worth it to start mining now?

[Morpheus]

i have an fx6300 at 4.5ghz and a 7950 that I'll overclock soon enough. Is it worth it to start now? (not by myself probably in a pool) I live in Canada so electricity is relatively cheap around here.

 

- Doesn't really matter what, e.g Bitcoin, litecoin

[Prince32780]

No, it's not worth it. But if you don't pay the power bill, then I don't see why not, you might make a few bucks.

[AK0490]

How is it not worth it? Now is a great time to be mining. Why do people  somehow always instantly just wants to put mining down?

 

Here is a story for you. Once upon a time AK0490 decided to start mining. He gradually worked his way up, but in the end he had around 4700Kh/s of mining power with around $1800 invested. The markets are  unpredictable they said, you'll  never make anything they said! Fast forward a few months, the mining rigs plow along with only a few hiccups here and there, then one day AK0490 wakes up and looks at his computer. What's this he exclaimed, Ltc prices are through the roof! 

 

Final tally $1800 spend on top of a small amount of existing equipment. Litecoin mined 540. Litecoin saved 330. Price of Litecoin on BTC-e, over $9.00 almost all day today. Could sell for $3100 today. If I had saved everything, over $5000. 

 

Summary:  Don't listen to the haters, try things out for yourself.

 

disclaimer: rant not directed @Prince32780, just general frustration with quick answers with no backing whatsoever

[Morpheus]

How is it not worth it? Now is a great time to be mining. Why do people  somehow always instantly just wants to put mining down?

 

Here is a story for you. Once upon a time AK0490 decided to start mining. He gradually worked his way up, but in the end he had around 4700Kh/s of mining power with around $1800 invested. The markets are  unpredictable they said, you'll  never make anything they said! Fast forward a few months, the mining rigs plow along with only a few hiccups here and there, then one day AK0490 wakes up and looks at his computer. What's this he exclaimed, Ltc prices are through the roof! 

 

Final tally $1800 spend on top of a small amount of existing equipment. Litecoin mined 540. Litecoin saved 330. Price of Litecoin on BTC-e, over $9.00 almost all day today. Could sell for $3100 today. If I had saved everything, over $5000. 

 

Summary:  Don't listen to the haters, try things out for yourself.

 

disclaimer: rant not directed @Prince32780, just general frustration with quick answers with no backing whatsoever

hmm this is interesting... can you provide a link so i can try out litecoin mining? a link to a guide on how to start please and recommended pools

[AK0490]

hmm this is interesting... can you provide a link so i can try out litecoin mining? a link to a guide on how to start please and recommended pools

 This is the most complete guide that I know of,but it may be a bit complicated. http://forum.netcodepool.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=10

 

I would sherch on the forum for litecoin mining and see what has already been posted, for example. http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/16967-best-litecoin-and-bitcoin-settings-and-programs/?hl=%20litecoin%20%20guide

 

As far as pools go I would recommend LiteGuardian, it is a pay per share pool that has served me quite well recently. 

[RuecanOnRails]

I'd definitely recommend mining, especially since you already have a gpu capable of some decent output.

 

If you're interested in seeing what your hardware can achieve add up you hash here https://litecoin.info/Mining_Hardware_Comparison Once you have found your total estimated hash throw it into a calculator https://www.litecoinpool.org/calc

 

There are two primary hashing algorithms you can mine, each has their own set of coins. Bitcoin uses Sha-256, Litecoin uses Scrypt. Sha-256 is pointless with consumer grade hardware with the introduction of ASICs. Scrypt can be mined efficiently with AMD GPU's and you can find coins with a profitability of +15 times that of mining Bitcoin. http://coinchoose.com/ Of course be careful when selecting a coin outside of Bitcoin or Litecoin as they can be rather unstable due to small networks.

 

Here's the thread for CGminer, which IMO is currently the best miner available. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=28402.0

 

 

If you need an invite to Liteguardian PM me your email and I'll send you an invite.

[Morpheus]

I'd definitely recommend mining, especially since you already have a gpu capable of some decent output.

 

If you're interested in seeing what your hardware can achieve add up you hash here https://litecoin.info/Mining_Hardware_Comparison Once you have found your total estimated hash throw it into a calculator https://www.litecoinpool.org/calc

 

There are two primary hashing algorithms you can mine, each has their own set of coins. Bitcoin uses Sha-256, Litecoin uses Scrypt. Sha-256 is pointless with consumer grade hardware with the introduction of ASICs. Scrypt can be mined efficiently with AMD GPU's and you can find coins with a profitability of +15 times that of mining Bitcoin. http://coinchoose.com/ Of course be careful when selecting a coin outside of Bitcoin or Litecoin as they can be rather unstable due to small networks.

 

Here's the thread for CGminer, which IMO is currently the best miner available. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=28402.0

 

 

If you need an invite to Liteguardian PM me your email and I'll send you an invite.

you just said a bunch of stuff in that 3rd paragraph that i don't understand.. i'm a complete beginner. I'm still trying to understand how this bitcoin/litecoin system works lol

[RuecanOnRails]

you just said a bunch of stuff in that 3rd paragraph that i don't understand.. i'm a complete beginner. I'm still trying to understand how this bitcoin/litecoin system works lol

 

Hehe, I know, it's always overwhelming when trying to enter this field thinking there's only Bitcoin and maybe Litecoin only to find out quickly there's something like 100+ different coins with varying differences.

 

 

In short there are 2 Coins that matter in terms of Network strength and popularity. They are Bitcoin, and Litecoin. They each represent the two primary Algorithms of Sha-256, and Scrypt respectfully. For starting out sticking with just Bitcoin and Litecoin is a good idea.

 

When choosing what to mine, you first need to decide what Algorithm, Sha-256 or Scrypt. If you want to mine Sha-256 you need rather expensive ASIC's which are difficult to get and have questionable profitability. Or you choose Scrypt which can be mined efficiently with GPU's.

 

Because of the free market effect, all the coins battle for profitability and adoption, Bitcoin wins by a long shot, Litecoin comes in second these two are also the most stable. Everything else is somewhat of a second thought in my opinion. The coins react to the amount of hashing power and balance out by increasing their difficulty to cope with added hash, it does the opposite if people start to remove hash from them. If you wanted to maximize efficiency you can monitor and constantly jump around between various coins. As you mine them you can exchange them into the more stable coins.

[Morpheus]

Hehe, I know, it's always overwhelming when trying to enter this field thinking there's only Bitcoin and maybe Litecoin only to find out quickly there's something like 100+ different coins with varying differences.

 

 

In short there are 2 Coins that matter in terms of Network strength and p.

would you recommend me starting with litecoin or one of the other 100 coins out there? also i have no idea how to create a wallet and actually start mining. A little help on that would be verryy much appreciated

[RuecanOnRails]

would you recommend me starting with litecoin or one of the other 100 coins out there? also i have no idea how to create a wallet and actually start mining. A little help on that would be verryy much appreciated

 

Definitely Litecoin.

 

To create a wallet for any coin, you need to get the coins client. For Litecoin you can download it here https://litecoin.org/ Simply install and launch, it will automatically create a wallet and one address. You can create more addresses by going to the receive tab and press new address. You can speed up the syncing process by pre-downloading a large portion of the blockchain via bootstrap https://litecoin.info/Bootstrap.dat

[Morpheus]

Definitely Litecoin.

 

To create a wallet for any coin, you need to get the coins client. For Litecoin you can download it here https://litecoin.org/ Simply install and launch, it will automatically create a wallet and one address. You can create more addresses by going to the receive tab and press new address. You can speed up the syncing process by pre-downloading a large portion of the blockchain via bootstrap https://litecoin.info/Bootstrap.dat

last couple of questions... are you currently mining? also how do pools work? i know for bitcoin you should probably join a pool now days but can i go solo on litecoin or is a pool still a better idea? 

[RuecanOnRails]

last couple of questions... are you currently mining? also how do pools work? i know for bitcoin you should probably join a pool now days but can i go solo on litecoin or is a pool still a better idea? 

 

Yes I am mining. I mine at this pool https://www.liteguardian.com/secure/ Solo isn't really an option at this point unless you have a very large amount of hash power. Pools work by combining your hashing power with others and then distribute the reward based on the of the work you contributed. If you want an invite to that pool send me a PM with your email and I'll send you one.

 

Pools are designed to average out over time to be the same payout minus 1 - 4% pool fee as solo, except you get paid constantly instead of only once you solve a block. With a single 7950 it's calculated you will solve 1 block every 117 days at the current difficulty. 

 

Setting up a miner such as CGminer https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=28402.0 is as easy as launching it with set parameters in a batch file, such as the pool address, and settings. Finding the settings that work well can take time.

[AK0490]

 

 

Setting up a miner such as CGminer https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=28402.0 is as easy as launching it with set parameters in a batch file, such as the pool address, and settings. Finding the settings that work well can take time.

And this is why the .Bat cave was brought about, and yes it is as cool as it sounds. :rolleyes:  http://forum.netcodepool.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=43

 

You can find configs for almost all recent AMD cards plus some Nvidia. They are also mostly complete, with full setting, drivers,clock speeds, and proof!

[Mooshi]

Bitcoins are like some bipolor bimbo with a lot of money with litecoins are like the modest sister with no money.

[Giggitygoebbels]

I'd definitely recommend mining, especially since you already have a gpu capable of some decent output.

 

If you're interested in seeing what your hardware can achieve add up you hash here https://litecoin.info/Mining_Hardware_Comparison Once you have found your total estimated hash throw it into a calculator https://www.litecoinpool.org/calc

 

There are two primary hashing algorithms you can mine, each has their own set of coins. Bitcoin uses Sha-256, Litecoin uses Scrypt. Sha-256 is pointless with consumer grade hardware with the introduction of ASICs. Scrypt can be mined efficiently with AMD GPU's and you can find coins with a profitability of +15 times that of mining Bitcoin. http://coinchoose.com/ Of course be careful when selecting a coin outside of Bitcoin or Litecoin as they can be rather unstable due to small networks.

 

Here's the thread for CGminer, which IMO is currently the best miner available. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=28402.0

 

 

If you need an invite to Liteguardian PM me your email and I'll send you an invite.

How is a single 7950 gonna do much if anything at all?Aren't we suppose to stick like 7 7990 inside there to get a significant amount of litecoins?

[RuecanOnRails]

How is a single 7950 gonna do much if anything at all?Aren't we suppose to stick like 7 7990 inside there to get a significant amount of litecoins?

 

7990's don't do as well as one may think, it can be hard to control their heat without water cooling. Generally it's best to have massive farms, but it's not needed.

In the case of this thread @Morpheus states having a single 7950 and wondered about solo mining. I used that as the metric for calculating how long it would take to solve a block solo. A 7950 mines at around 630 K/hash, here's the calculator https://www.litecoinpool.org/calc?hashrate=630&difficulty=1486.12414801&power=&energycost=0.10&currency=USD

Even with only 1 7950, you will still earn a profit. At the time of writing this, that profit is .409 Litecoins per day = $3.70

[Giggitygoebbels]

7990's don't do as well as one may think, it can be hard to control their heat without water cooling. Generally it's best to have massive farms, but it's not needed.

In the case of this thread @Morpheus states having a single 7950 and wondered about solo mining. I used that as the metric for calculating how long it would take to solve a block solo. A 7950 mines at around 630 K/hash, here's the calculator https://www.litecoinpool.org/calc?hashrate=630&difficulty=1486.12414801&power=&energycost=0.10&currency=USD

Even with only 1 7950, you will still earn a profit. At the time of writing this, that profit is .409 Litecoins per day = $3.70

$3.70 is like a lot for mining profit per day...maybe because litecoins are gaining more in value than difficulty...

[KamiKatze]

@RuecanOnRails

 

I came, throughout reading this whole thread. I want to start mining so badly!

 

I have a i5 4670K (still at stock but i might change ) and a MSI GTX 770. Are those parts any good for mining? what hash rate can i expect? I'll try to use the calculator once i know more about how much my hardware can deliver.

 

Can i start/stop mining on the go? So when i am at university i would start mining and I'd stop it when i use the PC and at nights. So probably 8-10 hours of mining a day.

 

electricity is rather expensive in germany. I think 30 euro cetns per kWh but I'll porbably change to a cheaper company anyways.

 

Also important question: how hard will mining go on my hardware? I reach about 60 °C on CPU and 75 °C on GPU while gaming, a bit more when stress testing. Can i set lower hasrates if the load is just too much?

 

Edit 1: okay, so i looked up my GPU in the mining wiki:

 

. 

 

So around 150 KH/s for the GPU and 50 for the CPU. makes 200 KH/s if I'm lucky.

Put that into the calculator, say that my rig uses 300W while mining, at 25 euro cents per kWh, well... fuck.

 

I guess mining is AMD only, right?

 

What are my options then? is it worth investing 300€ into a 5 GH/s butterflylabs miner, including that it probably takes 1 month to ship and sounds like a jet taking off?

Or maybe 6 of the ASIC usb eruptors?

 

man my dreams of mining free money just poped like a bubble. -.-

 

Edit2: my laptop's gpu is rate at 23 KH/s but it's still a loss when considering it uses 50W under load.

[RuecanOnRails]

@RuecanOnRails

 

I came, throughout reading this whole thread. I want to start mining so badly!

 

I have a i5 4670K (still at stock but i might change ) and a MSI GTX 770. Are those parts any good for mining? what hash rate can i expect? I'll try to use the calculator once i know more about how much my hardware can deliver.

 

Can i start/stop mining on the go? So when i am at university i would start mining and I'd stop it when i use the PC and at nights. So probably 8-10 hours of mining a day.

 

electricity is rather expensive in germany. I think 30 euro cetns per kWh but I'll porbably change to a cheaper company anyways.

 

Also important question: how hard will mining go on my hardware? I reach about 60 °C on CPU and 75 °C on GPU while gaming, a bit more when stress testing. Can i set lower hasrates if the load is just too much?

 

 

Mining is more efficient on AMD GPU's. a 770 will get you roughly 220 K/hash. A 7950 will get you 630 K/hash.

https://www.litecoinpool.org/calc?hashrate=220&difficulty=1486.12414801&power=145&energycost=0.30&currency=USD

You don't want to mine on a CPU, the Watt per hash is too low and will lower your overall earnings.

Here's where you can get a comparison of various hardware https://litecoin.info/Mining_Hardware_Comparison

Currently you will make a profit, but barely, if the difficulty goes up further it will cost you more to mine in electricity. At which point estimate how much it costs in electricity and buy some coins directly with that.

 

 

You can start/stop mining at anytime without any issues. Once you set up everything starting becomes as easy as launching a .bat file. Stopping becomes as easy as closing it, nothing special is required.

Mining will use 99% of your GPU, there isn't a way to lower that. You can lower the intensity which will lower the hash to dramatically and lower temps. You can configure the miner with fan curves, and even throttling if certain temps are reached.

 

For mining with Nvidia cards, the best miner would be Cuda Miner, you can find the official thread for it here https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=167229.0

[KamiKatze]

snip

 

 

Thanks for the quick answer, also note my edits.

 

So I'd have to invest into new hardware either way to make it profitable.

 

I could sell my 770 and get a R9 280X with some bundled games and maybe come out without loss. But i actually really liked my Nvidia eco system. Buying a whole new AMD based PC isn't really worth it either, i guess? I'd also have to put it in the basement and connect it via wifi.

Edit: a 280X isn't a real upgrade either. A R9 290 get's roughly the same and a 7990 is just too much for my PSU. I am really grounded here.

 

A USB eruptor farm or a butterfly labs miner aren't good options? latter one is hard to get but there are tons of eruptors on ebay and alesewhere.

 

Edit: but I'll probably have to put them in my basement aswell, as they need good cooling and i don't have so much space.

[RuecanOnRails]

Thanks for the quick answer, also note my edits.

 

So I'd have to invest into new hardware either way to make it profitable.

 

I could sell my 770 and get a R9 280X with some bundled games and maybe come out without loss. But i actually really liked my Nvidia eco system. Buying a whole new AMD based PC isn't really worth it either, i guess? I'd also have to put it in the basement and connect it via wifi.

 

A USB eruptor farm or a butterfly labs miner aren't good options? latter one is hard to get but there are tons of eruptors on ebay and alesewhere.

 

Edit: but I'll probably have to put them in my basement aswell, as they need good cooling and i don't have so much space.

 

ASIC's at this time are not worth it, anything worth getting is a pre-order full of empty promises, delays, and sketchy profits. http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1oto74/thinking_of_ordering_an_asic_there_is_most_likely/

 

You really don't need to completely swap your components. Picking up a single AMD gpu would be enough, I'd recommend the 7970 over the 280X. They're the same card except ones a little cheaper You need to look into the 7970/280X that you order as not all are equal, the Ghz edition cards perform worse. the best 7970 I have used has been this power color card http://ncix.com/products/?sku=70111&vpn=AX7970%203GBD5-2DHV3&manufacture=PowerColor&promoid=1284 It's also one of the cheaper 7970's available.

 

 

Even if mining might be out of reach due to electric costs and the need for new hardware. You can always purchase coins directly and become a day trader to try and take advantage of the market volatility, or just pure speculation I try to do a bit of everything. you can find exchanges in your area here http://howtobuybitcoins.info/

[KamiKatze]

ASIC's at this time are not worth it, anything worth getting is a pre-order full of empty promises, delays, and sketchy profits. http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1oto74/thinking_of_ordering_an_asic_there_is_most_likely/

 

You really don't need to completely swap your components. Picking up a single AMD gpu would be enough, I'd recommend the 7970 over the 280X. They're the same card except ones a little cheaper You need to look into the 7970/280X that you order as not all are equal, the Ghz edition cards perform worse. the best 7970 I have used has been this power color card http://ncix.com/products/?sku=70111&vpn=AX7970%203GBD5-2DHV3&manufacture=PowerColor&promoid=1284 It's also one of the cheaper 7970's available.

 

 

Even if mining might be out of reach due to electric costs and the need for new hardware. You can always purchase coins directly and become a day trader to try and take advantage of the market volatility, or just pure speculation I try to do a bit of everything. you can find exchanges in your area here http://howtobuybitcoins.info/

 

 

My PSU probably can't provide enough power for a 770 and a 7970. It's a seasonic G series 550W. And i am not sure if it could handle both, even if I'd shut the 7970 off while gaming.

 

Even if it could handel both, is it profitable to get a 7970? It costs around 250€ and would earn me around 30€/month if i was mining 12h a day. it means that it would pay off after 8 months. At that time the 7970 is probably worn out and worth around 100€. All my other parts will get worn out as well. uuuurgh. so maybe 100€ in 8 months? meh.... then again you have to consider the highly instable market of litecoin and bitcoin. so it's hard to tell, imo, any thoughts? I am really thankful that you're helping me out so patiently.

 

Speculations with Bitcoins/litecoins is too dangerous imo. the prices for bitcoins etc. are exploding because they are in the news lateley but i think it's a dangerous bubble that will pop once the masses get into bitcoin.

[RuecanOnRails]

My PSU probably can't provide enough power for a 770 and a 7970. It's a seasonic G series 550W. And i am not sure if it could handle both, even if I'd shut the 7970 off while gaming.

 

Even if it could handel both, is it profitable to get a 7970? It costs around 250€ and would earn me around 30€/month if i was mining 12h a day. it means that it would pay off after 8 months. At that time the 7970 is probably worn out and worth around 100€. All my other parts will get worn out as well. uuuurgh. so maybe 100€ in 8 months? meh.... then again you have to consider the highly instable market of litecoin and bitcoin. so it's hard to tell, imo, any thoughts? I am really thankful that you're helping me out so patiently.

 

Speculations with Bitcoins/litecoins is too dangerous imo. the prices for bitcoins etc. are exploding because they are in the news lateley but i think it's a dangerous bubble that will pop once the masses get into bitcoin.

 

Mining truly is an industry in itself and requires it's own set of investment and time. As for speculation and investing in coins, give this video a watch. He also has other informative videos on his channel.

 

[KamiKatze]

Mining truly is an industry in itself and requires it's own set of investment and time. As for speculation and investing in coins, give this video a watch. He also has other informative videos on his channel.

 

 

That video was really convincing. Gawddamnit.

 

Where can i change my money to bitcoin/litecoin but most importantly, where can i get it back to money?

 

Do you think that bitcoin is already at the very beginning of the vertical that he is talking about? Is it even worth getting bitcoins for, let's say 50€? can you expect another growrth of a few thousand percent in the next two quarters?

BTW. is there a small currency that's directly related to bitcoin because i can't afford a whole bitcoin. BTW. where can i check some graphs of bitcoin and litecoin value?

 

what would you rather invest in? lite or bit?

[KamiKatze]

http://blockchain.info/de/charts/market-price

 

sorry for the german link, but that looks like it is already at the vertical part. Fuck. I am not good at economies. Is it worth it?

 

looks like litecoin is doing the same curve.