Bitcoin Forum

Is there anything its viable to mine with an average PC at this point? Any half decent returns?

Thanks

Only way to get any decent money is to buy GPUs to put inside your PC and have cheap electricity.

There isn't anything to mine with your CPU.

if you have already a high end gpu fpr gaming you can mine with it and earn something when you are not gaming

i started mining exactly in this way back in the doge era

Mining has never been for noobs, neither before nor now. GPUs and cheap electricity have always been requirements, the difference is that some people may have been able to mine something easy with simple equipment and then have gained in appreciation.

Also interested. Thanks

I've got a decent graphics card yes. Is there anything to mine with one decent graphics card.

ETH / ETC
ZEC
XMR

Profitability pretty much equal between those 4.

With nvidia I would add LBC to adaseb's list.

zcoin is performing well. CPU mining could be profitable if this trend stays. It's a better anon coin than zcash.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1638450

It's quite easy for everyone to mine, you just need hardware, and someone to help you set everything up.
You can earn some bucks this way.
But, if you are really into mining: read forums, follow trends and happenings in the world of crypto,learn how exchanges and trading works, etc .. etc.. you can earn more with the same hardware than the one who just sets up the mining equipment and leaves it as-is.

These are probably the best possibilities, but there is no way to guarantee that there will be roi for the long term, as some of these coins, especially ethereum and zcash, are coins that are subject to much instability. Ethereum has yet to solve problems related to scalability and attack vectors. Zcash is a cryptocurrency that will surely bring in many inquiries due to the 20% fee that miners have to pay to developers.

Mining here in the PH, is not gonna get you close to even. Electricity is gold, $.3-$.4/kwh , although we have here 'jumpers' though its really illegal and can make you lose your electric line for good.


how could they have mined something easy?

Right now you can mine in 30 sec downloading claymore miner and running an example too from the README. With the difference that right now it's not so profitable, but a few months ago even a guy with a couple GPU would have earn something on ETH, just as an example

Mining is only dead to the people who won't take the time to learn and want an easy way in and out.

Started learning in mid July '16

Late July I have my first test miner with parts from Amazon I later returned.

Aug/Sept built a full blown 480 rig.

Nov/Dec built second 480 rig

Took me ~6 months to learn about bitcoin, altcoins, mining, trading, etc.

Keep up with trends, crypto community as a whole, forums, etc.

I'm slowly learning now, that mining is a game of waiting.


As I said, anyone who doesn't want to take the time should gtfo.

You are wrong. They should mine with nicehash :D

Yeah, or if you have something small and don't really want to go ahead and have to be converting such small amounts of altcoins to BTC with fees and such I would still go with Nicehash. At least with my pretty small setup right now I like using nicehash and would recommend it!

Mining alternative cryptocurrencies is the biggest thing after Bitcoin nodes were halved as many times as they have been. All you have to do is mine the right one, but now that other machines from farms can devour them it's really important to get in early. The new way to enter for beginners or newblets is from faucets or investment games. The old ways have been replaced as Bitcoins economy evolves.

Rather than the fact, this same entire process will keep cycling coins. Don't ever doubt what's coming and always utilize risk with keen eyes.

 Nicehash sometimes IS the best option.
 I make more there on my A2s than I do through pool mining, and have done so for a month or so.
 It was also more profitable on my 1070s than any other option for a lot of the last 2 months.

 Just gotta crunch the numbers with allowance for all the fees involved in ALL options.



 Bitcoin has only seen *2* halfings to date - and the next one isn't due for over 3 years.


 The best way for a small miner to be profitable today, JUST LIKE for the big farms, is to be located in an area with low electric costs.

 

please define "low electric costs" in USD

10 cents for gpu mining can make a profit if you have the gear.

5 cents for gpu mining if you have no gear.

Wrong, XMR is perfectly mineable with a recent CPU!

Furthermore, I woulnd't say it's dead for newbies, but don't expect to average 1000$/month unless you have free electricity and some cash to invest to get a few GPUs going.

Just mining with a home PC may get you a few bucks a day if you're not the one paying for electricity...Let's put it this way: I have 3 rigs, 12 GPUS in total. Mining XMR, as I pay for electricity, I make about 4$/day of profit at current XMR price.

Having an average PC, let's say with GTX 970 can mine you it's cost in 6-12 months. If your expectations are realistic you should feel nice having a possibility to earn by using the videocard itself.
In 6-12 months you will be able to sell 970 and the mined coins and buy 1070 easily. This was my idea until I sold my 970 and bought 2 RX 480  ::)

There are many variables in mining: electricity cost, hardware cost, price fluctuations, difficulty rise, possibility of coin attack, newer hardware releases, plus a lot to learn, watch, follow and try.

Crypto is here and it will only grow in years to come.
But to have a decent and good income one needs investments. Use online calculators and educate yourself to get started.  8)

 5 cents or less to have a good chance to compete and some chance to achieve ROI not factoring in used gear sales.
 3 cents or less to be VERY competative with a good chance to achieve ROI without factoring in used gear sales.

 10 cents at this point is break-even or worse with a lot of recent gear, and iffy to ROI on any more (GPU coins have an advantage that the GPU tends to retain more value so you can resell it at some point).

 It's entirely possible to achieve 3 cent electric in a residential/small business setting in the US, but the places you can do so are 2 specific counties in Washington State - and one county next to those that is at 4.5ish for small consumption folks.
 I don't know if there are any other areas of the US that you can get to less than 5c for a residence/small business location, but there are a few others you can manage that at "industrial" scale consumption and get well under 10c on residential/small business.


 Forget trying to mine most stuff on NVidia 9xx series cards, unless you already HAVE them on hand or can find them DIRT cheap or have crazy-cheap-to-free electric - the efficiency is too low to manage ROI.



 XMR on a CPU might be profitable on an Intel, but AMD don't CPU mine that worth beans.

Thanks for all the input,here guys,  it helps educate a whole lot of people,  I always get asked these same questions all of the time, it really helps answer in greater detail...

That's a very useful point of view. If you have a pretty decent gaming pc you can mine with you GPU and maybe even CPU, you will get some money (let's say 1.5$/day) and in a few months you will be able to get sell your current GPU and buy new gear.
Take take about your hardware, remove dust and don't let it overheat! Otherwise not only you will not gain money, but you will lost your nice gaming pc