How to make a frame for a mining farm with your own hands

A mining rig frame is needed if you use video cards. ASIC farms are mounted like a server rack. There is no frame required. Mining on video cards is beneficial for those cryptocurrencies where ASICs for the corresponding algorithm do not exist. There are many such forks, the power is small and archaic mining on video cards is very profitable there. Oddly enough, the second generation cryptocurrency Ethereum fell into this series. The ASIC miner for the ethash algorithm has not yet been released. Three design options are being considered for frames:

• aluminum block, corner or square profile;
• steel angle, profile pipe;
• wooden frame.

Frame for mining rig

When the miner has all the necessary equipment, it needs to be installed somewhere and in this case the need for a frame arises.
Anyone can buy a frame for video cards to order or make it themselves. In both cases, even if you choose the most expensive option, the financial costs will be small. But this design will ensure ideal air inflow and outflow to the equipment, which will significantly improve cooling. Often, the assembly of racks for video cards is done based on the equipment, its quantity and features, and therefore beginners are increasingly trying to assemble a frame for a mining farm with their own hands. Farms often consist of 4-8 video cards. This depends on the miner's budget and the ability to connect GPUs to the selected motherboard. This determines the approximate dimensions of the frame. It’s clear that the frame for a mining farm with 6 or 8 video cards will be different. Some users don’t bother too much and just buy a housing for the farm. This is much simpler, but it costs more and the quality of the case is not always adequate. This often leads to burning out GPUs, constant crashes and other technical problems. Therefore, it is better to spend a few hours and assemble a suitable frame yourself.

Farm power supply

The power supply for a mining farm is the same constant component as the frame. Given its permanence, some attention should be paid to its acquisition.

To calculate the power of the power supply, use the technical characteristics of video cards for electricity consumption. 200-250 kW is added to their production from the operation of other equipment. The resulting amount is multiplied by 1.3-1.4 (30-40% of the reserve). The power supply is purchased based on the final power.

If you plan to further expand the farm and purchase additional video cards, buy a more expensive model. In this situation, you should not save on a power supply for a mining farm; it is purchased once for a long period and should ensure reliable operation without overloading the system.

Choosing between body and frame

Before you figure out how to make a frame for a farm, you need to choose the material for this. People who are just starting to understand mining often unknowingly purchase a housing for a mining rig. As a result, they face a lot of technical problems. But in order not to waste money, you need to understand that the housing for a mining farm is just a closed box with an expensive but ineffective cooling system. It is still somewhat reminiscent of a regular case that is used for computers. The problem is that there is not enough space inside such a case and the cooling system cannot cope with overheating of the equipment, which often causes it to burn out.

But the frame is a completely different system. This is a medium-sized frame with several stiffeners. Its peculiarity is that all equipment is in a visible place, it is not covered by anything. This ensures good air flow to the video cards and allows for efficient heat dissipation.

The right material is the key to convenience and reliability

You cannot assemble a frame for a farm from any available materials; you must take into account all the nuances. Most often, the choice of miners falls on wood and aluminum. When it comes to wood, be sure to choose hardwood because it does not ignite easily. The truss frame, like all equipment, will gradually heat up and there will be a risk of fire. The right material will reduce it to zero.

To understand which material will be better for a particular farm, you can generally consider two options:

1. Aluminum is a durable material that will not catch fire even at very high temperatures. Aluminum does not require additional processing. It’s just that it costs more, and making a frame for a farm is not so easy, because with metal everything is more complicated.
2. Wood is a standard, austere and cheap material. A frame for video cards is made from wood quickly and simply, but there are a number of nuances. Wood must be treated with antiseptics and fire retardants, and various fireproof mixtures. You can paint the frame with fireproof paint. A wooden structure lasts no more than 2-3 years, then a new one has to be made.

Miners who have extra money make their frames from sheets of laminated plywood for greater aesthetics. Sheets with a thickness of 16 or 18 millimeters are suitable for this. The problem is that laminated plywood is difficult to saw and process, you need to have the appropriate tools, and there is also a lot of waste. Such sheets are expensive, and therefore this option is suitable only for those miners whose soul requires additional aesthetics. In practice, plywood frames are extremely rare.

Most often it all comes down to the miner’s budget. After choosing the material, you need to decide on the number of video cards and the dimensions of the frame. You also need to find a place where this entire structure will be placed.

Recommendations for making the case

1. It is advisable to place video cards with an open air cooling system with fans facing downwards. Their usual location leads to the fact that only one outer card takes in cold air. The rest are already heated.

2. No one can say for sure the distance between video cards in a classic installation. But in practice it should be at least 60-80 mm. Of course 100 mm is better. When the distance decreases, it is necessary to install additional coolers, which increases energy costs.

3. The layout and location of the motherboard, video cards, and power supplies must be thought out in advance. Because There may be problems with the length of cables from the power supply and risers.

Advantages and disadvantages of materials

It turns out that in most cases an aluminum frame will be better and is often chosen by beginners. But experienced miners approach the issue of choosing material for the frame much more seriously and take into account various factors. It happens that in some cases wooden frames turn out to be much better and more economical, especially when it comes to short-term mining.

In most cases, a wooden mining frame must be impregnated with moisture-repellent and fire-resistant agents, but it all depends on where exactly the mining rig will be located and what kind of cooling system it will have. Assembling a wooden case for mining is much easier, and it costs much less. But the aluminum frame looks much nicer and looks more modern and aesthetically pleasing. As practice shows, aluminum construction is more durable and does not loosen as much over time.

It turns out that it is worth assembling a wooden frame only if there is no money for a good frame, and the miner himself plans to mine the crypt for a short time. Then the frame will live for two to three years and this will be quite enough. The aluminum case is good for long-term mining because it lasts a very long time, but will the rigs and mining itself be relevant in a few years?

Frame dimensions

The dimensions of a mining rig are determined individually, depending on the size of video cards, their number, features of other equipment and the allocated space. Ideally, all components should be freely located on the racks, easily connected and ventilated.

Video cards should be located at the same distance from each other with a step of at least 15 centimeters. The dimensions of the farm frame for mining for 4 video cards are approximately 60x40x40 centimeters. Drawings for any number of video cards can be easily found on the Internet or made yourself.

Metal canopy frame

A canopy is a durable metal structure of light weight, the roof of which is made of polycarbonate, profile sheet, glass and other materials. They are used to protect cars and other property from precipitation, create entrances and outdoor storage areas, and solve other utilitarian problems.

A metal truss is a structure with Z-reinforcement between the chords (arches). Metal trusses in canopies serve to take on natural loads - snow, rain and wind activity.

Canopy trusses

Farms

Canopy blanks

The Profimet company fulfills all the necessary requirements to ensure that the canopy frame made of profile pipe meets the necessary quality standards, namely:

Using only proven high-quality profiles for the manufacture of load-bearing structures and assemblies;

We do not use steel with internal layers and coarse slag inclusions for the lower belt of trusses;

We fasten the rafters to the vertical supports and rafter parts with bolts of class 5.6, 5.8;

We comply with GOST standards (GOST R ISO 857-1-2009, GOST 26271-84, GOST 2246-70) for gas and arc welding.

What tools are useful for assembling the structure?

To assemble a housing for a mining farm with your own hands, you will definitely need a tool. It is selected depending on what material the truss will be made from. If you plan to mine crypto for a short time and the choice fell on wood, then to create a frame you will need only two simple things that can be found in almost every home:

1. Hacksaw or jigsaw.
2. Drill or screwdriver.

But assembling an aluminum frame looks a little more complicated, because the whole procedure requires much more effort. Therefore you will definitely need:

1. Bulgarian.
2. Drills or screwdrivers.
3. Riveter.
4. Needle file.

If you don’t have a tool, you don’t have to go to the store and buy it. It is highly likely that you can find it with a neighbor or a friend or acquaintance. If anything, a friend can help in assembling video card racks.

Assembly of the structure

Now let’s learn more about how to assemble the desired frame for mining with your own hands. It’s worth clarifying right away that mining professionals rarely use wooden structures. Even beginners are not recommended to waste their time on them. Therefore, it is advisable to consider how an aluminum rack for video cards is created.

1. The first step is to make aluminum corner sections. You will need five sections of 60 centimeters each and 10 sections of 30 centimeters each.
2. You need to take a steel sheet with dimensions of 30 centimeters by 60 centimeters and attach the motherboard to it. After this, you need to mark where exactly the motherboard will be mounted, making points for the holes.
3. Holes are made in the steel sheet, and then the entire frame is assembled.
4. It is necessary to inspect the structure and check its stability. If any roughness remains, they must be removed with a needle file. Rough surfaces can easily scratch floors, damage equipment, tear clothing, or snag skin.

As soon as the frame for the mining farm is ready, you can begin installing all the necessary equipment on it. As for the location of the structure, it is better to place it in a place that is well ventilated. It is not recommended to place stands near central heating. Experienced miners generally place the farm on the balcony in the winter, and in the summer they place it in a room on the shady side or in the bathroom.

Bottom shelf

Required for installing the motherboard. Manufacturing material: OSB board or steel sheet. Fasteners are placed on any of them. The kit is taken from the board (included in the sales package), and in case of used components they are purchased separately. This hardware is not designed to be screwed into wood, but it holds up well.

The power supply is mounted on the bottom shelf. Technical regulations require grounding. Therefore, all computer, server and industrial power supplies are made in metal cases. They can be installed on a wooden shelf only with the help of fittings: corners, strips, brackets.

Assembling components together

So, all that remains is to install all the equipment on the structure and you can start setting up and mining the crypt itself. The first thing you need to do is take the motherboard and screw it into a pre-designated place. It is recommended to screw it at a short distance from the surface, at least three millimeters. Then there will be no direct contact with the metal.

Now we need to install the processor and cooler on the motherboard. After the first tests, it may turn out that additional cooling is needed. Then coolers are purchased and sent to video cards. It is better to attach the power supply somewhere on the side. Nothing should interfere with the operation of its cooler, and if there is any interference, then you can move it 3-5 centimeters. It is better to place the power supplies and motherboard closer to each other.

It is necessary to place the switching elements in a convenient place, as well as the necessary indicators. The hard drive is also connected, and then it is moved a certain distance from the motherboard. Some users complain about loud noise. In this case, you can take a piece of plywood or rubber and simply put it under it, the noise will be less.

Next, you need to take the risers and connect them to the video cards, and place the cards themselves on the rack at the same distance from each other. As soon as everything is ready, you need to double-check the connection and you can start the farm and configure it. It is better to immediately calculate the approximate size of the farm. A case for 6 video cards will be larger than the frame by only 3-4 cards.

In fact, crypto mining equipment needs to be chosen wisely, paying attention to each device. It is necessary to take into account the cost of the equipment, its performance, and whether the components are compatible with each other.

Existing risks

Assembling a farm for crypto mining is a risky business. Before you undertake this, it is better to familiarize yourself with the opinions of cryptanalysts. The fact is that the world of mining changes daily, and therefore it may happen that you won’t even be able to recoup the money invested in the farm. And if you also take into account the huge electricity bills, then you can even go into the red. It turns out that even if you put together a good farm using expensive video cards, choose the right software and pool, you can simply go broke for the following reasons:

1. Society’s attitude towards cryptocurrencies and their legalization play a very important role. It puts pressure on the world of cryptocurrencies, including their mining. If some countries recognize crypto, they will definitely eradicate anonymity and introduce additional taxes and duties. This often leads to a collapse in coin prices.
2. Each cryptocurrency has its own growth ceiling. An increase in the value of any coin is a common occurrence. But once the currency reaches its peak, the power of the pools still continues to increase. It turns out that without several farms with top-end video cards, it becomes impossible for miners to mine crypto and make a good profit and have to purchase new equipment.
3. The difficulty of mining a particular coin is growing every day. And it happens that the power of good video cards is not enough to recoup the investment, even at low costs.

And in general, assembling a farm requires a considerable budget. Therefore, for some people, owning a mining farm is still an unfulfilled dream. But if you join the world of cryptocurrencies, it is better to create a durable design that will not cause problems later. But the frame alone is not the key to success. You also need a suitable program for mining bitcoins, equipment and much more.

Loading…

Specialized devices for mining

Due to the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies, the development of specialized devices has begun that allow them to be used instead of video cards. It has become much easier to build a mining farm with them, and the profit has become much greater, however, energy consumption has increased.

No.	ASIC device marking, power consumption	Price, rub	Thash/s
1	Prospero X-1, 80 W	26296	0,1
2	Prospero X-3, 1600 W	86051	2
3	Zeus v3 Miner, 3000 W	175770	4,5
4	SP35 Yukon, 3500 W	247903	5,5

As can be seen from the characteristics given, these devices are not suitable for beginners in the world of mining, since they are much more expensive than conventional video cards. The power consumption of ASIC controllers is higher than that of video cards, so proper cooling and good ventilation of the room in which they are located are necessary conditions for trouble-free operation.

Devices of this type are typical for specialized mining farms, so they are rarely used at home. They are able to provide not only the production of a certain type of cryptocurrency, but also switch to others if necessary.

Earlier FPGA modules communicated with the computer using a USB port and had separate power. Reprogramming them for new types of cryptocurrency was quite difficult, and the power consumption was high, however, their performance was higher than that of video cards. At the moment they are used very rarely and mass production does not exist.

Pitfalls and risks

People who want to try their hand at mining should understand that there is no such thing as a budget farm created with your own hands in 2022. Profit-generating equipment is expensive. In addition, one of the main pitfalls of this type of mining is ensuring the operation of the farm:

• A mining rig consumes electricity. A farm with 6 video cards consumes from 0.5 to 1 kW/h;
• Users who assemble the farm must figure out how to do it themselves. Without certain technical knowledge, it is difficult to assemble and launch a mining farm on your own. There is a big risk that due to a minor glitch or some other problem, all the money and time spent on setting up the mining device will not be worth it;
• The technical equipment of self-made mining devices is highly questionable. Since miners sometimes do not have enough knowledge to implement the project, they do not follow new products and do not know the latest news, and use inappropriate parts. Technical inconsistencies cause a high risk of breakdowns. In addition, the equipment is affected by the loads that it must constantly withstand. If done wrong, the farm won't even pay for itself;
• To house a farm, a separate room or room is usually required. Preferably large and unheated. This will allow the equipment not to overheat, at least in winter. And the farm is quite noisy. Considering that a home mining rig will operate for a long time, this may cause discomfort;
• The farm will need to be monitored. This is not a set-and-forget option. From time to time, various problems arise with Windows updates, drivers, the Internet, and others. To monitor the operation of the farm, it is recommended to set up email notifications on the pool (install an application on your phone to this email and set up notifications) if the farm suddenly stops mining. And for remote access to it it is convenient to use the TeamViewer program.
• The need for an efficient cooling system does have a major impact on the comfort of the farm. Cooling also costs a lot of money for its maintenance. But this point cannot be ignored, since elevated temperatures damage the insulation and reduce the service life of the equipment. There are two cooling methods. The first is with the help of air. That is, you need to install air conditioners. But this is unprofitable, since energy costs will increase even more. You can use blowing, but then you need to take care of filters from dust, moisture, etc.
• The second one can be cooled with water. Moreover, a system that provides such a cooling option can be installed independently. It is only important that the video card has a liquid cooling circuit. But you also need to install reliable ventilation. And this cannot be done without a professional.

Of course, there are some problems in any business, but you need to figure out how to get around these pitfalls before starting an activity. Otherwise, there is a risk of not making any profit at all, but only wasting your time and ultimately achieving nothing.

Cooling cases for mining on video cards for home and business top rating

A housing for mining with air flow separation Cold Case for 12 cards is one of the best options, since it has many configurations and a price from 9 to 18 thousand rubles. It is possible to choose different fans, filters, regulators. The housing is perfect for home farming. Although, of course, the noise level will increase.

Another popular model is the Cryptone-12 BIG streaming case for mining. Allows 15 video cards with a dual-slot cooling system or 12 video cards with a 3-slot system and installation of up to 6 ATX power supplies. Effective cooling is provided by coolers located on the front part, as well as inside the case (7 for air intake, 7 for air exhaust). Fans are purchased additionally, holes 120 x 120 mm. Cost from 5.5 thousand rubles.

Cold Case for mining with air flow separation for 6 cards. An excellent option for the initial stage. It has an increased dust filter area. 4 coolers of 120 mm or 2 of 150 mm. The cases of this company do not have any interesting design, but many miners do not care about this.

How to manage a mining rig

After installation and configuration, you do not need to constantly monitor the operation of the system. It is enough to check that everything is working several times a day via remote access from a personal computer or smartphone. If not, restart the miner remotely. Disabling the Internet will pause, but will not interrupt the operation of the program. And if you installed a mining OS, then even after the power is turned off, the program will return to work on its own.

Keep an eye on the hashrate. If it falls, one of the processors is probably broken and needs to be repaired.

We hope you found the information you were looking for about the mining rig. We wish you good luck and high profits!

Financial side of the issue

Since we are talking about benefits, we cannot ignore the financial side of the issue. As soon as you think about creating a mining farm at home, it is important to calculate how much it will cost and when it will pay off. The easiest way to assess the financial side of the issue is with the help of special calculators. But first, let’s calculate how much it will cost to assemble the farm in question.

The most expensive parts of the kit are the video cards, and the cheapest are the corners and other parts for the rack:

• The base can be made for approximately several hundred rubles, including payment for materials;
• Video cards will have to be purchased for at least $300 apiece. And considering that you need at least six cards, this expense item is one of the most impressive;
• The motherboard, if, for example, you take it from an inexpensive one (ASRock FM2A88M Extreme4+R2.0), will cost from 5,700 rubles. But a professional mining farm with such a board will not work. You will need to buy a more powerful option, like AsRock H81 PRO BTC R2.0. for eight and a half thousand rubles. With such a motherboard you can install up to six video cards;
• The next expense item is the purchase of a processor. The cheapest ones cost from three thousand rubles;
• RAM is also not cheap. To get the required amount, you will have to buy special boards for at least 2 GB. One such board costs approximately two thousand rubles;
• A hard drive with a capacity of at least one 60 GB costs from 3 thousand rubles, and this is with minimal investment.

In addition, before making your own mining farm, take into account the personal costs of paying for electricity and the Internet.
By the way, the Internet may have low speed, but for effective coin mining it must be stable and work without interruptions. From time to time you will have to buy and replace some parts that fail. Another important point in discussing the financial side of the work is cryptocurrencies and their profitability. It’s too late to use a farm to mine Bitcoins, but there are alternatives: Nem, Ethereum, Dash, Litecoin, ZCash, etc.

Ethereum (rate over $900) and Litecoin (rate over $200) offer high returns. For example, let's look at the indications for Ethereum mining using Radeon RX 580 x 6 video cards as of March 2022:

• Farm productivity 180 Mh/s;
• Profit 300 dollars per month;
• Costs for paying electricity bills – $50 per month (taking into account that the average figure of 4 rubles per kilowatt was used in the calculation);
• Current price is about $4,500;
• The payback, taking into account the farm cost calculated above, is 18 months, unless the coin rate rises sharply and the mining difficulty remains the same (which is unrealistic).

It is also necessary to take into account that the difficulty of mining regularly increases, and the assembled farm will mine less and less coins every month.

That is, when looking for answers to the question of the financial profitability of the created farm, you need to take into account the following components:

• The hash rate used by the equipment. Simply put, power;
• The total price of a farm made with your own hands;
• The current price of the cryptocurrency you are mining (in the example we used Ethereum);
• Energy consumption of the farm and the price of 1 W in the region where the home-made farm operates.

All these indicators must be indicated in a special calculator. The following resources provide relatively accurate information:

1. WhatToMine.
2. NiceHash.

What is a mining rig?

Mining Rig is a setup for mining cryptocurrencies. You can consider it part of the farm. If a farm is all your video cards combined, then a Rig is a farm block, usually consisting of 4-6 GPUs. Since we cannot endlessly connect all GPUs to one computer, we have to make such settings. Rig looks something like this: