AMD A6-5400K + 4x HD 7970

[PP Mguire]

He doesn't need CPU power for this, only a board with enough slots for all the cards. The board you linked only has 2 slots and the 1x slots aren't open ended so they won't work.

Going with an Intel Celeron the CPU would only cost about 40 or so bucks and get the job done while being on a platform that has boards designed for what he wants to do. Makes it cheaper than buying a 100+ dollar FX quad and then spending on a high end 990FX board.
On that note to the OP, you could get a board with open ended 1x slots which would also get the job done if you could find one. 2 16x slots and 2 1x open slots.

 

[-RockMan-]

He doesn't need CPU power for this, only a board with enough slots for all the cards. The board you linked only has 2 slots and the 1x slots aren't open ended so they won't work.

Going with an Intel Celeron the CPU would only cost about 40 or so bucks and get the job done.

Sorry but read my last post, its the reason why I put the links up for him to see closely.

Read this abit mguire, I don't think any manufacturers have come out with a board that can crossfire 4 cards yet.

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1736205/fm2-motherboard-supports-sli.html

Have a look at this also:
Allstarshop.com - Gigabyte GA-F2A75M-D3H AMD A75 Socket FM2 microATX motherboard

If he still wants to op for the fm2 I recommend he do so.
Kingston HyperX Blu 2GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model KHX1600C9AD3B1/2G - Newegg.com

Free shipping on the rise and it at 1600mhz which is recommended by amd.
If he likes he can upgrade from that cpu he was looking at and opt in for this:
Newegg.com - AMD A4-6300 Richland 3.7GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) Socket FM2 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor AMD Radeon HD 8370D AD6300OKHLBOX

Lastly what I recommend for both amd and intel craptistic heatsinks:
ARCTIC MX4 Thermal Paste - 4gram - Newegg.com

X2 for 20.00 bucks, one bottl will have enough for 4 cpu applying.
Another one 6 months into next year whens it time to change it.

Mguire I love you like a bro, but the celeron for intel ?
No man, I rather you toss him a good valued pentium series.
I like a the celeron series alot, but something tells me that isn't the one he may need for his machines.

:/

Later.

 

[PP Mguire]

I already said in my first post they don't make FM2/FM2+ boards with 4 slots so he has to use something else regardless. Hence the reason why I said what I said. This rig does not need CPU power at all to mine if he's only using GPUs. A Celeron is plenty powerful enough for what he wants to do. He also lives in Canada and wants to pick up locally so Newegg links don't work here.

 

[Merkwürdigeliebe]

CPU: Canada Computers | CPU | Intel Pentium G3220 Dual-Core Processor | Socket LGA1150, 3.00Ghz, 4MB L3 Cache, 22nm | (Retail Boxed) Gen4 (BX80646G3220)

MOBO: Canada Computers | Motherboards | Gigabyte GA-Z87X-OC Socket 1150 Intel Z87 Chipset | Dual Channel DDR3 2933(O.C.) MHz, 2x PCI-Express 3.0 x16 | Giga LAN, 6x SATA 6.0Gb/s, 10x USB 3.0 | Display Port/Mini DP/HDMI, ATX

RAM: Canada Computers | Memory | Mushkin Stealth 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1600MHz CL9 DIMMs (997069S)

PSU: Canada Computers | Power Supplies | Seasonic X-1250 Fully Modular 80PLUS Gold 1250W PSU (SS-1250XM Active PFC F3)

SSD: Canada Computers | Solid State Drives | SanDisk 64GB SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (SSD). Read: 490MB/s Write: 240MB/s (SDSSDP-064G-G25)

This is my final build for $780. Plus I'll have to add a mix of HD 7970, and/or R9 280X which I'm getting second hand from anywhere between $300-$400.

Anything I overlooked?

 

[PP Mguire]

Does a mine rig really need an SSD? Seems like an unnecessary cost to me. Same question I ask about 16GB of RAM. Idk how big the file sizes are that get stored in RAM during crunching though.

 

[patonb]

I mean for local pick up.

(btw, it's been a while. I think you used to have the avatar like a pedestrian sign but with a guy on a computer?)

holy ****, I just realized it was you... NCIX is opening in Ottawa btw.

You need to really check out that z87 board, ncix has one for 209 but it says only n3 way sli then another for nearly 400ish and it says 4 sli.

 

[PP Mguire]

holy ****, I just realized it was you... NCIX is opening in Ottawa btw.

You need to really check out that z87 board, ncix has one for 209 but it says only n3 way sli then another for nearly 400ish and it says 4 sli.

He's not doing SLI or Crossfire. 4 7970/280x's for mining.

 

[Merkwürdigeliebe]

It is essentially crossfire no? Or can the cards be referenced separately by mining programs regardless of whether or not they are set up for crossfire? (because that would be sick).

I'm kinda getting my feet wet all the while keeping face to make an extra buck. So bear with me haha. An SEO friend of mine hooked me up with this investor and he potentially wants a lot more rigs (ready to put down money for 10 of them after this proof of concept) and he also wants me as a partner for hardware maintenance and troubleshooting. So this is a really big opportunity for me to make a pretty penny while I finish school. Besides a flat rate for setup and maintenance, I'm also getting a small percentage in perpetuity from the Litecoins farmed too! He has an arrangement for cheap electricity (already "cheap" as it is in Quebec), so all that's important is hashrate. We've crunched the numbers and we should still come out ahead.

The ssd is for simplicity's sake. I know we can boot Linux off of a USB drive, ah... maybe I'll do that actually. He's happy with the costs as it sits, but I think showing him I'm trimming costs is a sign of good intent.

If he's satisfied with the POC, I will definitely trim the fat, order everything online, minimize parts, etc. Right now I got slammed with a harsh deadline and running through tons of local channels just to get what I need to get things running and reasonably within budget.

As for the 16GB of ram, I've read that you have to match total system memory to total video memory plus an allowance for 7xxx series and later to optimize thread concurrency rates.

 

[PP Mguire]

If it works anything like folding then it uses each card seperately.

 

[patonb]

It does run independently... Wasn't sure if the cheaper board had 4 pci-es... just hate to see a bad buy.