Typical Bitcoin Mining Build?

[Spewky]

Okay, 

 

I've heard a lot about bitcoin mining but I'm still a bit confused on the whole mining aspect of it and how it all actually works though I think I have a rough idea about it

 

What I need clarifying:

• what can you buy with bitcoins, who from, and how?
• what is the ideal bitcoin "mining" build and what is the main thing that needs to be good for it?
• what is needed for bitcoin mining (accounts, programs, software, browsers, paypal?,)?
• how long does it take to "mine" a block
• how do you get into pools of people for mining

If anyone can give me more in-depth details on this, that would be awesome!

 

Thanks!

[Deletive]

https://products.butterflylabs.com/

 

[dragoon20005]

Okay, 

 

I've heard a lot about bitcoin mining but I'm still a bit confused on the whole mining aspect of it and how it all actually works though I think I have a rough idea about it

 

What I need clarifying:

• what can you buy with bitcoins, who from, and how?
• what is the ideal bitcoin "mining" build and what is the main thing that needs to be good for it?
• what is needed for bitcoin mining (accounts, programs, software, browsers, paypal?,)?
• how long does it take to "mine" a block
• how do you get into pools of people for mining

If anyone can give me more in-depth details on this, that would be awesome!

 

Thanks!

pretty much this tread will answer your qestions

 

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/10886-introduction-to-bitcoins/

 

to sum up

 

bitcoin mining is dead

 

one bitcoin will not offset the running cost of the machine

[Spewky]

pretty much this tread will answer your qestions

 

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/10886-introduction-to-bitcoins/

 

to sum up

 

bitcoin mining is dead

 

one bitcoin will not offset the running cost of the machine

I know it's not as popular anymore, but is there anything like it that is now more popular?

 

Also, if I've already read that and doesn't really state what is needed hardware wise, much like your reply. Also, I was thinking that when I'm not gaming and all (such as sleeping) I could've setup a mining software to do it.  I've heard of something like litecoin? Is that like bitcoin and more popular?

[dragoon20005]

I know it's not as popular anymore, but is there anything like it that is now more popular?

 

Also, if I've already read that and doesn't really state what is needed hardware wise, much like your reply. Also, I was thinking that when I'm not gaming and all (such as sleeping) I could've setup a mining software to do it.  I've heard of something like litecoin? Is that like bitcoin and more popular?

https://litecoin.info/

 

litecoin is easier to mine than bitcoin

 

extract from wikipedia

 

Litecoin offers three key differences from Bitcoin, which its developers hope will make it better than Bitcoin.^[6][7]

• The Litecoin network aims to process a block every 2.5 minutes, rather than Bitcoin's 10 minutes, which its developers claim allows for faster transaction confirmation.^[2][18] The drawbacks of faster block times are increased blockchain size, and an increase in the number of orphaned blocks. Advantages include greater resistance to a double spending attack over the same period as Bitcoin, if both networks had the same computing power.
• Litecoin uses scrypt in its proof-of-work algorithm, a sequential memory-hard function requiring asymptotically more memory than an algorithm which is not memory-hard.^[19]
• The Litecoin network will produce 84 million litecoins, or four times as many currency units as will be issued by the Bitcoin network.

 

there was a time ppl will buy the AMD cards just for mining purposes and drove the price of the GPUs up

 

typically the hardware of the PC mining machine will need only

 

a dual core CPU like the Pentium G3258 with 2-4GB of RAM and a mobo with 6 PCI-E slots and a 1500-1600W PSU

 

and PCI-E raiser cards so that the 6 GPUs can plug into the PCI-E 1x slots

[ShadowCaptain]

I know it's not as popular anymore, but is there anything like it that is now more popular?

 

Also, if I've already read that and doesn't really state what is needed hardware wise, much like your reply. Also, I was thinking that when I'm not gaming and all (such as sleeping) I could've setup a mining software to do it.  I've heard of something like litecoin? Is that like bitcoin and more popular?

 

its really not even worth considering, not with PC hardware anymore,

[KemoKa]

Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, which are designed to perhaps one day replace normal money. Their main advantage is that they are totally decentralized, meaning that no bank, corporation or government can manipulate them for their own gain or profit. But this also means that they are highly, highly unstable, with their value rising and falling by hundreds of dollars within matters of hours.

 

Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency. A few businesses accept the use of bitcoin as payment, but it's risky. REALLY risky.

Mining bitcoins is done through hashing algorithms which brute-force their way into finding bitcoins from randomly generated boxes (or "blocks") with passcodes on them. To find a single bitcoin, a computer must go through every single combination until the right one is found, unlocking that bitcoin and simultaneously generating more blocks for the computer (or pool of networked computers, i.e. on an internet server) to crack. it's the ultimate example of just how futile high-bit encryption cracking is.

Over time, the key needed to unlock the bitcoin becomes larger and larger (represented as an integer known as "difficulty") and it becomes harder and harder to crack the bitcoin. Back in 2009 when the Bitcoin craze started, it was possible and actually profitable to mine bitcoins relatively easily on the most basic home computer. Nowadays in Q4 2014, it is a completely different story. A while back, ASICs were built for the purpose of hashing Bitcoins or other currencies using the SHA-256 algorithm, and they were profitable for a while, but now even the most roaring-fast hashing ASIC arrays with rates in the tens of Terahashes per second are taking so long to crack just one bitcoin that the power requirements outweight the value of that one coin, even at a price of $800 per coin.

Scrypting algorithm currencies are a different story, with there being so many different kinds and new ones created every month that mining with CPUs or GPUs is still quite effective, and you can still make a little nest-egg off of it, but one has to have balls or ovaries >.> of steel and economic know-how bordering on precognition to risk it in the scryptocurrency market. You also need a powerful computer with a high-end Radeon card array to mine the coins (although Maxwell is pretty effective now). it is the only application where 6-way Crossfire has ever existed. Remember the Radeon price-gouge of Q1? That was thanks to Dogecoin and Litecoin. I dabbled in Pandacoin a little bit, but that died quickly and I lost money. I wouldn't risk it, but it is rather fun, and it's pretty educational about how these sorts of things work, so it's valuable in that respect. Learning about economics is never worthless. Never.

But regarding Bitcoin, it's just so hard to mine now that only dispossessed fools are still doing it. It's mad. Bitcoin will die. in fact, as Wendell would put it, "it is dead, it is a walking dead body, it is a corpse". it was a nice idea and it could be restarted as something else, but the first iteration was just so bad, it was recently blamed on completely the wrong person and now people want to kill him.

[FizzyFantom]

it is the only application where 6-way Crossfire has ever existed. Remember the Radeon price-gouge of Q1? That was thanks to Dogecoin and Litecoin. I dabbled in Pandacoin a little bit, but that died quickly and I lost money. I wouldn't risk it, but it is rather fun, and it's pretty educational about how these sorts of things work, so it's valuable in that respect. Learning about economics is never worthless. Never.

But regarding Bitcoin, it's just so hard to mine now that only dispossessed fools are still doing it. It's mad. Bitcoin will die. in fact, as Wendell would put it, "it is dead, it is a walking dead body, it is a corpse". it was a nice idea and it could be restarted as something else, but the first iteration was just so bad, it was recently blamed on completely the wrong person and now people want to kill him.

Very good post, I think you gave a good overview of the topic. I just wanted to point out that the cards aren't in crossfire in these mining machines because the workload isn't split between the cards, they are instead regarded as individual cards that all have to be instructed seperately.

 

I agree that mining a cryptocoin can be a lot of fun and I've enjoyed being part of the community of some. If you want to have a go at mining anything I suggest you check out the bitcointalk forum and look at small or medium sized altcoins, probably ones that use a novel hash (like Cryptonite's M7 hash). If you're really interested, do some research, cryptocurrencies are fascinating and almost certainly the future of online transactions.

https://bitcointalk.org/

[KemoKa]

Very good post, I think you gave a good overview of the topic. I just wanted to point out that the cards aren't in crossfire in these mining machines because the workload isn't split between the cards, they are instead regarded as individual cards that all have to be instructed seperately.

 

I agree that mining a cryptocoin can be a lot of fun and I've enjoyed being part of the community of some. If you want to have a go at mining anything I suggest you check out the bitcointalk forum and look at small or medium sized altcoins, probably ones that use a novel hash (like Cryptonite's M7 hash). If you're really interested, do some research, cryptocurrencies are fascinating and almost certainly the future of online transactions.

https://bitcointalk.org/

I stand corrected. I had thought something was a bit off about the cards, I just assumed they were all in crossfire. every day, a new nugget of knowledge

Thanks, but I've already mined my fair share of cryptocurrencies... I was mining using an A10-5800K on both the CPU and GPU for almost a week while I went on holiday. on stock cooling. That was painful for my computer to say the least. Nothing ever came of it. I know a fair bit about how to set up the programs to mine coins and input the pool addresses and things, and I also know how the whole market is put together, but the whole resemblance of a stock market and the risk involved put me off. I was encouraged by my parents to take AP Economics back in the states (My dad's MA is in economics) and I dropped out of it by the end of the first semester because it was just so confusing. Economics is not my strong point. I'm okay with risks, but not when your power bill is on the line, and certainly not risks as high as in the mining market. It's terrible.

[Mooshi]

You missed the boat years ago. It'll never be 1kusd per coin ever again, several countries refuse to recognize it as currency, it's imfamous ties to illegal use isn't winning it any favors and you need highly specialized hardware to even try. GPU mining has been dead for awhile now, it's why you see lots of ex-mining cards on ebay.

 

http://coinmarketcap.com/

 

With 500+ altcoins, it's not surprising a lot of these coins tanked. I remember back when Litecoin was 15usd per coin and is now below 4. Bitcoin is below 400usd, which is still good, but it's very low compared to its peak. The insane difficulty now also makes it pointless to get into unless you somehow have access to free equipment and electricity. 

[tribeofham]

https://products.butterflylabs.com/

 

I'd recommend you steer clear of these guys until the dust settles.  There is a class action lawsuit against them for taking people's money and not fulfilling their orders.  Do a quick search online and you will see this is far from over.