New Noob trying to figure out this bitcoin thing...

[@theman]

I have read bits and pieces here and there about how using a GPU to mine for Bitcoins is
a lot faster then the regular CPU centric app. I have been trying to set something up with my rig, the
basic components are as listed Intel core i5, and a Radeon HD 4870 GPU I don't think anything else
other then that matters, well of course the OS I am using is WIndows 7. I have checked out GUIMiner
to take advantage of my GPU but unfortunately it is not detecting my GPU I have mentioned what GPU
I am using above, am I using the wrong program? If so can someone point me in the right direction so
that I may get started? Quite frankly I am very confused since I have just stumbled upon Mining bit coins.

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[FreeJAC]

In the beginner's guide there  a walk-through by lobster read that / work through it, all your questions are answered in there. He also responds to the comments at the end so you could post a question in there if you need as well. If I was to hazard a guess as to what is missing I'd say you haven't installed the ATI OpenCL stuff. You also should check where your card falls on the GPU guide here. http://melanarchy.info/bitcoin/

[mattpker]

4xxx series video cards do not support openCL so you CANNOT mine with them. You will need to purchase a 5xxx or 6xxx series video card in order to mine.

[@theman]

So theres no app out there that can utilize my GPU even for solo mining?

[CentroniX]

So theres no app out there that can utilize my GPU even for solo mining?

4xxx series video cards do not support openCL so you CANNOT mine with them.

[KJaneway]

and that is completely wrong.
Why else are the 4xxx GPUs listed in the Wiki Article? https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_hardware_comparison

[Jack of Diamonds]

Wrong, it's the 3xxx cards that don't have OpenCL support.

4xxx Radeon's can mine just fine, but it's not economically feasible at this time (high power consumption, low hash rate)

[@theman]

I see, but I am trying to figure out how to get it all set up on my rig??

[SchizophrenicX]

In the beginner's guide there  a walk-through by lobster read that / work through it, all your questions are answered in there. He also responds to the comments at the end so you could post a question in there if you need as well. If I was to hazard a guess as to what is missing I'd say you haven't installed the ATI OpenCL stuff. You also should check where your card falls on the GPU guide here. http://melanarchy.info/bitcoin/

What he said.

So theres no app out there that can utilize my GPU even for solo mining?

4xxx series video cards do not support openCL so you CANNOT mine with them.

Wrong, it's the 3xxx cards that don't have OpenCL support.

4xxx Radeon's can mine just fine, but it's not economically feasible at this time (high power consumption, low hash rate)

Wrong, it's the 3xxx cards that don't have OpenCL support.

4xxx Radeon's can mine just fine, but it's not economically feasible at this time (high power consumption, low hash rate)

What he, he and he said.

And yea.
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_hardware_comparison
And my beginner's guide. Sticky in the forum, link in my signature -.-|||

[Uzza]

4xxx Radeon's can mine just fine, but it's not economically feasible at this time (high power consumption, low hash rate)

That is also wrong. I have a 4870 as the OP, and standard I got ~82 MH/s with poclbm -w 256 -f 60.
Since I'm also using the computer normally while mining, the only real cost is that of idle vs full load, which is 80w at stock speeds.
By overclocking core and underclocking memory to 830/190 I get to 94.5 MH/s, giving an 85w effective draw during mining, but overall 30w lower due to memory underclock.

So it is most definitely profitable.

[keybaud]

4xxx Radeon's can mine just fine, but it's not economically feasible at this time (high power consumption, low hash rate)

That is also wrong. I have a 4870 as the OP, and standard I got ~82 MH/s with poclbm -w 256 -f 60.
Since I'm also using the computer normally while mining, the only real cost is that of idle vs full load, which is 80w at stock speeds.
By overclocking core and underclocking memory to 830/190 I get to 94.5 MH/s, giving an 85w effective draw during mining, but overall 30w lower due to memory underclock.

So it is most definitely profitable.

4870 is 150W at stock, which is why I stopped mining on mine, as I was paying more for electricity than I was getting back from BTC. Not sure if it's profitable now BTC value have gone up, as the difficulty has also gone up.

[@theman]

4xxx Radeon's can mine just fine, but it's not economically feasible at this time (high power consumption, low hash rate)

That is also wrong. I have a 4870 as the OP, and standard I got ~82 MH/s with poclbm -w 256 -f 60.
Since I'm also using the computer normally while mining, the only real cost is that of idle vs full load, which is 80w at stock speeds.
By overclocking core and underclocking memory to 830/190 I get to 94.5 MH/s, giving an 85w effective draw during mining, but overall 30w lower due to memory underclock.

So it is most definitely profitable.

Can you help me set get this set up since we have the same GPU??
yes I have already looked at the beginners guide, but I am not tech savvy enough to figure out how to set up all the command line stuff.

[Uzza]

4xxx Radeon's can mine just fine, but it's not economically feasible at this time (high power consumption, low hash rate)

That is also wrong. I have a 4870 as the OP, and standard I got ~82 MH/s with poclbm -w 256 -f 60.
Since I'm also using the computer normally while mining, the only real cost is that of idle vs full load, which is 80w at stock speeds.
By overclocking core and underclocking memory to 830/190 I get to 94.5 MH/s, giving an 85w effective draw during mining, but overall 30w lower due to memory underclock.

So it is most definitely profitable.

4870 is 150W at stock, which is why I stopped mining on mine, as I was paying more for electricity than I was getting back from BTC. Not sure if it's profitable now BTC value have gone up, as the difficulty has also gone up.

For me it's quite profitable.
The energy price here is $0.233 per kw/h. Seeing as I use my computer normally during mining, I'm only interested in the difference between idle and load, which is 80w on stock.
Overclokcing core and underclocking memory yields a 5w increase in difference between idle and load, but a 30w decrease in total usage. This gives me an effective cost of 55w for mining.
At $0.233 per kw/h that equates to $0.308 each day. 1BTC is currently at $16.33 on mtgox, and at 94.5 I would get roughly .02 BTC a day on deepbits PPS model.
So each day I get about $3.27 worth of bitcoins.
Now if it would have been a dedicated mining rig, the total power draw is 210w, giving a daily energy cost of $1.17, which is still profitable at current prices.

Can you help me set get this set up since we have the same GPU??
yes I have already looked at the beginners guide, but I am not tech savvy enough to figure out how to set up all the command line stuff.

Writing it up, give me a sec.

[@theman]

4xxx Radeon's can mine just fine, but it's not economically feasible at this time (high power consumption, low hash rate)

That is also wrong. I have a 4870 as the OP, and standard I got ~82 MH/s with poclbm -w 256 -f 60.
Since I'm also using the computer normally while mining, the only real cost is that of idle vs full load, which is 80w at stock speeds.
By overclocking core and underclocking memory to 830/190 I get to 94.5 MH/s, giving an 85w effective draw during mining, but overall 30w lower due to memory underclock.

So it is most definitely profitable.

4870 is 150W at stock, which is why I stopped mining on mine, as I was paying more for electricity than I was getting back from BTC. Not sure if it's profitable now BTC value have gone up, as the difficulty has also gone up.

For me it's quite profitable.
The energy price here is $0.233 per kw/h. Seeing as I use my computer normally during mining, I'm only interested in the difference between idle and load, which is 80w on stock.
Overclokcing core and underclocking memory yields a 5w increase in difference between idle and load, but a 30w decrease in total usage. This gives me an effective cost of 55w for mining.
At $0.233 per kw/h that equates to $0.308 each day. 1BTC is currently at $16.33 on mtgox, and at 94.5 I would get roughly .02 BTC a day on deepbits PPS model.
So each day I get about $3.27 worth of bitcoins.
Now if it would have been a dedicated mining rig, the total power draw is 210w, giving a daily energy cost of $1.17, which is still profitable at current prices.

Can you help me set get this set up since we have the same GPU??
yes I have already looked at the beginners guide, but I am not tech savvy enough to figure out how to set up all the command line stuff.

Writing it up, give me a sec.

I apreciate your effort, ill be sure to tip you once I make a few bit coins

[Uzza]

I apreciate your effort, ill be sure to tip you once I make a few bit coins

*Moved to new post*

Since you had problems detecting it in GUIminer, I suggest you download the latest full CCC from ati.com. Here is 32 bit version, and here is 64bit version.
If you don't know what version you have, go to start menu, right click on computer and select properties. Under the system header, which has the Windows Experience Index, there should be a label called "System Type", which tells if it's 32 bit or 64 bit.
Install the correct one and restart your computer. OpenCL should be installed now if you didn't have it before.

If the computer is a dedicated miner, you can run a worker on GUIminer with the extra flags -w 256 -f 10. Bit if you, as I do, use it normally, run it using -w 256 -f 70, as that doesn't slow the GUI down nearly as much.

[@theman]

Thanks again, I will install the following programs, I'm fairly tech savvy, but when it comes to the advanced stuff like command line python and all that other stuff i am pretty lost. I will post how this turns out, also with the programs you suggested I download will I be able to do pool mining?

Edit: Its working perfectly !!!! Thank you very much my friend!!! Also should I use the same flags you are using?

[Uzza]

Do you mean CCC? It has nothing to do with Bitcoin.
It's "Catalyst Control Center", the full driver software suite for Radeon graphics cards, which happens to include OpenCL which is needed to run GPU miners.

You can do pooled mining with GUIminer, which you already downloaded and tried.

[@theman]

Looks like thats all I needed was the CCC I guess the previous version didn't support opencl. Everything is well now.

[keybaud]

4870 is 150W at stock, which is why I stopped mining on mine, as I was paying more for electricity than I was getting back from BTC. Not sure if it's profitable now BTC value have gone up, as the difficulty has also gone up.

For me it's quite profitable.
The energy price here is $0.233 per kw/h. Seeing as I use my computer normally during mining, I'm only interested in the difference between idle and load, which is 80w on stock.
Overclokcing core and underclocking memory yields a 5w increase in difference between idle and load, but a 30w decrease in total usage. This gives me an effective cost of 55w for mining.
At $0.233 per kw/h that equates to $0.308 each day. 1BTC is currently at $16.33 on mtgox, and at 94.5 I would get roughly .02 BTC a day on deepbits PPS model.
So each day I get about $3.27 worth of bitcoins.
Now if it would have been a dedicated mining rig, the total power draw is 210w, giving a daily energy cost of $1.17, which is still profitable at current prices.

210W seems very low, is this calculated or measured at the wall? PSUs have losses, so a 150 Watt video card would be pulling 180 Watts from the wall with an 80% efficient PSU.

If you're using the PC at the same time, are you sure your getting 94.5 MH/s out of it?

If you're not using the PC, do you usually leave it on 24/7 or are you only mining when you turn the PC on? If it's the latter, then your BTC rates per day will be less, if it's the former, then you were pouring money down the drain before you started mining. If the PC is running other services 24/7 then the costs are already incurred, but do these services affect the hash rate. i.e. what is the true cost of mining vs the true profit.

Difficulty is going up by 30% tomorrow, I believe, so your amount of bitcoins will reduce.

Not trying to be negative, but a lot of people are throwing money away in the false illusion that they are making money through mining.

[dikidera]

4xxx series video cards do not support openCL so you CANNOT mine with them. You will need to purchase a 5xxx or 6xxx series video card in order to mine.

Troll? Feeding false information? Educate yourself before you write lies and feed false info.