Building a 6 GPU Ethereum mining rig is a fun project and a great source of passive income. This guide will help you find and assemble the best Ethereum mining hardware currently available to build your very own DIY Ethereum mining rig. Assembly time is about 3 hours.
What is Ethereum Mining?
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Mining is the process of reaching consensus for all the transactions that occur on the Ethereum network. From sending Ether to locking in changes in the applications (dapps), to executing smart contracts, mining ensures the security and permanency of each of these transactions.
But, what’s in it for me, you ask? When you build an Ethereum mining rig, you join the mining network and are rewarded with Ether for contributing to the overall network hashrate. Just how much money, depends on the mining ‘difficulty’ of the network and the current value of the Ethereum cryptocurrency measured in your local currency. It also depends on what your goals are when you mine. Some people mine and convert everything to USD for example. For those people, they’ll make around $500/month currently (early 2018) with the rig in this guide. For others, they mine and hold (or ‘hodl’) the currency for the long term since, over time, cryptocurrency may significantly go up in value. For example, when I first got into mining, I mined 6 Bitcoins in 6 weeks on only a 4 GPU rig. In December 2017, those 6 Bitcoins were worth over $100,000.
So, choose your strategy, build a rig using the guide below and welcome to crypto!
6 GPU Ethereum Mining Rig Hardware Build List
Listed below are the components along with the amount you will need to assemble your GPU mining rig. Once your components arrive, you will want to come back to this guide for assembly and configuration instructions. I’ve included a YouTube video further down the page with complete assembly instructions as well.
6 gpu mining rig build guide
1x Power Supply – 1000 Watt PSU – The key here is to have an efficient power supply that will save you over the long run in electricity costs. Look for Gold or Platinum rated (as opposed to silver or bronze). This is the industry standard for rating the efficiency of a computer’s power supply unit (PSU). If the model linked above is unavailable, I’d also recommend this model and this model.
1x Motherboard/CPU Combination – What is the best motherboard for mining Ethereum? I’ve listed below my favorite motherboard and processor combo that is compatible with 6 video cards. This is the ethereum mining motherboard that is used in large scale mining deployments. If the pros use it, you know it’s good.
MSI Pro Z270A SLI Plus Motherboard | Intel G3900 Dual Core CPU
If the motherboard listed above is out of stock or difficult to find, these motherboards will work equally well with the Intel G3900 Skylake processor:
ASUS PRIME Z270-P LGA1151
ASUS PRIME Z270-A LGA1151
ASUS PRIME H270-PLUS
ASUS ROG STRIX Z270E GAMING
MSI Enthusiastic Gaming Intel Z270
6x Graphics Cards
My first and second choices for GPU’s listed below are sometimes difficult to find, so I’ll list a 3rd choice. The NVIDIA GTX 1060 6GB can be overclocked to mine at 24.7 Mh/s while only pulling 80 watts of power. Just like the GTX 1070 and the Rx 580, you can find this GPU conveniently sold in a six pack here, here and here for building a mining rig.
First Choice Nvidia GTX 1070 – The very efficient Nvidia GTX 1070 can produce a hash rate of 30Mh/s using only 100 watts of electricity and is the best GPU for mining in 2017. It is much more power efficient than most of the AMD cards available on the market. My favorite model of this GPU is the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1070 Windforce OC (model # GV-N1070WF2OC-8GD). It has a twin fan design and seems to run cooler than some of the other 1070 models I’ve tested, so I put this card in all the rigs I build currently. If that specific model is unavailable, any of the twin fan overclocked Gigabyte or EVGA cards work great out of the box. I have used and tested this model and this model with excellent results. Amazon sometimes limits the number of GPU’s you can purchase, so this 6 pack of 1070’s is also a good option. You can also check eBay or find other recommended mining GPU’s in my mining GPU comparison guide.
A close second choice for a GPU if the Nvidia is hard to find or out of stock, would be the AMD Rx 580 and AMD Rx 570. The Rx 580 does 29Mh/s and the Rx 570 does 27Mh/s. All mining rig build requirements are the same for either the 1070 or the Rx 580/570. The primary reason I like the GTX 1070 is the lower power usage (100w vs 135w per GPU) when mining. If you want to give your power supply a little extra headroom to run the Rx 580, I’d recommend upgrading to a 1200 watt power supply.
GPU for Mining GTX 1070
1x RAM (System Memory) – 4 GB RAM – You don’t need a lot of system memory to mine ethereum effectively. 4GB is about as small as a stick of RAM comes these days, so I recommend just picking up a cheap one as long as it is DDR 4 desktop memory.
6x USB Riser Cables – USB Riser Cables – These are to connect the 6 graphics cards to the motherboard and allow spacing between cards for heat dissipation. These are necessary when building a rig with this many GPU’s.
1x Hard Drive (SSD) – Solid State Drive for installing the operating system and your mining software.
1x Custom Mining Case – I’d recommend an Open Air 6 GPU Mining Case. I’ve built several of these 6 GPU rigs for family and friends using this particular mining case works quite well for airflow and ease of building.
1x Operating System – I recommend mining on Windows 10, since it has the best driver support for all the best mining graphics cards.
Monitor, Mouse and Keyboard to configure all the software settings, initially.