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As the price of ETH skyrocketed, graphics card mining machines have become increasingly popular among miners as a "tool for hoarding coins." On the one hand, driven by the profits from graphics card mining, miners continue to increase their investment in mining machines, but on the other hand, graphics card miners are often tortured by problems such as fluctuations in mining machine computing power, frequent disconnections and high failure rates. So a question often discussed by miners is why graphics card mining machines are so much less stable than ASIC mining machines ? Today I will talk to you about the various components and operation and maintenance difficulties of graphics card mining machines . 01 How to assemble a graphics card mining machine As the name suggests, graphics card mining machines are assembled from computer graphics cards . Its main core hardware includes: graphics card (usually one mining machine has 6 or 8 graphics cards) , power supply, extension cable, adapter cable, motherboard, hard disk (it is recommended to use an SSD hard disk of 60G or more) , CPU, memory, personal computer, mouse, keyboard, etc. Assembled graphics card mining machine graphics card Graphics cards are the core components of graphics card mining machines. Their types, brands, and models are different, and of course the mining power is also different. Therefore, it is recommended that you try to buy graphics cards of the same model when configuring mining machines to facilitate later operation and maintenance management. Motherboard The ideal situation for a graphics card mining machine is to run multiple graphics cards at the same time. The more graphics cards there are, the greater the computing power of the mining machine. Therefore, when purchasing a motherboard, it is recommended that you choose an integrated motherboard with multiple PCIE slots (graphics card slots) . The advantage of this integrated motherboard is that it integrates a low-power CPU on the motherboard without the need for an extension cable . Compared to traditional desktop motherboards, which also require memory sticks and CPUs for mining, the cost is much higher than that of integrated motherboards. In addition to cost factors, the stability of integrated motherboards is also significantly better than traditional desktop motherboards, and motherboard failures will not be caused by loose components or poor contact on the motherboard. In addition , the spacing between graphics cards in multi-slot graphics card mining machines is usually relatively short . If there is no way to get enough cold air to form an air duct, serious heat dissipation problems will occur in hot weather. Memory is the internal storage, which is the bridge for other hardware to communicate with the CPU . Like ordinary computers, mining machines also need to install memory to store data . DDR memory module The most important component in the memory is the particle , and some memories are also equipped with heat sinks . Currently, the manufacturers that can produce memory chips in the world are Samsung, Hynix, and Micron . More than 90% of the memory on the market uses chips from the above three companies. Memory manufacturers will make particles with good quality into high-frequency memory (the higher the frequency, the faster the running speed) , such as 3000MHz and 3200MHz memory; particles with relatively poor quality will be made into low-frequency memory, such as 2400MHz, 2666MHz , etc. Because the graphics card mining machine needs to use the mining kernel and operating system to access the mining pool, the operating system needs to be written to the hard disk. It is recommended that you buy a 64G SSD hard disk . Power supply and adapter cable When you buy a graphics card mining machine, it usually does not come with a power supply. Do not be tempted to buy a junk power supply. Improper power supply selection will directly cause the graphics card to be scrapped. Based on the platform power consumption of the graphics card mining machine (motherboard + CPU + memory + SSD hard disk) and the graphics card power consumption , you can calculate how much power you should buy. Considering the power conversion efficiency , you should ensure that the power of the power supply is greater than the sum of the platform power consumption and the graphics card power consumption . Or you can directly purchase a dedicated power supply for Bitcoin ASIC mining machines . Antminer Power Supply Regarding adapter cables, if the number of power supply PIN ports is the same as the graphics card PIN, no adapter cable is required. For example, this Ant Power Supply has a 6-pin interface, and the RX588 graphics card also has a 6-pin interface and does not require an adapter cable. If it is a 3090 series graphics card with an 8-pin interface, you will need to purchase an adapter cable to connect multiple graphics cards to the power supply. Graphics card mining platform If you still find it complicated after reading this, you can also directly purchase a graphics card mining machine platform (including chassis, motherboard, hard disk, memory, power supply and other components) . This can save selection time and is more user-friendly for novice users. 02 What are the difficulties in operating and maintaining graphics card mining machines? The main reason why the operation and maintenance of graphics card mining machines is difficult is that graphics card mining machines are assembled from multiple hardware systems , and if a fault occurs in one of them, the machine must be shut down and thoroughly checked. It is difficult to assemble and overclock the graphics card mining machine The assembly of the graphics card mining machine goes through the process of installing the motherboard → installing the graphics card → fixing the screws → fixing the horizontal bar of the graphics card → plugging in the external switch, USB interface → entering the system → adjusting the computing power , which takes about half an hour. If a problem occurs in a process or component during the process, it must be disassembled and reinstalled , which is time-consuming and labor-intensive compared to ASIC mining machines where all components have been assembled when they are shipped. In addition, overclocking and debugging of graphics card mining machines also requires manpower . Graphics card overclocking is to improve performance by increasing the operating frequency of the graphics card core and video memory . Similar to CPU overclocking, the main means are to change the voltage and frequency of the core and video memory . If you want to achieve a higher stable frequency, you must also strengthen the cooling system of the graphics card. Easy Miner Overclocking Debugging Page To put it more generally, it changes the graphics card frequency parameters to make it have higher computing power. Of course, the power consumption of the mining machine will increase accordingly, and the heat dissipation requirements of the mining machine will also be higher , so the probability of the mining machine being disconnected will naturally be higher. Poor resistance to power network fluctuations The graphics card mining machine itself has relatively high requirements for the mining farm network because it needs to deploy a diskless system . Generally, the network requirement of an ASIC mining farm is 100M broadband, but the network requirement of a professional graphics card mining farm is more than 1G. In addition, network fluctuations in the mining farm cause network delays, which have a relatively large impact on the stability of the computing power of graphics card mining machines . In addition, due to the complexity of the graphics card mining machine's hardware and software, the stability of electricity is also relatively high. Frequent power outages will lead to an increase in the damage rate of various components of the graphics card mining machine. Difficult troubleshooting Compared with ASIC mining machines, graphics card mining machines involve more components and the probability of failure of each component is also higher. First of all, graphics card mining machines have more hardware and interfaces, and are easily damaged during assembly and transportation. Secondly, a graphics card mining machine may be installed with 6-8 graphics cards, and the brands and models of the graphics cards may be different. If the compatibility between the graphics cards is too poor, it may also cause failures. Also, because there are too many components, once a graphics card mining machine fails, it is necessary to screen the graphics card, power supply, motherboard, hard disk, CUP and other locations one by one to find out the problem. Not only are there more points that need to be checked by operation and maintenance, but the faults that need to be troubleshooted are also more complicated. In addition to hardware preparation, mining kernel and mining OS are essential for the operation of graphics card mining machines. The two directly affect whether the mining machine can be connected to the mining pool and the actual operating computing power of the mining machine. The mining kernel is actually the mining software that is built into the operating system. OS (operating system) is the operating system that connects the mining machine to the mining pool for mining. In the operating system, you can set the mining currency, income account, mining kernel and mining pool service. In addition, users can also manage mining machines in batches through OS. The current mainstream Ethereum mining operating systems include Fint OS, MinerOS, and Easy Miner. The picture shows the main page of Easy Miner Because the mining kernel and OS directly affect the computing power achievement rate of the graphics card mining machine, setting different voltage, power consumption, and frequency parameters will also produce different results. Therefore, an excellent operation and maintenance personnel must have the ability to quickly adjust the graphics card overclocking parameters to quickly reach the computing power standard. 03 Summarize It can be said that to some extent, the complexity of the graphics card mining machine components determines the difficulty of graphics card mining machine operation and maintenance. As the saying goes, a single move affects the entire body , and a single failure will cause the mining machine to be paralyzed. However, this does not mean that the operation of graphics card mining machines must be unstable. It is just that compared with ASIC mining machines, the operation and maintenance of graphics card mining machines definitely requires a more professional team that can quickly identify problems. Therefore, an excellent graphics card operation and maintenance engineer is extremely rare, has a higher salary, and is a treasure in the hands of every mining farm. |
