How to build the rack mount style open air rigs

TonyHydeTonyHyde UKMember Posts: 33
edited August 2017 in Mining
For this i will start with, ... I have tried the conventional style with the MB and PSU under the GPUS and even though compact i do not like the heat and air flow. Even with fans i could not get the temps down to nice values. with my rack design i get 60 Deg C Avg per rig on about 75 - 80% fan speed, i use 10x MSI RADEON RX580 ARMOR 8GB, 6 per rig. These images shows an unfinished rig ready for components to be added and the base to be cut and drilled !





This design can hold up to 8 GPU, Full ATX size MB and Dual PSU and i have a slit cut under the MB 8-9 by 1 inch for use of a stacking system..

The width of the unit will hold 4x 120mm Fans front and mid, (Front of the GPUs and Behind the GPUs) sucking air from the front and sucking out from the GPUs at the back.

As you can see from my incomplete or unfinished rack there are 2 rigs, but these two are in the stacking configuration. 4 GPUs and 8 Fans with 1 PSU all controlled bu the unit under.



Parts list in materials is as follows for one rig.

All in millimeters (mm)

1x 90 x 21 x 21 OR 1x 90 x 20 x 20 Wooden Bars
1x 235 x 21 x 21 OR 1x 235 x 20 x 20 Wooden Bars
4x 641 x 21 x 21 OR 4x 641 x 20 x 20 Wooden Bars
5x 482 x 21 x 21 OR 5x 482 x 20 x 20 Wooden Bars
4x 120 x 21 x 21 OR 4x 120 x 20 x 20 Wooden Bars
2x 120 x 42 x 21 OR 2x 120 x 40 x 20 Wooden Bars
2x 264 x 21 x 21 OR 2x 264 x 20 x 20 Wooden Bars
1x 641 x 524 x 6 OR 1x 641 x 522 x 6 MDF Sheet

The reason behind the 21x21 is that the diy shop local to me does not do the 20x20 so the base size is adjusted accordingly.

The first 2 items 90 and the 235 are for the back at the base for the IO on the MB you can see this gap in the picture above.

The 120's are the pillars or stilts all around the unit.

The 6mm thick sheet is the perfect strength for the weight of the components once mounted.






The parts and plan for the rack will come soon once i have completed my prototype. :smile:
Post edited by TonyHyde on
«1

Comments

  • TonyHydeTonyHyde UKMember Posts: 33
    edited August 2017

    Next...
    Post edited by TonyHyde on
  • bctopicsbctopics Member Posts: 333 ✭✭
    Looking good dude! Look forward to seeing the rest!
  • TonyHydeTonyHyde UKMember Posts: 33
    A short video to show the 5 rigs and an incomplete rack.

    https://goo.gl/photos/oQsPBi5nWdoDWf8X9
  • SIRacer09SIRacer09 Member Posts: 246 ✭✭
    Dang, this looks awesome. Great work!
  • SIRacer09SIRacer09 Member Posts: 246 ✭✭
    @TonyHyde

    Frist, great write-up. Rigs look amazing! I was thinking about tackling this as a project of my own. Might start on gathering everything this week. I had a few questions.

    1. What kind of wood is it? Pine?
    2. Did you pre-drill holes to help with wood splitting?
    3. How long are the screws that you used? I've had trouble in the past with wood splitting from to large of screws.
    4. Do you think this design would work well with the reference style cards?

    Thanks!
  • TonyHydeTonyHyde UKMember Posts: 33
    ok these are good questions...
    1, its pine you can pick that up from b&q or any diy store really.. (the base i6 6mm MDF)
    2, yes all holes are pre drilled 1 - 1.5 mm smaller than the screws.. of course.
    3, 2 sets, 4x20 and 4x50 both wood self tapping.
    4, they should do, the cards i use are the rx580 Armor OC 8g which are about the same length, but you can google the size...




  • KlintistwoodKlintistwood Member Posts: 142
    @TonyHyde What kind of temperature do you get for each GPU when they are working? I also thought of building this type of ring but the issue is that fan suck warm air from the back of other GPU.
  • TonyHydeTonyHyde UKMember Posts: 33
    edited August 2017
    In the current configuration it's all open... but i have plans to complete my rack with walls and an extractor at the back with a door at the front with a carbon filter..

    Because the CPU is not fully loaded the temp air flow running over in this config is an avg of 45 which in anycase is not all that good. how ever thinking of the air flow here its only for the GPU and not the whole rig. adding sucking fans to the back of the unit will drop the temp deffo.

    However with mine i will be doing more, as said before above. :smile:

    Currently...

    Post edited by TonyHyde on
  • KlintistwoodKlintistwood Member Posts: 142
    @TonyHyde Thanks! Your rig is almost a piece of art, it's nice to look at :) I have ordered some aluminium profiles to build mine but my experiment show that having GPU in a vertical position next to each other is more effective. I have temps between 45 and 54 degres with all GPUs at 100% (and no extra fan). The problem with an horizontal setup is that heat produced by the back of the GPU is being sucked immediately into the fan of the next GPU in line.
  • TonyHydeTonyHyde UKMember Posts: 33
    edited August 2017
    Thats the prob i had with no fans, the reason for my design is that the fans create the airflow passing the GPU, the thing is that the design relies on the next rig above to "LID" the top.. so the one on top has the is the lid for the one below. as for the top one, the lid of the rack. thus creating a proper airflow, however like i said, this is not complete yet, i will be boxing the rack with a front and a back door, the front will have the carbon filter, and the back will have a 300mm sucking fan, with the extractor tube.. maybe 2, i have not completed the calculations yet... :smiley:

    There are other airflow problems that i solved with the base of the unit.
    This design can be used in many different configurations. Stacking or Single rigs or even slide in a rack. The rig it self can be used as single PSU / Dual PSU and a FULL ATX MB.. lots of fan space and air flow if the fans are configured correctly. :wink:
    Post edited by TonyHyde on
  • KlintistwoodKlintistwood Member Posts: 142
    @TonyHyde Thanks for the explanation. I'm curious to see how much fans can lower the temperature. I also thought of using thermal pads at the back of GPU and attach a heatsink behind. That could help dissipation too.
  • TonyHydeTonyHyde UKMember Posts: 33
    edited August 2017
    For the mods applied to make the rigs stackable and the handles to pull from rack..




    There is another mod coming, which is to put the power switch and led at the front of the rigs..

    So far so good on the rack box, all thats left is to angle grind the screws sticking out and drill and cut the door to support filters, extractor fan and electrical wiring.

    THE VIDEO is my rack so far.

    https://goo.gl/photos/ohW8rUQSATPqrQj28
  • SIRacer09SIRacer09 Member Posts: 246 ✭✭
    @TonyHyde This looks really good! I've got 3 rigs that I'm going to start swapping to this configuration. Right now they are all over the place. This looks like a really good way of consolidating everything into a nice package. Got caught up at work, but with the long weekend, I think I'll hit up my local Lowes and grab some supplies. Thanks for keeping us updated on your progress. Looks great!
  • TonyHydeTonyHyde UKMember Posts: 33
    edited August 2017
    unfortunately i have not any specs for the rack on wheels and as i mentioned it's not complete yet, it still needs the extractor and the electrics with a filter on the front door..

    I also have a facebook group for this rack and rigs :

    https://www.facebook.com/groups/325657744554167/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel


    I will get around to do this once completed. :smile:
  • KlintistwoodKlintistwood Member Posts: 142
    @TonyHyde thanks for sharing. By the fan, how did you plug so many fans? Are they connected to your motherboard?
  • TonyHydeTonyHyde UKMember Posts: 33
    The airflow fans are not pwm controlled, they are powered and run directly from the PSU.
  • TonyHydeTonyHyde UKMember Posts: 33
    Finishing Parts have come i will be continuing the project soon, keep an eye out. :)
  • TonyHydeTonyHyde UKMember Posts: 33
    edited October 2017
    OK here is a video of the rack still not complete but 99% done. so the front door has the back air filter however i need to figure a good way of stretching and mounting to the door. the 300mm fan @ 1400-1500 rpm has enough air flow and next to no resistance from the exhaust the back has a plastic 450 x 450 x 150 grilli box with a 300mm round hole, then i have a 300mm to 150mm reducer for the pipe, however you dont have to have the reducer if you want, you can get a 300mm flexi pipe. :smile:

    PS i know i said the temp will drop down to 10 deg, but what i mean was that it will drop my temps down by 10 deg. :blush:

    https://www.facebook.com/groups/325657744554167/permalink/348787905574484/

    https://photos.app.goo.gl/aKesSb3PtKZLE8oU2
    Post edited by TonyHyde on
  • TonyHydeTonyHyde UKMember Posts: 33
    edited October 2017
    OK here is a video of the rack still not complete but 99% done. so the front door has the back air filter however i need to figure a good way of stretching and mounting to the door. the 300mm fan @ 1400-1500 rpm has enough air flow and next to no resistance from the exhaust the back has a plastic 450 x 450 x 150 grilli box with a 300mm round hole, then i have a 300mm to 150mm reducer for the pipe, however you dont have to have the reducer if you want, you can get a 300mm flexi pipe. :smile:

    PS i know i said the temp will drop down to 10 deg, but what i mean was that it will drop my temps down by 10 deg.. :blush:

    https://photos.app.goo.gl/XsrgxZN9Isrc6ZMS2





  • KlintistwoodKlintistwood Member Posts: 142
    @TonyHyde you're an artist :) have you measured your temps since you have installed the big fan?
  • TonyHydeTonyHyde UKMember Posts: 33
    no no, haven't yet finished the wiring, but i will and i will post the results
  • TonyHydeTonyHyde UKMember Posts: 33
    Completed and was on a test run, will send pics and video soon, but there was an issue with air flow and temps, now sorted but i will have think of a better exhaust system. grrrr... temps are now 8- 9 deg C lower.
  • KlintistwoodKlintistwood Member Posts: 142
    @TonyHyde 8-9°C lower is a lot! What is your room temperature? My room temperature is around 24°C and my GPUs are between 45 and 55 now with the open rig I've built. Unfortunately my room is small (+/- 10m²) and well insulated (and that keeps the warmth inside).
  • TonyHydeTonyHyde UKMember Posts: 33
    edited October 2017
    I will take a picture of it tomorrow with a video so you can see, but my avg temp is 56.59 (C) .. :smiley:
  • TonyHydeTonyHyde UKMember Posts: 33
    ok i have a new video no speech..

    Its shows 2 x 16amp rate mains cable and 1x cat6 to a switch inside.
    2 x 6 point extensions rated @ 13amp (each rig uses 2x points)

    the switch is a gigabit 8 port netgear which will do the job, the fan draws 100w
    you see the total about 19XX.XX Watts so take 100 and some for the switch and that the 2 rigs usage.

    My temps in a warm room by the window still dropped to an avg of 56.69 deg C. so i got the temps dropped by 8-9 by boxing and exhausting. i still need to think about the exhaust going out side but a back box and reducer with flexi piping does not work this actually raised the temps by 10 deg C. what was happening is the back box was collecting edge bow and the reducer cause air pressure. in turn some hot air was being blow back into the rig and rotated :neutral:

    https://photos.app.goo.gl/FYCWszLvAcSTw0Ux2

  • TonyHydeTonyHyde UKMember Posts: 33
    My next step is to build the water cooling pipe works for the rack, however the cooling system it self will be an external box, i will keep you posted.. :smile:
  • Jroc4653Jroc4653 Member Posts: 2
    Awesome build Tony. Thanks for sharing. Have you wrote about modding your gpus bios anywhere? I use the same armor 8GB and I’m having a heck of a time getting past high 27’s. Any info would be great. I’m going to try to mimic these rack. Thanks
  • TonyHydeTonyHyde UKMember Posts: 33
    edited January 2018
    Hi there, yes i use a custom bios flashed with the Atiflash app, and clocks in Ethos config. you can get around 31 - 32 per card but the power consumption is high and of course strain on the cards along with heat. I extend the life of my cards by tune - ing it down a little.

    In the config i use:

    globalminer claymore
    stratumproxy enabled
    proxywallet YOURETHERADDRESS.RIGNAME
    proxypool1 eu1.ethermine.org:4444
    proxypool2 us1.ethermine.org:4444
    flags --farm-recheck 200 -esm 0 -estale 0 -mode 1 -asm 1 -dcri 20 -cvddc 900 -cclock 1200 -mclock 2150
    globalcore 1200
    globalmem 2150
    globalfan 70
    maxgputemp 70
    globalpowertune 4

    And for the bios i use "Armor580Samsung+Hynix1300-925mv.2175-1040mvKombi.rom" see if you can google it.

    this gives me 30 per card (29.75) and good temps, with the samsung memory hashrate is a little slower with (29.43)

    Tested power tune at 7 and get 31+ per card but the watts per MH is a LOT higher.


  • TonyHydeTonyHyde UKMember Posts: 33
    So far so good here is the vid : https://photos.app.goo.gl/htwZOW7TcK4nn3Xi1

    And some pics..






  • rmhrmh Member Posts: 410 ✭✭✭
    Good work! :)

    I'm also using wood for building rigs, and i got frequently the critic about fire hazard.
    What was your considerations about this?
Sign In or Register to comment.