## How to build a mining rig
**(giving your motherboard beefy arms)**
***
The mining community has grown a lot recently, and there's tons of people looking to get in on this. And let's face it, building a mining rig requires a lot of work. This guide is here to make it a little easier.
### The hardware, and what it does.
***
#### General terminology.
Before we build a rig, we need to know some general computer terms. Your general mid-to-high-end machine will have these components:
* **MOBO:** The medium your parts use to talk to each other.
* **CPU:** Does the bulk of your computer's calculations.
* **RAM:** Where files are temporarily kept for quick access.
* **HDD:** Mechanical, permanent storage.
* **SSD:** Flash, permanent storage. Faster, no moving parts.
* **GPU:** Does the calculations it uses to paint your screen.
* **PSU:** Converts wall electricity into usable power.
* **Case:** Encloses all the hardware.
#### General mining hardware.
Miners utilize the same components, but there are a few differences in how:
* **MOBO:** You do not need a high-end motherboard.
* **CPU:** You do not need a high-end CPU.
* **RAM:** Amnt needed depends on your OS and mining software.
* **HDD:** You do not need a lot of storage for mining.
* **SSD:** Beneficial because it uses less electricity.
* **GPU:** Will be used for crunch the scrypt algorithm for mining.
* **PSU:** Do not skip out on quality to save $$$
* **Case:** Not always used due to heat and # of GPUs.
### How to choose parts.
***
Mining has its specific things to look for in components that are different than when you're building on office or gaming computer. Keep in mind we'll be building a mining computer that you probably won't be using for daily use.
#### Your Motherboard (MOBO) and Central Processing Unit (CPU)
As mentioned above, you really don't need a top-of-the-line MOBO and CPU for a mining rig. This is because mining on a processor is not cost-effective, meaning we won't be stressing the motherboard with huge OCs on our CPU. Everything will be done on our graphics card(s), and graphics cards have their own PCB. However, there are a couple of things to look for:
##### PCI-Express (PCI-e) slots.
PCI-e slots are one form of your motherboard's peripheral expansion slots [[pic]](http://networking.ringofsaturn.com/PC/pc_slots.gif). Your graphics cards will go here. As you can see in the picture, there are two types of PCI-e connectors.
* **PCI-e x1:** Too small to fit
* **PCI-e x16:**
**(giving your motherboard beefy arms)**
***
The mining community has grown a lot recently, and there's tons of people looking to get in on this. And let's face it, building a mining rig requires a lot of work. This guide is here to make it a little easier.
### The hardware, and what it does.
***
#### General terminology.
Before we build a rig, we need to know some general computer terms. Your general mid-to-high-end machine will have these components:
* **MOBO:** The medium your parts use to talk to each other.
* **CPU:** Does the bulk of your computer's calculations.
* **RAM:** Where files are temporarily kept for quick access.
* **HDD:** Mechanical, permanent storage.
* **SSD:** Flash, permanent storage. Faster, no moving parts.
* **GPU:** Does the calculations it uses to paint your screen.
* **PSU:** Converts wall electricity into usable power.
* **Case:** Encloses all the hardware.
#### General mining hardware.
Miners utilize the same components, but there are a few differences in how:
* **MOBO:** You do not need a high-end motherboard.
* **CPU:** You do not need a high-end CPU.
* **RAM:** Amnt needed depends on your OS and mining software.
* **HDD:** You do not need a lot of storage for mining.
* **SSD:** Beneficial because it uses less electricity.
* **GPU:** Will be used for crunch the scrypt algorithm for mining.
* **PSU:** Do not skip out on quality to save $$$
* **Case:** Not always used due to heat and # of GPUs.
### How to choose parts.
***
Mining has its specific things to look for in components that are different than when you're building on office or gaming computer. Keep in mind we'll be building a mining computer that you probably won't be using for daily use.
#### Your Motherboard (MOBO) and Central Processing Unit (CPU)
As mentioned above, you really don't need a top-of-the-line MOBO and CPU for a mining rig. This is because mining on a processor is not cost-effective, meaning we won't be stressing the motherboard with huge OCs on our CPU. Everything will be done on our graphics card(s), and graphics cards have their own PCB. However, there are a couple of things to look for:
##### PCI-Express (PCI-e) slots.
PCI-e slots are one form of your motherboard's peripheral expansion slots [[pic]](http://networking.ringofsaturn.com/PC/pc_slots.gif). Your graphics cards will go here. As you can see in the picture, there are two types of PCI-e connectors.
* **PCI-e x1:** Too small to fit
* **PCI-e x16:**