Mining of digital currencies appeared with the first decentralized system Bitcoin in 2009. Mining involves finding an identifier for new blocks. To do this, computing hardware solves a cryptographic hash function. Often miners use video adapters (GPU). But 1 graphics card rarely pays for itself. Therefore, crypto miners assemble farms of 4-10 GPUs at a time. This allows you to “squeeze” the maximum out of your investment. But not everyone knows how to assemble a mining farm with their own hands. Here you need technical experience in working with computer systems.
What is a mining farm
In the process of crypto-mining, the equipment is engaged in searching for hashes for new blocks and transactions based on previous ones. If a miner finds an identifier, the other nodes verify it. If the majority agrees, the hash is used to generate a chain link. For this, the system rewards the miner with cryptocurrency. This principle in blockchain allows to preserve the integrity of data in the network.
Any device capable of performing calculations is suitable for mining. However, for example, it makes no sense to use smartphones because of low profitability and high risk of breakage. Usually, miners use:
- ASIC. Such equipment is created specifically for cryptomining. It can not perform other tasks, but it is as efficient as possible.
- Video cards. Graphics processors are universal when mining cryptocurrencies. They can be switched to any mining algorithms, but they do not always pay off. To “repay” the price, it is necessary to mine coins with low competition.
Varieties of farms for mining
Many cryptoassets are impossible to mine on ASICs. Developers of these digital currencies specifically limit the ability of such equipment to preserve decentralization. However, mining such coins is possible on video cards.
Rigs are assembled from graphics adapters. Usually it is a wooden or metal frame that houses the motherboard (MP), power supply unit (PSU), RAM (RAM), hard disk drive (HDD), processor (CPU) and 4 to 12 GPUs. Multiple regs make up mining farms. They vary in scale:
- Small – 2-3 rigs. Such farms are usually placed at home or on the balcony.
- Medium – 5-10 regs. Such installations are difficult to place in residential areas because of the need for a powerful power supply. Home outlets and wiring are usually designed for 3-4 kWh.
- Large – more than 15 regs. For farms of this size rent rooms in industrial buildings with powerful power grids. Also, large stations require additional cooling.
What you need to create a farm for mining from scratch
Assembling a crypto mining station is relatively easy if you know how a PC works. But this only applies to small and medium-sized installations. Larger stations will additionally need the help of an electrician. Step-by-step instructions to assemble a mining farm on video cards at home:
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- Find a place where you can install the equipment.
- Check the power grid.
- Choose a method of heat dissipation.
- Determine the components for the regs.
Planning the space for the farm
Computing hardware generates heat. One rig of 6-10 graphics cards can heat up the air in a room instead of a battery. Therefore, before assembling, configuring, and connecting a mining farm, you need to find a space to house it.
Up to two regs can be placed in an apartment on a balcony or in a ventilated room. To cool them, you will need at most a fan or air conditioner. But if there are more GPU units, you will have to look for another place.
Distribution of regs
Install the mining farm in such a way that there is space between the units. This will allow air to circulate better. Often the regs are distributed by height. To do this, miners use racks with shelves.
When installing the main thing to take into account the movement of heat to the ceiling. It needs to be led out of the room.
Location of stands
It is recommended to put the racks next to the hood or fan. The system of heat output should be located in the direction. Also, crypto miners often place air coolers on top. In this case, the stands should be installed under them.
Stand ventilation
At this stage, the crypto miner needs to be responsible. If the ventilation of the farm is poorly equipped, video cards will start to overheat. High temperatures will “force” the GPU to reduce the clock frequency. Consequently, the performance of the regs will drop, which will have a bad effect on the profitability of mining.
Also, overheating reduces the life of the hardware. GPU components may start to peel off.
During cryptocurrency mining, the temperature of graphics cards should not exceed 80-85 °C. The optimal level is 75 °C. To ensure air circulation on the mining farm, crypto miners put fans in place of windows in the room. To do this, they:
- Take a large sheet of chipboard or LDF.
- Cut 2 or 4 holes in it with a diameter of 400-500 mm.
- Insert fans into them.
- Mount the construction in place of the window.
On large mining farms, the air circulation system is done in a similar way. The only difference is the scale of construction. Here, instead of small fans, industrial coolers with a diameter of more than 1 meter are installed.
Wiring
When operating, mining equipment consumes electricity. GPU consumption is usually around 250-300 W/h. One farm of 5 graphics cards consumes about 1500 W/h. Therefore, no more than 2 regs are wired at home. Aluminum wiring in old buildings is usually designed for 3-4 kW. This should be taken into account when placing mining installations.
Electricity
It is impossible to assemble a farm for mining bitcoins and other digital assets without taking into account energy consumption. Rigs with 5 GPUs consume an average of 1.5 kWh. The power consumption figure depends on the power of the GPU. For example, NVIDIA RTX 2060 spends 160Wh, and RTX 3090 – 350Wh.
Information about the graphics card consumption at peak load times is available on the manufacturer’s website.
For stable operation of a farm of 30 RTX 3090 video adapters 10.5 kWh of energy is required. They should be plugged into 3 different outlets. This will help to avoid blowing out the plugs. It is also recommended to have a power reserve of 10-15%.
For the safety of video adapters, you can install a RCD – a protective disconnection device. Its task is to protect the equipment from short circuits and other electrical problems.
Cooling method
In cheap models of video cards, 1 fan is installed. However, they are not used in mining because of the high degree of heating. More expensive GPUs have 2-3 coolers. This is enough to remove heat from a mini-farm of 5-6 GPUs. But if a miner wants to run more video adapters, factory cooling will not be enough.
On large farms, the equipment heats up the air around it. This makes the graphics cards even hotter.
The miner must organize a system of heat removal outside the room. Fans help in this. Small and medium-sized mining farms have 1-2 coolers to remove heat and another 1-2 to blow in fresh air from the street. Such systems are popular among miners of digital currencies. Their advantage is the low cost of construction.
But there is an alternative. It is possible not to output heat outside the room, but to disperse it inside. For this purpose, immersion cooling systems are built. Their creation requires large investments. The essence of the technology is to immerse the equipment in a dielectric liquid. When heated, it vaporizes, cools down with the help of a condenser and returns to the circuit.
Main components
The search for hashes is carried out by graphics cards. But they need additional components for their work. Without CPU, HDD, RAM, power supply and other components, it will not be possible to create and launch a mining farm.
Immersion liquid
It is important to properly assemble a home mining farm so that it does not overheat. For example, some crypto miners make an immersion heat dissipation system. It involves immersing regs with video cards in a liquid that does not conduct electric current. This allows you to stabilize the operation of the equipment, reduce its wear and tear, and safely overclock GPUs.
Among the liquids, various mineral oils are used. When choosing them, you need to take into account:
- Flash point.
- Oxidation resistance.
- Hygroscopicity.
- Biological safety.
- Density.
- Price per liter.
PMS, PES, PMFS, PAOM, HVI and other oils are popular among miners. Also large farms use Novec liquid. It is excellent for immersing regs, but it is difficult to buy it in Russia. At the same time, the price of the liquid reaches $130 per 1 liter.
Outdoor radiator
Even on mining farms use a liquid cooling system. It is similar to the air system, but the means of heat transfer is distilled water that circulates in a circuit.
AMD video adapters are also used in crypto-mining. Popular GPU models are listed in the following table.
| Graphics adapter | Video memory capacity, GB | Power consumption, W |
|---|---|---|
When choosing a GPU, it is important to consider the amount of video memory (VRAM). It is needed to load the DAG file of a blockchain network. For example, according to the Minerstat service, ETHW mining requires 8 GB, while QKC, EGEM, MOAC, RVN, AKA – from 6 GB. Ethereum Classic mining requires a minimum of 4 GB of video memory, but judging by the forecasts, from September 2025, this volume will no longer be enough.
Motherboard
This component of the computer ties the components together into a single system. There are almost no requirements for the motherboard (MP) in crypto mining. The only thing – you need to take into account the number of connected graphics cards in the rig.
For example, if a miner wants to install 6 video adapters, then the motherboard must have at least 6 PCI-e interfaces.
Due to the growing popularity of crypto-mining, manufacturers began to develop special MFs. They are characterized by the presence of PCI-e interfaces. For example, the H110 Pro BTC+ model from ASRock has 12 slots. With the help of raisers, the slots allow you to connect 12 video cards.
Power supply
It is not recommended to save money on this component when creating a mining farm. The power supply is a device that supplies voltage to various computer equipment. Graphics cards will not be able to work without it. What you need to take into account when choosing a PSU point by point:
- Power. It should be enough to power all the components in the rig. But for stable operation, you need to leave a reserve of 20%. For example, if the system consumes 900Wh, then it is recommended to buy a power supply for 1100-1200W.
- Availability of cables. Usually budget PSUs have 2-4 PCI-e connectors for GPU connection. But some models support more than 6 cables. This should be taken into account when assembling a mining farm.
- Security technologies. Power supplies provide protection of equipment from short circuits, overcurrents and other phenomena harmful to electronics.
- Certification. PSUs have energy efficiency and efficiency ratings. The higher they are, the better the 80 PLUS certification.
Often budget power supplies have a power of up to 1200 W. There are also more productive PSUs. However, their price is significantly higher. Therefore, when the consumption of the Rig is more than 1200Wh, miners usually install 2 PSUs instead of 1 powerful one. For simultaneous launch and operation of two units, synchronizers are used.
RAM
Assemble a mining farm yourself from scratch without RAM is impossible. This memory is necessary for the operating system (OS) and applications. Without it, the computer would constantly hang. RAM stores temporary files of running programs, which the processor quickly accesses if necessary. This ensures smooth operation of applications.
Choosing RAM for a mining farm is relatively easy. You can buy any RAM with a capacity of 4 GB or more. The main thing is that the memory must be enough to run the operating system and the mining program.
Controller
This chip in the processor is responsible for the access of cores to memory and other components. When building a farm for mining bitcoins and other coins, it is not necessary to take into account the controller.
Processors
The CPU does not participate in cryptocurrency mining. The processor only supports the work of programs with the help of calculations. Therefore, you can independently build a farm on any CPU. Often miners buy second-hand processors to save money. Budget models Intel Celeron, Pentium and others are suitable.
Additional components for mining
During the construction of a farm for cryptocurrency mining, different elements may be needed. A detailed list of components is available on the web. The components depend on the specific method of implementation. For example, if a crypto miner builds an immersion-cooled farm, he will need a suspension system and piping. In cold regions, sometimes additional heating sources are also needed.
Suspension system
To organize immersion cooling, you need a tub or a sturdy aquarium for immersion regs. A suspension system helps to place them compactly. It allows you to install video cards in the liquid on the level to more effectively dissipate heat and avoid damage to the equipment.
The type of suspension system depends on the specific truss and the immersion solution used. Materials should be resistant to corrosion and chemicals.
Piping
In immersion systems, it is needed to circulate the coolant. The solution passes through heat exchangers or radiators that carry the heat away from the room. The piping must keep the fluid moving at all times so that the video cards do not overheat.
Room heating radiator
It is safe to start crypto mining if the surrounding conditions are suitable for the equipment. For example, when the room temperature is minus, you can not start video cards. This can lead to the formation of condensation, which will damage the GPU.
To protect the mining regs, heating radiators are installed. Such a system helps to maintain a plus temperature for the operation of graphics processors.
Step-by-step instructions on how to assemble a mining farm with your own hands
Extraction of cryptocurrencies is available to almost everyone. To begin with, you need to assemble and customize a mining farm. It is required to buy the necessary equipment and master the rig. Then it will remain only step by step to assemble the components into a single system.
Schemes
The computer case is not suitable for assembling a farm. It will not be possible to put several video cards in it at the same time. Therefore, the miner will have to assemble a special frame for installing equipment. It is called a rig.
Make a case can be made of wood or aluminum slats. But it is better to stop at metal. Schemes for assembling the frame are available on the Internet. When choosing a drawing, you need to take into account the size of video cards. On average, crypto miners install 5-6 GPUs in one case.
Wooden regs are fire hazardous. Experienced miners do not recommend assembling them.
At the bottom of the case, they usually put a wooden panel. Crypto miners screw some components to it. For example, the motherboard and power supplies are installed on the bottom. The rest of the components are attached above.
Special software
Beginning miners usually use the Windows operating system. It is suitable for getting the first experience in crypto-mining. However, this OS is demanding on components, spends a lot of computing resources on the operation of services and loading the interface. Experienced miners do not use Windows.
There are operating systems designed for mining digital currencies. Examples are HiveOS and RaveOS. They are developed on the basis of the Linux system. HiveOS almost does not waste equipment resources. At the same time, the mining system allows you to remotely monitor the work of regs and quickly connect to different pools. With special OS, you can achieve the maximum hash rate.
Starting and setting up a mining farm
After assembling the station, it is necessary to install the operating system. To do this, miners create a boot image on a USB flash drive or disk, and then run it using BIOS or UEFI. After installing the OS, you will need to download drivers. These are programs for the correct operation of the equipment. Each machine in the system is controlled by its own driver.
The procedure for installing RaveOS or HiveOS is different from Windows. Instructions are available on the developers’ websites.
Next, you can start mining cryptocurrencies. If Windows is installed on the Rig, then a separate program for mining will be required to start the process. Popular software is Kryptex Miner, CGMiner, GuiMiner, BFGMiner, MultiMiner and others. The setup of each program may differ. Instructions for “dummies” are usually available on the websites of software creators.
After configuring the program, the crypto miner can start the equipment. In one software for this it is enough to open the application, in another – click on the corresponding button. After starting the mining farm, the program will start displaying monitoring statistics, including the hash rate.
Internet connection requirements
It’s not enough to build a budget-friendly mining farm from scratch in 2024. You also need to take care of a stable internet connection. Ping when connecting to the server for crypto mining should not exceed 200 ms. Otherwise, some of the hashes found will be lost, which will reduce profitability.
Internet connection speed is a secondary criterion. A standard home connection is usually enough for the farm to work. Experienced miners proceed from the calculation that one video card has an average speed of 30 Kbps. Then 50 graphics adapters will need 1.5 Mbps.
Estimated income from a mining farm
It is recommended that mining digital assets be approached as a business. Miners purchase equipment with the goal of paying it off faster and earning on top. Therefore, before making a mining farm, it is recommended to calculate its profitability in advance. Calculators help to determine profitability. These are services that calculate how much a farm can bring in based on current market conditions.
There are many mining calculators. To get information, just select the equipment, specify the price of electricity and click on the “Calculate” button.
The cost of assembling a mining farm on video cards
Cryptocurrency miners do not save on some components for nothing. On the size of the investment in the farm depends on the payback period. “Repay” the investment is the main goal in mining. However, there are components on which it is better not to save money. Among them:
- Video cards. In mining, they work around the clock under maximum load. If the graphics card is made of cheap components, it can quickly break down. It is recommended to buy GPUs from reliable manufacturers like Gigabyte, ASUS, MSI, EVGA and Palit.
- Power supplies. They protect computing equipment from various anomalies in the power grid. Proven PSUs can “save the life” of video cards in certain cases.
- Risers. Under high load, bad adapters can catch fire, leading to a fire.
- Cooling system. GPU overheating leads to lower GPU clock speeds, which reduces revenue.
Calculating Payback
Having selected the components and the rest of the components, it will be necessary to understand how long it takes to recoup the investment. To do this, divide the total cost of the farm by its expected return. For example, the equipment costs $1000. According to the calculator, the profitability of graphics adapters will be $3.15 per day. If you make the calculations, you will get about 318 days.
However, conditions in the cryptocurrency market are constantly changing. There is increasing competition and complexity in blockchain networks. Along with this, the profitability of mining is decreasing. Falling profits need to be taken into account when planning a farm.
Legal nuances
On November 1, 2024, a new law on the legalization of mining in Russia will come into force. It establishes the order of crypto-mining for individuals and legal entities. The first are given the right to mine coins, but with limits on energy consumption. To remove these limits, it is necessary to register a sole proprietorship or a legal entity.
The law provides for the possibility of a complete ban on activity in regions where electricity is in short supply.
Entrepreneurs and companies mining cryptoassets must be listed in the register of miners. Now it is in development. It is being created by the Federal Tax Service (FTS). Also, miners must report on extracted digital currencies to Rosfinmonitoring and provide wallet addresses.
FAQ
💰 What is halving in mining?
It is a mechanism to reduce the reward to crypto miners in blockchain networks running on the PoW consensus protocol. For example, in Bitcoin, the last halving took place on April 20, 2024. The profit per block mining dropped from 6.25 bitcoin to 3.125.
❓ Why can’t you mine BTC on video cards?
You can, but the cost of paying for electricity will exceed the returns. Bitcoin has high competition, it is not profitable to use video cards.
❔ What market conditions affect the income of miners?
Cryptocurrency exchange rate, block reward size, network complexity, and competition.
✅ What are raisers?
Graphics adapters are inserted into PCI-e x16 slots. But often there are no more than 2 of them on the motherboard. The other interfaces are PCI-e x8, x4, and x1. Usually it is impossible to install GPU in them. But raisers solve this problem. They help you connect graphics cards for mining into any PCIe slots.
❗ Can I use server PSUs to create a farm?
Yes, but high power PSUs are often more expensive. It is cheaper to buy 2 regular PSUs.
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Author: Saifedean Ammous, an expert in cryptocurrency economics.
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