Part 2 : Strategies for buying NEW parts for your rig
The price you pay for your mining rig parts is the most important part of starting life as a miner. Everyone is eager to jump in and wants to throw money at it right away. This is a terrible strategy. Remember that every dollar you spend is another dollar you will have to earn mining in order to break even. I will share how I approach purchasing various components and the long-range mentality I take going into the process.
Spend time watching prices and getting familiar with components
What to buy is as important as how much one pays. A new miner should spend weeks researching parts and checking prices daily. There is a wide variety of brands and models for all of the components and the range in quality is wide. First decide what you want, then determine what the market is for the parts and how much you will have to pay to get a “good deal”. Many miners have differing opinions on brands and models. Consulting other miners for their opinions is important, but ultimately the decision is up to the individual miner.
Never pay full price for any component
This basic principal should always be in the forefront when buying the parts for a mining rig. This holds true independently of where one is shopping. If shopping on Amazon, wait for a percentage discount, on Newegg wait for a sale, on craigslist simply never offer full listed price.
Where to find mining parts
⦁ Amazon: A good site to compare prices and frequent % off coupons.
⦁ Newegg: Great sales and daily deals, sign up for the email deals.
⦁ Ebay: Both new and used components and also offers occasional coupons
⦁ Rakuten: Less frequent deals found here, with Rakuten cash rewarded.
⦁ B&H Photo: Occasional deals on smaller parts.
⦁ EVGA: Features weekly deals and “B-stock” deals that can be very enticing
⦁ Zotac: Many very good refurbished card deals.
⦁ Fry’s: If there is a store in your area, they have many deals.
⦁ Microcenter: Did somebody say “open box”?
It is ok to buy refurbished or re-manufatured parts?
There are two advantages of buying re-manufatured or refurbished parts directly from the manufacturer:
1) The items are lower in price than the brand new item.
2) They are usually backed by the company that manufactured them and have some warranty remaining.
Zotac and EVGA are two manufacturers that offer these deals and often extend the warranty to cover them. Make sure that the part is refurbished by the manufacturer. If any individual seller claims that the part is refurbished, consider that part to be used and value it as such.
There are some parts that you should buy new
Most miners agree that the single most common point of failure is a bad riser. You should always buy new risers when building a new rig. There is no consensus, but some believe that power supplies and motherboards are other parts should only be purchased new. I generally agree with this, I always have purchased new motherboards but I have purchased used power supplies. You must always compare the risk of a bad part with the price that you are paying. Incidentally, when pricing a used rig, I only consider the GPUs in the price I will pay as other components can be risky.
Minimize the cost of items that do not contribute to mining
The physical rig frame and any lighting are examples of items that can add unnecessary cost to a rig. Flexing by adding bling to the rig for twitter posts is fun, but can end up adding to additional dollars to the return on investment (ROI). Minimize the cost of items that are purchased to enhance the rig’s appearance, performance of the part should be the only consideration provided that it meets the needs of the physical structure. Buying a mining rig should be based on function; does it accommodate all of the rig’s GPUs and allow for proper airflow. Many miners including me, have used milk crates as a 5 GPU rig frame. I really liked using them and the cost was minimal. Always remember that the main goal is to run a profitable mining operation.
Timing is everything
If you are in a hurry to buy a newly released GPU then you are going to pay a premium. Be patient when buying any component and monitor prices for a month or two in order to determine a good price. Once a fair price is determined, be ready to act when the sales are posted. Many of the best deals are gone at the end of the day that they are launched. Be patient when waiting for the sale, be an aggressive buyer when the opportunity arises.
The price paid for parts often limits the long-term viability of a mining rig. With some attention and patience, it is possible to limit the impact that the costs of the components have on the success of a miner
The next article will outline my approach to buying mining equipment on the used market.
