What is needed for mining

Today we will tell you how to choose a power supply for a farm: what to look for, which manufacturers are better, how many cards can be powered by which unit.

What should you pay attention to when choosing?

When choosing a power supply, first of all you need to pay attention to the certificate.

Certificate

It must be at least 80 Bronze Plus. It is not recommended to use all power supplies without certificates in mining to power the farm!

Let's give an example.

You buy expensive mining equipment - video cards. You collect them into a farm. And you buy an inexpensive power supply without a certificate: after all, many people think that the unit is only needed to connect video cards.

This is not entirely true. The power supply is needed in order not only to power the video cards, but also to protect the equipment from power surges and to go into protection in case of any problems. All this will be done by an expensive and smart power supply, thereby protecting expensive video cards.

A cheap power supply without a certificate will not provide all this. Moreover, such a block will most often burn itself and the video cards, unlike a smart block with certificates, which in a split second will sense danger and go into defense, or burn itself but save the cards.

It is worth noting that defects happen everywhere and even the most modern power supply may be defective and not protect against the threat.

The certificates are as follows:

1. 80+
2. 80+Bronze
3. 80+Silver
4. 80+Gold
5. 80+Platinum
6. 80+Titanium

Each of these certifications has a higher effectiveness.

Certificate Performance Certificate
Performance

20%, 50%, 100% is the load. The percentage values ​​in each column are the efficiency of the power supply at that load.

Accordingly, we can conclude that the 80 Plus Platinum is the most efficient power supply.

The price category of blocks with such certificates is very different.

What is Bitcoin mining

Blockchain is a chain of transactions where each subsequent link contains information about all previous ones. These chains are called bitcoins. The process of creating and mining such virtual “connections” was called mining, which requires good computer equipment and special programs.

At the same time, Bitcoin mining is the support of an entire infrastructure designed to ensure the functionality of the entire network. The essence of this process is solving complex mathematical problems using special software installed on users’ PCs. The process of receiving bitcoins is not controlled by the center, but is distributed to everyone. Mining performs a number of important tasks:

• support for transactions (deals);
• protecting the network from adding invalid information;
• safety of bitcoins from various attacks;
• support for decentralization.

Important! From a profit point of view, it is no longer profitable to mine Bitcoins at home, since the power of standard computer equipment is not enough.

General

The certificate is what you need to pay attention to first when choosing a block. It is clear that initially you must select a power supply that will satisfy all your needs. Namely:

Power - number of watts

When choosing a power supply for a farm, you should immediately consider how many watts will be needed to power the video cards and the system.

Do not forget that the farm can be powered by two power supplies. Then one of them won't waste about 120 watts on the system.

Also, if you have a farm of only 1-2 video cards, but in the future you plan to buy additional cards, you should immediately buy a unit with a reserve, otherwise problems may arise - you will need to buy a second power supply.

Approximately how many video cards with different power consumption and connected system (processor, motherboard, hard drive) can be powered by different power supplies:

1. 700-750 Watt:
   video cards with power from 250 Watt ~ 2 video cards.
2. Cards with power up to 200 Watt ~ 3 cards
3. 800-850 Watt
   video cards with power from 250 Watt ~ 2 video cards.
4. Cards with power up to 200 Watt ~ 4 cards
5. 1000-1050 Watt
   video cards with a power of 250 Watt ~ 3 video cards.
6. Cards with power up to 200 Watt ~ 5 cards
7. 1500-1600 Watt
   video cards with a power of 250 Watt ~ 5 video cards.
8. Cards with power up to 200 Watt ~ 7 cards

It’s worth noting right away that this is a very rough calculation, and first of all it depends on the number of PCI-e wires, as well as Molex and Sat, which will power the video cards themselves and the riser for them.

Let's now look at the wires.

Contents - number of wires

After you have decided on the power you need, select the power supply that has the most PCI-e wires.

Also pay attention to the number of Molex and Sat, because if you have a lot of PCI-e wires in the block and only 1-2 Molex and a couple of Sat, there is a chance that you will not be able to power all the cards. Since there will be enough PCI-e wires, but there are no wires to power the risers. Thus, the cards will not be able to start.

Always look for a power supply that has an equal or greater total number of Molex + Sata to the total number of PCI-e wires.

The best hardware for mining bitcoins

To mine cryptocurrency that is not influenced by financial markets or regulatory centers, it is necessary to assemble the optimal set of computer hardware. It includes a processor, video cards and additional equipment.

Video cards

The video card must have sufficient memory and GPU frequency for the mining process to proceed without any complications. Suitable models include:

• Radeon RX 470 and 480;
• Geforce GTX 1060, 1070,1080;
• AMD latest models.

The average payback of such equipment varies from 200 to 360 days.

Processors

GPUs are the most important hardware when working with a cryptographic system. Only powerful modern computers with sufficient RAM and a good video card are suitable for mining. The best options include:

• CyberPowerPC Gamer Ultra 2235 – 8 GB RAM, 1 TB hard drive, AMD RX 480 graphics card;
• Acer Aspire T AT3-715A-UR11 – AMD RX 480 video card, Intel Core i7-6700 processor;
• CybertronPC RHODIUM – 8 GB RAM, AMD RX 580 video card, good for Ethereum.

You can separately purchase an Intek G4400 class processor, which is suitable for mining, but will be cheaper than a whole computer.

Other equipment

Instead of processors and video cards, you can purchase application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) or gate arrays (FPGAs), as well as separate USB devices.

Among ASIC miners, ANTMiner S7, S9, Avalon6, CoinTerra TerraMiner IV are considered the best. If you choose from USB miners for bitcoins, you should take a closer look at AntMiner U2, BPMC Red Fury USB, Avalon Nano 3.

Pools

Pools differ in interfaces, information content, power, types of currency, reward distribution system and commissions. There are the “Chinese Four” of the most popular and reliable pools:

1. F2Pool or “aquarium fish”. About 20% of the hashrate is retained in the network. Withdrawal commission is only 4%. This system is the most widespread.
2. BTC China with 10-12% retention on the network. They take 4th place in the overall pool ranking.
3. BW pool – 7-9% of capacity, there is a partial translation into Russian. The PPLNS accrual system operates without commission.
4. AntPool – mining capacity is about 18%, works via PPLNS without commission, there is a PPS option with a retention of 2.5%. Suitable for those who like to play solo.

Choose a pool based on the most favorable conditions and simplicity of interfaces. For beginners, it is better to choose an easier option for mastering the basics of Bitcoin mining.

System requirements

On an average-power home PC, you can only mine little-known and new cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin requires a minimum of 4 GB of RAM and 2 GB of video card memory.

OS

There are no requirements for the operating system; you can select the appropriate version of the mining program for Windows from 7, Lunix (it is most often chosen for cryptocurrencies).

The main thing is to purchase powerful video cards, and even more than one, or install separate USB devices or ASIC miners.

Internet ping

Mining traffic depends on the number of connected devices, their performance and the complexity of solving mathematical problems. With proper equipment configuration and pool selection, 10 kb/s Internet speed with a standard Dial-Up connection is sufficient. It must be wired, without failures or breaks. Therefore, choose your traffic provider carefully.

If it is not possible to ensure a stable connection, you can buy 3G modems with unlimited traffic and use them in a good coverage area.

Original Manufacturer (OEM)

Suppose you have chosen several power supplies with suitable power, a sufficient number of wires and a good certificate.

Next, you need to find out who the real manufacturer of the power supply is. Since the block is most often assembled by other intermediary companies, the quality of their assembly and soldering leaves much to be desired.

Why is it most often another company that assembles the block?

Everything is very simple. For example, the Corsair company designs a new power supply, creates its drawings and sends it to another company for assembly. Since it will be much more profitable and cheaper for Corsair.

The company can also do this from a marketing point of view, since there are large manufacturing companies that enjoy great confidence among consumers in terms of assembly.

Which true manufacturers are the best?

There are not many real manufacturers of power supplies that have proven themselves well on the market. Here is a list of the best of them:

1. C.W.T.
2. Seasonic
3. Evga
4. Flextronics

You can find out who the true manufacturer of the power supply is on our website.

Cloud mining of bitcoins

Cloud mining uses special servers on which you can work without purchasing your own equipment for mining cryptocurrency. At the same time, a small commission will be charged for using the resource, which is cheaper than buying professional hardware for mining Bitcoins.

Among the most reliable servers are:

1. Coinmix.biz is a new option with a minimum deposit of 1 US dollar. The average return on investment is from 50 to 100 days.
2. Cloudmy – for registration they provide a bonus of 2 dollars (20 GH/s). There is a system of profitability levels from 0 to 9. Payback from 25 to 100 days.
3. Apextop – $1 bonus, 10 levels of return. You can return funds in 25-50 days.

You can find better options depending on your investment.

Voltage regulation

After you have weeded out a mountain of blocks and selected reliable manufacturers, you should pay attention to their efficiency and voltage stabilization.

We figured out efficiency at the very beginning. As for voltage stabilization, the situation is as follows.

For power supplies with Titanium certification, the approximate numbers should be:

1. 0.18% for 3.3 V
2. 0.40% at 5V
3. 0.17% at 12V.

For the Platinum approximately:

• 3.3V – 0.33%
• 5V – 0.2%
• 12V – 0.2%

For a Gold approximately:

• 3.3V – 0.85%
• 5V – 0.60%
• 12V – 0.58%

For a Bronze approximately:

• 1.3% for 3.3 V
• 0.8% at 5V
• 1.83% at 12V.

These are approximate numbers that blocks should aim for. The higher the number, the worse. These indicators are responsible for the stability of your entire farm - for the supply of electricity.

When choosing blocks, pay careful attention to efficiency and voltage stabilization indicators.

You can find out about stabilizing the voltage of power supplies in our reviews of different units.

The best manufacturers

There are not many companies in the world that really make high-quality, smart power supplies. Most blocks are made unreliable and unable to protect your farm.

Below is an example of power supply manufacturers that have proven themselves in the market, but keep in mind that even they have not very high-quality models.

In order not to buy a low-quality model, always pay attention to the original manufacturer (OEM), even if the brand is famous. From time to time you come across models with poor quality assembly from unknown OEM assemblers. Also read our full reviews of different power supplies.

Excellent power supply manufacturers:

1. Seasonic
2. Corsair
3. Evga

Good manufacturers:

1. Enermax
2. Chieftec
3. cooler master
4. FirePower

Bad producers:

1. AeroCool
2. Acbel
3. ABS

However, not all bad manufacturers make low-quality blocks. For example, the same “AeroCool” can sometimes sell high-quality models. Likewise, excellent manufacturers may produce low-quality models.