Bitcoin Forum

 Is it worth it for people with low hash speeds to bitcoin mine?  With my lows speeds of about 100mhash/s, is it even worth it to mine considering on a mining calculator i'd only end up with about 14$ a month. lol   Is mining only profitable for ppl with expensive rigs pushing a high hash rate, or can someone like myself with a low speed make it a semi-profitable venture.   I think the concept is really cool and I'm enjoying playing with it.  :P    Anyways, thank you for your time and patience. :)   oh, and thank you in advance for any replies. :D

Well I'm planning on a fairly low speed mining rig myself, 200-300 and max ~900mhash depening on whenever I'd find "my cards" on ebay ;)

If you want to make profit you'd have to wait for the next rally but that could be a long time considering the current situation. The time where you could make direct profit was only during the peak of the rally and that was very short.

But that said I will probably never sell my bitcoins I make with current technology and wait till I can use them for barter or I can get my hands on something more efficient than gpus in which case I might sell some I don't need, but only to buy more of that stuff ;)

Since you seem into it, and already paid for the equipment, and if your electricity costs less than what you stand to collect, then why not? Many folks do it just for fun, as long as it doesnt cost you an arm and a leg.

Is it $14 that you would've had otherwise?

If your computer can do it, then why not? But, if you are looking to spend money on a rig, though, I would instead just spend that money on bitcoins right now. Bitcoin prices are only going to go up in the long run, and getting as many as you can right now is the best strategy IMO.

Awww come on, its much more fun to "grow" your own!

 ::)

It's funny how people try to talk a single person out of it, like it's make a difference.

If you'd like to decrease difficulty you'd either would have to make a successful FUD campaign or screw difficulty and work on a new technology...  :P

True is it 14$ I wouldnt have had.  I'm just not sure its worth it to run my computer all the time.  I'm kinda worried about the longevity of my video card too.   It is actually pretty fun to see how many its made even if it is only 0.02btc.

I myself have been sitting on a slightly old, but fairly up to speed rig; a good CPU (AMD Phenom 4X) but clearly the GPU is where it is on the mining scene, and the best I've got is an HD 4XXX series card (I forgot the specific model #). If I get such a rig setup w/ say, that custom linux distro for mining, could I get my system working well enough to get a bitcoin or a few every week? Or would I have to hunt down a stronger card?

I have approximately 2.5-2.6 G/hashes between my systems.  I can reasonably expect to average 1.5ish BitCoins per day.  You would be lucky to get 0.5% of my hashrate, even with one of the best 4000 series video cards.  I don't intend to discourage you, but unless you have a 5700/6700 series or higher it's probably not worth the cost of electricity and you could expect to lose money in most places (depends on your electricity rates).

If you are lookin to see how much you will make with your current card you can look it up here:

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_hardware_comparison

Find your card and put you hash rate into:

http://www.alloscomp.com/bitcoin/calculator.php

You can look up exactly what card you have with:

http://www.ozone3d.net/gpu_caps_viewer/


 I myself get a very low hash rate.  Equals out to be 14$/month with the current exchange rate.  I ended up hooking up all my computers in the house to mine.  I'll end up with about 45$ a month which isn't really to bad will be enough to get another video card soon.  I already have plans to build a new rig.  -_- damn you bitcoin you are addicting.  There is a nice hardware guide out there if your interested I can post up a link. :) 

Don't forget to factor in electricity prices.

Here in Australia, at $0.26/kwh it is not profitable with my 170mh/s (ATI 5770).

In the UK with the recent energy prices increases on the major suppliers (were we're talking upwards of 0.15p / kWh) its not profitable the 160MH/s that I'm getting

Still profitable where I live in Ontario, Canada... but only because I have already paid my hardware off at this point.

Righto! So hunting down a new card, it is then.

Thanks!

Would such cards stuck into a cheap system, such as a custom built Sempron, slow things down any? I mean, its the card alone that needs to do all the work, right?

Mh to Electric usage is key.  Its almost always worth it to mine or we would not be spending millions to do it. :)

The electricity costs is terrible...

It's always worth it you are fascinated about the bitcoin technology and want to be a part of it! What can be better than enhancing the network security?

Run a bitcoin node, mine solo or on a small pool and make the network stronger!

Ah yes, a mining pool. I'll look into that. And starting off with something midrage (300-500 MHash/sec) would be much easier.

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Comparison_of_mining_pools

If you're a fan of bitcoin, stay away from the top 3 pools and choose some smaller one to reinforce network security :) Good luck!

I agree as well... electricity costs is the main factor (in Germany around €0,23/kWh)...

AND luck !

If you find a block just after a few days of mining with 100MH, everything is ok  :)

After mining for a month or two with 1GH and not finding one, you might get frustrated...

That's what pools are for.

I'm thinking if you live somewhere cold, it's definitely worth it during wintertime! That way the electricity you're burning off (probably at a loss) warms your toes.

Just for fun, I have a Mac Pro with its stock GPU cranking away a massive 5 Mh/s... I joined a pool and it looks like after a week I've earned one bitcoin dime! (.01 BTC)

But boy are my toes warm.

Heheh, my rig is so loud, and it literally doubled as a space heater in the winter. A space heater that rose the bill, a trifle sum...  ;D

But I will look into setting up a mining rig (Possibly/probably part-time, given the lack of a hard drive in the system for it to be useful for much more). I also will try and learn a bit more about getting efficient speeds but a slightly more economical footprint. The GPU is looking to be the most important aspect of a mining rig, at this point. I'm now just wondering what I could do after that... But it'll be worth the ride anyways.

Mh to Electric usage is key.  Its almost always worth it to mine or we would not be spending millions to do it. :)