Upgrading My Scrypt Mining Rig - Part 1: Shopping Time!

My current setup is just a single R9 290x in my desktop computer with an open case.  Now it is finally time to upgrade to a real mining rig.  This past friday I placed orders at New Egg, Tiger Direct, Amazon and Home Depot.  I will have a total of 3 R9 290X GPUs, but I'm leaving space to grow into a total of 5 GPUs by adding larger PSUs and having riser cables on hand.  Here's what the shopping list looks like:

New Egg, Tiger Direct, and Amazon

Motherboard:  ASUS M5A99X EVO R2.0 AM3+ AMD - $135
*5 PCI-e slots (the current windows 8.1 maximum)

Power Button:  Replacement Power Reset LED Wire Kit for ATX Case Front Bezel - $5
*Because you need to turn it on...

Mobo Speaker:  APEVIA CVTCSPK 2" Case Speaker - $5
*To hear any error beeps such as bios.

Processor:  AMD Sempron 145 Processor - $35

*Single core, only 45 watts, fits in an AM3+ slot, perfect for a mining rig.

RAM:  G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM - $90

*Most recommend 4GB but I want to overbuild a little.  Better safe than sorry, and I can re-use these later.

Hard Drive:  Crucial M500 240GB SATA 2.5" Solid State Drive - $140

*Highly rated, fast, and it was on sale.  I would like decent usable parts once I dismantle this rig to upgrade further or sell off the parts.

GPUs:  1x HIS H290XF4GD Radeon R9 290X - $630 and 1x SAPPHIRE 100361BF4SR Radeon R9 290X - $650

*Two different brands because I could only find one in stock at the time.  This should present a challenge as I now own an XFX, Sapphire, and HIS 290x.  Hopefully setup goes smoother than I expect.

Powered Riser Cables:  3x Powered 16x PCI-e Riser Cable - $25 ea  2x Powered 1x PCI-e Riser Cable - $25

*Because the 290x consumes so much power, I'm playing it safe and hooking up powered risers to reduce the load on my motherboard.  I don't want to melt any connections.  I just noticed the prices have skyrocketed over the past couple days since I bought mine.  They are now up to $40 each.

PSUs:  1x SeaSonic X-1250 1250 Watt 80 PLUS GOLD Certified - $340 and 1x SeaSonic Platinum 1000 Watt 80 PLUS PLATINUM Certified - $280

*Gold and Platinum certified for a lower electricity bill.  A grand total of 2250 Watts.  I'm allotting 200 watts for the mobo and components, and 360 watts peak usage for each 290X (with enough power for 5 once fully expanded).  Thinking ahead and overbuilding again.  1000W will power mobo and 2 GPUs, 1250W will power another 3 GPUs.

Dual PSU Adapter Cable:  APEVIA CVT24Y 12" 1 x 24PIN TO 2 x 24PIN Cable - $5

*One PSU directly powers the mobo and GPUs while the second PSU starts when the mobo starts but powers just GPUs.

PSU Cable Extensions:  2x Athena Power CABLE-M204M204F 10 " Extension - $7 ea

*Making sure I have enough length to place the PSUs away from the mobo for ventilation.

Kill a Watt:  P3 International P4330 Kill A Watt PS-10 - $72

*You can get a single outlet 15A Kill a Watt for around $25.  I went with this model for more versatility and it can handle 1980 watts (nearly what I'll be pulling at 125V with 5 290Xs).  This also acts as a surge protector.

OS:  Windows 8.1 64 Bit OEM - $100

*I want to be able to use MSI Afterburner which is not available in Linux.  Windows 8.1 supports up to 5 GPUs.

Cat 6 Network Cable:  Rosewill RCW-714 50ft. /Network Cable Cat 6 Green - $7

*Highly rated and cheap.  50ft to reach my router through the basement floor.

Keyboard:  Logitech K120 Black USB Wired Standard Keyboard - $12

*Cheap.

Mouse:  Logitech B120 USB or PS/2 Wired Optical Mouse - $13

*Cheap.

Home Depot

These electrical components fit my circuit breaker box and may not fit yours.  I would advise you to consult a licensed electrician for any type of breaker box work.

20A Circuit Breaker:  Eaton 20 Amp Single Pole CH Type Breaker - $8

*This single mining unit, filled with 5 290x's will pull just under 20A.  Closer to 15 - 18.  Even a rig of 5 290x's should have it's own dedicated breaker.  I would love to get a generator at some point in case of power outages during snow storms.

NM Wire from Breaker to Outlet:  Cerrowire 15 ft. 10/3 NM-B Indoor Residential Electrical Wire - $27

*Luckily my rig will be just a few feet from the breaker box because this thick wire is expensive!  Again, I'm overbuilding here.  I would rather be safe and use a larger gauge wire than required for 20A continuous usage.  

20A GFCI Outlet:  Leviton SmartLockPro 20 Amp Slim GFCI Duplex Outlet - White - $16

*I also picked up and outlet box but I won't bore you with that.  I'm already going into more detail than necessary.

Smoke Detector:  Kidde Battery Operated Smoke Alarm - $5

*To be place directly above the rig.  This will be in my basement so I want to be safe about it.  A lot of heat and power being played with here.

Shelf:  HDX 5-Shelf 36 in. W x 72 in. H x 18 in. Plastic Ventilated Storage Shelving Unit - $39

*This is my computer case.  The PSUs on the top shelf, the mobo on the 2nd from the top, and monitor/keyboard/mouse on the middle shelf.  Two box fans mounted near the top for cooling.  You can use wire to hang your GPUs from the shelf above them due to the ventilation holes.

Box Fans:  2x Lasko 20 in. 3-Speed Box Fan - $17 ea

Grand Total:  $2,789 excluding tax and shipping.

I hope to share with you more about how I assemble and configure this rig once all the parts have reached my door.