How to assemble a rig for mining with your own hands

Buying a ready-made one

Many miners take equipment for mining cryptocurrencies in stores. This is convenient when there is free money and do not want to understand the intricacies of installation. In 2023, you can buy a farm for mining Ethereum (Monero) as a whole or only a rack for components. There is a warranty on the assembly and components.

In the finished case, the location of shelves, mounting points for boards, power supplies is already thought out. In closed forms, proper ventilation of air flows is provided.

The finished rack will cost 1.5-6 thousand depending on the material and size. Another 1.5-5.5 thousand rubles should be paid for assembly. A closed case with well-designed ventilation and noise insulation will be more expensive – from 10 thousand rubles, depending on the size.

Self-assembly

In mining, payback is important. Therefore, beginners and professionals try to save money. The average payback of a farm is 2-2.5 years. This is how long a new video card will last under maximum loads.

A reliable way to reduce the cost of the farm – self-assembly of the rig from wood or aluminum slats.

A ready-made frame can have the same price as a motherboard or a fan. However, a rig rack does not affect crypto mining performance, so you can save money on it.

Designing and assembling the rack

First, you need to calculate the profitability of mining for a particular coin on a calculator. The payback period and reaching a net profit is important. Then you can buy video cards. Under them should be selected other components. The frame should not withstand critical loads. It is enough for it to fulfill the main functions – to provide compact placement of equipment, free air circulation and was not a fire hazard.

You will need at least one fan per installation to keep the GPUs cool. Overheating can cause devices to malfunction or even break down completely.

The size of the bottom panel should be chosen taking into account the size of the motherboard. If there is no air conditioning in the room for the farm, the rig should not have more than 2 floors. The distance between the slats from 40 cm is acceptable. The housing is assembled with rivets and bolts. For wooden frames, screws can be used. Before you assemble a rig for mining with your own hands, you need to stock up on accessories and tools. You will need:

• Housing materials. You can use wooden strips impregnated with a composition to protect against mold and moisture, or metal corners (20 x 20 x 2 mm). This material heats up more than aluminum, so you need room for additional fans.
• Fittings. Bolts, screws, confirmate will do.
• Drawing of a rig for mining. You can make your own or take a ready-made one. It should provide space for the motherboard, video cards, additional fans.
• A tape measure for measuring parts. It is necessary to accurately maintain the distance between the components according to the sketch.
• Drill or screwdriver for assembling components.
• Hacksaw for cutting the aluminum profile.

The order of actions is as follows when assembling the ring:

1. Cut aluminum profile or wooden strips according to the drawing.
2. Reinforce the supporting corners with bars, fix them with self-tapping screws.
3. Assemble the structure according to the drawing.

Installation of components

The installation of the rig differs little from the assembly of a conventional PC. The order of installation of components is as follows:

1. Attach the motherboard to the bottom panel with self-tapping screws. Put dielectric gaskets under the fastening points.
2. Fix the RAM (RAM) cards. Open the latches beforehand.
3. Install the processor. There is a mark on one of the corners – use it to align the case with the motherboard.
4. Apply thermal paste. Attach the heatsink and cooler to the processor.
5. Connect the hard disk with a Sata cable.
6. Place video cards on the upper console so that the distance between them is at least 10 cm.
7. Attach raisers (adapters) to the motherboard slots. Output to the ports of the video cards.
8. Connect the power supply through the unit to the video cards.
9. Place the power and reset button on the motherboard.
10. Secure the internet cable. Apply power through the surge protector.
11. Connect the mouse and keyboard through the cable.
12. If there is no remote access program on the hard drive, connect a monitor.

The main part of the farm assembly is complete. If everything is done correctly, maintenance will not be required before six months of equipment operation. If problems arise, you should first check the connections of the farm components and power supply.

Installation of cooling

Cryptocurrency mining equipment often overheats. Therefore, the installation should be placed in a well-ventilated and cool room. For small home farms, it is enough to connect an air conditioner and conduct ventilation. Video cards are installed at a distance of 10 cm from each other. If they overheat, you need to add fans to the side of the farm – one opposite each adapter.

If the equipment is located on the balcony or in the garage, you can install an exhaust box on top. It will collect hot air and blow it out above. A corrugated pipe is fed to the box. Through it, the hot air will go outside. This way it will not heat up the room and the mining farm.

It is better to place the rack with components not close to the wall, but in the middle of the room. For cooling video cards also use thermal pads with a thickness of 0.5-5 mm. You can take silicone ones from the manufacturer or replace them with metal ones. In order not to make a mistake with the thickness of thermal pads, it is recommended to buy a set with different sizes. It will cost 1-1,5 thousand rubles. To replace the gasket you need to:

1. Remove the cooling radiator.
2. Lubricate the copper gaskets with thermal paste for better contact and install them in place of the silicone ones.

Setup and startup

After assembling the main components, you need to activate the farm. The order of setting up the Rig for mining is as follows:

1. Turn on the computer. Connect a flash drive with the operating system. Install the OS, download drivers and updates.
2. Restart the computer and enter the BIOS. To do this, press Delete or F2 while the OS is booting.
3. In the power management section, activate automatic restart in case of disconnection from the network (setting Always on).
4. Restart the computer. Verify that the system detects the video cards.
5. Register in a pool for mining. Create a digital wallet. In 2023, solo mining of cryptocurrency is unprofitable.
6. Download a mining program from the pool’s website or on the resource of the developers. To mine ether or Sia, you can use Claymore’s Dual.
7. Launch the program.
8. Remove the miner’s boot folder from the antivirus software.
9. Configure the autorun of the program. To do this, place the software shortcut (.exe) in the autorun folder, specify login and password in the configuration.
10. Disable automatic Windows updates.
11. Install a program for remote access to the PC. Disable the monitor.

Mining is launched – the program will work automatically. Further, the user only needs to occasionally monitor the statistics.

Possible problems

Due to the popularization of cryptocurrencies, mining is engaged in people who are far from computer technology. Like any business, the extraction of digital assets involves risks:

• The farm may not turn on or spontaneously reboot. It is necessary to check the temperature mode of the equipment and logs of the mining program.
• The farm fails to start due to a miswired or faulty component. It is necessary to reassemble the design once again and replace broken components. The cause can also be a lack of power on one of the components.
• Due to constant work at maximum load and excessive overclocking, the video card can prematurely fail. The faulty element will have to be replaced.
• Unstable Internet connection leads to a drop in the efficiency of the equipment. The miner should be insured – set up a backup channel to use two communication providers at the same time.
• Coins can be lost due to storage in an insufficiently reliable place. For example, in the pool account, on the exchange. It is worth using non-custodial storage and hardware wallets.
• If the farm is installed in a room with poor wiring, not designed for increased electricity consumption, a fire may occur.
• The price of a mining farm depends on the cryptocurrency exchange rate and the market situation. The user should be prepared that in a year or more he will be able to sell the equipment much cheaper.
• The price of cryptocurrency may fall and mining will become unprofitable.

Managing the Rig for Mining

Mining cryptocurrencies is an automatic process. After installing and configuring the equipment, the user only needs to perform maintenance once every few months. Personal presence near the farm is not required.

If the farm stands in a separate room, you should connect remote access to the computer. To do this, you need to install the TeamViewer program. The miner will be able to connect to the farm at any time and control mining.

If there are failures in the Internet connection, the program will not stop working. It is also necessary to monitor the hash rate. A decrease in the indicator can signal the breakdown of the video card or processor.

Many mining programs have functions of automatic control of video card temperature (Miner OS, EasyMiner, BFGMiner). In case of overheating or mining failure, the user will receive a message on his phone or email.

Summary

Any user with basic knowledge of PC device can assemble a mining rig. You can easily make the rack yourself or buy a ready-made one. In this case, the case should perfectly fit the equipment. First you need to determine the number and models of video cards and already to them to select the rest of the accessories. Suitable for the size of the rig can be assembled from wood or aluminum corners.

Payback is important in mining, so you should use every opportunity to reduce the cost of equipment. Ready-made regs are expensive, almost like a motherboard or a fan. That’s why they are rarely used in home farms.

Frequently Asked Questions