I have a question about Ethereum, and other crypto-coins, mining.
I'm a COMPLETE newbie to anything crypto-coin related (though I have more than a solid enough computer background to get it up and running). Back when BitCoin was new, I read up on it and... I thought it was stupid, and that it would be dead within a year; obviously I was wrong. I never really looked into it past that, and was shocked when I saw BitCoin making its way into everyday life. Completely disregarding that though, I've never had a computer with a good enough stats to even consider mining anything before.
Recently (as in the past week or two), I built myself a new computer, my goal building it was to be able to run 3d games at 4k, and use VR. Needless to say I got the best GPU I could afford (MSI RX480 Gaming X 8 GB), and even though I only have the one GPU atm, it's my full intention to get 2 more, so I can run them in 3x crossfire, this is without mining even entering the picture, so not really sinking money into a rig I won't be able to use if the crypto-coin goes POS (though I've seen mention of the switch to PoS, I've found nothing that says if that switch will be on both forks of Etherium, or only one). My build: https://pcpartpicker.com/user/edale/saved/czRCJx
I had a passing thought that maybe my GPU was good enough to try mining BitCoins, and I could use the cash from that to help pay for the last upgrades I need for my new comp (rather than waiting until next tax return to get the last GPUs), and maybe earn a bit of extra pocket cash. Needless to say less than a minute's research turned me away from mining BitCoins, but Etherium looked really promising. Several calculators were rating my GPU as earning around $8-900 a year mining Etherium (obviously I got excited seeing that, because it meant over $2000 a year once I get the 3x crossfire setup... AND that was just for the MSI RX480 8GB, not the Gaming X model, Gaming X has a slightly faster GPU, so I assume a slightly higher hash rate).
But there's a lot I just don't understand about mining crypto-currency, and I'm not sure where to even start looking.
I was thinking that I could have my computer mining Etherium, or some other crypto-coins, when I'm not playing any games on it, and I could turn the mining off when I am using it, that would work out to something like an 18 hour a day average of mining (I'm working on the assumption that if I was mining while trying to play a game, the game would be majorly affected).
One of my big questions would be would on-again-off-again mining like that work, or would it not mining 24/7 massively slow down any coins I manage to generate?
Also, I keep seeing something about flashing the BIOS on the video card to mine faster... would that make the video card not work for gaming anymore?
I also had no idea there were so many crypto-currencies out there, and this POW/POS switchover I keep seeing mentioned for Etherium makes me wonder if it would even be possible to make ANY money off Etherium if I can only manage to mine one or two coins before it switches to POS (well, not counting the $80ish I'd make selling 2 Etherium coins)...
On a system like mine (https://pcpartpicker.com/user/edale/saved/czRCJx), what would be the best crypto-currencies for me to consider mining?
Running only 1 GPU, would it be better for me to join a pool, or do I have a chance at mining a decent amount without joining a pool? And if I should join a pool, should I remain in a pool once I upgrade to 3x crossfire, or start solo-mining at that point.
And an explanation of the differences in the pools and especially the different payout schemes would be appreciated. The less jargon the better, I'll pick it up quickly enough, but I know almost none of it atm.
One last question, I've seen lots of explanations about the split, but I don't understand the basic crypto-coin system well enough yet to actually be able to follow all the details and figure out what the differences between the two branches are...
I'm a COMPLETE newbie to anything crypto-coin related (though I have more than a solid enough computer background to get it up and running). Back when BitCoin was new, I read up on it and... I thought it was stupid, and that it would be dead within a year; obviously I was wrong. I never really looked into it past that, and was shocked when I saw BitCoin making its way into everyday life. Completely disregarding that though, I've never had a computer with a good enough stats to even consider mining anything before.
Recently (as in the past week or two), I built myself a new computer, my goal building it was to be able to run 3d games at 4k, and use VR. Needless to say I got the best GPU I could afford (MSI RX480 Gaming X 8 GB), and even though I only have the one GPU atm, it's my full intention to get 2 more, so I can run them in 3x crossfire, this is without mining even entering the picture, so not really sinking money into a rig I won't be able to use if the crypto-coin goes POS (though I've seen mention of the switch to PoS, I've found nothing that says if that switch will be on both forks of Etherium, or only one). My build: https://pcpartpicker.com/user/edale/saved/czRCJx
I had a passing thought that maybe my GPU was good enough to try mining BitCoins, and I could use the cash from that to help pay for the last upgrades I need for my new comp (rather than waiting until next tax return to get the last GPUs), and maybe earn a bit of extra pocket cash. Needless to say less than a minute's research turned me away from mining BitCoins, but Etherium looked really promising. Several calculators were rating my GPU as earning around $8-900 a year mining Etherium (obviously I got excited seeing that, because it meant over $2000 a year once I get the 3x crossfire setup... AND that was just for the MSI RX480 8GB, not the Gaming X model, Gaming X has a slightly faster GPU, so I assume a slightly higher hash rate).
But there's a lot I just don't understand about mining crypto-currency, and I'm not sure where to even start looking.
I was thinking that I could have my computer mining Etherium, or some other crypto-coins, when I'm not playing any games on it, and I could turn the mining off when I am using it, that would work out to something like an 18 hour a day average of mining (I'm working on the assumption that if I was mining while trying to play a game, the game would be majorly affected).
One of my big questions would be would on-again-off-again mining like that work, or would it not mining 24/7 massively slow down any coins I manage to generate?
Also, I keep seeing something about flashing the BIOS on the video card to mine faster... would that make the video card not work for gaming anymore?
I also had no idea there were so many crypto-currencies out there, and this POW/POS switchover I keep seeing mentioned for Etherium makes me wonder if it would even be possible to make ANY money off Etherium if I can only manage to mine one or two coins before it switches to POS (well, not counting the $80ish I'd make selling 2 Etherium coins)...
On a system like mine (https://pcpartpicker.com/user/edale/saved/czRCJx), what would be the best crypto-currencies for me to consider mining?
Running only 1 GPU, would it be better for me to join a pool, or do I have a chance at mining a decent amount without joining a pool? And if I should join a pool, should I remain in a pool once I upgrade to 3x crossfire, or start solo-mining at that point.
And an explanation of the differences in the pools and especially the different payout schemes would be appreciated. The less jargon the better, I'll pick it up quickly enough, but I know almost none of it atm.
One last question, I've seen lots of explanations about the split, but I don't understand the basic crypto-coin system well enough yet to actually be able to follow all the details and figure out what the differences between the two branches are...