Miner from 2014 Getting Back in via ETH. Some Questions...

[MiningHabit]

Hi everyone, been a crypto person for a long time. I built a mining rig back in 2014 and pointed at scrypt coins, and that turned out very well overall.

Not sure why it's taken me so long to get back in the game, esp since I believe very strongly on crypto overall (I've been a hodler of all my coin that I mined back then.)

I decided to built an ETH Miner, and I'm excited. Been doing a lot of research and got most all of the ancillary components ordered.

Intel Celeron G1840 COU
4GB of Kingston HyperX Fury RAM
ASRock H81 Pro BTC Mobo
ethOS on ssd from gpu shack
6x powered risers from gpu shack
wattage meter
open air aluminum case
add2psu connector

Now I just need to make the call on what set of 6 GPUs to get, and what size platinum PSU to chain together (2x850w or 2x1000w)

Based on availability and price, I think I'm leaning towards the r9 390s on Amazon. What is the difference between r9 390p and r9-390x? Is it work paying $100 difference per card?
https://www.amazon.com/XFX-Dissipation-1060MHZ-Graphics-R9-390X-8256/dp/B01C87CZB4
https://www.amazon.com/XFX-Dissipation-1015MHZ-Graphics-R9-390P-8256/dp/B01B3M3LPO

And these things are power hogs. I pay 10.3 center per kWh. Should I be looking at a different set of card?

If I do go with the r9 390s from one of the links above, is 2x850w PSUs enough?

And last question, do I need to get a hardware wallet like the Ledger Nano S?

[Vann]

With the new cards being so much more efficient, I don't think it's worth getting brand new older cards to mine at this point. The older cards use much more power compared to the RX 4XXX/5XXX cards and the future resale value will be limited as well. You can look in to Nvidia GTX 1060's for mining ETH. The $190 PNY GeForce GTX 1060 3GB Graphics Cards can do 23.5mh ETH and 268 SOL/s ZEC each @ ~60W per card.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uhSfOpvHks&feature=youtu.be&t=7295

THE ROI on the card for ETH is less than 2 months currently. Tough to beat if you can get it for less than $200.

https://www.coinwarz.com/calculators/ethereum-mining-calculator/?h=23.5&p=60&pc=0.103&pf=0.00&d=606599693230589&r=5.00000000&er=0.09769337&btcer=2636.14540000&hc=0.00

There has been some availability of AMD cards on Newegg, but they are limiting them to 1 per account and they sell out quick. You could look in to buying used cards, but the price is probably inflated as well.

[MiningHabit]

Are nVidia and AMD cards both ok? I recall nVidia being a complete non-sequitur back in the day, and seems like they are still inferior to AMD stuff today.

The r9 390s are what, like 2 years old? So basically you are saying get used RX 480s instead of new older ones?

Didn't really even think of that. I suppose I feel like used ones get beaten up so hard that their failure rate is elevated. Or is that not really too much of a consideration?


Edit: I think the other reason I'm into buying new is that I can just get a set of all the same model card. Or are different models relatively easy to make play well together?

[Vann]

Are nVidia and AMD cards both ok? I recall nVidia being a complete non-sequitur back in the day, and seems like they are still inferior to AMD stuff today.

The r9 390s are what, like 2 years old? So basically you are saying get used RX 480s instead of new older ones?

Didn't really even think of that. I suppose I feel like used ones get beaten up so hard that their failure rate is elevated. Or is that not really too much of a consideration?


Edit: I think the other reason I'm into buying new is that I can just get a set of all the same model card. Or are different models relatively easy to make play well together?

Nvidia cards are doing much better than back in 2014 and mining support for the cards is much better as well. AMD cards are generally considered better for ETH, but like in the example I gave, the time to get your money back on the card is less with the 1060. The RX 4XX/5XX gets ~ 30 Mh/s, but uses more power than the 1060. At an average of $250 a card, it takes 48 days to get your money back compared to 45 days for the 1060

https://www.coinwarz.com/calculators/ethereum-mining-calculator/?h=30.00&p=120&pc=0.10&pf=0.00&d=606599693230589&r=5.00000000&er=0.09769337&btcer=2636.14540000&hc=250.00

Used cards are always a risk as they come with no warranty, but if you buy them on eBay or can test them before you buy, there is some guarantee the card will at least be working when you get it.

[Liquid71]

nvidia 1070 cards aren't great for ETH because of price but they do everything else great very profitable and you could just buy eth. otherwise with the AMD card shortage you could get a panda miner b3 for eth mining from https://cryptonomos.com/?r=1H2MkmZnQak9mIc0NKCaddDsQ  hosted here https://giga-watt.com/promo/prices