It Is All About BTC, LTC, ETH, DOGE, KAS mining as well as other alternative crypto currencies
We have been playing around with the AsRock H110 Pro BTC+ motherboard for crypto mining with support for up to 13x GPUs and we can already share some feedback based on our experience with it. So far we have tried running the motherboard with thirteen Nvidia GPUs of the same model – namely GeForce GTX 1070 under Windows and Linux. AsRock recommends that you use a mixed combination of 8 + 5 GPUs under Windows and we can confirm that we were not able to make more than 8x GTX 1070 GPUs work properly under Windows. Adding a 9th or more video cards makes Windows unstable and even if the driver gets properly installed as soon as we run a miner the system freezes, running multiple instances of miners on just a few cards each does not help. With Linux-based mining distributions however we had no trouble running the motherboard just fine with all 13x Nvidia GPUs out of the box.
Running 13x GPUs on a single motherboard brings up a lot of potential problems with you connecting everything up and making it work. It does require more space than a regular rig designed for just 6 to 8 GPUs, even though we actually managed for squeeze 12x GTX 1070 GPUs in such a rig for the sake of testing only, the last card was a bit too much however, so it remained on the top of the frame. Again this setup was just for testing things up and not for a production mining rig that will run 24/7, so make sure you have a larger frame for 13x GPUs when using the AsRock H110 Pro BTC+ motherboard.
AS expected the power supply is one of the biggest issues with 13x GPU mining rig and more specifically the number of available connectors that are needed to provide power to the GPUs and the PCI-E extenders. We have used a 2000W Leadex power supply that has plenty of connectors and even then they were not enough for all the GPUs. 12 of the GTX 1070 cards were with a single 8-pin PCI-E power and only the 13th was with a single 8-pin and 6-pin power connector…
Even the 2000W Leadex PSU does not have that many 8-pin PCI-E power connectors, not to mention the need of SATA/Molex power connectors for the extenders per power line to be on the safe side. You are looking at minimum two power supplies with enough power connectors and try to avoid using power splitting cables, apart from maybe a second 12V CPU line that can be safely used for provide one or two extra PCI-E power connectors (depending on the PSU). Going for video cards that have two PCI-E power connectors or need more than about 150W of power is not a wise thing for this motherboard as things will get even more complicated.
There were some concerns regarding the PCI-E connectors on the motherboard placed too close to each other and possibly shorting when you insert the PCI-E extenders in them. It seems however that this is actually not an issue, even with connectors being dangerously close and pushing them by hand they are still not shorting – the USB connectors are saving the day by touching each other and preventing shorts. Still with the varying type and size of USB cables used with PCI-E extenders it will still be wise to put some insulation tape on the back of the small PCI-E boards that go into the PCI-E slots just to be on the safe side.
AsRock H110 Pro BTC+ comes pre-configured in the BIOS and is ready to start mining without any additional changes needed from the users. Of course you might still want to enable the automatic Power On function after power loss for example and do some minor tweaks yourself, but even if you just install the GPUs and turn on the power it should work out of the box. This is really important thing for mining motherboards to make the life of miners easier and not to have them go through many settings and change them in order to make thing work properly for more GPUs.
As already mentioned we were not able to get more than 8x Nvidia GTX 1070 GPUs work properly under Windows and at the same time we did not have any trouble with some Linux-based mining distributions we have tried. So 8 + 5 GPUs of different kinds (Nvidia/AMD) under Windows, but no 13x of the same kind seems to be possible for the moment, at least not out of the box and with any of the tweaks we have tried to make things work. With Linux no problems with just 6 or 8 or the full house with 13x GPUs, all worked just fine and mined without problems. You can try the KopiemTu Linux mining distribution, or the more recent nvOC distribution. While for Linux-based 13x AMD GPU mining rigs you might want to try the ethOS Mining OS or the more recent rxOC distribution.
We are yet to try using the AsRock H110 Pro BTC+ motherboard With 13x AMD GPUs, but we are expecting to see the same problem under Windows as with the Nvidia GPUs and a problem free experience when using a Linux-based mining distribution or if you manage to install Linux yourself and make it usable for mining (this usually requires more advanced users). While a mixed setup of AMD and Nvidia GPUS user Windows may seem like an interesting idea we are not that much fans of such setups as in our opinion they are more prone to potential problems. Still feel free to experiment and try it out yourselves even with a mixed setup of GPUs if you insist on staying on Windows and using 13x GPUs.
The use of the AsRock H110 Pro BTC+ crypto mining motherboard seems to present more challenges and with the shortages of GPUs and other hardware it can be even more difficult to build properly a 13x GPU mining rig. Still it offers an interesting opportunity for miners that are building AMD Ethereum mining rigs or Nvidia ones with the mid-range cards such as GTX 1060 or GTX 1070. The only problem at the moment with this particular motherboard is that it is nowhere to be found at the recommended prices and at the places you can buy it is at speculative price that is pretty much double than what it should normally cost. The speculative high price can be a deal breaker as well for many users that are considering using this motherboard for 13x GPU mining rigs.
17 Responses to Trying Out the AsRock H110 Pro BTC+ With 13x GTX 1070
Bensam123
July 18th, 2017 at 16:01
Seems like some of these newer boards are sort of a joke. Please consider testing more of the newer ‘BTC’ boards. I recently bought a TB350, which you would think works out of the box with a full six GPUs, but it doesn’t. Lots of tweaking and can’t get the sixth Nvidia GPU stable on it. From what I’ve read AMD works fine, but I’ve heard nothing about Nvidia except my own personal experience.
Silly to buy a board meant for mining and end up with the same problems as normal boards.
admin
July 18th, 2017 at 17:01
It seems that Biostar hasn’t quite caught up to what a motherboard intended for crypto mining should be… like what AsRock does with their Pro BTC motherboards.
Okkoh
July 18th, 2017 at 18:09
Better than Kopiemtu, Simplemining offers recently an Nvidia (beta) version
pm7
July 18th, 2017 at 20:32
If you need Windows for mining, maybe check VGAPassthrough?
You could probably make a couple of Windows virtual machines and expose limited number of GPU to any single OS.
Of course, you should have as many Windows licenses as virtual machines that you run simultaneously. :)
And it might be too difficult for typical miner.
Bensam123
July 19th, 2017 at 00:06
Yeah, I agree about Asrock being a little bit more mature then Biostar. They don’t offer a AM4 socket yet though for Cryptomining and just randomly buying one of their AM4 boards is a good way to end up in the scenario I’m in where that sixth GPU wont work properly.
admin
July 19th, 2017 at 00:36
AM4 is not yet ready for its use in crypto mining rigs, it is not the motherboard (maybe) it is the CPUs… Ryzen 5 and 7 are just too expensive to be used for mining rigs compared to the cheap Intel Celerons. AMD needs to release cheaper AM4 APUs and that might spark some interest in using AM4 motherboards, not only models meant for crypto mining, but for the moment the expensive AM4 CPUs are a real deal breaker.
Bensam123
July 19th, 2017 at 03:41
I’m not using them for common rigs, putting aside using the extra partitioned cores (affinity) for mining a currency such as Monero, I use them for servers and PoS in addition to doing GPU mining on the side. It’s not a normal every day buy.
You can’t beat Ryzens for the price when you need CPU power.
admin
July 19th, 2017 at 13:07
In this case it makes sense to go for Ryzen, but most miners building GPU mining rigs don’t need CPU power and the Ryzen 5/7 available currently options are not interesting for them.
Tulsa Tim
July 20th, 2017 at 06:49
I needed to replace motherboard so bought one of these as opposed to sourcing a 6 GPU rig. I have only used Windows and AMD GPUs, at least so far. I was going to see if I can use two frames kind of back to back and stick with the low power RX400 series miners. I only have 8 of those now though. So I’ll see if I can get them to work and then maybe buy an Nvidia, of which I know nothing. Does Nvidia have a line of lower power miners similar to the AMD RX series?
Cryptocore
July 24th, 2017 at 21:02
While it’s great, that there are some Linux OS derivates supporting 13 GPU rigs, which miners support them? Claymore supports just up to 10. Is there any mining software supporting 13 GPU rigs without users having to rely upon multiple instances of the software?
Thanks!
Krizztoff
August 9th, 2017 at 20:00
have 6 rx 560 and 7 rx 460. I have had noting but trouble. Ive tested every port and every single card separately to rule out bad risers, usb etc. They all work individualy, but put them in and I have some power up, some dont some crash windows.
At present the best I got was all 13 for a stunning 5 seconds and then BSOD.
Filko
September 28th, 2017 at 16:49
Just got 5 windforce 1070 for asrock 110. Trying to install driver but it can not detect NVIDIAs. Do you have some tips that I could try?
admin
September 28th, 2017 at 16:57
Try first with just 1 card connected directly to the motherboard, not via an extender.
Maxime Labelle
November 19th, 2017 at 12:35
How many hashrate you were able to do so far?
John Small
January 12th, 2018 at 17:37
I’m extremely impressed that you could get 13 1070s running on this in Ubuntu 16.04. I’ve had nothing but problems.
1) Very hard to get the cards recognised. A lot of plugging, unpluggin, and plugging back in of riser cables before it would see all of my cards
2) Serious problems with broadcast storms which would take out my network. I’m using a wi-fi access point with 3 other rigs, wi-fied to my main router. Any time I start mining with the H110 it would kill the connection between the access point and my main router.
I’m still trying to find a way around this. Other people have had similar issues so I know I’m not mad see https://www.reddit.com/r/EtherMining/comments/6xkau1/simplemining_os_with_5_or_6_gtx_1070s_makes/
Hope I don’t have to shift to Windows 10 (extra expense and super painful)
Robert Fowler
May 21st, 2018 at 04:38
I’m using Xubuntu 16.04.3, but I’m a novice when it comes to Linux. I’d prefer to stay with Ubuntu, but my lack of experience has caused a few problems. When I put in more than 6 cards I lose the GUI and I have to go into a command line interface by holding down the shift key on booting. Is there any way around this problem and/or Do I need a different version of Ubuntu?
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