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Recently, I’ve got my hands on several Asus Prime Z270-P motherboards. I’ve build a couple of rigs with those and decided to share with you guys how I did it.
Let’s start by taking a close look at the board first.
The Asus Prime Z270-P is an entry level MoBo with LGA1151 socket chipset that supports 7th and 6th gen Intel CPUs. It is affordable and well-made, which makes it a great mining MoBo.
Compared to other models of the Z270 family, the Z270-P features one of the best money per supported GPU ratio. It can handle up to 8 GPUs, which is arguably the best amount of GPUs per rig to begin with.
I’m using a Dual-Core Intel Celeron G3930 with the mobo and I’m quite satisfied with it. The CPU can be purchased for $ 65 USD on Newegg and is probably the cheapest option for this motherboard.
ASUS PRIME Z270-P LGA1151 DDR4 HDMI DVI M.2 USB 3.0 Z270 ATX Motherboard PRIME Z270-P
List Price: $135.00
Price Disclaimer
Recommended CPU: Intel Celeron G3930
Recommended RAM: DDR4 4GB 2133mhz
Asus Prime Z270-P Specs
List of mining-related specs:
- 4 x DIMM, up to 64GB DDR4 Memory, up to 3866(OC) MHz
- Works with AMD CrossfireX
- Two M.2 Socket 3 M Key Slots, support either SATA or X4 PCIE mode
- 1 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16 mode), 1 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (max at x4 mode) and 4 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x1 that make the MoBo support up to 7 GPUs
- 8 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 port(s) (4 at back panel, blue, Type-A, 4 at mid-board)
Security and durability:
- ASUS 5X Protection III that includes ASUS SafeSlot Core (fortified PCIe slots), LANGuard, Overvoltage Protection, Stainless steel back I/O with 3X corrosion-resistance and ASUS DIGI+ VRM
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There are also features that add to the resale value, such as LED-illuminated audio trace path, audio shielding with their own dedicated audio PCB and premium Japanese audio capacitors.
ASUS Prime Z270-P Unboxing 2
ASUS Prime Z270-P Unboxing 3
Overall, the Asus Prime Z270-P is a board that works great for a mining rig, which is why I will now show you how to assemble your own rig using this MoBo:
Building a Rig with the Asus Prime Z270-P
Mining Setup and Configuration
1 Flash Windows 10 on USB driver UEFI
- Download Rufus https://rufus.akeo.ie/ and run it
- Follow their instruction to flash Windows 10 with GPT partition for UEFI
2 Windows 10 UEFI installation
- Shut down the rig
- Unplug all GPUs from motherboard
- Unplug Ethernet cable (internet cable)
- Plug in display cable to motherboard
- Power up the rig and go to BIOS settings
- Press F7 to enable advanced settings, go to Advanced\System Agen (SA) Configuration\Graphics Configuration and set “Primary Display” to CPU Graphics
- Proceed with windows installation
ASUS Prime Z270-P no GPU plugged
ASUS Prime Z270-P Primary Display CPU Graphics
3 Windows 10 Mining tweaks and Driver installation
- Once windows is fully installed DO NOT plug in the internet cable
- From your personal computer download Windows 10 mining rig tweaks reg file and disable automatic updates, sharing, antivirus, firewall, cortana etc and what ever you feel like :), note that you wont need to disable every feature.
- Install the drivers. If you don’t have an external DVD rom, you will have to manually download the drivers and install the following drivers: Chipset, LAN, On-Board VGA Drivers
- Once drivers are installed shut down the rig, plugin one GPU and power up
- Install Nvidia/AMD drivers, restart the rig then go to device manager and check display adapters, there you should have on-board video card and one gpu
ASUS Prime Z270-P Windows 10 mining rig tweaks
ASUS Prime Z270-P Driver installation
ASUS Prime Z270-P Driver installation finished
ASUS Prime Z270-P Onboard GPU and PCIe GPU
4 BIOS Update
- Go to “Tool” and select “ASUS EZ Flash 3 Utility“
- The fastest way is to do it “via Internet“
- Then choose “DHCP“
- It will now check for latest BIOS version, click ok and then wait for the download to complete
- Once downloaded proceed with the installation
- Wait for the confirmation and you are done
ASUS Prime Z270-P BIOS Update ASUS EZ Flash 3 Utility
ASUS Prime Z270-P BIOS Update ASUS EZ Flash 3 Utility via internet
ASUS Prime Z270-P BIOS Update ASUS EZ Flash 3 Utility DHCP
ASUS Prime Z270-P BIOS Update ASUS EZ Flash 3 Utility BIOS Version Check
ASUS Prime Z270-P BIOS Update ASUS EZ Flash 3 Utility Download Confirmation
ASUS Prime Z270-P BIOS Update ASUS EZ Flash 3 Utility BIOS Install
5 Bios modifications to run 6x – 8x GPUs
- Go to BIOS Advanced\System Agent (SA) Configuration and enable Above 4G Decoding
- Advanced\System Agent (SA) Configuration\DMI/OPI Configuration, set DMI Max Link Speed to Gen2
- Advanced\System Agent (SA) Configuration\PEG Port Configuration, set PCIEX16_1 Link Speed to Gen2
- Advanced\PCH Configuration\PCI Express Configuration, set PCIe Speed to Gen2
- Advanced\Onboard Devices Configuration, set M.2_1 Configuration to PCIE
- Advanced\APM Configuration, set Restore AC Power Loss to Last State
- Save changes & Reset
ASUS Prime Z270-P Above 4G Decoding
ASUS Prime Z270-P DMI Max Link Speed
ASUS Prime Z270-P PCIEX16_1 Link Speed
ASUS Prime Z270-P PCIe Speed
ASUS Prime Z270-P M.2 Configuration
ASUS Prime Z270-P Restore AC Power Loss
ASUS Prime Z270-P Save Changes
ASUS Prime Z270-P BIOS Settings Saving Confirmation
6 Connecting the GPUs
- Shut down the rig, connect the second GPU and power it up
- Check in device manager if the new video card is discovered
- Shut down the rig again and connect the 3rd GPU
- Repeat until you have all the GPUs connected and discovered by the system, i recommend to connect the gpus one by one to avoid any conflicts
MSI Z370 SLI Plus Mining Motherboard 6 GPUs
MSI Z370 SLI Plus Mining Motherboard 8 GPUs
MSI Z370 SLI Plus Mining Motherboard M.2 to PCIe adaptors
ASUS Prime Z270-P Connecting the GPUs
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In Conclusion
The Asus Prime Z270-P is a decent MoBo for a 6-8 GPU mining rig. Asus is one of my favorite brands because they always manage to keep the balance between price, quality and additional features. I hope you’ve found this tutorial useful.
Thank you for reading. As always, your comments, suggestions and questions are welcome.
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