Need Opinions - Best SHA256 ASIC for mining in my office - Quiet yet profitable

[Kdaddy Warbucks]

I need something fairly quiet, yet profitable to mine w/ power costs of $.09 - $.1/kwh. My office is a suite in a building that is kept very cool (as we have dentists w/ their required machinery, etc.), so heat isn't too much of an issue. My electric is a write-off, so I want a way to have a steady income of BTC whilst maintaining decent profitability (doesn't have to be the latest and greatest).

Maybe Scrypt ASICs are a possibility, but my focus at this moment is SHA256.

Thanks for your help/opinions!

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[Xialla]

my opinion? instead of mining HW try to buy some BTC and start using them. in your (very small scale), mining is not profitable anymore, sorry.(

[alh]

When you say "profitable", do you mean it pays for it's running costs, or you want it to pay back your expenditure on the mining hardware as well? The 2nd is very difficult if not impossible these days, particularly on a small scale.

For a quiet miner, probably best one these days is an Avalon 4.1 miner:

http://ehash.com/product/avalon4-module-1t/

This is unlikely to ever generate the 2 BTC it costs to acquire it, after running costs. You'll also need to know if your office environment can handle the equivalent of 500W "heater" running all the time. I also assume you have an "always on" Internet connection?

You need to ask yourself why you want to "mine" Bitcoins? It's probably not the most cost effective, nor timely, way to acquire Bitcoin.

[amelen]

I need something fairly quiet, yet profitable to mine w/ power costs of $.09 - $.1/kwh. My office is a suite in a building that is kept very cool (as we have dentists w/ their required machinery, etc.), so heat isn't too much of an issue. My electric is a write-off, so I want a way to have a steady income of BTC whilst maintaining decent profitability (doesn't have to be the latest and greatest).

Maybe Scrypt ASICs are a possibility, but my focus at this moment is SHA256.

Thanks for your help/opinions!

Antminer S5 is probably the way to go. If you can buy a used one at around $350 and have cheap electricity, it's not too bad. You'll need to underclock it and put in a quieter fan though. I found the Delta's run quieter and am actually selling some extra ones.

[philipma1957]

I need something fairly quiet, yet profitable to mine w/ power costs of $.09 - $.1/kwh. My office is a suite in a building that is kept very cool (as we have dentists w/ their required machinery, etc.), so heat isn't too much of an issue. My electric is a write-off, so I want a way to have a steady income of BTC whilst maintaining decent profitability (doesn't have to be the latest and greatest).

Maybe Scrypt ASICs are a possibility, but my focus at this moment is SHA256.

Thanks for your help/opinions!

Antminer S5 is probably the way to go. If you can buy a used one at around $350 and have cheap electricity, it's not too bad. You'll need to underclock it and put in a quieter fan though.

 it will be too noisy .  

buy this fan:

http://www.amazon.com/Silverstone-Cooler-Computer-Cooling-FHP-141/dp/B00A460TK6/ref=sr_1_1?

buy a used s-3

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antminer-S3-/301661789143?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item463c719bd7


this psu  but some one may find better for you.
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Builder-Series-Watt-CX600/dp/B0092ML0OC/ref=dp_ob_title_ce


My cost for you is under 200 and you will most likely lose money. due to your cost of power.

At the op no gear for sale will profit for your kwatt cost. (I am pretty sure not certain this is true.)

Since you are going to lose money in most cases buy a used antminer s-3  for 85 usd buy a silverstone 141 mm fan for 16 bucks

get a small quiet psu .  and then run the s-3 in balance.


I would then run the s-3 in balance I will show  you what I mean.
see this post

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=763510.msg11617555#msg11617555

a screen shot that shows how the s-3 splits hash to 3 spots 140gh each 2 earn a little money 1 could win a block.

this will run quiet use under 400 watts and cost under 200 usd .  most likely you will lose money

[Kdaddy Warbucks]

You all seem to be approaching this from a different standpoint.

I'm not looking to mine and make a killing off of the profit/roi. My goal is to find something with a ratio of 1gh/1kwh or better (consider that... hardware = sunk cost, profit is on a real-time level per coinwarz SHA256 calc). I'm an independent, self-employed individual with a bitcoin 'hobby'. My electricity costs are always written off as business expenses, so if it jacks up my electric a bit then it's not much of a problem. My goal with the BTC will be day-trading, and various forex.

I hope this can better guide the opinions and suggestions.

[MCHouston]

For quite I would go with an Bitmain C1 or Avalon 4.1

[philipma1957]

You all seem to be approaching this from a different standpoint.

I'm not looking to mine and make a killing off of the profit/roi. My goal is to find something with a ratio of 1gh/1kwh or better (consider that... hardware = sunk cost, profit is on a real-time level per coinwarz SHA256 calc). I'm an independent, self-employed individual with a bitcoin 'hobby'. My electricity costs are always written off as business expenses, so if it jacks up my electric a bit then it's not much of a problem. My goal with the BTC will be day-trading, and various forex.

I hope this can better guide the opinions and suggestions.

okay get an avalon 4.1 you pay over 500 usd it will run at 850gh and use .48 watts a gh.  quiet quiet quiet. 

you also need the older rasp pi to run it.  so cost is 500 + a psu +  50 for the rasp pi.  maybe 650  usd for 850gh and dead quiet gear.

so you are 650 out of pocket    it burns .48 watts a gh 

the s-3 with the mod and the  psu you are 200 out of pocket   it burns .8 watts a gh.

the s-5 is too noisy

the c-1 is pretty good choice see ebay links below.


http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xantminer+c-1.TRS1&_nkw=antminer+c-1&_sacat=0

[alh]

While I expect I'll take some flack for this, I would NOT choose the C1. It's a liquid cooled device and has lots more moving parts associated with it. I think it will require more attention and potential maintenance. If you are interested in that kind of thing, then that's great. If you want it to "just run", then the C1 is not for you (IMHO).

I'll also restate my comment. If your actual goal is to actually trade BTC or some other investment strategy that requires BTC, then mining is a slow and expensive way to acquire Bitcoin. Much better to actually buy BTC directly and skip the mining step. Just about anything that's been suggested will "dribble in" a small fraction (think BTC.01) in a weeks time.

If you actually want to mine then you got lots of good info here. If you are mining to acquire BTC for some other reason, then re-think the mining approach. Of course you can do both! 

[bgibso01]

Since you are dealing with write-offs, I'll assume you have the income to offset the expense.  In that situation, your 'real' cost of electricity is around $.06/kwh.  The Avalon is probably the best out there for quiet right now.  The used Neptunes are also quieter than the S5 & SP20.

[sidehack]

But if you want something not likely to burn down your office, don't get a Neptune.

[alh]

But if you want something not likely to burn down your office, don't get a Neptune.

Minor diversion here: Is it possible to "downclock" a Neptune enough to relieve the pressure on the single PCIe connector for power?

[Kdaddy Warbucks]

While I expect I'll take some flack for this, I would NOT choose the C1. It's a liquid cooled device and has lots more moving parts associated with it. I think it will require more attention and potential maintenance. If you are interested in that kind of thing, then that's great. If you want it to "just run", then the C1 is not for you (IMHO).

I'll also restate my comment. If your actual goal is to actually trade BTC or some other investment strategy that requires BTC, then mining is a slow and expensive way to acquire Bitcoin. Much better to actually buy BTC directly and skip the mining step. Just about anything that's been suggested will "dribble in" a small fraction (think BTC.01) in a weeks time.

If you actually want to mine then you got lots of good info here. If you are mining to acquire BTC for some other reason, then re-think the mining approach. Of course you can do both! 

I considered this. I'm glad that you commented on the maintenance; indeed, I don't want something too complicated in my office (not to mention potential coolant spills). All of that said, the C1 is a neat rig.

[Kdaddy Warbucks]

But if you want something not likely to burn down your office, don't get a Neptune.

LOL. Noted.

[Kdaddy Warbucks]

Thank you all for your input thus far. I still am open to more opinions, of course. This is a good discussion and hopefully someone else will be able to read it and learn a bit as well.

[Dr Charles]

Thank you all for your input thus far. I still am open to more opinions, of course. This is a good discussion and hopefully someone else will be able to read it and learn a bit as well.

The AntMiner C1 will be pretty quite and at .8w/gh its not too terrible on power. I consider hardware costs sunk costs as well and normally only try to factor the daily income vs electricity costs.

[toptek]

I just started using my only S3 i have left this way . but today i went to BTC Guild to check my balances and it is shutting down on the 30 of this month and it looks like for good this time he won't sell it .

I need something fairly quiet, yet profitable to mine w/ power costs of $.09 - $.1/kwh. My office is a suite in a building that is kept very cool (as we have dentists w/ their required machinery, etc.), so heat isn't too much of an issue. My electric is a write-off, so I want a way to have a steady income of BTC whilst maintaining decent profitability (doesn't have to be the latest and greatest).

Maybe Scrypt ASICs are a possibility, but my focus at this moment is SHA256.

Thanks for your help/opinions!

Antminer S5 is probably the way to go. If you can buy a used one at around $350 and have cheap electricity, it's not too bad. You'll need to underclock it and put in a quieter fan though.

 it will be too noisy .  

buy this fan:

http://www.amazon.com/Silverstone-Cooler-Computer-Cooling-FHP-141/dp/B00A460TK6/ref=sr_1_1?

buy a used s-3

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antminer-S3-/301661789143?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item463c719bd7


this psu  but some one may find better for you.
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Builder-Series-Watt-CX600/dp/B0092ML0OC/ref=dp_ob_title_ce


My cost for you is under 200 and you will most likely lose money. due to your cost of power.

At the op no gear for sale will profit for your kwatt cost. (I am pretty sure not certain this is true.)

Since you are going to lose money in most cases buy a used antminer s-3  for 85 usd buy a silverstone 141 mm fan for 16 bucks

get a small quiet psu .  and then run the s-3 in balance.


I would then run the s-3 in balance I will show  you what I mean.
see this post

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=763510.msg11617555#msg11617555

a screen shot that shows how the s-3 splits hash to 3 spots 140gh each 2 earn a little money 1 could win a block.

this will run quiet use under 400 watts and cost under 200 usd .  most likely you will lose money