4x SLI GTX 1060 Hashcat Rig
#1
Dear all,

first off, thanks for providing such a great tool to the community! 

In our group, we're hoping to assemble a GPU rig mainly for use with hashcat, and I'd be grateful for any advice from your side.

Our first attempt at a list of components:
* Intel Core i7 5820K (LGA 2011-v3, 3.30GHz, Unlocked)
* ASUS RAMPAGE V EDITION 10 (LGA 2011-v3, Intel X99, E-ATX)
* NZXT KRAKEN X61
* G.Skill Ripjaws V (2x, 16GB, DDR4-3200, DIMM 288)
* 4x either ASUS GTX 1060 DUAL (6GB) or ASUS GTX 1060 TURBO (6GB)
* Corsair RM Series RM1000 (1000W)
* Samsung 850 EVO Basic (500GB, 2.5")
* Corsair Carbide Air 540 Cube (Cube, Schwarz)

I read in some other posts that, at least for the GTX 1070, it's better to use the reference card. Does this also apply to the GTX 1060? Generally, we'd prefer to use the GTX 1060 over it's companions (GTX 1070 and GTX 1080) but I'm open to suggestions of course.

Many thanks!
#2
hi,
1, u dont need such an overkill cpu
2, u should go for a plat or titanium PSU , about power consumption u should be cool
3, yes it applie to all cards (including 1060)

i have a mix feeling about the case
#3
Thanks for the fast response!

Great tips! About the case; I agree with you, but I wasn't able to find anything better. Would you go with an open case frame for better thermal management?
#4
I have different advice.

1. No such thing as an "overkill CPU" now that Hashcat can use both CPU & GPU cooperatively, and modern CPUs with AVX2 are actually fast enough to make a noticeable difference.

2. Why do 4x GTX 1060 when you could do 2x GTX 1080 and have faster rig with less complexity? Also do not use SLI. Also ensure you buy Founders Edition GPUs.

And then yes, always buy 80Plus Platinum or Titanium PSUs.
#5
(10-14-2016, 05:21 PM)epixoip Wrote: I have different advice.

1. No such thing as an "overkill CPU" now that Hashcat can use both CPU & GPU cooperatively, and modern CPUs with AVX2 are actually fast enough to make a noticeable difference.

2. Why do 4x GTX 1060 when you could do 2x GTX 1080 and have faster rig with less complexity? Also do not use SLI. Also ensure you buy Founders Edition GPUs.

And then yes, always buy 80Plus Platinum or Titanium PSUs.

whats ur opinion about the case?
#6
I thought about the list a bit more and we decided to go with the following, based on your tips.

* ASUS Sabretooth X99
* Intel Core i7 5820K (LGA 2011-v3)
* 2x HyperX Fury 16GiB DDR4-2133
* 2x EVGA GTX 1080 Founders Edition
* Samsung 850 EVO Basic 500GiB
* Corsair HX1000i
* NZXT Kraken X61
* NZXT H440 V2

However, performance-wise I am unsure whether to prefer two 1080s over two 1070s. How noticeable is the difference?
#7
(10-18-2016, 02:36 PM)mediocre Wrote: I thought about the list a bit more and we decided to go with the following, based on your tips.

* ASUS Sabretooth X99
* Intel Core i7 5820K (LGA 2011-v3)
* 2x HyperX Fury 16GiB DDR4-2133
* 2x EVGA GTX 1080 Founders Edition
* Samsung 850 EVO Basic 500GiB
* Corsair HX1000i
* NZXT Kraken X61
* NZXT H440 V2

However, performance-wise I am unsure whether to prefer two 1080s over two 1070s. How noticeable is the difference?

Don't know if you already got this rig but it appears you are looking at getting 2x16GiB sticks of RAM giving you 32GB total. From what I gather this is overkill unless you are doing something else with the machine that needs the RAM 16GB is enough. Going off of epixoip from this thread. However as you are using the CPU to crack as well that might not be the case. Is someone else able to fact check me on this?

EDIT: The difference between the two seems proportional to the cost of the cards so not much worry there I don't think, based on the benchmarks I have seen on the 1070 compared to the 1080's I use.
#8
RAM is pretty cheap, better to have "too much" than not enough. RAM also helps with tasks like wordlist manipulation (e.g., ''sort -u -S 32000M''), or using hashcat features like --show and --left against large hash lists. So while I wouldn't go any lower than 16GB, there's certainly nothing wrong with 32GB if you can afford it (should only be like $100 extra)
#9
(12-03-2016, 04:14 AM)epixoip Wrote: RAM is pretty cheap, better to have "too much" than not enough. RAM also helps with tasks like wordlist manipulation (e.g., ''sort -u -S 32000M''), or using hashcat features like --show and --left against large hash lists. So while I wouldn't go any lower than 16GB, there's certainly nothing wrong with 32GB if you can afford it (should only be like $100 extra)

We did get 32 Gigs in the end and the rig has been working very nicely! Thanks for the help!