ETH mining 101

[Steven_RW]

anxious_ant said:

Question about wear and tear please.

According to GPUZ memory temp hovers around 102-104C during mining. This is with case open, cold ambient temps (19C) and GPU fans about 80%. I tried 100% but doesn’t seem to make any difference.

Will this cause any premature damage to the VRAM chip?
Perhaps the silicone around it?

As for the fans, is this something fairly easy to replace if knackered? Just a bit wary running fans at full speed for prolonged periods.

P/S: is the price of Bitcoin on NH bit low today? I normally get about £8.50 net profit / day at lower hash rate, today at higher hash rate it’s showing as £5.50 net profit / day.

Do you mean the price of Ethereum as I believe you are mining Ethereum? Yes Ethereum prices have dropped.

https://www.coindesk.com/price/ethereum

Change the timescale to week or month and look at how much it has recently dropped.

RW

[320d is all you need]

If you're using NiceHash you mine whatever is most profitable and you are paid in Bitcoin.

[320d is all you need]

anxious_ant said:

P/S: is the price of Bitcoin on NH bit low today? I normally get about £8.50 net profit / day at lower hash rate, today at higher hash rate it’s showing as £5.50 net profit / day.

It does vary as the day goes through.

It should average out about right.

One day last week I earnt 1.30 in a 3.5hr payment period.
Another time I earnt only 40p despite the MHs being stable.

[anxious_ant]

Steven_RW said:

Sorry I was late to the reply. Work, kids etc.

Looks like you have made some good improvements this morning and that power draw of 290 ish and 114 MH/S is definitely much more in the ballpark of what you should be seeing.

The limitation on a 3090 is the VRAM temperature hitting TJMAX. So you try every option in your power to keep that temp down whilst maintaining some proper MH/S (such as your 114 mh/s). Side off the case, fans at full. Cold room etc and I see you have done all that. After those options if you are still hitting TJMAX, then you reduce your VRam overclock.

There will be some research that shows you are reducing the life of your card but I bet it is way outside any period you will still be using the card. That is why the TJMAX limiters are in place. That is the maximum sustainable performance for any card expecting last a good lifetime and not have endless warranty claims.

You can replace the fans and it isn't "that" hard. Each card is different but it is defintely something that can be done and you have a warranty.

You are now at the point you can tweak in much smaller steps and just give it time to settle and see what she does. If you turn off the monitor the load on the GPU goes down a little and you get a MH/S or two on mining performance.

Good stuff and this really seems a much better place to be than when I first read your posts.

Cheers

RW

No worries bud. It was a bit of a learning curve for me and really appreciate your advice. I've been mining in the past without realising that the overclock wasn't applied so well chuffed I've got to this stage.

I am not planning on mining 24/7, it would be ideal if I can recoup price I paid for my card over period of few months. (circa £1,800 back in December, looks like it's much higher now!).

[anxious_ant]

Hmm, can't get multi quote to work, oh well...

Cheers again Steven and 320d for replying in regards to Bitcoin/ETH prices. I will keep an eye on this and will only mine if the net cost is profitable.

I am guessing you guys use NiceHash as well? Is there a preference for plugins? I've only got Excavator running as I find it good. Tried NBminer but for me it's not as profitable as Excavator, it's quick though.

I've also haven't setup CoinBase yet, as my balance is <£100 at the moment. I have CoinCorner account but I don't think that is compatible.
Is CoinBase the best option to withdraw cash from NiceHash?

Apologies for all the questions lol.

Edited by anxious_ant on Friday 26th March 13:42

[loudlashadjuster]

anxious_ant said:

Cheers again Steven and 320d for replying in regards to Bitcoin/ETH prices. I will keep an eye on this and will only mine if the net cost is profitable.

It would have to drop significantly for mining on a 30xx card not to be profitable. And even then, you're still earning coins which, if you are fully hodl, will inevitably rise again.

[320d is all you need]

I'm no expert by any means but

Yes I am using NiceHash.

It will change to different mining protocols/plugins depending on profits you get.

Currently using DaggerHasimoto is the best on that certainly for our Nvidia RTX cards

Other cards may vary.

You can enter your cost per kw of electricity and set it to only mine if you make XX profit, if that's what you want but, I'd guess around 1 to 1.50 per 24hrs at 350-400w depending on your electricity cost. And you should be able to get betwene 5 and 10 quid per 24hr depending on the cost of BTC and what plugin is in use.


So basically I suspect if you have been savvy with your bills and changing providers you'll always be at a profit.

[Steven_RW]

320d is all you need said:

If you're using NiceHash you mine whatever is most profitable and you are paid in Bitcoin.

Ahh grand thanks. I didn't know that much about nicehash other than it is quite easy plug and play. We set up t-rex as our mining software which gives a bit more control and currently are just focussing on Ethereum.

RW

[Steven_RW]

anxious_ant said:

Hmm, can't get multi quote to work, oh well...

Cheers again Steven and 320d for replying in regards to Bitcoin/ETH prices. I will keep an eye on this and will only mine if the net cost is profitable.

I am guessing you guys use NiceHash as well? Is there a preference for plugins? I've only got Excavator running as I find it good. Tried NBminer but for me it's not as profitable as Excavator, it's quick though.

I've also haven't setup CoinBase yet, as my balance is <£100 at the moment. I have CoinCorner account but I don't think that is compatible.
Is CoinBase the best option to withdraw cash from NiceHash?

Apologies for all the questions lol.

Edited by anxious_ant on Friday 26th March 13:42

I use something called t-rex. I choose what I mine (Ethereum) and I get paid in Ethereum. I also choose when I get paid out in terms of frequency or size of Ethereum chunk. To me, it is less important to decide if mining today is profitable as I don't plan on selling my Ethereum straight away, so I mine away with a plan of keeping one Ethereum out of every two and turning the other one in for cash to pay bills and some of the initial investment. The remaining Ethereum in my account will be something I have fun speculating with. Overall it extends the payback period but if I am lucky I will make an Ethereum at a time the value is low and hopefully hold on to it till it is worth more.

I have 6 cards running c. 60Mh/s each and two more sitting here that will get added next week taking me to 480Mh/s (8x60mh/s). I only have one 30 series and it is a 3070. The rest are 2080ti and all watercooled for the fun :-).

I think Nicehash is designed to take all the hassle out of mining and if you move to another piece of software it is a little less obvious and you need to build your own batchfiles to set your miner up doing exactly what you want. It isn't that intimidating though with a little help.

Cheers
RW

[anxious_ant]

Steven_RW said:

I use something called t-rex. I choose what I mine (Ethereum) and I get paid in Ethereum. I also choose when I get paid out in terms of frequency or size of Ethereum chunk. To me, it is less important to decide if mining today is profitable as I don't plan on selling my Ethereum straight away, so I mine away with a plan of keeping one Ethereum out of every two and turning the other one in for cash to pay bills and some of the initial investment. The remaining Ethereum in my account will be something I have fun speculating with. Overall it extends the payback period but if I am lucky I will make an Ethereum at a time the value is low and hopefully hold on to it till it is worth more.

I have 6 cards running c. 60Mh/s each and two more sitting here that will get added next week taking me to 480Mh/s (8x60mh/s). I only have one 30 series and it is a 3070. The rest are 2080ti and all watercooled for the fun :-).

I think Nicehash is designed to take all the hassle out of mining and if you move to another piece of software it is a little less obvious and you need to build your own batchfiles to set your miner up doing exactly what you want. It isn't that intimidating though with a little help.

Cheers
RW

Yes, NiceHash is indeed very quick and easy for beginners.
I only have one viable mining rig so NH makes sense, although it’s also easy to setup and manage multiple rigs in NH.
I think NH had Trex plug-in too.

edit: Just re-read what you've posted, how did you get your hands on so many cards lol. Well done! Watercooled as well... would love to see a picture if there is one

Edited by anxious_ant on Friday 26th March 17:49

[320d is all you need]

I think NiceHash is great for the gaming user who wants to mine in their off-game time.

I wouldn't use it as a multi-card miner, it makes more sense to use dedicated software

NiceHash do take some of your money as payment but it's not much , single % fees so, well worth it for the ease. I can even start/stop it on my phone.

I forgot to add, in mention of how to get your money from NH,

I have set up a Coinbase account and from there you can Withdraw to PayPal,
Although I haven't withdrawn anything yet. I have around £20 in my wallet and I'm just going to leave it for a rainy day.

Edited by 320d is all you need on Friday 26th March 15:48

[anxious_ant]

320d is all you need said:

I think NiceHash is great for the gaming user who wants to mine in their off-game time.

I wouldn't use it as a multi-card miner, it makes more sense to use dedicated software

NiceHash do take some of your money as payment but it's not much , single % fees so, well worth it for the ease. I can even start/stop it on my phone.

I forgot to add, in mention of how to get your money from NH,

I have set up a Coinbase account and from there you can Withdraw to PayPal,
Although I haven't withdrawn anything yet. I have around £20 in my wallet and I'm just going to leave it for a rainy day.

Edited by 320d is all you need on Friday 26th March 15:48

Just created a Coinbase account myself. The ID verification was surprisingly quick.
This is my little e-piggy bank for them rainy days Wished I had done this sooner!

[halo34]

Steven_RW said:

I use something called t-rex. I choose what I mine (Ethereum) and I get paid in Ethereum. I also choose when I get paid out in terms of frequency or size of Ethereum chunk. To me, it is less important to decide if mining today is profitable as I don't plan on selling my Ethereum straight away, so I mine away with a plan of keeping one Ethereum out of every two and turning the other one in for cash to pay bills and some of the initial investment. The remaining Ethereum in my account will be something I have fun speculating with. Overall it extends the payback period but if I am lucky I will make an Ethereum at a time the value is low and hopefully hold on to it till it is worth more.

I have 6 cards running c. 60Mh/s each and two more sitting here that will get added next week taking me to 480Mh/s (8x60mh/s). I only have one 30 series and it is a 3070. The rest are 2080ti and all watercooled for the fun :-).

I think Nicehash is designed to take all the hassle out of mining and if you move to another piece of software it is a little less obvious and you need to build your own batchfiles to set your miner up doing exactly what you want. It isn't that intimidating though with a little help.

Cheers
RW

I use Trex and have been slowly adding some bits to the batch file as I have been discovering things, not sure its made a difference but good fun playing about with it.

[anonymous-user]

anxious_ant said:

Just created a Coinbase account myself. The ID verification was surprisingly quick.
This is my little e-piggy bank for them rainy days Wished I had done this sooner!

do the learning new coins and you get free coins as well.

[anxious_ant]

The Spruce Goose said:

do the learning new coins and you get free coins as well.

Just found that, no harm watching videos for some free alt coins

[anonymous-user]

anxious_ant said:

Just found that, no harm watching videos for some free alt coins

should have said could have used my referral, both get free money...

People slate CB but they have been around donkeys and yes not all coins on there, but the coins added are vetted.

[anxious_ant]

The Spruce Goose said:

should have said could have used my referral, both get free money...

People slate CB but they have been around donkeys and yes not all coins on there, but the coins added are vetted.

CB is a good gateway for crypto investment. As long as you do your research and manage risks of course.

[Steven_RW]

anxious_ant said:

edit: Just re-read what you've posted, how did you get your hands on so many cards lol. Well done! Watercooled as well... would love to see a picture if there is one

Edited by anxious_ant on Friday 26th March 17:49

The following is quite messy and vastly over detailed.... but in summary, I bought cards from ebay by watching the market endlessly. I should have faced up to the fact I would have scaled this all up and instead of building around PC cases, bought a mining case/chasis. So it all looks quite messy. Shortly once I complete my next steps, the 2nd and 3rd pc will head into the garage to give me some space back in my study. Here goes.

I had a gaming pc built in a Lian Li 011 XL with a 2080ti in it. Custom waterloop with 3 x 360mm radiators and running a i9900kf etc before i started any mining. I also had a streaming pc that had a GTX1080. So firstly I sold my 1080 on ebay and bought another 2080ti from ebay and swapped it in. I had a spare external watercooling tower with built in reservoir and 6 fans, 360mm radiator and two pumps. So I added a watercooled gpu block on the second 2080ti and cooled it using the external tower. It is a bit messy as I just took off the glass side panel to route the pipes to the cooling tower. The benefit was not having to listen to GPU fans at full blast whilst I do my work sitting next to it all day.

I bought two more 2080ti and put one more in each machine. Again the main gaming rig looked neat enough but the second pc had some pretty messy hoses connecting each watercooled gpu together as due to being different cards their connections don't line up for easy plumbing.

I built a third pc from a big fractal define XL R2 case and am running this aircooled with a 3070 and 2080ti waiting for the last parts to arrive to complete the waterloop. When the parts arrive, the two cards in this case get watercooled and kicked out into the gaming pc and 2nd pc, leaving room for a package I bought that is 3x2080ti all with EKWB waterblocks from someones rendering machine. So it will look neat as all the cards are the same.

That is 9 GPU but I only have room for 8, so I have sold one to a mate who is going to do a little bit of fun mining too.

So by tomorrow I will swap in the third card into the gaming pc (thinner radiator arrives, giving more space in the case for the third 2080ti). I will happily share a photo of that.

On Wednesday next week the connectors I need for the 3rd pc watercooling loop arrive and that will be a much neater build due to three identical cards. It isn't a "showpiece" case as it has no glass but I'll happily share a photo of the internals of that. The only one I cannot work out how to neaten up at this stage is the second pc as I will need to drill some holes in it to pass the hoses through to the external tower, so I can put the side back on it. Or swap it into a bigger case designed for watercooling.

Below is a photo taken from my seat of the general mess of pc cases and so on sitting next to me :-)

[anxious_ant]

Steven_RW said:

The following is quite messy and vastly over detailed.... but in summary, I bought cards from ebay by watching the market endlessly. I should have faced up to the fact I would have scaled this all up and instead of building around PC cases, bought a mining case/chasis. So it all looks quite messy. Shortly once I complete my next steps, the 2nd and 3rd pc will head into the garage to give me some space back in my study. Here goes.

I had a gaming pc built in a Lian Li 011 XL with a 2080ti in it. Custom waterloop with 3 x 360mm radiators and running a i9900kf etc before i started any mining. I also had a streaming pc that had a GTX1080. So firstly I sold my 1080 on ebay and bought another 2080ti from ebay and swapped it in. I had a spare external watercooling tower with built in reservoir and 6 fans, 360mm radiator and two pumps. So I added a watercooled gpu block on the second 2080ti and cooled it using the external tower. It is a bit messy as I just took off the glass side panel to route the pipes to the cooling tower. The benefit was not having to listen to GPU fans at full blast whilst I do my work sitting next to it all day.

I bought two more 2080ti and put one more in each machine. Again the main gaming rig looked neat enough but the second pc had some pretty messy hoses connecting each watercooled gpu together as due to being different cards their connections don't line up for easy plumbing.

I built a third pc from a big fractal define XL R2 case and am running this aircooled with a 3070 and 2080ti waiting for the last parts to arrive to complete the waterloop. When the parts arrive, the two cards in this case get watercooled and kicked out into the gaming pc and 2nd pc, leaving room for a package I bought that is 3x2080ti all with EKWB waterblocks from someones rendering machine. So it will look neat as all the cards are the same.

That is 9 GPU but I only have room for 8, so I have sold one to a mate who is going to do a little bit of fun mining too.

So by tomorrow I will swap in the third card into the gaming pc (thinner radiator arrives, giving more space in the case for the third 2080ti). I will happily share a photo of that.

On Wednesday next week the connectors I need for the 3rd pc watercooling loop arrive and that will be a much neater build due to three identical cards. It isn't a "showpiece" case as it has no glass but I'll happily share a photo of the internals of that. The only one I cannot work out how to neaten up at this stage is the second pc as I will need to drill some holes in it to pass the hoses through to the external tower, so I can put the side back on it. Or swap it into a bigger case designed for watercooling.

Below is a photo taken from my seat of the general mess of pc cases and so on sitting next to me :-)

Cheers! Enjoyed reading that If I had my hands on those cards I’d probably gone down the open rig route and have it in my garage. Perhaps with some sensors and camera just to keep an eye on things. Although water cooling would be a bit of a challenge there, but a good option to ensure longevity.

ETH looks profitable now so with 400+MH/s you’d be looking at a nice monthly profit, even after electricity bills

P/S: I’d benchmark your setup on 3DMark. Must get insane scores

Edited by anxious_ant on Saturday 27th March 14:34

[audi321]

anxious_ant said:

ETH looks profitable now so with 400+MH/s you’d be looking at a nice monthly profit, even after electricity bills

But is it profitable though? 400mh/s is around £700 per month, minus electric (say £150?) so £550 a month but for how much outlay to get that mh/s? Must be in excess of £10k?

Edited by audi321 on Saturday 27th March 15:12