In a meantime i did read some issues with people not being able to install an OS from USB (who used DVD rom these days ?) and some other stuff ....

http://1stminingrig.com/gigabyte-ga-h110-d3a-review-the-new-best-motherboard-for-mining/

What about the Gigabyte h110-d3a ?

A lot cheaper than the Asrock and it looks like it was made for mining aswell.
Don't see many miners using it though.

1x 750 in the rack and had 1x 1400W outside and could get all the air it needed Just had 1 and then 2x 390 on the 1400W but no joy for long.

So many F******* variables to work out.
I do regret getting into mining as i did invest gradually as it worked out great with 1 card, then added another, then another, PSU, etc and then things took a turn. Now can't get it stable with just 1.

Will try changing the intensity and if that doesn't work i will need to format the C: partition and do a clean install and go with Windows10 this time. It is my main machine so not looking forward to it as i need to copy, backup, move so many files because there will be no going back after that. 

Good question !
I had issues before as i had a OZC 500W and just 1 390 and a 7950 which was too much.
Upgraded to a OZC 750W and no issues, even with 2x 390. I added the 7950 using the seperate 500W and worked well
Added the 3rd 390 and then it was an issue again so i got an used 1400W Antec psu and no worries.

All well and after days it all started falling apart with data errors and lock ups. Removed cards, changed risers.
Let 2 cards out, went back to 750 and 500W config ... Then back to just 1 390 and 750W and no joy for long.

Hence why i am lost and it looks like i need to go back to the start.
Strange that i was mining for 2 weeks with 3x390 and no issues at all and now nothing seems stable.

Thanks, i will do that !
Any recommendations for a good Driver cleaner prior to installing the Blockchain optimized drivers ?
I know the Radeon software is supposed to remove the old ones but after installing about 6 - 7 driver sets i am sure it's not all squeeky clean.

i am even contemplating to format the PC and start over from scratch, but i would like to attempt a proper cleaning if possible to save a lot of time.

Thank you for responding !

NO, they are all bonestock ... Well, i think they are.
Funny thing is that 2 of them are identical MSI's yet 1 is running 1040mhz while the other at 1000Mhz .. In the radeon settings they are identical (apart from the core clock value).
Anyway to flash them to 100% factory default just to make sure ?
The other one btw is a 1025mhz Gigabyte windforce.

Any Claymore version you recommend ?  What about Radeon drivers ? (There are so many and usually the latest are not always the best for an older card like the 390.

Thank you for the Watchdog USB, didn't know such a device existed !  I am a Novice in mining so that probably explains.

Guys, i am rocking 3x R9 390's and i can't seem to troubleshoot it anymore.

Issue:  Getting the GPU returned incorrect data!   Message which freezes the system rendering further mining useless.
Happens sometimes after 30 minutes and sometimes after days.

Seems to happening to GPU0 the most but i switched the GPU's to no avail. Installed all sort of drivers, no avail.
Even removed a troubling GPU and then it seems okay and after some time it appeared again.

Read something about people power limiting GPU's to prevent this, any ideas ?
Any specific drivers recommend for the R9 390 ?

Btw, running Win7 64, using Nicehash Legacy but the system will also hang using claymore mining when mining any other coin.
I do NOT care about electricity, just want to have a stable system.

Who can shed a light on this please ?

I have been mining for 2 months now and i started to run into stability issues.
1 of the things is that i can now only run 2x R9 390's because when i add another one or a 7750 the system will crash within hours.

I will get the red GPU is giving errors message.
When i pull the extra R9 and the 7750 it can run for a full week without issues. This dramaticly reduces hashing power and my ROI.

Okay, i have been using an OCZ 700W psu together with a 500W psu. Tried a 1400W psu instead of the 500W but got the same results.
Troubleshooting is a bitch at this point.


My question:

Is it mandatory for all cards to receive the bus power (through Sata conector) from the mainboard PSU or doesn't that matter ?

I concur !
You get paid in btc and you can stop/pause/start at any time.
Regular mining only pays out after a block has been found, the less power you have the less chance you have to find a block.
Also the tracking is second to none, you can see the current amount in Usd or any other currency, a graphical presentation, and a prediction.
Payouts are also spot on.
Best feature is that NH will switch to whatever makes the most at that moment. With regular mining you simply dont switch that easy several times a day.

Well, it looked like removing that card solved my issues but about 24 hours down the line the miner stopped again as the computer locked up.

Think i need to start from scratch and i am not looking forward to it as i always find it a lot of work since the computer also serves as my main machine with loads of software and all.
Not just a matter of installing windows, gfx drivers, miner and go ....

Just weird that it was running perfect and these past 3 weeks it started doing this. As if a buffer is filled or something.
Btw mainly using Nicehash which worked good in my case as i could stop and stop and start it whenever i wanted to.

Maybe need to fork out more cash and get a mainboard, cpu, ram and ssd and make it standalone and install windows from scratch.

Build a rig that consists of 3x R9 390 and 1x 7950.
Started with the latter, added 1 R9 added 1 more and finally another.

Everything worked fine (Win7 64bit) eventhough i had to add a 2nd PSU (1400W) to aid my OCZ 700W psu.
These past 2 weeks things went downhill. System locked up totally, no response and had to power it off manually.
it would lock up after 2 days of mining, then some hours, very unpredictable.

I did sometimes see in the mining terminal that GPU1 had reported faults.
Tried to switch to a brandnew rise on that GPU, switch the PCI E port, even switched PCIE power cables. To no avail.
remove all AMD drivers and software, installed drivers ... No joy.

I finally left it out and the Rig has been stable for now, almost 24H and it looks like i am good now, but after this weekend i know that for sure.

Some specifics:

That problem GPU is exactly the same MSI R9 390 as one of the others, yet it runs 1000/1500mhz while the other one (problem free) runs 1040/1500.
How can they be different ?
Has the bios been altered (bought it used) ? underclocked ?

One of the fans has 1 broken blade (they are so fragile), could this have anything to do with it ? (temps are nearly the same as the other card, plus i put a 120mm fan to aid.


Any suggestions ?

It's simple ... The biggest problem is Profit !
Things like Electric costs and the continuesly raising mining difficulty will decide wether a coin is still profitable.

Also, if you have equipment already laying around that could reduce your return on investment.
You also need to be on top of your game and switch between coins as the most profit could easily change during a week.
If your starting out now and got some money to spend i would invest that right now in coins that are at a low. These past few days were perfect for that.
Within the next week you can make more profit than you could with mining for a couple of months.

I always thought electronics didn't have much wear and tear but i get the heat/cold expansion could do some damage ?
Noticed that most will advertise them as 'didn't do any mining' but you will never know for certain. Guess new would be the only wau to rules that out.

Thanks @Tunctioncloud for suggesting the PowerColor Devil 13, never knew that badboy existed. The powerdrain is indeed ridiculous but i couldn't care less (might need a serious PSU though, $$$) Could not find any for sale. Oh well.
Looking into the GTX 970 now, they seem to be for sale everywhere. Will do some research on those.

Thanks again to all people who are helping out and making suggestions !

Yeah, heard the 1080Ti before but it is very pricey right now ..... ROI would take a year probably.

What do you guys think of a R9 295x2 ?? It's old but supposed to be very powerfull and since electricity is free in my case that could be an option.
I did find some used, bot cheap ofcourse but $150 less than a 1080TI. Maybe i need to flex that budget a bit.


I am aware that you can't mine ETH forever and i might even end before i could ROI a premium GPU like the above.
Ofcourse there is plenty to be mined besides ETH. Looking at alternatives to mine would AMD or Nvidia be the choice ?

Thanks

Budget is around 350 euros  (400 dollars)
Was thinking of finding 3x HD 7970 3GB cards ...  Or is 3GB Obsolete very soon ?
I wanted to start out with 1 card, but i have space in my casing and the mobo supports it, maybe 3 cheap 7970's will net me more power in the end than just 1x R9 390.

I am just thinking out loud and a total noob. Feel free to comment if this doesn't make any sense.

Thank you all for responding !

I started looking at the 7990 but it is NOT very easy to find here in Holland. Even on Ebay in other countries you don't find them for a bargain.
I mean, they are 4 year old cards and eventhough they don't say it thet probably mined the shit out of them.

1080TI would be great but way out of my budget, they are asking crazy prices for them these days.


Would 2x crossfire HD 7970 make any sense ?  These i can find at a good price.

I am somewhat on a budget and YES free electricity where i stay so i don't care of it's a power monger.
Thanks for your advise, i will see what i can find (used) for a decent price !

For startes, I have Free electricity and not worried about fan noise.
I have a PC that i would like to use for mining, just to start out, with 1 gfx card.

Question, What would be the best GPU to get on a budget ? (looking at used cards atm)

If this works out and i regain the costs on that card i would like to add a 2nd one, and so on.
I am aware of the risers that are needed  with multiple cards, and that is not a problem.

I did do a lot of reading, but most of the time people look into cards that are also power efficient and the ones they underclock the voltage, etc.
I don't care about electricity as it free.
The AMD or Nvidia choice isn't crystal clear to me as i read a lot of different stories, just as the older AMD cards that are still performing very well yet they
can be bought used for a decent price, that sounds interesting.

I would like to hear from the people with a lot of experience here what they would buy (just 1 card, free electricity) ?

Any advise is welcome !