Sizing your first mining rig starts with one number: the price of your electricity. At ten cents per kilowatt-hour, a modest six-GPU rig draws roughly a kilowatt and costs about seventy dollars a month to run. Above twenty cents, only the most efficient cards stay profitable — so check your utility bill before you browse a single component.
Next, match your hardware to your power budget. Efficient mid-range GPUs earn less per card but sip electricity, which keeps more of every coin you mine. A starter frame with room for six cards lets you begin with two GPUs and expand as earnings compound, instead of betting the full budget on day one.
Do not neglect the unglamorous parts. A quality power supply with headroom to spare, reliable risers, and a sturdy open-air frame decide whether your rig runs for years or dies in months. Builders who cheap out on power delivery spend their savings twice — once on replacements, once on downtime.
Cooling and noise decide where the rig can live. Open-air frames run warm and loud, so plan for a garage, basement, or ventilated closet rather than a bedroom. Good airflow does more for hash-rate stability than any overclocking guide, because thermal throttling silently taxes every overheated card.
Finally, run the numbers monthly. Difficulty rises, coin prices swing, and yesterday's profit can become today's loss. Track earnings against power costs in a simple spreadsheet, and set a rule in advance for when you would pause, sell hardware, or switch coins. Mining rewards the methodical — start small, measure everything, and scale only what the spreadsheet blesses.