So I've known about Bitcoin Mining for quite a while now, never really checked it out as it seemed quite useless. Today, I found that 1 Bitcoin is worth around £7($12), this gained my attention a little.

Do any of you use your over-powered rigs to do some mining? Is it worth it or do you basicly use the same amount of money in electricity? (I did find a calculator for this, however I'd like personal opinions.)

I should also probably note that I'm using a crappy laptop so it would not be worthwhile, I heard GPUs (specifically AMD) mine about 50-100 times faster than CPUs. In my case both the GPU & CPU are pretty useless, Intel HD GPU isn't even supported, and attempting to mine would most likely just overheat the laptop.

12 years ago*

Comment has been collapsed.

From what I've heard, the amount you spend on electricity to power the computer costs slightly more than the bitcoins you earn. Plus the value of the things fluctuates so damn much, and I'm not much of a gambler. No sources for any of that, just what I remember when I investigated the subject some months ago.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

The value fluctuated at first, now it seems to be stabilising and gradually rising. I heard a maximum amount of Bitcoins has been set, therefore the more have been earned, the higher the difficulty is raised, and the more value a single bitcoin gains.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

21 million bitcoin is the limit if I remember right

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

here my expertise, you started too late.

You need a FGPA system to use less power so it would be more profitable.

If you don't have a FGPA system, there is other system that you can buy specially for mining.

If you don't want to buy any system and want to use your pc, make sure you have an ATI video card, because NVIDIA are really not great for mining and use way too much power. ( https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_hardware_comparison )

while GPU mining is the way to go, it still use a lot of electricity and that make the value of bitcoin very low (if you waste 200 $ in electricity to make 201$ of bitcoin, it's not worth it).

When I started, I managed to mine 30 bitcoin with CPU (good old day!) and when it hit 15 $ per bitcoin I cashed in and I bought 3 video card hd5850 to boost my mining. Right now I'm running 2 HD5850 24/7(1 died), using P4 Processor, so overpower computer != bitcoin mining, only the video card is the key. and I make arround 0.20 bitcoin a day (800mhash/s), which is not much, but since I don't pay anything for electricity it's worth it. Now imagine having to pay for the electricity.

Here another coin that you should look into, litecoin, which is a CPU friendly mining system (gpu mining doesn't mine as much as on bitcoin)

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Oh well, I wasn't really hoping on starting, it simply would not be possible on a laptop. The people who started early got very lucky, I even read an article about a dude buying a pizza for 10 000 Bitcoins, if he had kept them it would be worth over $100 000 now...
I was mainly wondering cause I was planning on getting HD 6770 sometime soon if I put together a rig of my own, and after having little look, the HD 6770 seems to be quite profitable, if you don't count the electricity of course. Although nowadays, it requires too much power to gain any significant profit.

I also heard about Litecoin, didn't look into it much though as I heard it's worth much less and harder to trade. I will check it out though.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

while it worth less, easier to mine and you can mine like 80 litecoin per day compare to like 0.20 bitcoin per day, I have friend that make as much money as me on litecoin using good cpu.

One thing thought, the more people that use the currency, harder it will be to mine (that's where difficulty come into the story).

PS: In other word, if you can find a coin that is not popular at all, and start to mine them, if it become popular, you will be rich. That's why there is all kind of coin.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Hmm, well I could give it a shot, although I don't think I would mine anywhere near 80 Litecoins per day with my laptop's CPU. However, it would be an efficient use of all the idling my computer does anyway.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

tohands' first sentence sums it up.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

I already had a hint that I started late when I had to download almost 200k blocks just to start mining myself. Thankfully I stopped at about 500 MB, because it became too damn slow (larger blocks) and if what I heard is right its size is over 2 GB now.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

This honestly makes no sense. I googled "Bitcoin mining" and watched the video, but I am still at a total loss. Does this have something to do with Reddit?

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Has nothing to do with Reddit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

It's hard to briefly explain what it is. Basically, you use the power of your CPU and/or GPU to solve mathematical algorithms etc. It has completely nothing to do with Reddit or anything of that sort. This gives a brief explanation and gives a starting point, I suppose.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

It would be nice to see bitcoins compute for charity (the World Community Grid does calculations and computing for various charity research projects including clean water, Muscular Dystrophy, Cancer and Malaria treatment).

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

I don't think it's a very good idea. Unless you mean the inventors of Bitcoin donate (which I don't think you did), people would use the same amount of money in energy as they would use to get the bitcoins - they might as well just donate straight from their pocket.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

it's not worth it anymore. Too much power cost more than money you get for calculation.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

I'm using my brain instead so i get 100% profit in return, i don't even pay for electricity. I just sit in dark and solve various algorithms

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

That's clever. Probably takes you millions of times longer than using a GPU, but clever.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Have you factored chemical assistance into that estimate?

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

It's shit, did my research. Stick to normal trading, way more profitable (not that it IS profitable, anyways, unless you're a fucking scammer).

I still don't get why people buy bitcoin for 1000 USD in person, my bet, drugs.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Not far from the truth, actually. This is why i usually buy bitcoins

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

so expensive =P

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Actually, that's pretty cheap, especially for the higher quantities.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Winners don't do drugs.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

I see you've been talking to Charlie Sheen. Don't believe his lies.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

You know whats amazing, you would post on a public forum, with your account that is tied to you that is chock full of personally identifying information, admitting you purchase drugs online.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

brb someone's at the door

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Feel free to joke about it, but you are a stupid criminal story in progress. Granted not as dumb as the people that post stuff on youtube.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

It was a screenshot, not a link to the actual order form. Assuming it was his site, he would have most likely posted an actual link in hope of more sales.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

There's nothing illegal about admitting to past/present/future drug use.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

You are indeed correct, but posting this online with a direct link to personally identifying information, with an implied admittance that he makes legally questionable purchases is pretty drat stupid. Sort of defeats the point of using cryptology.

This kind of information could be used against him, the standard of evidence for obtaining a warrant is not that high in the US, and that can lead to problems. What he has posted online is a huge loose end that could potentially bite him later.

This is not about the legality of his statement, as you pointed out it's not illegal, it's about being smart and not posting information that you really shouldn't post.

This is just basic common sense, and getting careless is a great way to attract the attention of law enforcement.

I say delete the post but this is the internet and it's pretty much permanent, so my advice stop making statements that can be easily traced to you.

And to peroxide, most law enforcement agencies are well aware of the site he took that screen shot from, it is pretty infamous.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

It's just a screenshot, there is no evidence linking it to him (outside digital footprint.) It would be hard to pin that as evidence by itself but certainly used history has shown us contaminating is never a good thing >> See Scumbag Sabu that's how they caught Jeremy Hammond right? Common law, learn from precedents.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

This is not evidence to convict him in a criminal case or even get the police at his door, but it is information that can be used against him, especially if he has a habit with being sloppy concerning his implied activities.

Last post concerning this, posting online with implied activities that law enforcement frowns upon, which can directly be tied to the treasure trove of personal information known as your steam account is not a smart thing to do. It is just one less dot someone needs to find, if they were trying to build a case against you.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Can you prove it was really my screenshot or that i was being serious at any point? Honestly, there's absolutely nothing for which you can hold me accountable

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

The pizza I sent you has a wire on it. It's listening for the next time you buy drugs on the internet tubes.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Next time try a fruit cake, no one eats those.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

How is it that I keep seeing you on random websites I stumble across... - AttackOfTheThumbs

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Yea I just spent a solid hour trying to figure all this out and went and installed all the stuff and decided that I had no clue what I was doing and just uninstalled. I'll just stick to making normal money.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Hmmm you need ATI for this correct? Can my 460 get some coins? O_o.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Pretty much any card should be able to get "some" coins. However, nVidia cards aren't as powerful at this, while using the same amount of power (if not more), therefore it won't be as profitable.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

I'ma try this for a week, If I can get some decent money.. Extra income is always welcome to me

my 7870 is running max at 405 Mhps

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

You can use this website to calculate an approximate profit after deducting the electricity costs.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Not worth it anymore, i am sad that i cashed out early in the game, had over 211 BTC, when it was worth about $3 each, and afterwards the value fell into the pennies, but later rose to $10+

but now to earn that much again would take longer than I'll be alive... no longer worth it.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

There was a guy who paid 10k BTC for a pizza :]

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

I have mentioned that above, I bet he's kicking himself hard about it.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

thank you for telling me about this. generating about .02 bitcoins an hour now

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

I did this for a while back when the coins were a lot easier to mine. Managed to gain enough to pay off the two graphic cards I bought and I had a little extra left behind.
It's hardly worth doing now unless you've gone for a really dedicated rig, even then you'll be lucky to break even.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

It's only profitable if you're under 18 and don't realize that your parents pay for electricity. Running your CPU or GPU at 100% is going to consume a lot of power.

Let's do some math, you'll need at least a $400+ GPU (Radeon 7970) to get 500 MHash/sec using 300w at full load plus everything else, let's say 400w. Assume that electricity is 0.15/kWh. You'll be paying $1.44/24 hours just to mine. Hoping that you actually get 500MHash/sec at the current rate of $12.04/bitcoin using bitcoinX's calculation you'll be receiving $0.40/24h@100MHash/s or $2.00/24 hours.

So you're making .56 cents a day running your computer 24/7 and assuming you already have a $500 GPU capable of this. If you're not able to break 360MHash/s then you won't break even. Not to mention as of December you'll be getting 50% of what you are now, so you'll need over 720MHash/s to break even.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Even more entertaining, the large hash rates aren't needed, the only reason you need insane MHash/sec rates is the fact the people in the network keep adding more computer power thus scaling the complexity up.

If people would stop building worthless super computers the complexity would scale down allowing people to mine bitcoins with sane setups. But of course the arms race will always happen since this system is set up in a manner that the prisoners dilemma predicts the best move for every miner to make.

Of course we get to also see if people are rational actors and start to scale down the mining rigs to smaller sizes as energy costs exceed the mined coin value. My prediction is no, they don't pay for electricity.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

What you're suggesting is, is that people who have invested thousands into this, should simple stop using their setup and allow the difficulty to go back down? When in history has anyone ever had a chance to invest more money for higher returns and declined? The only way you'll see this again is if bitcoin drops to under $1 and even then, someone will see it as a chance to mine tons in hope it recovers while others take it as their cue to jump out.

There was a time when it was much easier, it was called at the beginning before more and more people caught on.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Can anyone explain what are they using our processing power for?

For example, in folding@home they are using our computers to help them study diseases and proteins, etc.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Magical internet money, that is it. And no you can't dedicate the processing power to something useful.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Its odd that I have never tried bitcoin mining. I just started it :P
Edit: Also can someone tell me if pool mining is better than solo mining. If pool mining is whats the best pool? Im using deepbit

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

I tried too but then I read the logic on this thread and stopped lol. Maybe if I could use solar or wind energy to do it but even then just selling the power back into the grid may be more profitable.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

I looked into this about 2 years ago. Didn't do it then, as the mining market was too saturated. I can only imagine how much worse it has gotten. I don't purchase the illegals, I don't need bitcoins, so I gave it all up and uninstalled.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Bitcoin is mostly used by libertarians because It's independent from goverment. There isn't much use for it expect for gambling and drugs, but it may change in future - who knows?

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Nothing like doing business and deleting the bitcoins you traded away.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Took me like 9 hours for 0.007 BTC at 58.2M/HASH a sec. I guess this is just not for me :P

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

You earn more just visiting bitvisitor in a sandboxed browser (some of the linked sites contain malware), enter a captcha every 5 minutes for 0.32 mBTC, open a few tabs and in 30 minutes u get more then u would get bit mining for hours, pretty sure u could do other stuff waiting for 5 minutes

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

That's some kind of traffic-exchange service then? Totally different from what this is.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Deleted

This comment was deleted 2 years ago.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

actually when it came out that you could buy drugs,weapons and some other illegal stuff with it on the TOR network, bitcoins briefly hit 27$/coin... Didn't last to long though. Its been said before: Special mining rig needed for decent payout(could get some pocketchange with a somewhat mediocre pc),cost of electricity these days outweighs the return you have on them. Anywayn if you want to go for it and try it out i'd recommend mining in a pool(slush pool is wat i use).
If you happen to have solar panels and have the means to pay for a decent mining rig i would do it. I have some bitcoins stored and i expect them to hit 25$ at some point again. Until then i'll wait selling. There is also bitcoin trading if mining isn't really what you want. Basicly its just buying low selling high stuff..

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Well, it was like an anonymous online currency that could be used for what ever purpose. I guess as it gained popularity people started to pay real money for it. If I'm not wrong, there are still many deals made using Bitcoins on the TOR Network, it is also much more popular on the surface web now (I even saw some guy selling Steam games for Bitcoins)

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Where can I sell bitcoins

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

GPUs use too much electricity, FPGA is risky investment because It's harder to sell it.

12 years ago
Permalink

Comment has been collapsed.

Closed 12 years ago by intoxeus.