Bitcoin Forum

Previously I apologize if I am wrong place to ask this.
I have a computer with game specs, with 8gb of ram. But I do not understand about hardware. I want to try to mining bitcoin or altcoins. Is it possible that I could benefit if I just mining through software or application mining and not use added hardware?

I really want to mining crypto, but I do not know where to start, is there anybody can tell me?

Thank you before.

Bitcoin mining = no, you can't make any profit whatsoever unless you invest in a latest gen asic and have a good plan and electricity rate.

Altcoin mining = maybe... If you have a decent GPU you can potentially mine some altcoins, however, if you want more info, you should ask your question in the altcoin mining subforum

Good luck

Well that is my problem, I do not know about the hardware and anything to be prepared to start mining. Is there any difference between mined bitcoin and altcoins? which one is easier to apply to a beginner miner like me? Mining bitcoin or altcoins?

Thank you for responding to my thread. :)

Easyer? When talking about altcoin mining with a GPU and bitcoin mining with an ASIC? Defenately bitcoin mining with a recent ASIC...
- Basically, you start by looking for a good price for an S9 + PSU + S&H + import duties...
- Next you visit a mining calculator like https://www.coinwarz.com/calculators/bitcoin-mining-calculator
- you fill in all the questions on the mining calculator... An S9 hashes at around 13500 Gh/s and draws about 1400 Watt. A default pool fee is ~1%, the price is the price you found for the S9 + PSU + S&H + import duties, the electricity rate is your local electricity rate.
- Next you see if the ROI is reasonable. Do realise that if the diff jumps up, the ROI rises, if the BTC/USD price goes down, the ROI rises, if the blocks halve: the ROI rises

IF the ROI is reasonable given your power cost and the total price for the ASIC, you can just buy the S9, plug it in, surf to it's web gui, fill in the details you get from your favorite pool and start mining.


Altcoin mining, on the other hand, usually requires you to look into which altcoin you want to mine, you'll have to research about your GPU, then setup the mining software on your PC and run it, but constantly keep an eye on the shifting altcoin markets... I don't know a lot about altcoin mining tough, if you have more questions, you should ask them in the altcoin mining subforum.

One very important sidenote tough: eventough in my opinion, nothing beats the user experience of just buying an S9, plugging it in and surfing to the web gui, the maintenance and reparation of an S9 is something completely different. IF you burn your GPU, there's a fair chance it's still under guarantee (a lot of those GPU's have 3 years factory warrantee). You can buy a replacement GPU in your local computer shop, and if you're done mining you can get a fair amount of cash for your second hand GPU.
An S9 ASIC on the other hand, has only 3 months (very limited) guarantee. It breaks a lot easyer than a decent GPU, and if it does, you're usually in a lot of trouble: you'll have to send boards to china, wait, get your claim rejected,..... Also, when a new (more efficient) ASIC hits the market, the second hand prices for your ASIC will plummet.

Hackernoon has a decentralized beginners guide on mining found here:
Bit.ly/2kiokOm

You can also check out our blog post on the basics of mining...
-Mining app versus cloud mining versus building a rig
-Types of mining and the pros and cons

Bit.ly/CryptoMining101

Hope this helps!