 1200 or 1300 watt power supply is small. I'm also wondering about intentionally going with 2 650W supplies instead of one big one, but of course that introduces an additional point of failure, and by the time you buy the cable & such to tie them together, it's not that much cheaper...

The filter on the fans just attaches via the fan fixing holes. The filters come with the holes pre-punched. The fan screws hold the filter in place, on the corners where screws are used, otherwise just cable ties. It's not an airtight seal but it catches most of the dust and prevents anyone (mainly me) from accidentally touching the fans while they're spinning. The same filters are actually pretty useful filters for the Antminers too; I've fitted one to the intake fan of all my Antminers. You just need to unscrew the rear fan guard and place the filter between the guard and the fan. It prevents dust getting inside the Antiminer but you do need to give the filter a quick brush occasionally to prevent it clogging up.

The flat bar is just something for the riser boards to rest on, although I did secure them a little using a cable tie. The card is already secured firmly, top and bottom, so the riser cable tie just prevents the cards moving side to side at the tail-end. You can see how I fastened the cards on my earlier completed rig (rig#1) photos here:
https://www.technibble.com/forums/threads/cryptocurrencies.73274/page-22#post-610524

Final dimensions are approx. 380mm (15") Wide x 380mm (15") Deep x 500mm (20") High. There's 333mm of width available for mounting the cards, which will fit 5 cards easily (including about 30mm of space between them). You could probably just about squeeze 6 cards in if you reduce the space between the cards (and perhaps use more powerful rear fans to prevent overheating). Alternatively, you could make it wider than 333mm of course. The main reason I chose 333mm is that you can get 3 x 333m lengths from a 1 Metre length of extrusion. I chose a height of 500mm for the same reason.

 

[timeshifter]

My first two rigs have water cooled GPUs. I haven't setup the 2nd rig yet, but I have the cards. The frame I built for the first one I made it so the water tubes going to the radiators were not stressed. That meant mounting those radiators 7.5" higher than the GPUs and 5" forward.

I'd like to build two more rigs (total of 4) by the end of the year. So I'd like to have a consistent case. Not sure if I'll go water cooled for the final two, but I like going that route as I think (hope) they're quieter than fan only cards. My rigs will be close to where I work and I hate fan noise. Also, I think (hope) the cards will perform better, last longer, if water cooled vs fan only as I think they're running much cooler.

My 4 GTX 1080 Ti are running 750 sols/s each for Zcash and stay around 40C. They're at 100% power, +150 GPU clock and +400 memory clock.

Anyway, I like @Moltuae 's frame design, but if I adapted it for water cooled cards it would be almost 30" high. Makes me wonder too if water cooled GPUs are the way for me to continue to go.