I have almost no knowledge about mining, but I'm interested in trying so if someone could help me out here, I'd be very grateful.
I downloaded the GUIminer, mining in slush's pool right now. Is 182 Mhash/s any good, by the way? I have a gaming computer, so I thought the specs might be at the very least decent for mining. If not then I'll just stop now. Also, what would be the best route to choose right now- mining in a pool or individually? The GUIminer application couldn't identify Bitcoin-QT when I looked for it in the folder. Not sure what's wrong there, maybe it's a glitch or something. I just want to know if, right now, I'm doing everything perfectly. Also, will mining decrease the lifespan of my computer's components? I heard that AMD's give out sooner than Intels and Nvidia, so I don't want to have to replace anything at the moment. It would be a huge hassle for me. My CPU is an AMD 8150, and my GPU is an AMD Radeon 7770. I (think) I'm mining with my GPU right now, I picked the option called [0-0] Capeverde. Also, sorry for sounding like an idiot. I'm trying to provide as much information as I can at the moment, since I really know nothing about this. If you need me to provide more information, just tell me where to find it and I'll post.
You're doing roughly the right things. Well actually, GPU mining is probably going to go dodo in the next few months, but given that, you're doing okay. But specifically:
1) 182 MH/s: That seems a bit pathetic for a 7xxx Radeon. But it's one of the two entries in
the usual guide (did you do that?), and the other is even lower, so maybe it's okay? Just seems a bit crap that's all.
2) Pool. Not solo. Solo has not been a good idea for 99% of miners for at least a year now. I think if you could get around 50 GH/s, at current difficulty, that might make it worthwhile. So only 300 more cards to go!
3) Don't know why guiminer can't see bitcoin-qt, but since you won't be solo mining, who cares?
4) [0-0] Capeverde is indeed your GPU, not CPU.
5) Mining shouldn't wear out any of your components except your GPU, and as long as you keep your GPU reasonably cool, it'll be fine for a few years. Go find some tools to check your GPU temperatures, and better still, your VRM temperatures if you can. The GPU should really stay below 75ish, the VRM will get hotter but below 95 should be okay. I presume you are using Windows? That's fine, except I've forgotten all about what tools you can get in Windows. If your card is too hot you'll need to turn up the fan, or reduce the engine clock. You may also be able to reduce the voltage - experiment a bit on that, you won't hurt the card. Also check your GPU's memory clock. Stock mem speeds for GPUs tend to be in the 1000MHz area, and miners have long known you can (and should) lower that, at least to 300MHz or so. It won't reduce your hash rate and will save power and cool things down.
