Genuine inquiry. Hardware, worth investing in presently?

[Khanduras]

So, here's the dilemma. I'm wanting to increase my hash rate significantly. I've been working with 110GH/s since the end of the last year, and am starting to see rapidly diminishing returns due to the increased difficulty. I currently only have $1400 in BTC available to spend. I currently have 2TH coming in February due to one purchase of a Black Arrow miner, but by that time, I'll probably be bringing the equivalent of what I have presently onto the field. So the dilemma still exists.

I was WANTING to purchase already available hardware, in order to increase my power NOW thinking it would be better to do so than to invest in hardware that's soon to be released. Unfortunately, it seems that unless I get some exceptional deals on hardware that's currently out, they'll never mine more than I spend on them.

I want to be able to keep a steady flow of BTC income. I realize this won't be possible with currently released hardware, unless someone's willing to get rid of BFL Singles (or equivalent) for about .6BTC a piece. So therein lies the question. Should I worry about investing in current-gen hardware? Should I wait for this coming gen?

More specifically, would it be worth preordering 300GH/s from BFL, under proper conditions (and assuming their shipment schedule isn't a year and a half behind like with their other devices), if it isn't going to come until February? Should I rather invest in more Black Arrow hardware that's due in March? What can I get now that fits my current budget of $1400 that will be at least be somewhat easy to get a full investment return on?

Thoughts, opinions, suggestions and "go screw yourself"s all appreciated.

[jimmothy]

So, here's the dilemma. I'm wanting to increase my hash rate significantly. I've been working with 110GH/s since the end of the last year, and am starting to see rapidly diminishing returns due to the increased difficulty. I currently only have $1400 in BTC available to spend. I currently have 2TH coming in February due to one purchase of a Black Arrow miner, but by that time, I'll probably be bringing the equivalent of what I have presently onto the field. So the dilemma still exists.

I was WANTING to purchase already available hardware, in order to increase my power NOW thinking it would be better to do so than to invest in hardware that's soon to be released. Unfortunately, it seems that unless I get some exceptional deals on hardware that's currently out, they'll never mine more than I spend on them.

I want to be able to keep a steady flow of BTC income. I realize this won't be possible with currently released hardware, unless someone's willing to get rid of BFL Singles (or equivalent) for about .6BTC a piece. So therein lies the question. Should I worry about investing in current-gen hardware? Should I wait for this coming gen?

More specifically, would it be worth preordering 300GH/s from BFL, under proper conditions (and assuming their shipment schedule isn't a year and a half behind like with their other devices), if it isn't going to come until February? Should I rather invest in more Black Arrow hardware that's due in March? What can I get now that fits my current budget of $1400 that will be at least be somewhat easy to get a full investment return on?

Thoughts, opinions, suggestions and "go screw yourself"s all appreciated.

Anything besides bfl. You would have better luck making a profit by literally flushing your money down the toilet. In all seriousness knc and asicminers next products are probably your best bet. Mining is looking pretty risky at this time so it might be best to just hold btc.

[Khanduras]

Anything besides bfl. You would have better luck making a profit by literally flushing your money down the toilet. In all seriousness knc and asicminers next products are probably your best bet. Mining is looking pretty risky at this time so it might be best to just hold btc.

Yeah, except both of those are way over my current budget, and I was hoping to keep rolling with nothing but what I've earned instead of having to dump cash into the hardware. As far as I'm concerned, every BTC I earned was free, minus power costs, as I earned them all through a video card which I already had at the time I discovered bitcoins. Which immediately went into ASICs.  Were they to release hardware under the $1400 mark, I'd gladly look into getting some, but... a Neptune is completely unrealistic for me, as is just about anything else in that price range.

[jimmothy]

Anything besides bfl. You would have better luck making a profit by literally flushing your money down the toilet. In all seriousness knc and asicminers next products are probably your best bet. Mining is looking pretty risky at this time so it might be best to just hold btc.

Yeah, except both of those are way over my current budget, and I was hoping to keep rolling with nothing but what I've earned instead of having to dump cash into the hardware. As far as I'm concerned, every BTC I earned was free, minus power costs, as I earned them all through a video card which I already had at the time I discovered bitcoins. Which immediately went into ASICs.  Were they to release hardware under the $1400 mark, I'd gladly look into getting some, but... a Neptune is completely unrealistic for me, as is just about anything else in that price range.

If you are really set on buying hardware I would either preorder a blackarrow asic as they seem to be the cheapest or build a scrypt mining rig. Scrypt mining seems to be able to reach roi much faster and using a pool like hashcows you can automatically convert to btc.

[Khanduras]

If you had 110 Gh/s from the end of last year, you should have several thousand BTC.  Where did it all go?

I know this because I had 120 Gh/s from October 2012.

Last year would be 2013 now, not 2012. I made a total of 6 BTC since then, and most of it went into preorders for an AMT device (which I'm still kicking myself in the ass over, as it's about a month late being delivered and will no longer make an ROI) and the Black Arrow 2TH miner due at the end of February. I started with only 60Ghash and didn't get the other 50Ghash until the first week of December, due to a kind investor on these forums.

[Khanduras]

If you are really set on buying hardware I would either preorder a blackarrow asic as they seem to be the cheapest or build a scrypt mining rig. Scrypt mining seems to be able to reach roi much faster and using a pool like hashcows you can automatically convert to btc.

A valid alternative, I suppose, but it's only  matter of time before I run into the same dilemma there as well, no? Power costs for scrypt mining also tends to be much higher. In order to make the same amount I make presently with BTC I would need at least 3 MH, so at least 3 video cards all eating about the same amount of power that my two SHA-256 devices are using total EACH. Unless I'm missing something, $3000+ for a simple scrypt device doesn't seem anywhere near as profitable as BTC mining.

[jimmothy]

If you are really set on buying hardware I would either preorder a blackarrow asic as they seem to be the cheapest or build a scrypt mining rig. Scrypt mining seems to be able to reach roi much faster and using a pool like hashcows you can automatically convert to btc.

A valid alternative, I suppose, but it's only  matter of time before I run into the same dilemma there as well, no? Power costs for scrypt mining also tends to be much higher. In order to make the same amount I make presently with BTC I would need at least 3 MH, so at least 3 video cards all eating about the same amount of power that my two SHA-256 devices are using total EACH. Unless I'm missing something, $3000+ for a simple scrypt device doesn't seem anywhere near as profitable as BTC mining.

Thing about scrypt mining is your earnings don't halve every 2 weeks. Also when buying scrypt mining hardware you get it now as opposed to months from now. I have ordered a blackarrow x-1 but I would honestly be surprised if they met their deadline or are even only a month late.

[Khanduras]

Thing about scrypt mining is your earnings don't halve every 2 weeks. Also when buying scrypt mining hardware you get it now as opposed to months from now. I have ordered a blackarrow x-1 but I would honestly be surprised if they met their deadline or are even only a month late.

I guess I'm really more concerned about the upcoming scrypt ASICs people are talking about. It reminds me all too much of joining the BTC mining scene late with a crappy GeForce video card when FPGAs were just coming out. Seems like the same thing would happen, and I'd be stuck in the same position I'm in now when that happens.

[jimmothy]

Thing about scrypt mining is your earnings don't halve every 2 weeks. Also when buying scrypt mining hardware you get it now as opposed to months from now. I have ordered a blackarrow x-1 but I would honestly be surprised if they met their deadline or are even only a month late.

I guess I'm really more concerned about the upcoming scrypt ASICs people are talking about. It reminds me all too much of joining the BTC mining scene late with a crappy GeForce video card when FPGAs were just coming out. Seems like the same thing would happen, and I'd be stuck in the same position I'm in now when that happens.

Afaik because of how scrypt was designed asics and fpgas are not nearly as effective. First scrypt asic comes out in 6 months and will only be 1/2 the cost of buying a rig now. And because scrypt was created to be impossible for asics I am sure as soon as asics are released, a new gpu only coin will pop up.

[cdog]

So, here's the dilemma.

The real issue is that "hobby" mining is dead. Mining is now the exclusive domain of big conglomerates and hardware manufacturers.

You would need to "go pro" and invest a few million to start your own ASIC company. Thats the only way to win in this game in 2014.

Mining was cool, yes some of us made money, but its over now man. Just accept that reality and move on. There are tons of other spaces in the Bitcoin world where you can make money, but mining is no longer one of them. Ignore this warning at your own peril.