Farms for mining cryptocurrencies - the principle of operation and relevance. How to build a mining farm step by step instructions

A mining farm in 2018 is an upgrade of a regular computer with connected equipment, thanks to which the calculated power is returned in favor of cryptocurrency mining.

Cryptocurrency, in particular, aroused high interest among users. Many users are looking for information on self-mining bitcoins (mining), and whether it is possible to create a farm for mining at home.

An installation for mining bitcoin coins can be assembled even by an inexperienced PC user. All microcircuits and components are created according to a modular algorithm, they are also attached detailed guides on use and connection, so there will be no connection problems.

Operating principle

All computation is done using a powerful graphics card. The main problem of mining is the constant overheating of the computer, and especially video cards, some of them can function at temperatures above 100 Cº.

The process of mining cryptocurrency must occur continuously, that is, the computer is constantly on, and the computation process requires a lot of power.

In order for the working modules not to melt and catch fire, it is necessary to make high-quality cooling. To reduce the stagnation of hot air between the video cards, you have to install additional coolers.

Good cooling of the truss will increase its lifespan and efficiency. Semiconductors on memory cards quickly deteriorate without cooling. Otherwise, the farm can turn into a pile of microcircuits and wires.

How to build and run a mining farm (video instruction)

A cryptocurrency mining farm is an advanced computer with a central processor, RAM, hard disk and coolers on racks and inside system unit, plus a frame with video cards and other peripherals for mining on it.

Purchase of equipment and components

Assembling the frame (rack) for video cards and the farm itself

First you need to assemble a frame for the farm according to the drawing - a rack for video cards.

Cooling coolers are mounted on all sides of the unit.

Setting up equipment and programs, preparing for mining

The primary problem of mining is the high consumption of electricity.

How much electricity does a mining farm consume?

Working video cards consume a lot of electricity. Consider that you will have to pay gigantic electricity bills.

The minimum energy consumption in the weakest farms is at least 50 watts per hour. The most advanced farms consume about 100 watts per hour, with six video cards running 600 watts per hour!

In addition, the remaining components of the computer consume energy, approximately 400 watts per hour. 24 kilowatts of electricity are consumed per day.

Farm of ASIC controllers

This is a simple replacement for video cards, it is a mechanism created solely to mine cryptocurrency. So making your own installation for mining with video cards is the past day.

It is easier to purchase ready-made, computing power, which is three times higher than in a similar installation based on video cards.

Assembling farms based on controllers is much easier than based on stacked video cards. But nevertheless, the cost of a powerful high-quality farm costs about one and a half thousand dollars, and sometimes higher, for this reason not everyone can afford such a luxury, and if we also take into account the very vague prospects of the bitcoin rate in the future, then it is unreasonable to make such expenses.

For this reason, most miners still use homemade farms on video cards.

What an ASIC chip (Miner) looks like for calculating hash sums - mining.

What is better to mine a farm from video cards or ASIC controllers

Below is a comparison of the indicators of a farm based on video cards and a farm based on controllers (miner) using the example of Radeon RX 550 and Antminer S9 - the most relevant solutions:

Farm for 6 video cards, power supply: electricity consumption - 0.5 kilowatts per hour (without a computer), Computing power - 210 Mhash / s, cost - $ 900.

Miner: electricity consumption - 1.5 kilowatts per hour (without a system unit), computing power - 13000-14000 Mhash / s., Cost - $ 1900.

So the savings with the purchase of an expensive farm operating on the basis of special controllers is comparable to the savings on matches.

As a result, the "Miner" has a computing power 70 times higher than that of a video card farm. Therefore, the payback and profitability of such a farm is much higher.

To date, the most profitable ASIC controller for Bitcoin mining, in terms of price-quality-payback ratio, is.

Farm for mining relevance and payback in 2018

Bitcoin miners faced an unsolvable dilemma, whether it makes sense to invest in the purchase of "hardware" for mining cryptocurrency or purchase it on the exchange. Huge financial companies use hardware to mine BTC.

The increase in the labor intensity of the mining process contributes to a decrease in the efficiency of the iron. The profitability of mining is the sum of the received bitcoins for a certain time minus the costs of operation and acquisition, adding the cost of iron, at which it can be sold after it stops mining cryptocurrency.

All these parameters determine the market value of a cryptocurrency unit, but the main factor is the current USD / BTC rate.

The dynamics in its change will sharply affect the profitability of the enterprise for the cultivation of crypto coins. With an increase in the USD / BTC rate, the profitability of production increases, with a fall, it decreases.

The payback of mining cryptocurrency with large financial investments is practically absent. Even a self-made farm for 6 video cards will not bring much income due to poor forecasts for 2017 -2018.

In principle, you can slowly grow bitcoin coins on your computer, but the profit in comparison with investments will be much lower.

Today DASH (Darcoin) cryptocurrency is more promising. It has positive growth trends, and the higher its rate grows, the faster the miner will be able to recoup his investment and make a profit.

Bitcoin price 2018

In order to actually assess whether it is worth starting mining and assembling a farm, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the change at the current time and by year.

It is a set of computers that are combined into one network and perform calculations around the clock. The purpose of the machines is to form blocks of the cryptocurrency chain, and the main function is taken on by video cards or special chips. The most preferred type of hardware is .ATI RADEON 7th generation, while NVIDIA is considered almost useless. Power supplies are equally important.

Cryptocurrency hardware is expensive, which makes setting up a farm an expensive and unpopular business. Considerable expenses are also spent on paying bills for electricity, ventilation and other tasks. If the farm has already been created, the result of its work is the generation of cryptocurrency with the possibility of subsequent sale and cost recovery.

What types of mining farms are there?

Today, there are several options for farms based on:

  • FPGA modules.
  • Video cards. Here, the speed of work and the number of coins generated depends on the total capacity.
  • ASIC processors. A modern and efficient way to generate cryptocurrency.

The most expensive are farms based on FPGA modules. Their main disadvantage is the need for maximum cooling. In second place are video cards, but they are highly energy intensive, which implies high electricity costs. The advantages are reliability and a smaller footprint. The best option is to create a farm on ASIC processors, but here the main drawback is the high price, so not everyone can buy such equipment.

Operating principle

Let's figure out how a cryptocurrency mining farm works. It was noted above that a "farm" is a group of devices (computers) that are connected to the blockchain network for data processing. In turn, the blockchain network is a chain of blocks of transactions, committed taking into account certain rules. In other words, it is a distributed database that underpins cryptocurrency.

It is on such a system that the Bitcoin cryptocurrency is built. Transaction blocks are processed (found) by network participants (miners). The time for mining a block can be different, starting from 1-2 minutes and ending with several days. The purpose of the farm is to obtain new blocks and cryptocurrencies.

What caused the difference in block search speed? It is worth highlighting a number of nuances here:

  • Complexity of the network. Older blockchain networks require more miners and higher capacities. Consequently, the size of the reward is gradually decreasing, and it takes more time to mine a new block.
  • Equipment capacity. The higher this parameter, the more power and the higher the likelihood of finding a block in a short time.

Cryptocurrency mining can be done in several ways:

  • By yourself (SOLO).
  • Together with other miners (pool).

The second option with a pool looks more attractive, which is a network where miners use the available farms to mine new blocks in the blockchain network. The received Bitcoins or other cryptocurrency is divided among all participants, taking into account the share of the power that was invested in the mining process. This path is more attractive for people who do not yet have experience, and the available mining equipment does not allow obtaining a sufficient hash rate (mining speed).

The first option (self-mining) is suitable for those who have sufficient power at their disposal to mine blocks. To evaluate which of the options is better, you can work in turn. For example, to mine currency on your own for a week, and then work in the pool.

Is it possible to assemble a mining farm with your own hands, and how to do it?

The easiest way for beginners is to create a farm on video cards. But mounting hardware into a PC case alone will not be enough. The reason is that the heat dissipation of such cards has high level reaching 120 degrees Celsius. A logical question arises as to how to set up the farm and ensure normal operation from a cooling position. Due to the operation of the equipment at maximum capacity, overheating becomes commonplace, and this must be combated.

The optimal solution is to install additional fans that activate air movement and increase the life and efficiency of the finished truss. If you do not provide cooling, the semiconductors on the boards are destroyed, and the equipment itself turns into a mountain of useless iron.

But building a farm for mining cryptocurrency is real. The best option- mounting the video card on a special stand and mounting around the perimeter of the fans for cooling. The maximum number of connected cards is up to six.

Next, it is necessary to resolve the issue with electricity, because the connected equipment consumes a lot of current, and this is a "blow" to the pocket. When assembling a farm with your own hands, it is important to make decisions aimed at reducing energy consumption. Otherwise, it will be difficult to recoup the costs.

The lower power limit for mid-range devices is 50 W * h. More expensive equipment consumes more in total - up to 100 watts. If this figure is multiplied by six units (maximum number of connectors), the consumption is 600 W * h. If the farm runs 24 hours a day (which is exactly what is needed), the daily consumption will be 14.4 kW.

There is one more point worth considering. The installation of the mentioned equipment is not all, because the devices are not capable of working on their own. Basically, this is a regular PC that needs RAM, CPU, fans and HDD... The elements discussed above also consume electricity (up to 400 W). So 8.8 kW can be added to the mentioned figure, and the total number reaches 23.2 kW per day. Such consumption is typical for an apartment or even an office. Almost 700 kW runs in a month.

Another disadvantage of a do-it-yourself farm is its large dimensions. The device is in no way inferior in size to a diesel generator or other similar equipment. Interestingly, ASIC-based farms are also not compact. Some units can weigh up to 25 kg or more.

What other options are there?

In 2012, ASIC controllers appeared, which significantly surpassed video cards in their efficiency. As a result, the latter are used less frequently in professional use. But here the situation is ambiguous. To understand the capabilities of each of the options, it is worth bringing their differences.

So, a farm consisting of 6 video cards and a power supply unit consumes about 500 watts. The system of microcircuits has a higher consumption - 1.5 kV. Computing power is strikingly different. If in the first case it is only 210 Mhash per second, in the second this parameter reaches 13-14 thousand. The cost also differs. It takes $ 900-1200 to build a farm from video cards and power supplies. While the solution on a microcircuit will cost 2000-2100 dollars. In addition, the noise level of ASIC processors is lower - 40 dB versus 60 dB (for video cards).

As you can see, the cost of a microprocessor farm is higher, but it pays for itself 70 times faster. That is why this nuance must be taken into account when choosing the appropriate option.

Outcomes

Is it worth making a do-it-yourself mining farm? If you have the required amount on hand, such a decision may be justified. But it is worth considering that the process of mining cryptocurrency is constantly becoming more complicated, and the requirements for equipment are growing. This means that it is necessary to buy equipment with a margin, which entails even higher costs. When they pay off is a big question. It can be 3-4 or 60 months.


An ASIC mining farm is a construction that combines special equipment and is designed for the extraction of cryptocurrency. Its main difference is the use of ASIC controllers, and not video cards or processors, as is the case with classic mining farms. Such farms are used to mine various virtual coins - Dasha, Litecoin, Bitcoin and others. Below we will consider what the subtleties of creating a farm are, whether it is possible to assemble it with your own hands and how much it will cost.

How does an ASIC farm work?

With the growing demand for cryptocurrency, the activity of manufacturers producing specialized equipment has also increased. If at the initial stage there was enough PC power for mining, then with the increase in complexity, more productive devices were required. At first, farms on video cards appeared, but after the jump in the rate of the main cryptocurrencies, they also lost their relevance. It was the turn of special devices - ASIC. They work according to a certain algorithm and are "sharpened" exclusively for the extraction of cryptocurrencies.

To increase efficiency and accelerate payback, miners create ASIC farms consisting of a computer and ASICs connected to it. The goal is to increase the capacity to mine new blocks in the cryptocurrency network of interest. Earlier, when creating farms, processors and video cards were used, but today the best option is ASICs, which have high performance and relatively low power consumption. The main disadvantage remains high costs, but first things first.

The main nuances when assembling an ASIC farm


Creating an ASIC farm with your own hands means doing serious work aimed at finding and buying the necessary equipment. In this case, the work is not limited to the installation of elements on the rack. In some models, the heating reaches 100-120 degrees, which requires solving problems with cooling the mining farm on ASICs. To exclude overheating, it is important to correctly configure the equipment, install additional fans(if required) and control the operation of the elements in terms of performance and temperature conditions.

Installation of auxiliary coolers helps to increase the circulation of air masses and the timely removal of heated air from the ASIC microprocessors. With this approach, the finished farm will last longer and give better performance. Without high-quality heat dissipation, expensive chips can be damaged, which will lead to additional costs. In such a situation, it makes no sense to assemble the farm with your own hands.

To avoid problems during the maintenance process and correctly assemble a farm for mining on ASICs in 2018, you need to consider the following:

  1. ASIC controllers are installed on a special rack. For cooling, additional fans are mounted on one or both sides to remove hot air. As a rule, ASICs have their own coolers, but with round-the-clock operation they may not be enough.
  2. The number of ASIC controllers connected to the computer may be different. Much depends on financial capabilities, cryptocurrency and goals. At home, 1-2 ASIC miners are used, but to create a powerful farm, you can combine 4-5 devices.
  3. The more ASIC miners are used to mine cryptocurrency, the higher the noise level. In such a situation, there are two ways out - to provide good noise insulation(use special sound and vibration-absorbing boxes) or rent a separate room for creating a farm. The second option is more preferable, but additional costs will be required here (we will dwell on this in more detail).
  4. Connecting several ASIC controllers for cryptocurrency mining raises another question regarding the consumed electricity. One ASIC has an average power of 0.8–1.3 kW. If there are 4–5 of them, the figure correspondingly rises to 6.5 kW. If we consider that the equipment operates 24 a day and 30 days a month, the total consumption reaches 4680 kWh, which in money (for Moscow) is equal to 421 dollars. This is why energy costs are important to consider when drawing up a business plan. In addition, the power grid and wiring must be able to withstand such loads. For example, a 6.5 kW power supply requires a wire capable of passing a current of 29 Amperes. Ideally, use a copper conductor with a cross section of 4 square meters. mm. If the wiring in the apartment is laid with a wire of 2.5 sq. mm (copper or aluminum), it may not withstand.
It is important to consider that buying one or more ASIC miners is not enough to create a full-fledged farm. You will need a powerful computer to which the equipment will be connected. When choosing it, it is also worth considering a number of nuances, which will be discussed below. In particular, it is necessary good processor, capacious RAM, roomy HDD and fans.

These components consume an additional 300-400 watts, which increases energy costs. That is why creating a mining farm on ASICs with your own hands requires a detailed approach, and its use at home is almost impossible. The total consumption of equipment is equivalent to that of an office with 10-15 employees. In addition, the dimensions and dimensions of the finished farm are very impressive and require space for its placement.

Pros and cons of a DIY ASIC mining farm


Before drawing up a business plan and assembling a farm, it is important to determine the advantages and disadvantages of such a solution. As for the efficiency of mining virtual coins on ASIC miners, there is no doubt about it. The first ASICs appeared in 2012 and since then they have been in great demand. From that moment on, new hardware is gradually replacing video cards, which are significantly inferior to competitors in terms of performance.

There are dozens of ways on the Web, but they are no longer effective for mining Bitcoin or Litecoin. Such equipment is used to mine new cryptocurrencies that have not taken a foothold in the market and have an unstable exchange rate. At the same time, there is no guarantee of a quick return on investment.

  • Read also how to create.
Modern ASICs are significantly superior in hashrate to video cards, which makes them the preferred choice when creating a farm. In addition, it takes less time to collect, and it takes several minutes to connect and set up. The main disadvantage is still the cost, because the total costs can reach 8-10 thousand dollars (when connecting 3-5 devices).

Below we will consider the advantages and disadvantages of an ASIC mining farm.

Advantagesdisadvantages
It takes a minimum of time to set up and connect the equipment.High noise level. One ASIC miner emits 80–90 decibels of noise. Be with
him in the same room is impossible. If there are several such devices,
a separate room will be required.
Fast payback. On average, it is possible to cover the cost of equipment
in 10-12 months.
The price of ASICs is high for many
and makes you think about the relevance of buying equipment. One medium ASIC costs 1.5-2.5
thousands of dollars. Plus the cost of buying a PC.
High performance (compared to GPU).In the event of a defect or breakdown with replacement (repair),
Problems. Many ASICs are made in China,
therefore it takes a long time for delivery. For a miner, the loss of time is critical.
Reliability in work (ASICs rarely break with normal care).The device generates large amounts of heat, therefore, in addition to the built-in
ventilation will have to provide additional airflow. This leads to
increased noise levels and costs.
Availability software that comes with
device.
ASICs work on 1–2 algorithms. Reconfigure them if you want to go
it will not work for another algorithm.
No difficulty with rack placement and airflow.Manufacturers regularly release new equipment that is still different
more power. As a result, old ASICs quickly lose their relevance. it
possibly with a sharp rise in the price of cryptocurrency and an increase in the complexity of its production.

Component parts for the ASIC farm


If you have the required amount and decide on the relevance of creating an ASIC farm, you can start buying equipment. As a rule, an ASIC farm consists of the following elements:
  1. Frame. Additional construction may be required to accommodate multiple ASIC miners. For its manufacture, it is advisable to use special wooden blocks or corners (aluminum, steel).
  2. Motherboard- the basis of the computer to which the equipment for cryptocurrency mining will be connected. The main requirements are uninterrupted operation, reliability and build quality.
  3. RAM. This element does not affect the mining speed in any way, but the stability of the PC depends on it. In order to save money, you can set only one bar, but it is better to have 4 GB or more of RAM.
  4. CPU- an element that ensures the operation of a computer. Here it is allowed to use simple options due to the lack of a large download.
  5. HDD. There is no additional criteria, so it can be anything, but the recommended capacity is 100 GB or more.
  6. Feeding block. We are talking about a computer power supply, which should be taken with a power reserve of 15–20%. In some cases, it is cheaper to purchase two devices and install them in parallel than to take two powerful power supplies.
  7. Video card. In the case of using ASICs, the video card can be any, without special performance requirements.
The main element of the farm is ASIC. When buying, you should proceed from the budget, algorithm and mined cryptocurrency. The following options are available here:
  • Canaan AvalonMiner 741 (7.3 TH / s) - $ 1450.
  • Ebit Miner E10 (18 TX / s) - $ 4,800.
  • Bitmain Antminer L3 + (504 MX / sec) - $ 1536.
  • BW-L21 Litecoin ASIC Miner (550 MH / sec) - $ 2,500.
  • Innosilicon A5 DashMaster (32.4 GHz / sec) - $ 3,300.
All prices are from the official websites. In Russian online stores, the cost may be 30–70% higher. In addition to those listed, you can also use professional ASICs - Prospero X1, Prospero X2, SP35 Yukon and others, but their cost will be higher.

DIY ASIC farm assembly sequence


Assembling an ASIC farm takes place in several stages:
  1. Drawing creation. At this stage, it is important to draw a diagram with the approximate placement of elements. To improve cooling, it is important to place the units at a distance of 10 cm or more from each other. In case of a closer arrangement, the devices may overheat. The dimensions of an ASIC farm depend on the number of miners, power consumption and dimensions of each device.
  2. Assembly of the case. In the manufacture of this element, it is required to buy vibration-resistant materials that do not deform under the influence high temperatures... For example, an aluminum corner is perfect for creating a farm at home. The devices are fastened using a bolt or screw connection. To save money, the frame is made of wood. For fixing, the structural elements are glued together (for wood), and then fixed with self-tapping screws.
  3. Creation of holes for fixing devices. The quality of fixation of ASICs depends on the correctness of the work. If possible, it is worth increasing the distance between the devices.
  4. Mount ASIC miners.
  5. Assembling a computer, connecting power supplies and ASIC devices using cords (when buying, it is important to control that there is enough length).
As you can see, creating an ASIC farm with your own hands does not cause difficulties. The main problem is the high price of the devices. In addition, power consumption is higher than that of video cards, which should be taken into account when performing calculations. Special attention is paid to heat dissipation and sound insulation (if the equipment is installed in a residential apartment). This option is suitable for miners who are ready to make significant investments in the purchase of expensive equipment.

Asik farm business plan


The main task of the miner is to determine the costs and payback of the finished ASIC farm even before purchasing. When calculating profitability, the following parameters should be taken into account:
  • Hashrate of the equipment used.
  • Price (total costs).
  • The course and prospects of the cryptocurrency, which will be mined on the ASIC farm.
  • Energy consumption (total).
Here is a short business plan for an ASIC farm:
  1. Purchase of bars and a corner - 130-150 dollars.
  2. Motherboard -50-70 dollars. When creating a farm on video cards, specialized equipment with a large number of connectors is bought (for example, AsRock H81 PRO BTC R2.0). If we are talking about ASIC mining, this is not necessary.
  3. Processor - $ 50-60.
  4. RAM for 4 GB or more - $ 50-60.
  5. A hard drive with memory from 100 GB - $ 40-50.
  6. Asik miners (4 units) - 8-10 thousand dollars.
  7. Premises rental (if required) - $ 80-100 per month.
Total total costs are somewhere around 10,300 thousand dollars. If you mine Litecoin and use four BW-L21 Litecoin ASIC Miners (550 Mh / s, 950 Watts), the monthly profit on February 10, 2018 (at a rate of $ 0.09 per 1 kWh) will be $ 829. This means that full payback can be achieved in 12-13 months. When calculating, it is worth taking into account the cost of renting a room (if the farm is not mounted in your apartment or house).

A short calculation allows you to roughly estimate the payback of a mining farm. But it is worth considering that with a change in market value, profit will also change. This means that the coverage period is constantly shifting to one side or the other.

We must not forget about the risks associated with cryptocurrency. In the case of virtual coins, it is difficult to predict further price changes. This can be seen in the example of Bitcoin, which significantly lost in value in the first month of 2018, forcing many miners to worry. The reason is that many countries have not decided on the status of the cryptocurrency and do not know how to control it. That is why the purchase of expensive equipment and the creation of an ASIC farm is always a risk that should be taken only after detailed calculations (drawing up a business plan), in the presence of free funds and after analyzing future changes in the cryptocurrency network.

As soon as the cryptocurrency breaks through the next psychologically important maximum, many users of the global network begin to mine and the question of how to assemble a farm for mining arises again with all the urgency.

Mining cryptocurrency on a video card is a way to extract virtual money without using specialized tools (ASIC machines).

The fact is that mining cryptocurrency on a video card remains profitable to this day. The main thing is to know which cryptocurrency to mine and why to do it. It is not at all necessary to sell the crypto immediately after it falls into the wallet.

In this article, we will talk in detail about how to assemble a farm for mining crypt with our own hands, we will select necessary components, and explain which currency is the best to mine in 2018.

Do you need to mine crypto?

Is cryptocurrency mining on NVidia video card relevant?

First of all, you need to understand that mining cryptocurrency on an NVidia video card is impossible without investment. And if you decide to get virtual money on your home computer, interrupting for games and watching TV series, then immediately forget about this lesson. Using a computer in this way can only lead to very rapid wear and tear on components and increased energy bills.

You shouldn't mine on your home farm if you don't even have the initial skills in assembling computers and caring for them. The assembled harvester for the extraction of virtual money will require daily supervision and appropriate care.

Therefore, if you do not have at least 50,000 RUB of start-up capital and do not have the skills to assemble and maintain system units, you should give up the thought of mining at home.

Selection of computer components for a mining farm at home

One of the most important steps in building a farm. On the quality of components and their correct selection also depends on how reliable the device as a whole will be, and how long it will work in extreme mode, and what profit it will bring in the long term.

When wondering how to assemble a mining farm, you should take into account that you should not save on the purchase of computer parts. The better and better the hardware is bought, the less often it will fail, and the more profit it will bring. You don't need to consider yourself the smartest and think about what you can get good income installing the cheapest video cards assembled from low-quality components.

In order to assemble a mining farm, you need to purchase the following components:

1. Choosing a motherboard

It is common to underestimate this component of the farm. It is absolutely unfair to believe that crypt mining depends only on video cards. Professionals know that video cards work under the control of the motherboard and the efficiency of mining in general depends on how efficiently it manages and distributes their computing power.

A couple of years ago, there were no specialized cards for crypt mining. Any motherboard with a sufficient number of PCI-E ports was taken as the basis of the farm.

ASRock H110 Pro BTC + became the first swallow and a true legend for miners around the world. The products of the Asus subsidiary are relevant to this day, and will become a reliable foundation for any home farm.

Despite the fact that the chipset and socket of this motherboard are already outdated, there is still enough power to support 6 video cards of an average performance level at the same time.

It is interesting! According to statistics, over 50% of all home farms in the 2015-2017 sample were collected on this motherboard. And at the end of 2016, the demand for it was so high that the plant in Taiwan could not cope with the flow of orders.

A little later, a similar model was released by Gigabyte. It has a modern chipset and socket, but it also costs a little more. This motherboard is called GIGABYTE H110-D3A Bitcoin Edition

Despite the modern chipset and socket, only 5 video cards are supported. The advantages include increased reliability, since solid-state capacitors and ultra-reliable element base are used.

And if you want to build an uncompromising mining farm, then you should pay attention to the products of Asus. The ASUS B250 MINING EXPERT motherboard is the best (but also the most expensive) that there is today in order to independently assemble a mining farm. The manufacturer claims that the motherboard is capable of supporting 19 (!) Video cards, but in reality this is not the case. If you use powerful enough video cards, then the resources will only be enough to support 13-14 video adapters.

For comparison, there is a table that summarizes the technical characteristics of the devices.

Motherboard name Supported processor type Number of video cards actually supported Cost for 2018
ASRock H110 Pro BTC + 6 12200
GIGABYTE H110-D3A Bitcoin Edition ntel Core i7 / i5 / i3 / Pentium / Celeron 5 7200
ASUS B250 MINING EXPERT ntel Core i7 / i5 / i3 / Pentium / Celeron 13 26700

If you are not going to build an overproductive farm, then it is best to abandon the Asus motherboard due to its exorbitant cost. In terms of price / quality ratio, you should opt for the GIGABYTE H110-D3A Bitcoin Edition.

2. Processor and its cooling

If you are thinking about how to build a mining farm more or less professionally, then the answer is obvious. The heart of such a system can only be a CPU from Intel. There is no need to spend money and buy an expensive i3, i5 or i7 series processor.

For full-fledged mining, it is more than enough to build a farm on Intel Pentium G4600 Kaby Lake. This dual-core processor with four threads is quite capable of coping with mining of any complexity, because the main computing power will fall on the video cards.

The second-level cache in this processor is 3 megabytes. This will affect the quality of mining in the most positive way. A stock cooler can be used as cooling. This is Intel's proprietary cooler and will provide an acceptable temperature under full load for a year. You just need to choose a processor in the BOX package, and you won't have to worry about buying a processor cooler.

The cost of such a processor with a cooler will be about 4,700 rubles.

3. RAM

You can really save money here. Not any famous brands, overclocking potential or copper radiators. We just buy a regular 4GB DDR 4 RAM stick.

Samsung DDR4 2133 DIMM 4Gb is enough for our purposes. The cost of such a memory strip is about 3000 rubles.

4. Hard disk

An insignificant component, practically does not affect the success of mining. For example, you can use an AMD Radeon SSD with a capacity of 60 gigabytes. This will speed up the download. operating system and will not be a bottleneck for the farm. Its cost is about 2,500 RUB.

5. Video cards for assembling a mining farm at home

Mining cryptocurrency on an AMD graphics card

The most important component of the farm. It depends on how successful the mining will be and how quickly the farm will pay for itself. It is impossible to save on these components in principle, and video adapters will have the lion's share of the budget.

Since the shortage of video cards that happened in the spring of 2017 was overcome, it is best to opt for AMD products. Mining cryptocurrency on an NVidia GeForce video card is not as efficient and such a farm will pay off much slower.

The funny thing is that the company's productsNVidia is much preferable when it comes to a gaming computer or everyday household use, but video adapters from AMD are much better suited for crypt mining.

Mining cryptocurrency on an AMD Radeon video card is 15-17% more efficient than mining on similar cards from NVidia, so we will only consider products under the Radeon brand.

This video chip maker has many different models, but we are only interested in three of them. These are Radeon RX Vega, Radeon RX 580 and Radeon RX 570. Conditionally they can be subdivided into the highest, middle and lowest price categories. These divisions are very arbitrary, since these are decent video cards that are quite expensive.

1) Video cardAMD RadeonRXVega

Top solution from AMD. One of the most productive cards to date. Perfect for fast mining, if not for one thing, but. The cost of such a card does not fall below 57 thousand rubles.

In order for a mining farm to be considered competitive, it must have at least 3 (or better 5) video cards.

It is not difficult to calculate, the purchase of a bundle of three video cards will cost 171 thousand rubles! Naturally, not every miner can handle such costs, although cryptocurrency mining on the Vega video card is distinguished by the highest performance.

2) Video cardAMD Radeon RX 580

A very decent hardware solution. And in terms of the amount of memory on board, and in terms of operating frequency, and in performance, it is inferior to Vega, but it costs half the price.

A good copy of such a video card can be bought for 27 thousand rubles, which means that a bundle of three devices will cost 81 thousand rubles. In turn, you will have to pay 135 thousand rubles for five video adapters. This is also a very substantial amount, but as mentioned above, mining without investments is impossible.

3) Video cardAMD Radeon RX 570

An excellent choice for home, but the smallest possible graphics card in order to build a farm for successful mining. Choosing these components for the farm, one should clearly understand that it will not work to mine the first echelon crypt (with the exception of Ethereum) and one will have to think very carefully not only about the mining strategy, but also to study the forecasts of crypt growth.

Components of this type are sold at a price of about 23 thousand rubles. That is, three cards will cost 69 thousand, and full set of five pieces can be bought for 115 thousand rubles.

You need to understand that mining cryptocurrency on an NVidia GeForce 970 video card is ineffective, and the RX 570 is almost a complete analogue of this adapter.

It is very important to choose the right video adapter manufacturer. It is best to refuse from incomprehensible brands (Power Color, Zotaс, etc.) right away. You should opt for models offered by Asus, MSI, Gigabyte or Sapphire. These are large manufacturers of components and the percentage of defects in their products tends to zero.

In addition, you should pay attention to the factory overclocking. OC series cards (Overclocker Edition) initially operate at higher frequencies and have a manufacturer's warranty. This is very good, since you don't have to overclock at home.

In order to better understand the situation, you should give a table with the technical characteristics and prices of video cards.

As you can see from simple calculations, the best card for mining isRX 580. It is significantly cheaper than the RX Vega, while being 50-60% lower in mining speed. In turn, the Radeon RX 580 is slightly more expensive than the younger model RX 570, but surpasses it in mining quality quite seriously.

Actually, professional miners understood this simple truth a long time ago. This explains that the demand for Radeon RX 580 seriously exceeded supply during the entire first half of 2017 and managed to cope with the deficit only by November. Let's continue with the instructions on how to build a mining farm at home.

6. Choosing a power supply unit (PSU)

To build a good farm, it is extremely important to choose not only a power supply that can cover all the needs of the equipment, but also such a device that can work with high efficiency for a long time.

It must be remembered that the power reserve should be at least 20%, only then the power supply unit will operate in a comfortable mode and the fan will not hum like a helicopter about to take off.

The motherboard together with the cooler, RAM and hard drive together will consume no more than 50-60 watts. The lion's share of the energy will go to video cards. AMD products are distinguished by an enviable appetite, and taking into account mining, the adapters will work in the "protein in the wheel" mode with a load of 95-99%.

Five video adapters Radeon RX 580 together will consume at least 925 watts, and the whole farm as a whole will need a whole kilowatt of energy!

Thus, in order to maintain a power reserve, it is necessary to purchase a power of 1200-1400 watts.

The best choice is a high-quality server PSU, which initially has all the necessary connectors and was created specifically for round-the-clock operation and support. a large number video cards.

An excellent option would be DELL D1200E-S0-LITEON. American BP has been on the market for about 3 years and is an integral part of any good farm.

The cost of such a power supply is about 25,000.

But if the budget is tight, then you can get by with a more affordable option. And it could become CoolerMaster MasterWatt Maker 1200W. This is a decent example, but it is not suited for such active work. The author of these lines used such a power supply unit, and had to replace it under warranty after six months, since the device could not stand the “non-stop” mode of operation.

The price of such a power supply is about 20,000 and you can buy it at any store that sells computer equipment.

7. Riser

Attach all video cards to motherboard connectors will not work out purely physically. In order to connect all the video cards to the motherboard without any problems, special extension cords are used - risers.

The cost of such a kit is about 400 rubles, and you need to purchase five of them, exactly according to the number of video cards. And you should not save on such a purchase. If you buy a low-quality riser, then such a product can ruin an expensive video card.

8. Frame for the truss

All components cannot be placed in one case. A necessary open stand, which will hold all the video cards and a large power supply unit. In mining, such a stand is called a frame.

Professional miners assemble frames from aluminum rails, but this metal is difficult to process and quite expensive. For home mining of cryptocurrency, a frame made of wooden beams is more than enough.

Of course, such a frame is less durable and prone to fire, but it is much cheaper and you can assemble it yourself.

This is what a primitive frame for a home farm looks like. At its base lies a plywood sheet 50 centimeters long and 45 centimeters wide. For strength, the plywood sheet is fixed with 2 centimeters thick bars.

The large crossbar is used to secure the video card. Fastening takes place with an ordinary self-tapping screw. The smaller crossbar fixes the video card from below and prevents the PCB from bending.

Below, on the pallet, the motherboard and power supply are located. The assembly of such a structure will take no more than two hours and will require 200-250 rubles.

In conclusion, a table will be given with all the components and the total cost of the farm.

Name of components Quantity Price
GIGABYTE H110-D3A Bitcoin Edition motherboard 1 7 200
Intel Pentium G4600 Kaby Lake Processor with Cooler 1 4 700
AMD Radeon SSD 1 2 500
RAM Samsung DDR4 2133 DIMM 4Gb 1 3 000
Sapphire Nitro + Radeon RX 580 Graphics 5 135 000
CoolerMaster MasterWatt Maker 1200W Power Supply 1 19 800
Raiser 5 2 000

In total, a home farm will cost 174,200RUB. And this is provided that you have a monitor, mouse and keyboards, as well as all the necessary adapters to connect the monitor.

Where is the best place to buy components?

In hundreds of articles on assembling farms, you will be advised to purchase equipment from extremely dubious online stores or even on Ali Express. This is fundamentally wrong, since the authors of such articles have only seen mining on TV.

Equipment in the process of everyday mining wears out very quickly. The lifespan of a video card under these conditions rarely exceeds 16 months. And breakages after 6-8 months of use are not outstanding.

And where to go if the video card bought on Ali Express is out of order? In 90% of cases, nowhere. You will simply lose a very decent amount, and no one will compensate you for it.

Therefore, it is best to buy equipment in trusted stores. Yulmart, DNS, Citylink - no matter where the equipment is purchased. It is important that these companies are verified and always fulfill their warranty obligations.

Mining cryptocurrency on a video card: step-by-step assembly of a home farm

After the frame is assembled and all the components are purchased, it's time to find out how to assemble a mining farm. This process is simple - no special instructions are needed and will not cause any problems for a person who at least once in his life assembled a computer on his own.

The stages of building a farm are as follows:

Step 1. Installing the frame

The finished wooden frame does not need to be installed small table or any other delivery about a meter high. This will greatly simplify the assembly and subsequent maintenance of the farm.

It is necessary to choose a location for the farm so that it is in the immediate vicinity of the outlet. The cable from the power supply of the farm must be connected directly to the outlet without any surge protectors or other adapters. In an amicable way, the farm needs a separate power line, but this is an ideal case, which is very difficult to achieve in an ordinary apartment.

Step 2. Assembling the computer

The sequence of actions is exactly the same as when assembling a conventional system unit. We install the processor into the motherboard. Apply a thin layer of thermal paste over the entire area of ​​the processor. A cooler is installed on top.

Then in a separate slot is inserted random access memory and the hard drive is connected. Further, the power supply unit is installed and fixed in the frame.

Separately, it should be noted that the motherboard cannot be simply placed on the bottom of the frame. In this case, it simply will not start. Special supports should be provided, as shown in the photo.

Step 3. Installing video cards in the mining farm

This operation must be carried out in two stages. First, the video card is installed in size. Then we fix the resulting structure on the frame. In the future, fine work lies ahead. Each size will need to be plugged into the PCI-E connector on the motherboard. Connection is carried out using a special adapter. This work is delicate and painstaking and must be done carefully and accurately.

It is necessary to install video cards on the frame so that there is at least 6-8 centimeters between them. This can be done, since the width of the frame is 50 centimeters.

The next step is to connect the video cards to the power supply with 6-pin connectors. Install the connectors until they click. Incorrect connection additional food to the video card will damage it.

If everything is assembled correctly, then the mining farm will look like this.

Step 4. Test run of home mining farm

We connect the power supply to the network. We connect the monitor to the video card. We start the system. If everything is assembled and connected correctly, then you got a farm completely ready for crypt mining.

After installing the operating room Windows systems it will be correct to install the well-known AIDA program, and check whether the farm has identified all the video cards. If all five cards are functioning correctly, then you can start directly mining.

Now you know how to properly assemble a mining farm. We hope our instructions were useful for you.

What is profitable to mine in 2018?

Despite the fact that mining cryptocurrency on an AMD video card is quite productive, you should not even dream of mining bitcoin, litcoin or dash. These currencies have long been mined by serious market players on professional equipment and there is simply no place for amateur miners on the market.

Suffice it to say that in China, mining has a semi-state status, and there are entire factories for the extraction of bitcoin and litcoin.

On a similar amateur farm, you can try to mine Ethereum or Ethereum Classic. Despite the fact that there is a whole group of ASIC machines for mining ethereum, home mining is still cost-effective. But it's better to forget about single mining of the crypt (solo mining) right away. Tune in to the fact that you will have to mine in pools, as this brings the highest income.

However, if you are looking to the future, then you need to mine the so-called third-tier cryptocurrencies. Not yet untwisted coins (Verge,UFOcoin,NEO,NEM) are mined very easily and quickly. With a favorable combination of circumstances, they are able to grow very quickly in price and thus recoup all investments.

In custody

I must say frankly that although we gave you instructions on how to properly assemble a mining farm, it is not promising to enter mining in 2018. We'll have to invest a very decent amount in the farm, but there are no guarantees that this money will be recouped and will start making a profit. It is necessary to clearly understand that mining is akin to the "gold rush" and only one in a thousand can make big money on it.

Most miners leave the market after six months of work, and sell their farms (or components separately) for mere pennies.

And if you have free 150,000 RUB, and you are determined to engage in cryptocurrencies, it is best to invest in a promising crypt, and not build a home farm. As an example, we can cite the Ripple rate, which in just two weeks broke the level of one dollar, and is approaching one and a half dollars per coin.

How do mining farms work and how relevant are they in 2017-2018? What is the best way to make a frame for a mining farm? How to make a case for a mining farm with your own hands?

It turns out that you can become the owner of a farm without even understanding agriculture... Moreover, it is not necessary to go to the village for this. A city apartment will do just fine. As you probably guessed, this is not about hydroponics, and not about growing mushrooms, but about the production of cryptocurrency.

With you Denis Kuderin - an expert of the HeatherBober portal on monetary issues. I will tell, what are modern mining farms, what miners do, and why mining bitcoins on video cards is becoming less and less profitable and profitable.

And you will also find out in which countries of the world the most profitable mining farms operate, why pools (communities of miners) are needed, and get an answer to the question: how much money does an average mining farm bring.

1. Mining farm - business of the XXI century

Computers are working, bitcoins are dripping, and you are resting! Money literally comes out of thin air! Business of the future with unlimited income!

This is how mining is described. There is some truth in these enthusiastic phrases. Mining farms really compute the cryptographic code by themselves without requiring special intellectual efforts from the owners.

True, it takes a lot of money and time to assemble a farm, connect, configure, launch and support. Popular wisdom says: you have to work hard to do nothing.

You really have to work. And it is not a fact that the farm will pay off in the coming year. Epoch solo mining bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies are irrevocably becoming a thing of the past.

But let's talk about everything in order.

What is mining? This is support for the operation of the blockchain system: the creation of new blocks (coins), verification of the authenticity of transactions and other operations with cryptocurrency. Without mining, the Bitcoin network or any other blockchain-based system will not work.

For their activities, miners are rewarded in cryptocurrency. All digital money in circulation at the moment is calculated and put into circulation by miners.

What is a mining farm? It is a high-performance computer with multiple graphics cards, configured for mining (mining) cryptocurrency. Most modern farms mine bitcoins - the most popular digital money in the world.

But more and more private miners are switching to the production of ether and other cryptocurrencies that require less energy costs.

What a novice farmer needs to know about mining:

  • Professional equipment is expensive- in addition to video cards or specialized chips, you will have to adjust the cooling system, buy a power supply and much more.
  • The process is accompanied by a colossal energy consumption- get ready for incredible electricity bills.
  • Equipment payback is on average 1 year- and sometimes 15-20 months.
  • The number of computing power and computers employed in the bitcoin system is growing- and the reward falls.

Many of the farmers who have mined BTC for many years in a row are now starting to rush to get rid of their equipment. For different reasons.

Some have already “played enough” with earners, others have realized that it is useless to compete with industrial Chinese clusters operating on the basis of power plants, while others have found alternative options for cryptocurrency earnings, less costly and complex.

If you are not afraid of the listed difficulties - welcome to the world of big (medium and small) digital money. But I have to warn you again: amateurs are gradually leaving mining, only professionals remain.

This does not mean that private cryptocurrency mining is no longer profitable. It's just that the general trend is that big players with serious money are crushing the niche.

It is believed that soon the citizens of the Russian Federation will be banned from solo mining at the state level. However, the draft laws on this topic have not yet reached.

The Bitcoin system has a huge number of participants. But the miners are only a few of them - these are those users who are ready to provide the power of their PCs for collecting new transactions, confirming their authenticity and producing new blocks of the chain.

Desire is not enough to become a miner. If it were that simple, new blocks, and along with coins, would be generated in hundreds per second. But the value of bitcoins and other decentralized currencies lies precisely in the fact that it is not easy to mine (that is, calculate) them.

Creation blockchain protected by cryptographic encryption - difficult task requiring high computing power... To create one new block, the entire network takes about 10 minutes: this time does not depend on the number of miners in the network.

Farm is a computing center consisting of several video cards or specialized chips. These processors simultaneously calculate the hash code, or rather, try to close the open blockchain using cryptographic encryption.

This is the essence of the work of the farm - in the combination of computing power for a single purpose.

If at the dawn of the cryptocurrency era it was possible to mine bitcoins using an ordinary home computer, now the computational algorithm has become much more complicated. Even graphics cards that were seemingly ideal for computing are no longer able to meet the growing computing needs.

As the number of bitcoins is limited, it becomes more and more difficult to mine them. By 2015, the complexity of mining in comparison with the year 2009 increased by 10,000 times. By the 17th year, this figure had grown by several orders of magnitude.

Not so long ago, professional mining equipment was created - processors from the manufacturerASIC... These devices are sharpened exclusively for BTK mining and, unlike video cards, are not intended for other tasks.

The creation of ASIK chips marked the end of the era of amateur bitcoin mining. Now this is a professional activity that requires not only special skills and knowledge, but also solid financial costs.

Even ASICs have already changed several generations, and the cost of this equipment is such that not everyone will allow keeping more than 1-2 chips at home.

To help you understand the difference between solo and industrial mining, here's an example:

Imagine that in the 21st century you decide to do artisanal mining coal... Is it theoretically possible? Perhaps yes. Find a deposit, start digging. Perhaps you are even purchasing special equipment. You start mining coal. But even if you dig several tons per day, the profitability of such an enterprise will be questionable.

It's getting harder and harder to mine Bitcoin alone

Nobody is mining coal alone. Bitcoins are still being mined, but this era is inevitably drawing to a close. At least you will have to team up with other miners in pools- communities of miners. These organizations reduce the factor of randomness and distribute bitcoins fairly, according to the amount of power provided. Alone, you are unlikely to be able to get at least 1 BTK.

Miners who don't want to give up at the mercy of industrial corporations have fallbacks:

  • switch to ether mining (Etherium) - ASIC for this cryptocurrency has not yet been created and, apparently, will not be developed in the foreseeable future;
  • get busy - join the industrial mining of cryptocurrency as investors;
  • sell or rent out your equipment.

You definitely shouldn't give up on your mining farm if you already have it (or there are necessary parts waiting to be assembled). New cryptocurrencies appear regularly. And at the initial stage, it will be much easier to mine them than bitcoins. And the popularity of some digital money (the same ether) has already come close to BTK.

We have previously written about in detail, read our publication.

3. Types of farms for mining

Farms differ in the type of equipment used. The era of CPU (mining on processors) has long since sunk into oblivion. Miners use more powerful hardware, which is tens of times higher than the cost of the processor.

These are either GPUs (graphics processing units or video cards), FPGA modules, or ASIC chips.

View 1. Based on video cards

Video cards have replaced conventional processors. GPU-based graphics processing power is still used today, however, for bitcoin mining - less and less.

I have already voiced the reason - a new generation of equipment and industrial-scale farms has emerged. However, no one prohibits the use of video cards for mining alternative cryptocurrencies.

Please note that one video card, even the most powerful one, does not provide the computing power necessary for modern mining. You need at least 4-6 cards.

View 2. Based on FPGA modules

This is the third generation of miners. ModulesFPGA is not inferior in performance to video cards, but at the same time they spend less energy. These farms do not need powerful cooling systems - they are more cost effective and compact. True and the cost of FPGAs is quite high.

In addition, the era of modules was short - due to the emergence of ASIC processors on the market.

View 3. Based on ASIC processors

These processors are expensive, but at the same time they are the absolute leaders in the field of professional bitcoin mining. These devices are created solely for the purpose of calculating the cryptographic code and confirming bitcoin transactions. ASIC processors are about 25 times faster than any other device.

Only one minus - these chips are used exclusively for mining bitcoins... They are not suitable for other cryptocurrencies.

Comparison of mining types:

4. TOP-5 mining farms known all over the world

The real cryptocurrency, and in particular bitcoin, is a multi-billion dollar business plus advanced digital technologies. Blockchain itself is viewed by experts as a hello to humanity from the future.

So far, blockchains and the cryptocurrency created on their basis are used more and more as a speculative tool. Bitcoins are used as a means of payment only by a few Internet companies. It is much more profitable to sell goods for bitcoins, rather than buy.

Everyone needs Bitcoins. Let's talk about the heroes of the invisible front - those who provide the emission (release) of the cryptocurrency.

1) Dave Carlson's Secret Farm (Washington, USA)

It is considered the largest farm in North America. Dave Carlson, a programmer and entrepreneur, decided to take up mining after he began to experience financial problems in his previous job.

The farm that Carlson founded in the basement of his own house and named MegaBigPower has grown into a multimillion dollar business in less than a year. Now the company has changed its location, but still occupies a leading position among American crypto-miners.

The farm has 15 employees. Along the way, the company is engaged in the production and sale of mining equipment.

2) Genesis Mining (Iceland)

The main production facilities of this farm are based in Iceland. Why in this country?

There are several reasons:

  • cold climate;
  • inexpensive electricity;
  • fast internet.

The farm, called Enigma, is the main consumer of electricity in the country. In addition to Bitcoin mining, Genesis Mining is engaged in the issue of ether.

And the company also provides everyone with a cloud mining service - the opportunity to earn money by renting production facilities.

3) Allied Control (Hong Kong)

To organize mining in a hot and humid country, Allied Control uses advanced technology cooling by double immersion in liquid. The company uses chips in its work BitFury, which are characterized by increased productivity and quietness at work.

4) Bit-Fury Data Center (Tbilisi, Georgia)

Another farm based on BitFury equipment. The company practices an environmentally friendly approach: the mining center operates on the basis of a local hydroelectric power plant.

Why Georgia? The reasons are the same - the low cost of electricity and cheap labor.

5) Linthal (Switzerland)

A relatively new farm located in a small village in the east of Switzerland. The founder is Guido Rudolfi, a well-known personality in the world of cryptocurrencies. According to the owner, the main thing in his work is not enrichment, but the promotion of blockchain technologies to the masses.

Let's take a break and watch a short video about a Chinese bitcoin farm:

5. How to build a farm for mining with your own hands - step by step instructions

If you are determined to start mining on video cards in 17-18, first think about whether it is worth the candle. Get ready right away that the equipment will pay off only in 1-1.5 years, not earlier. And think - maybe, immediately set up the equipment for the production of ether?

Our task is to help you start your farm as quickly and competently as possible.

Step 1. Choosing and buying a video card

Choosing a video card (if you are not using an ASIC) is a key part of the process. The more cards you buy, the more processing power you get. At the same time, the most productive card does not mean the best.

Focus on:

  • reliability;
  • the cost of adapters;
  • energy consumption level;
  • good cooling.

In theory, cards from any manufacturer are suitable, but experienced miners choose Radeon RX 480 or Geforce GTX 1 070. Expensive but reliable. And they pay off faster than the rest.

Step 2. Acquiring a powerful power supply

Since each of the boards consumes about 300 watts, we need a powerful power supply... This will ensure smooth operation and maximum productivity.

You will also need:

  • motherboard with multiple slots for video cards;
  • 60-160 gigabyte hard drive;
  • processor - average power is quite acceptable;
  • RAM - 4 GB is enough;
  • adapters - purchase devices with additional power supply.

This is just the most basic - you will buy the rest of the elements as you set up.

Step 3. We build a structure for placing the equipment

Ideal if you have a dedicated farmhouse.

Mine in one-room apartment- an option for persistent crypto-miners. Heat, noise, intense energy consumption - all this does not contribute to comfort. The room must be dry and well ventilated.

The design for a professional farm looks like a server rack. An open frame is needed to cool equipment... Racks are made of wood or aluminum profile... Such frames are on sale on Avito, if you don't want to do it yourself. The dimensions depend on the number of video cards.

Home farm on timber frame

It is better to place the motherboard in the center of the bottom shelf of the structure to create a kind of air cushion. We install a processor with a cooler on the "mother". We fasten the power supply to the structure with screws, then connect the hard drive and the power button.

Step 4. Ensure good air circulation and equipment cooling

We mount the fans on the side panels of the structure. They should be located on all 4 sides. The number of coolers depends on the number of video cards. We hang the video cards themselves on the upper crossbars of the rack and connect them to the motherboard with special loops (risers).

Video cards Radeon, as practice shows, they have an optimal cooling system for mining. What's more, they wear less than other models.

Step 5. We connect everything to the computer

It remains to connect the farm to the computer. If you are an inexperienced farmer, do not run the equipment until you have checked the circuit several times. And even better - to show the structure and its constituent parts to a knowledgeable person.

Step 6. Join the pool

As I already said, people are no longer involved in mining alone. Therefore, after building the farm, you will need to select a pool.

Selection criteria - the principle of distribution of remuneration, current capacities, the number of participants, the main location of the participants. Well, reviews about the community of miners on specialized services, and not only Russian-speaking ones.

It is much easier to mine in a pool, but there is always a risk of running into a fraudulent community that will take most of the reward for itself.

Step 7. Start mining

It remains only to start mining - to cut in a special program that will begin to perform calculations at the maximum available speed. Professionals advise installing additional software to monitor the status of working devices in order to prevent overheating and failure.

A separate question - conversion of earned cryptocurrency into real money... The most profitable way is direct exchange between the participants of the Bitcoin network. But this option is not always available. Therefore, it is more advisable to use reliable online exchangers.

- the best monitoring of such resources in Runet. The service finds the best rate at the moment and offers many conversion options. The monitoring list contains only verified sites that have confirmed the status of fair and fast exchangers.

Here are some helpful tips for those buying hardware.

Tip 1. Choose only modern equipment

No second hand devices, even at a very attractive price. Mining equipment wears out and becomes obsolete at a terrible rate. We take only new technique and with a manufacturer's warranty.

Tip 2. Focus on maximum functionality

What is the advantage of video cards: they can be used to mine almost any digital currency. While the "ASICs" are sharpened only for bitcoins.

If suddenly one day the bitcoin bubble bursts, you will be left with expensive equipment, which there will be no one to sell and nowhere to attach.

Tip 3. Never take out a loan to buy equipment

Given the high energy costs, as well as the illegal status of cryptocurrencies, taking out a loan to buy a farm with a likely payback of more than a year is an unjustified risk. Go broke on interest.

7. How much money will a mining farm bring

The answer to this question depends on your initial cost. If you mine ether, which is cheaper than bitcoins, then the payback period will increase, but further profitability will be higher, since it is easier to mine this cryptocurrency.

Profitability also depends on electricity costs, pool efficiency and many other factors that cannot be calculated in advance. If you really want to be specific, then the approximate figures for ETH miners - 5-25 dollars per day at average power.

Experts assure that there are no golden mountains in mining for a long time, and the future for artisanal mining of cryptocurrency is far from bright. The only reasonable option for miners is switch to mining other crypto money included in the TOPs in terms of capitalization and popularity.

8. Conclusion

Farm mining is still a popular way to earn cryptocurrency. However, private mining of bitcoins using video cards and even modern processors is becoming less and less profitable.

The reason is the emergence of industrial enterprises with enormous computing power. Conclusion: miners should switch to mining other cryptocurrencies - ETH, LTC, DASH.

Ask readers

Do you think farm mining will ever be banned in Russia?

We wish you successful mining! We are waiting for feedback and comments. If the material turned out to be useful, do not forget to share links to the article with your friends on social networks. Until next time!