Bitcoin Forum

I did not see a topic for beginners to get started from the ground up, so I thought I would start a thread.

I am looking to learn how to get started Mining.  I am new to Crypto with no software or programing skills etc, but excited and eager to learn and get started.

Do you need different equipment for different coins such as  Bitcoin, Bitcoin fork, Ethereum,  ERC 20 tokens, and NEP 5 tokens?

Any advice of how to get started would be great.  I am leaning towards mining bitcoin forks to start off with.   I would like to start small just to get the hang of it and then be able to expand from there.

Thanks

You can learn about mining and how to configure/run a miner by simply trying out different cpu/gpu mineable coins like ethereum, monero etc.. There is only need for dedicated ASIC hardware if you are trying to mine BTC, litecoin etc. Even though the hardware used are different the fundamentals of mining are mostly similar or same.

Go to ANN thread of any coin, for eg: Ethereum (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=428589.0)

Usually, all the info about the coin and how one can mine it will be available in the ANN thread. You can see if it is mineable using your cpu/gpu and then go to the pool, download the miner, configure and start mining. It is very interesting to learn and very satisfying too.

I strongly suggest against investing any serious amount of money into buying hardware whether it is GPU or ASIC before you get familiar and have clear understanding of the technical aspects as well as the profitability of mining and market knowledge.

Goodluck  :)

if talking about mining has a lot of material should study but i have a few advice. like this

e.g you want to learn about mining altcoins with GPU so you must be started from (based on my experience):

1. Learn about hardware (MB, PSUs, GPU)

2. Learn how to build the mining rig

3. Learn how to fix a problem at mining rig

4. Learn about choose which a profitable coin

5. How to running the mining software along with its setting include a connection from/to pool

6. How to choose the best wallet

7. and many more

you can start see videos on youtube there are many learn videos

when you know the parts go to amazon and start buy the parts

and you can buy from bitmain ASIC 

That was good, you have started what you want with that whole question.


Our skill will grow while learning and doing what we want to master it. Software and programming skill isn't number one requirement for miners. We know how to use software, that's more than enough. Keep learning and patient.


We can use same nor similar mining equipment for different coins at the same algorithm. Also, we can use same nor similar mining equipment for a different algorithm. Except for specific coin that required specific hardware that can mine that coin. We can also use different equipment fo mine the same coin, but it can giving us the different result (profit) for various equipment that applied, and so on.

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Another fundamental thing has posted above.

No ones are expert from the start; they learn and do. So, Good Luck!

You can start trying in an airdrop pool because that's where beginners usually get a chance to participate in mining.

Firstly, you should go to this site, https://coinmarketcap.com/ to see coins that are minable. Under the Circulating Supply if you see coins that have asterisk (*) those coins are not minable. Now, whether you intend to mine coins such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, etc. the most effective way to do it is with a piece of hardware known as an ASIC miner which you can purchase on amazon or ebay.


Also, desktop PC or a dedicated graphics card mining rig could do it too, but not as efficient as ASIC miner. But if you still want to try mining with graphics cards, you can visit this thread, https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1972607.0


You could try also this wizard, https://www.buriedone.com/amd-6-rx-470-570-build.html

What's that? I've never heard about that.  ???

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Nice share, buddy.  ;)

But for me, Graphic cards isn't the second option as implied from what you say. ASICs or Graphics Cards have the same chance to create some profit for miners. Out there we can find a few algorithms with a lot of coin on each. In another word, coins that mineable by ASICs and GPUs, of course, ASICs will be the best choice. But coins that haven't (will never) invaded by ASICs would be different. Also, we should consider long-term potency.  ;)

Agreed with another learning step guide that you were advising.

 If you can read and copy and paste you can set up your mining software.  If you can build a computer you can build a mining rig.

 Start by buying older ASIC hardware.  This is hardware that is dedicated to mining a specific coin or a specific family of coins. 
Learn how to use https://www.cryptocompare.com/ to compare various coins against potential hardware.  This will help you determine potential mining profits.

To get started, you must have knowledge of the hardware
because mining tools require extra care. if you already know how to care hardware, you can try mining with GPU first

don't listen to his suggestion

if you talking about mining altcoin on there are a few topics who became an identity of Mining such (rig, software, problem & solve) if the word "airdrop" it is the identity of Bounties program

I would advise you to build a mining farm on Nvidia video cards (1070, 1070ti, 1080, 1080ti). On YouTube and on this forum there are many themes on assembling mining farms. You can also buy ASIC. It is strongly recommended to read as much information as possible, and then make a decision about the purchase.

You will need ten things to mine Litecoins, Dogecoins or Feathercoins:
 
1. Obviously you need a coin wallet where you can store your earnings and it keeps a network wide ledger of transactions.

2. A mining software package. Ex. cgminer , BTCminer, stratum

3. Membership in online mining pool

4. Membership at an online currency exchange

5. Reliable dedicated internet connection

6. Hardware setup location

7. A separate desktop designed for mining

8. A powerful graphics processing unit (GPU) or mining ASIC chip

9. House fan

10. Strong appetite for learning about mining.

for ETH this is really a user friendly guide for beginners

https://mining.help/

@aljdrx

you see for yourself some member suggestions on "how to start mining", are actually many things you should learn if all the explanations can be written here then not enough pages.

so, you better learn one by one then practice what has been learned

I always wondered why people mine. If you believe the a certain currency or coin will go up, just buy it!

of course very simple when compared to the mining rig but has a weakness when the Antminer isn't profitable then the resale price is greatly decreased even can't be resold it's different from the mining rig (GPUs) still have a resale price.

yeah, complicated should have the skills to build the CPU at the general.

you're welcome dude.

Also keep in mind that some cryptocurrencies require specific hardware for mining, you just can't use any graphic card. I know for certain that PKT does this.

Let me guess, you are curious and explorer types. That was good.


My warm advice.

Both (ASIs / GPUs) has advantage and disadvantage in some sides. But what makes all the difference was one whose behind that machines. I can say for sure.

As you said, ASICs easier to operated (as you saw on Youtube videos), isn't mean you are free from trouble. Then the next challenge was, which coin that you should mine since most of ASICs has limited on the algorithm. But when you have experienced enough, that was not a big deal.

Oh yeah, GPUs rig more complicated on the operated and assembling process and also prone troubled while running mining process. But trust me, behind all of the trouble and complexity, you will learn new things.

So, which devices you should choose will depend on your personality type and mining passion. Just be more flexible don't be a pattern.

Well, just calls it as experience, isn't how much time you on it, but how much you were exploring it..  ;)


As functions:
Basically, GPUs would handle almost all algorithm except a few. Even you can mine BTC with the GPU, but that isn't relevant to doing now day.

So related to your question, with those all device, you have more algorithms and coins choices. But again, it will depend on you.

If he is a real beginner then he should just buy an ASIC first.

Mining with GPUs is much more complex as requires basic computer knowledge.

After he learns the ins and outs of the mining world then he can buy more ASICs or move on to a GPU mining rig.

Most people adopt pretty quickly because mining is pretty addictive in the beginning but it's not for everybody.

I'm not sure about that. The beginner can also start with GPU rig, let's say one card only, then upgrade after. Which device should choose by beginner will depend on what type of people this beginner was.

As this statement:

That's was right, ASICs noisier than GPUs rig (rigs), except mine, my R9 rig using a few PWM fan (I got it from my old Antminer S1), front and back side of my rig. Imagine!  ::)

For noise reducing, you can build a DIY soundproof box then add some cooling system on it.  ;)

Thanks. Well, I do not know what other coins have not been invaded by ASICs after reading this article, The State of Cryptocurrency Mining (https://blog.sia.tech/the-state-of-cryptocurrency-mining-538004a37f9b) written by David Vorick. That article was too long but I was careful to read what he was talking about. In the article, he mentioned about Secret Mining that caught my attention, and I think it's somewhat interesting to be read by everyone interested in mining cryptos. Quoted below is Monero’s Secret ASICs extracted from the said article...

If there are no miners what would you think will happen to bitcoin, ethereum, monero and other cryptocurrencies that requires mining? For your info, mining is the process by which transactions are verified and added to the public ledger, known as the blockchain, and also the means through which new coins are released. So, the participation of people in mining is important so as to allow coin nodes to reach a secure, tamper-resistant consensus.

To start you can mine one simple PC with only one gpu or without gpu mine cpu minable coins.
When you nunderstand all process, you can build rig or buy asic difference mine with rig not big

That's one of the fact that miners need to face. Silent mining by ASIC manufacturer, then after, the devices spread out to the market. We have zero control over it, so let it flow. Coins are not only ETH or Monero that indicated affected by ASIC's silent mining. I believe, a half or may more miners (GPU Miner) doesn't mine solid (major) coins.

Miners with a lot of experience had own formulas to decide which coins that need to mine in the current moment and situation.

You will be called as a Buyer

Procedures are on their site page

https://www.nicehash.com/help/how-to-start-as-a-buyer

Risk? you're in a crypto world, you're already in a high Risk

you may not get what you expect, or may not get any profit from it, worst you won't get any out of it.

but might be profitable if you know what you're doing.

Most of your question has answered by Leonix.  :D

There was a good method with renting hashrate, but seem like I'm too lazy to write here. Don't worry, I found a good post that may almost similar to the method that I was talking about.

Maybe it can be your reference:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2564130

To start mining, your status is not important. Learn first information about what mining is. Then buy equipment and you will be happy. Good luck

i always want to make a mining rig. wacthing over and over youtube on how to setup all thing but it was way to much for me to catch up. to buy a complete mining is not safe as to many scammer out there. that why i just forget about mining and do only trades. but i will do trying if i have someone to teach and help me out.

Some tips if you want to learn about mining and the building of mining rig:
1. Must focus on what you first want to learn and then practice because every intelligence everyone is different there are people with multiple topics to be studied simultaneously but there are people can to study one by one.

2. Buying in the online store with good reputations and trusted it's reducing you become a victim of fraud

xopoшиe coвeты, cпacибo :)

I'd be happy to offer you some advice. Remember that at first it will be a learning experience, so you will not make as much money untill you gain knowledge, but you are buying an education. There are a couple of ways you can go to start. For the ultimate ease of operation an ASIC is easier to configure. The downsides are they can become obsolete quicker, they use more power, and they are loud. Now if you are comfortable with building a computer, a GPU rig could be a better option. They can mine multiple algorithms which keeps them from becoming obsolete. They are quiet, they don't use as much electric, and they can be used for other things. Also they keep their value much longer because they have other uses besides mining. Now as far as models, for ASICS, I would say either BTC or L3++ by bitmain would be good. For GPU rigs, I'd suggest you start with Nvidia as it's easier. I'd go with either 1080 or 1080ti since they do the most algorithms, and should hold value the longest time. If you find the idea of mining with GPU attractive but you don't feel comfortable building a computer you could start with buying a complete system with one or two GPUS (Newegg might have something acceptable, but their deals change daily, you'll have to check the site) Later if you like it you could build a second more serious rig and use the first one to monitor your operation (dual use). Remember just don't expect that the first thing you buy is going to make you rich. There is a learning curve, and no matter how much you read, you just have to jump in at some point to start learning for yourself from direct experience. Good luck to you, and if there's any way I can help, let me know!

I partly disagree, when you say "buying from an online store" do you mean you are buying already assembled mining rigs? For your information, that is a big NO-NO. Buying a pre-assembled rig is not only more costly but also risky because they have less (and more difficult to claim) warranty. It's actually pretty simple to build your own mining rig (just search google) and I strongly advise anyone who wants one, to build it themselves.

Not so sure it is a good time to start mining though..

If you don't have any experience I would start off by just downloadinga miner software and use your standard gpu. Just to get a feeling how it works, the noise it will make, the heat it will produce and also how much power you will need (there are cheap measuring instruments available). Then you can decide if you want to invest in a dedicated rig.

Don't underestimate the effort which is needed to setup a rig and to maintain it. In addition I would recommend to use a linux distribution to have a more stable environment without any forced reboots. My hashrate is also bit higher compared to a windows machine.

No,
Actually, I bought all hardware of mining in the online store or offline store in a way part by part, I never bought in a way the package (that have been assembled).

First you need to decide what to start mining (ASIC or video card). Find out the amount that will bring mining. Calculate flow and return on investment. And we must not forget all the calculations today may not correspond a few days later. As the price of the cryptocurrency changes frequently.

try to find used and cheap mobo, ram, and hdd etc. they do not make much difference on mining speed. keep them "bare bone". The less spending, the faster roi.

 almost started mining for a few times, but "buy and hold" is still more attractive for me...also ICO and speculation will be more profitable than mining...sorry if it holywar theme =)

yes, half my hardware (motherboard, RAM, SSD) except PSUs, USB Riser, and GPUs is almost all "new" but not for now