Crypto currency mining

[moltuae]

Laptops are generally no good for mining. Even if they have supported hardware, they're not designed to be run at full power for extended periods. Cooling is very limited and frequently running BGA (ball grid array) type CPUs/GPUs hot can lead to faults caused by solder fatigue.

It's best to stick to using full size systems and one of the graphics cards listed here: https://new.nicehash.com/profitability-calculator

[Delboy]

Originally Posted by moltuae

Laptops are generally no good for mining. Even if they have supported hardware, they're not designed to be run at full power for extended periods. Cooling is very limited and frequently running BGA (ball grid array) type CPUs/GPUs hot can lead to faults caused by solder fatigue.

It's best to stick to using full size systems and one of the graphics cards listed here: https://new.nicehash.com/profitability-calculator

Your not wrong there, my Macbook is living proof of that, I had to send it away to have the gpu chip replaced for that very reason.

Following this thread with interest.

Is it possible to build a rig into a proper pc case or is it usually Frankenstein'd? I have a silverstone TJ-07 case thats never been used sitting in the loft.

Also surprised to see they don't use liquid cooling for quietness and maybe heat recovery to be used for the house?

[moltuae]

Originally Posted by Delboy

Is it possible to build a rig into a proper pc case or is it usually Frankenstein'd? I have a silverstone TJ-07 case thats never been used sitting in the loft.

Certainly, though you'll be limited by the number of cards you can physically fit in there of course. You'll be lucky to find a case that'll take more than a couple of full size graphics cards, though you may be able to squeeze an extra one into a couple of 5.25" bays if you can find a way to mount it. Also depending on the PSU the PC originally came with, you may need to upgrade that to cope with the extra wattage.

[moltuae]

Originally Posted by Delboy

Also surprised to see they don't use liquid cooling for quietness and maybe heat recovery to be used for the house?

Some people have used liquid cooling, but often it's just an unnecessary expense.

The fans in the GPU rigs aren't particularly loud and you can use the heat to heat your house/office. I used my Antminer S9 (which is loud!) to heat my workshop for the latter part of last winter. I usually use an electric heater but with the Antminer pumping out 1.3kW of heat continuously I didn't need any extra heating. So it didn't save be anything on my heating bills but it effectively cost me nothing to run either. Over a 3 month period it probably made me about £1000. I've since moved it to my customer's server room (where it has all the free electricity it can eat). This is the customer I'm helping to build a mining farm for, so I get to use their electricity for free as part of the deal

[1781cc]

Anyone looked into dumping a PV install on their garage roof and running one off that or would the power setup not work/be reliable enough? Just thinking aloud here... what sort of bandwidth drain does this have on your internet connection as well?

[moltuae]

Originally Posted by 1781cc

Anyone looked into dumping a PV install on their garage roof and running one off that or would the power setup not work/be reliable enough? Just thinking aloud here... what sort of bandwidth drain does this have on your internet connection as well?

The internet/network bandwidth needed is minimal. I don't have the figures but it seems to have no impact on the rest of the network, even when running multiple miners.

Using PV is quite popular for mining. This guy converted his shed into a solar-powered mining farm:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AmMV-Bmhh8

[MikkiJayne]

Originally Posted by moltuae

Laptops are generally no good for mining. Even if they have supported hardware, they're not designed to be run at full power for extended periods. Cooling is very limited and frequently running BGA (ball grid array) type CPUs/GPUs hot can lead to faults caused by solder fatigue.

Normally I would agree with that, but these particular machines are designed to take a beating:



They're basically desktop machines in a folding case. I used to use them as portable Hyper-V hosts running Windows Server. I've got three of them just sitting about now so its most vexing they won't even run it.

Trying a dual Xeon gaming PC with a GTX 960 now...

[MikkiJayne]

That solar powered rig is very cool indeed

[MikkiJayne]

It won't recognise the GTX960 either

[moltuae]

That certainly is a hefty looking laptop!


The GTX960 looks to be supported. Try updating the drivers.