Bitcoin Forum

Assuming I have "free" electricity, what's the cheapest decent miner I can get that can run through a laptop's USB ports?  And can I run more than 1 if the laptop has more than 1 USB port?

For most mining gear you only need an Ethernet connection to run your miners. You access your setup and monitoring software via webpage on a computer or other device. No USB necessary.

Wait are you talking about cloud mining?  I'm talking about a physical piece of mining hardware I have attached to my laptop.

Lol, nope. I'm talking about hardware mining. Gear from Bitmain, KNC, Spoondoolies, Bitfury, Cointerra, BitMine.ch, etc. do not use USB to access or control the hardware from a PC. They have their own built in controllers (often RPi or Beagle Bone) that you connect to via ethernet.

BFL does require connection to a host PC (or other computer device) via USB though. But you don't want to go there.

Oh wow, I wasn't aware of that.  I always thought you needed a "host" computer.  Anyway, is there anything simple that can be plugged into a USB and not cause too much heat?  and again can you do more than 1 miner in 1 laptop?

I'm not very familiar with Rockminer's gear but I think they may have a small USB miner. And yes, you should have no difficulty hooking several up although you may need a USB hub.

Any of the USB miners will do that (Antminer U1, U2, Bitfury, IceFury, etc).  Get a powered USB hub, hook that into the USB port on your laptop and run your favorite mining software.  Also, the R-Box by Rockminer works the same way... plug USB cable into your laptop's USB port.

Ok thanks.  Are there any concerns with heat or using too much electricity through the laptop when running more than 1 USB miner?  I'm talking about something that costs like $100 or less.

The RockMiner gear uses external power - not your laptop.  You remember those gridseed orbs?  The RockMiners are kind of like them.  Plug your USB cable into the miner, plug the other end into your laptop.  Then you plug the barrel plug into the miner, and the other end into the wall.  It uses a power brick, just like your laptop does... or you can buy an ATX PSU and some PCI-e to barrel plug adapters... whatever floats your boat.

The RockMiners have a fan built into them.  Basically it's a PCB with ASICs, a big fat heatsink and a fan.  The true "stick" miners like the U1, U2, etc are self-contained.  Plug them directly into your USB slot.  If you're going that route, then a powered USB hub is recommended.  Get one that can provide a decent amount of amperage to each port so there's enough juice to power all of the sticks.

I feel it necessary to state here that these types of miners are far more suitable for "hobby" than any kind of profit.  You'll earn minimal payouts with them.  With your $100 budget, you're looking at a pretty limited set of choices.  I'm pretty sure those R-Boxes go for about $65 a piece (includes the power brick and USB cables).

Which means effectively zero. Go run a difficulty calculator and find out how long you have to wait to find a block. Decades, maybe centuries, with a USB miner from last year.

That's why I started that paragraph out with phrases like "hobby" and "not suitable for profit".  Try millennia for expected time to find a block with a U2 (2GH/s - just about 1276 years)... might want to see if you can get in good with a local vampire... :P

EDIT: Yes, I am well aware that the last block will have been mined far before that 1276 years is up...

Just do not get greedy and start mining on the laptop.  ;D It would be a costly mistake.

When I started out, I tried it, and everything went up in smoke. I guess you learn from your mistakes.