Title: Mining on a laptop? Post by: DarkNecromancer on December 02, 2012, 02:07:31 AM I currently own a laptop with a P150HM case. My specs are listed below:
Central Processing Unit: i7-2820 QM RAM: 16 GB Graphics Processing Unit: AMD 6990M I also own an NZXT cooling pad. My question is- Does it make sense mining on this laptop? I read that it there may be problems with cooling in a laptop, and I don't want to run the risk of frying my hardware. I lowered my core-clock using MSI afterburner to the minimum, which lowers my hash-rate by half. Whereas before I was getting approximately 220 MH/s, now I'm receiving a rate of about 110 MH/s. However, now my GPU is running at an average of 80 degrees, versus the 96 degrees before. So, should I continue with the current settings, or do you think I should stop mining completely on this laptop? Also, I live in an extremely cold country. The temperatures are current under -20 degrees centigrade. Do you think leaving my computer in the room with an open window would be beneficial or detrimental to my computers life-span? Title: Re: Mining on a laptop? Post by: btctalk on December 02, 2012, 02:57:55 AM laptops are not really good when it comes to continuously usage specially when its mining!
you can mine for a while on the laptop but be aware of this risk that something might break (like wifi or lcd backlight) or maybe it work out great too... it was just a warning thing though ;) Title: Re: Mining on a laptop? Post by: JohnGalt on December 02, 2012, 03:11:38 AM Lower temperatures are always better for electronics, but very low temperatures are not so good for mechanical parts and batteries. I think it is a great idea to take advantage of the cold weather to cool your computer.
In general, mining on a laptop is not worthwhile because of the relatively low processing power of the GPU. However, if you are happy with the results, then the only other impediment is the cost of electricity. Title: Re: Mining on a laptop? Post by: Stephen Gornick on December 02, 2012, 03:16:27 AM My question is- Does it make sense mining on this laptop? Even when GPU mining was profitable this was not recommended because it is so easy to harm either the GPU or the laptop with mining with this form factor. After halving occurred a few days ago, unless you pay less than about half the average rate for electricity you are not going to be able to mine for profit on a GPU. The average electric rate is $0.15 per kWh, so if your cost of electricity is 0.075 per kWh or more, mining on a GPU now (and going forward, most likely) is a money-losing proposition. Title: Re: Mining on a laptop? Post by: DarkNecromancer on December 02, 2012, 03:19:20 AM Oh, right, I forgot to add that I don't pay for electricity. ;D
Only real worry for me is my laptop. Title: Re: Mining on a laptop? Post by: Atruk on December 02, 2012, 04:20:34 AM Oh, right, I forgot to add that I don't pay for electricity. ;D Only real worry for me is my laptop. If that's the case you should be able to get something through participating in a mining pool, but it probably isn't worth stressing such a nice high end laptop through bitcoin mining. When you halved your hashing speed to get a marginal savings in heat stress on your laptop, that is a sign I'd consider refraining from mining on that machine. It is very clear that with that laptop's price tag offsetting even a tiny portion of it's cost through bitcoin mining isn't feasible. You have a hell of a gaming laptop, so enjoy it. If your electricity is covered because you live in a dormitory or something, explore a dedicated mining rig on that premise. There's just the potential for a lot of heartache though if you cook such a nice machine for an amount of BTC that is a bit more than pocket change. Title: Re: Mining on a laptop? Post by: IbuyGuinnesswithBTC on December 02, 2012, 07:22:41 AM I like the idea of mining on a raspberry pi with asic cards hooked up to a hub personally. That way you can use your laptop for what it's supposed to be used for. (porn)
Title: Re: Mining on a laptop? Post by: hashkey on December 02, 2012, 09:47:50 AM I current own a laptop with a P150HM case. My specs are listed below: Central Processing Unit: i7-2820 QM RAM: 16 GB Graphics Processing Unit: AMD 6990M I also own an NZXT cooling pad. My question is- Does it make sense mining on this laptop? I read that it there may be problems with cooling in a laptop, and I don't want to run the risk of frying my hardware. I lowered my core-clock using MSI afterburner to the minimum, which lowers my hash-rate by half. Whereas before I was getting approximately 220 MH/s, now I'm receiving a rate of about 110 MH/s. However, now my GPU is running at an average of 80 degrees, versus the 96 degrees before. So, should I continue with the current settings, or do you think I should stop mining completely on this laptop? Also, I live in an extremely cold country. The temperatures are current under -20 degrees centigrade. Do you think leaving my computer in the room with an open window would be beneficial or detrimental to my computers life-span? Just like you, I mined bitcoins for a few straight days on my laptop out of my curiosity of how mining works. My laptop's gpu is ATI 5870m and got about 145-150MH/s. I let it sit on my NZXT LX Cryo to lower its temps and I only operated it in around 22-24oC ambient temp. If that's your primary machine, I don't recommend you use that for long-term mining as long exposure to heat would one way or another accelerate your machine's wear level then eventually something on it would break down. I tried to mine bitcoins on my gaming laptop for around 180-200 hours straight and I just got around BTC0.3. Definitely not worth to do mining when laptop wear and electricity is considered. Raspberry Pi + ASIC(if it exists)/GPU is still a winning combination for bitcoin mining IMHO. Title: Re: Mining on a laptop? Post by: DarkNecromancer on December 02, 2012, 12:32:31 PM Thanks for all the advice. I was thinking of buying a raspberry pi a while ago, now I regret that I forgot about it. :'(
Anyways, I'll use my old laptop for any mining operations. 5-20 MH/s, but it's better than nothing. I guess my current laptop is a bit too valuable to be risking in these activities. :P Title: Re: Mining on a laptop? Post by: Gabi on December 02, 2012, 12:34:10 PM Quote 5-20 MH/s, but it's better than nothing Actually nothing is better. the electricity you save is worth more than the bitcoin you mine. So, not mining is moar profitableTitle: Re: Mining on a laptop? Post by: soy on December 02, 2012, 05:32:05 PM What the heat will kill is the battery. Replacement laptop batteries are expensive. I suppose if you can remove the battery and run on an external supply then you'll only cook the CMOS battery.
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