Bitcoin Mining, Litecoin Mining, GPU, and ASIC Questions.

[RyanRed]

Hey all! First off thanks for taking the time to read this. Its much appreciated

Let me first introduce myself. My names Ryan, and I've only just begun my journey into this growing world of bitcoins. About 2 years ago I remember hearing about all of this, and for the most part disregarded it. I found it a very interesting concept, but failed to jump into it due to my lack of knowledge, and no real interest in research. Boy...  that was a mistake! But I'm not going to kick myself too hard for past decisions, and focus on whats to come. 

First off let me explain why I think bitcoin is a great thing. I love the fact of  anonymity, and being able to control my own funds completely. The simple fact that I don't need to use banks, or filter my bitcoins anywhere if I don't choose too is fantastic. The basic principle of that idea is something I hold with the up most importance, and reflect those beliefs. I believe all currency should operate under those terms, but I also understand the value in today's current economy system.

Alright, so of course I have a few questions. I have just begun to dabble with mining. Over the past week Ive been pumping myself with as much information as I can within the world of bitcoin. Everything I love, but still a lot of things confuse me. I'm a technical person, so that aspect is pretty much covered. But I still have a few questions that I felt the community could assist with.

What I have been currently doing
I opened up an account over at BT Guild, and wanted to test the waters. Since this is all knew to me, I'm not sure what the difference in pools are, so I just picked one. Seems to be working fine. My current hardware is next to nothing. Ive been using a ATI HD 6750 with GUIminer. Pulling about 130 Mhash/s. Nothing out of this world I know, but I really just feeling all of this out. I've been mining for the past 4 days with that card alone. I don't currently have anything else to use, so it is what it is . Today I found out about Litecoins. This seemed interesting enough, but my research has pulled quite the mix love/hate for it. I just wanted to take a stab at it, and see what it yielded. Opened up a Pooling account over there at Pool-X.eu - I mine Litecoins with my AMD 8150fx 8core using ScryptMiner GUI at around 30-40 khash/s. Nothing phenomenal, but again just testing things out. Still very unsure if Im getting optimal preformance on any of this, but thats all the process of learning.

The Future, and ASIC
So it seems Butterfly Labs is releasing ASIC mining devices soon. So they say anyways. This is where I draw a little confusion. Is this the way to go? Their listed hash rates seem to by far supersede the current GPU and FPGA setups. I figured I start off small, and order just 1 or 2 Jalapenos. Since Im still very new to this, I'm still unclear what I would be getting into. Im not even sure how these jalapenos work. To the best of my understanding its something you plug into a USB port, and mine away. But am I forced to mine in certain pools? Is there limitations. Certain software I need to run? I also can't help but wonder the turn around on these devices. They say 3.5GH/s per jalapeno, but if everyone's using them, how really efficient is that when the pools will be flooded with ASIC devices. Will that equate to about the same slow pace that I am currently getting with just my 1 GPU? Should I order 2-3 of them? Should I not order one at all? I don't want to invest over 1000 dollars quite yet either. I figure I'd start slow, and build from there. If the jalapeno did alright, then reinvest my current bitcoins. Any thoughts on this?

In a nutshell
I just absolutely love this world of bitcoins. I want to help support it, and be apart of it. Im just still very new, and wondering how I should go about it. I'm guessing if I put in a order for the Jalapeno that I wouldn't see it until close to the end of the year. I don't see myself investing in GPU mining when ASIC seems to be the future, but if Im wrong here tell me why . Overall it seems Bitcoin supersedes Litecoin, but I can see value in both. Any recommendations on better programs to use to mine other than what I have been using? Its definitly slow going due to my 1 gpu, and cpu. But Im looking at the future, and more just testing things out.

I appreciate you taking the time to read this! Any information, and a push in the right direction would be very much appreciated! Thanks again!

-Ryan

[live627]

Hi Ryan!

Current Mining
That sounds slow  for that card. Are you using cgminer, phoenix, within gui miner? Don't use the default tab. According to https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_hardware_comparison you should be getting at least twice the  speed.

The future
The ASIC units are the future. You got that right. A Jally or two would probably end up as equivalent to your current returns. I could be wrong. It's USB powered, and might limit you to certain pools and software, might not. I have never owned a BFL product before.

[RyanRed]

Hi Ryan!

Current Mining
That sounds slow  for that card. Are you using cgminer, phoenix, within gui miner? Don't use the default tab. According to https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_hardware_comparison you should be getting at least twice the  speed.

The future
The ASIC units are the future. You got that right. A Jally or two would probably end up as equivalent to your current returns. I could be wrong. It's USB powered, and might limit you to certain pools and software, might not. I have never owned a BFL product before.

Using GUI Miner. I've seen that link you listed, but thank you for the reference regardless

On that comparrison link, it states my card should average 160ish Mhash/s. The 130 I have been getting isnt to far off from that. Would be nice to get 160 though 

I've used the flags -v -w 128, but only usually do that when Im away from the PC. -f 60 when I am using the PC, and I get around 90ish Mhash/s, but allows me to go about my business as well.

Why do you  say I should be getting double? Maybe I am mis-reading something?

[brudog]

  Hi RyanRed,welcome to Bitcoin.A 6750 can get 160 mh/s,I use MSI afterburner and overclock the core clock to 830 I get 165 mh/s.You may be able to go a little higher,try 5 m/h's at a time.There is a line you can add to MSI afterburner cfg file to get past Radeon's 100 m/h overclock limit,this can be found online by MSI Afterburner overclocking.I have mine running with 2 5830's so I can't push it too hard.Your cpu in litecoin is about right.I just started litecoin with my amd 4100 and get 18-20 kh/s.
  I just orded a Jalapeno with Bitcoins,don't know when it will come but I think gpu's are going the way of the cpu when Bitcoin first started.
  Good luck and happy mining!

[live627]

Why do you  say I should be getting double? Maybe I am mis-reading something?

I thought you said 6950. I shouldn't post so early in the morning... :/

[RyanRed]

  Hi RyanRed,welcome to Bitcoin.A 6750 can get 160 mh/s,I use MSI afterburner and overclock the core clock to 830 I get 165 mh/s.You may be able to go a little higher,try 5 m/h's at a time.There is a line you can add to MSI afterburner cfg file to get past Radeon's 100 m/h overclock limit,this can be found online by MSI Afterburner overclocking.I have mine running with 2 5830's so I can't push it too hard.Your cpu in litecoin is about right.I just started litecoin with my amd 4100 and get 18-20 kh/s.
  I just orded a Jalapeno with Bitcoins,don't know when it will come but I think gpu's are going the way of the cpu when Bitcoin first started.
  Good luck and happy mining!

Alright, Ill give it a go Thanks for the info!

[RyanRed]

Why do you  say I should be getting double? Maybe I am mis-reading something?

I thought you said 6950. I shouldn't post so early in the morning... :/

hahaha no worries. You just had me in a little shock there is all Thought I was missing something big time when you said double!

[wksantiago]

I am with you too and I am anxious to see how the Jalapeno will perform.