For people who want to start mining.
TL;DR --> DO THE MATH FIRST! Don't be stupid like me. I wasted time and money building a rig that
isn't going to profit due to electricity cost.
I apologize in advance for bad grammar or english, it's not my native language.
Like a lot of people I recently decided to start mining ethereum. I'm fairly new
to mining and cryptocurrency in general. I mined bitcoin for a bit when it was still
possible using GPU's, but I was late to the party to be honest so never got my ROI
on bitcoin.
Back to ethereum, about 3 weeks ago I read an article online about cryptocurrency and
ethereum was mentioned as being profitable for GPU mining. So did some searching online
about ethereum and got really exited. It immediatly thought back on the moment I found
out about bitcoin mining.
But concidering that never was profitable because GPU mining basically ended when I
got started I didn't want to rush and make the same mistake. I found a lot of
posts\comments about POS, netwerk difficulty, price movements etc. So I decided to
do some calculations if it was worth it...
However, me being overly exited (stupid) caused me to change my plan. Despite the
network difficulty going up fast and diminishing hash rates, people where still profitable so
I didn't want to waste time to start mining. So jumped on local forums to buy used hardware as
buying new would have a huge impact on the ROI.
The problems with used hardware: 1)You have to trust that it works.
2)Needed 6 components so I had 6 different sellers
who all take their time.
About 1 1/2 weeks later I finally had all the hardware.
* Intel Celeron G1840
* Asus Z87-A motherboard (coudn't find the type of board that everyone is using... I wonder why![:)]( ":)")
)
* 16GB ddr3 Ballistic (package deal with the mobo)
* Asus R9 280x directcu II TOP
* WD Green 320GB
* EVGA Supernova 1300w
Total €447,10 ,- or $506,40
Put it all together, didn't boot up. Did some basic troubleshooting, it was a problem with the board.
Contacted the seller and arranged to return the hardware and get the money back. Couple days later,
frustrated from still not mining after two weeks, bought a used board from a friend. However, this
being an amd board, had to buy his processor. Also he had a H60 watercooler on it.
So in a hurry to finally start mining, bought it and put it al together. Did some testing, it all
worked and I was mining. However, the full weight of the GPU was on the pci slot and having other
people and pets around I could see this ending in disaster. I knew that the same friend had a big tower
pc case laying around so picked that up the same evening.
Put all the hardware in it no problem except the GPU. This case has a click-system to secure add-on
cards in stead of the traditional way of using screws. A bit of plastic from the GPU cooler was in the
way so the click-system woudn't secure the GPU. Eventually I was able to somewhat secure the GPU with
a screw that I put in from the outside of the case.
My current setup:
* AMD FX8320 with H60 cooler
* MSI 970A-G43
* 8GB ddr ram
* Asus R9 280x directcu II TOP
* WD Green 320GB
* EVGA Supernova 1300w
* Aerocool Predator X3 case
Total €623,99 ,- or $706,75 (with shipping cost and the Intel G1840 I already bought)
Finally up and running, ~18MH with 250w
----------
So was this worth all the time and frustration?
Hardware wise:
(What I ended up with)
* Intel Celeron G1840
* AMD FX8320 with H60 cooler
* MSI 970A-G43
* 8GB ddr3
* Asus R9 280x directcu II TOP
* WD Green 320GB
* EVGA Supernova 1300w
* Aerocool Predator X3 case
€623,99 ,- or $706,75
(What I would have bought new, GPU and case bought used)
* Intel Celeron G1840
* Asrock H81 Pro BTC
* 8GB ddr3 ram
* WD Green 320GB
* 1x Corsair CX750 - 750W (and buy 1 extra when needed)
* Asus R9 280x directcu II TOP
* Aerocool Predator X3 case
€444,40 ,- or $503,30
Conclusion: Looking at the time and money I would have been better off to just buy
the majority of the parts new. Then I was up and running within a week. By buying all
the parts used I added an extra week of delay to mining and being impatient added
another $200 to the total cost.
So now mining I thought back on my original plan and started to do some math. (What I should have
done in the first place)
KW/H price €0,19 - $0,22
Watt usage: 0,250 KW/H
Hash rate 18 MH
Electricity cost:
6KW per day = €1,14 - $1,29
Based on different online calculators 18Mhz is estimated to return about €1,20 or $1,37 in ethereum a day.
So profit would be €0,06 a day based on electricity cost. (some online calculators show a loss of
around $0,05 a day)
I don't now how correct these calculators are, but this would pretty much average out to €0,-
Conclusion overal:
* DO THE MATH FIRST! In my case, the high electricity cost kills profit. If I increase efficiency by
adding more GPU's than I would make a very small profit. The example below with current network stats
and prices would give me an estimate profit of around $1,- a day.
(calc used https://www.cryptocompare.com/mining/calculator/eth)
Example: 1x 280x, 18MH, 250w (with power to cpu,motherboard)
3x 370, 37,5MH 300w
Total 55,5MH. 550w
I personally don't think it's worth it if you don't already have the hardware. In my case I never get a ROI.
In this thread (https://forum.ethereum.org/discussion/8939/rx-470-vs-rx-480-hashrate-power-consumption-purchase-cost-comparison)
a user comments this "RX 470 (undervolted) = 25MH - 4GPU at 560 at the wall". So 4 cards will do 100MH
In my case that would mean a profit of €107,55 or $121,80 a month.
The cheapest 4x RX470 I can find in my area is €845,80 or $957,95
This would take 7,86 months to get ROI on the cards, not to mention the other hardware if the network stats dont change.
Again, do the math first. The calculations above would have shown me on day 1 it's not worth it for me. Instead I wasted about 3 weeks and
about $700 building a rig that wasn't going to profit.
With bitcoin, I was late to the party. Now i'm not only late to the party... the party is already over.
TL;DR --> DO THE MATH FIRST! Don't be stupid like me. I wasted time and money building a rig that
isn't going to profit due to electricity cost.
I apologize in advance for bad grammar or english, it's not my native language.
Like a lot of people I recently decided to start mining ethereum. I'm fairly new
to mining and cryptocurrency in general. I mined bitcoin for a bit when it was still
possible using GPU's, but I was late to the party to be honest so never got my ROI
on bitcoin.
Back to ethereum, about 3 weeks ago I read an article online about cryptocurrency and
ethereum was mentioned as being profitable for GPU mining. So did some searching online
about ethereum and got really exited. It immediatly thought back on the moment I found
out about bitcoin mining.
But concidering that never was profitable because GPU mining basically ended when I
got started I didn't want to rush and make the same mistake. I found a lot of
posts\comments about POS, netwerk difficulty, price movements etc. So I decided to
do some calculations if it was worth it...
However, me being overly exited (stupid) caused me to change my plan. Despite the
network difficulty going up fast and diminishing hash rates, people where still profitable so
I didn't want to waste time to start mining. So jumped on local forums to buy used hardware as
buying new would have a huge impact on the ROI.
The problems with used hardware: 1)You have to trust that it works.
2)Needed 6 components so I had 6 different sellers
who all take their time.
About 1 1/2 weeks later I finally had all the hardware.
* Intel Celeron G1840
* Asus Z87-A motherboard (coudn't find the type of board that everyone is using... I wonder why
)* 16GB ddr3 Ballistic (package deal with the mobo)
* Asus R9 280x directcu II TOP
* WD Green 320GB
* EVGA Supernova 1300w
Total €447,10 ,- or $506,40
Put it all together, didn't boot up. Did some basic troubleshooting, it was a problem with the board.
Contacted the seller and arranged to return the hardware and get the money back. Couple days later,
frustrated from still not mining after two weeks, bought a used board from a friend. However, this
being an amd board, had to buy his processor. Also he had a H60 watercooler on it.
So in a hurry to finally start mining, bought it and put it al together. Did some testing, it all
worked and I was mining. However, the full weight of the GPU was on the pci slot and having other
people and pets around I could see this ending in disaster. I knew that the same friend had a big tower
pc case laying around so picked that up the same evening.
Put all the hardware in it no problem except the GPU. This case has a click-system to secure add-on
cards in stead of the traditional way of using screws. A bit of plastic from the GPU cooler was in the
way so the click-system woudn't secure the GPU. Eventually I was able to somewhat secure the GPU with
a screw that I put in from the outside of the case.
My current setup:
* AMD FX8320 with H60 cooler
* MSI 970A-G43
* 8GB ddr ram
* Asus R9 280x directcu II TOP
* WD Green 320GB
* EVGA Supernova 1300w
* Aerocool Predator X3 case
Total €623,99 ,- or $706,75 (with shipping cost and the Intel G1840 I already bought)
Finally up and running, ~18MH with 250w
----------
So was this worth all the time and frustration?
Hardware wise:
(What I ended up with)
* Intel Celeron G1840
* AMD FX8320 with H60 cooler
* MSI 970A-G43
* 8GB ddr3
* Asus R9 280x directcu II TOP
* WD Green 320GB
* EVGA Supernova 1300w
* Aerocool Predator X3 case
€623,99 ,- or $706,75
(What I would have bought new, GPU and case bought used)
* Intel Celeron G1840
* Asrock H81 Pro BTC
* 8GB ddr3 ram
* WD Green 320GB
* 1x Corsair CX750 - 750W (and buy 1 extra when needed)
* Asus R9 280x directcu II TOP
* Aerocool Predator X3 case
€444,40 ,- or $503,30
Conclusion: Looking at the time and money I would have been better off to just buy
the majority of the parts new. Then I was up and running within a week. By buying all
the parts used I added an extra week of delay to mining and being impatient added
another $200 to the total cost.
So now mining I thought back on my original plan and started to do some math. (What I should have
done in the first place)
KW/H price €0,19 - $0,22
Watt usage: 0,250 KW/H
Hash rate 18 MH
Electricity cost:
6KW per day = €1,14 - $1,29
Based on different online calculators 18Mhz is estimated to return about €1,20 or $1,37 in ethereum a day.
So profit would be €0,06 a day based on electricity cost. (some online calculators show a loss of
around $0,05 a day)
I don't now how correct these calculators are, but this would pretty much average out to €0,-
Conclusion overal:
* DO THE MATH FIRST! In my case, the high electricity cost kills profit. If I increase efficiency by
adding more GPU's than I would make a very small profit. The example below with current network stats
and prices would give me an estimate profit of around $1,- a day.
(calc used https://www.cryptocompare.com/mining/calculator/eth)
Example: 1x 280x, 18MH, 250w (with power to cpu,motherboard)
3x 370, 37,5MH 300w
Total 55,5MH. 550w
I personally don't think it's worth it if you don't already have the hardware. In my case I never get a ROI.
In this thread (https://forum.ethereum.org/discussion/8939/rx-470-vs-rx-480-hashrate-power-consumption-purchase-cost-comparison)
a user comments this "RX 470 (undervolted) = 25MH - 4GPU at 560 at the wall". So 4 cards will do 100MH
In my case that would mean a profit of €107,55 or $121,80 a month.
The cheapest 4x RX470 I can find in my area is €845,80 or $957,95
This would take 7,86 months to get ROI on the cards, not to mention the other hardware if the network stats dont change.
Again, do the math first. The calculations above would have shown me on day 1 it's not worth it for me. Instead I wasted about 3 weeks and
about $700 building a rig that wasn't going to profit.
With bitcoin, I was late to the party. Now i'm not only late to the party... the party is already over.