Am I missing a trick - bitcoin mining?

[Terminator X]

Met someone today who had banks and banks of what looked like hard drives whirring away ... easy money?

TX.

[mackie1]

Was it actually bitcoin they were mining or something else?

Etherium can net you a couple of hundred quid a month on a powerful GPU so it can be worth it on a small scale and it’s a relatively low risk capital investment given the high demand for said GPUs.

[anxious_ant]

mackie1 said:

Was it actually bitcoin they were mining or something else?

Etherium can net you a couple of hundred quid a month on a powerful GPU so it can be worth it on a small scale and it’s a relatively low risk capital investment given the high demand for said GPUs.

I've created a thread on ETH mining.
I've managed to bag a 3090 just before the prices went really crazy, and was curious to try out mining when I am at work at not using the PC.
For a complete beginner there is now software/app that will get you started very easily.
Net profit was roughly £10-£15 a day, but my electricity rates are very cheap.

For a single GPU you would have to mine 24/7 to return sizeable profit, keeping in mind that your GPU fans and VRAM temps are probably running at max capacity.
Not really for me as I've bought the GPU for the main purpose of gaming.

However I have also begun dabbling in trading cryto currency in Coinbase. I only trade pocket money but so far impressed with the gains.

Edited by anxious_ant on Wednesday 14th April 08:02

[anxious_ant]

Terminator X said:

Met someone today who had banks and banks of what looked like hard drives whirring away ... easy money?

TX.

Do you mean graphic cards?

Something like this?

[strippier]

Ignoring electrical costs, what gains can be made....

For example if I buy £1000 machine (no idea what!!) and run 24/7 what return is there?

Thanks

[loudlashadjuster]

CheesecakeRunner said:

For your average Joe, it’ll cost more in electricity and hardware than you’ll make in mined currency.

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/forex/051115...

That article is very out of date. New GPUs and a hike in currency prices mean it's now very profitable to mine ETH (not BTC) with the right hardware, for the moment anyway.

Of course, this was the case before then prices dropped and things will change again. But for now, if you have a suitable system then you can at least recover some of the cost (my aim) before the next dip.

The ROI for any reasonable setup, whether you have 1 card or 100, is probably around 6 months, unless you manage to buy GPUs at anything close to the nominal RRP.

[loudlashadjuster]

strippier said:

Ignoring electrical costs, what gains can be made....

For example if I buy £1000 machine (no idea what!!) and run 24/7 what return is there?

Thanks

You'll not get much for £1,000, but for around £1,200 you could in theory get something like this: https://www.scan.co.uk/products/scan-gamer-rtx-int...

At current prices you'll be able to mine about £3.50-4.00 per day running 24/7, net after paying for electricity. Run this until something changes (ETH is due to change the way mining works, prices may drop) and you'll still have a £1,200 PC. Even if you only get a few months then you could get a fair chunk of the outlay back.

Of course, I said "in theory" because so many people want to do this that getting hold of the actual hardware is all but impossible. Perhaps the easiest way is to buy a pre-built system like this as resellers prioritise their stock for these as they make more money on the whole systems.

The ETH mining thread has all you need to know.

[Bill]

loudlashadjuster said:

The ETH mining thread has all you need to know.

This.