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 and this mining rig is currently generating between $300-500/mo of digital currency depending on the current market price of the coin you are mining (Ethereum, Monero, Zcash, etc).

 

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.

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.

ASUS PRIME H270-PLUS |  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 

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 2018. 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.  You can also check eBay or find other recommended mining GPU’s in my mining GPU comparison guide.

A close second choice for a mining 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.

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.

 

5 Minute 6 GPU Ethereum Mining Rig Assembly Video

Assembling the Custom Ethereum Mining Hardware

1. Un-package everything
2. Build / assemble the Open Air 6 GPU Mining Case
3. Install processor and RAM on motherboard
4. Plug in all riser cables
5. Place motherboard in custom open air mining rig case and connect motherboard PSU connector (leaving PSU unplugged from the wall of course)
6. Plug in SATA hard drive (or optional Linux on USB stick)
7. Connect all GPUs to riser cables and fasten them to custom case. You might need to experiment for optimal spacing to keep the cards cool.
8. Plug in all power supply connections.
9. Connect mouse, monitor and keyboard and an internet connection (I use a USB WiFi adapter)
10. Check all connections once more
11. Fire it up and install the operating system and mining software (see additional instructions below).
12. Make sure fans are fully functional. Start the mining software, tweak settings for maximum hash rates and let it run!
    

    

Motherboard, Windows and Mining Software Configuration

1. Update the motherboard to the latest BIOS using a USB thumb drive. You can find the latest BIOS for the Z170 SLI Plus motherboard here.
2. Configure Motherboard BIOS with the following settings changes:
   • Settings > Advanced > PCI subsystem Setting: PEG 0 and PEG 1 set to Gen1
   • Above 4G Decoding (cryptocurrency mining) should be set to Enabled
   • OS settings: disable Windows 7, enable Windows 10
   • Save and reboot
3. OS / DRIVERS / MINING Setup:
   1. Boot from Windows 10 USB install media (you can buy it pre-loaded or build your own on the Microsoft website).
   2. Install Windows 10 Pro x64
   3. Install Nvidia Drivers
   4. Install MSI Afterburner and set memory clock to 600, and power to 70. This will give you 30Mh/s per 1070 GPU
   5. Install any system drivers that didn’t auto-install (check device manager)
   6. Rename PC to mining worker name. Something like Minion001, Minion002, etc.
   7. Install Claymore Dual Miner, edit the config file with your Ethereum address and miner name. Drop a shortcut to the mining software .exe file in your system startup folder if you’d like to auto-start mining when Windows boots up. You can find the system startup folder in Windows 10 by going to: Start > Run  and entering ‘shell:startup’.
   8. Disable windows update using this guide.
   9. Set power profile to ‘always on’
   10. Install your favorite remote access software, especially if you plan to have more than one rig to manage.
   11. Fire up the mining rig and rake in those crypto coins!

I’ve received several questions about configuring drivers, adjusting overclocking/undervolting settings and configuring the mining software. Below, you’ll find a very brief 5 min video showing how to implement these 3 important steps in the mining rig configuration process.

Configure GPU Drivers, Overclocking & Claymore Mining Software

Something I’ve done when building out a GPU mining farm, is to do the OS/DRIVERS/MINING setup and then just clone the solid state drive using a 2 bay hard drive dock with offline clone feature built in.

Congratulations! You are now the proud operator of your very own custom built 6 GPU ethereum mining rig. Be sure to also check out our reviews of the best Litecoin mining hardware and Bitcoin mining hardware.

Sidenote: If mining isn’t your thing, and you are just interested in purchasing some cryptocurrency as part of your investment portfolio, I personally use and recommend Coinbase. I would also recommend keeping your coins safe using the Ledger Nano S hardware wallet. This hardware wallet supports all the major cryptos including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Zcash, Dash, Stratis, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, Ark, Expanse, ubiq, Pivx, Vertcoin and Viacoin. Did I miss any?