Newbie help

[niallo27]

Hi all, i am thinking of doing my thesis on the viability of mining for bitcoin in my country. I am not looking to turn a profit although it would be great if i could just want to get up and running. I am thinking of a budget of around 500 euro for hardware. Could anyone help me on my way, am i better off going second hand or buying new. Any help would be appreciated.

[Hexcoin]

Hi all, i am thinking of doing my thesis on the viability of mining for bitcoin in my country. I am not looking to turn a profit although it would be great if i could just want to get up and running. I am thinking of a budget of around 500 euro for hardware. Could anyone help me on my way, am i better off going second hand or buying new. Any help would be appreciated.

I suggest you to buy brand new, even it is more expensive you can assure that the rigs will not be broke in less time

[niallo27]

Can you point me in the direction of some decent hardware please.

[jonnybravo0311]

If this is just as a basis for a thesis and you're not looking to make a profit, there's no need for you to purchase 500 Euro worth of equipment.  Pick up a USB stick miner (look for the sidehack sticks).  That would get you mining.

[niallo27]

If this is just as a basis for a thesis and you're not looking to make a profit, there's no need for you to purchase 500 Euro worth of equipment.  Pick up a USB stick miner (look for the sidehack sticks).  That would get you mining.

I find the whole thing fascinating though so would not mind putting a bit of money into it.

[jonnybravo0311]

Well, since you're talking in terms of Euros, I'm going to assume you've got some VAT and import duties and all that other fun stuff to consider as well when making a purchase.  With a 500 Euro budget, you're not going to find any new hardware at all.  The only real "new" gear for sale is the S7 by Bitmain - and those are currently sold out.  You could probably pick up a used S5 and power supply for that budget.

[niallo27]

What do you think of these https://www.bitshopper.de/shop/sha-256-miner-en/usb-miner-bitcoin-en/gekkoscience-compac/?lang=en
Sidehack recommends this supplier if your based in Europe. Should i maybe start of with two

[jonnybravo0311]

Those are the USB sticks I referred to in my previous post

[niallo27]

They seems a lot more expensive here in europe, thanks for your help by they way. I have an older PC i plan to run these off. Does it matter this pc is not a high spec one.

[jonnybravo0311]

If you're planning on using the computer's USB ports, check to see how much power is supplied to them.  I don't know the full specs of the sticks (maybe ping sidehack), but know that to get the higher levels of performance you need to be able to supply them power, which is usually through a powered USB hub.  The computer itself just needs to be able to run the mining software, which should not be a problem at all... I run cgminer on a raspberry pi.

[cflocation]

I have yet to buy new hardware I buy everything used from Craigslist or eBay. With the purchase of over 65+ miners in 2 years I have never received a broken one. You pay a premium price to get one new and the ROI is normally twice as long.

Just my 2c

[niallo27]

Are there any decent 2nd hand USB sticks available on eBay. If i was to get two sticks and a powered hub. Is this all i would need from a hardware side to get started. Thanks for the help everyone

[VirosaGITS]

Are there any decent 2nd hand USB sticks available on eBay. If i was to get two sticks and a powered hub. Is this all i would need from a hardware side to get started. Thanks for the help everyone

The only USB stick you should be buying currently is the Sidehack GekkoScience usb stick. Goes up to 20GH/s. But you will also need y splitter since the powered hub's sockets itself can't handle the power draw.

Personally i run it mildy clocked at 225hz and i get 13ghs~

If you want some actual hashrate however i'd go with a pod or maybe a old Antminer S1 depending on your electricity costs.

[QuintLeo]

The Sidehack sticks are the only sticks in existance that use a reasonably-current ASIC - they are far superior in pretty much every way to any other stick out there, and oddly enough they're actually cheaper than some folks try to sell their older outdated stuff for.

 DO pay attention to the power need though, they DO greatly exceed USB 3 (much less USB 2) specs for how much the port can supply if you run them anywhere near their maximum capabilities.

[notlist3d]

The Sidehack sticks are the only sticks in existance that use a reasonably-current ASIC - they are far superior in pretty much every way to any other stick out there, and oddly enough they're actually cheaper than some folks try to sell their older outdated stuff for.

 DO pay attention to the power need though, they DO greatly exceed USB 3 (much less USB 2) specs for how much the port can supply if you run them anywhere near their maximum capabilities.

It's a little dated at this point but best guide on USB hub is here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=253749.0

It varies greatly on how many usb sticks you can use and how much power they have.  The above guide gives you a god idea on some different hubs and power they have.

[niallo27]

Thanks for all your help guys, I really appreciate it.

[extrabyte]

I would suggest to buy some bigger mining rigs and don't bother with the usb miners or those dual miners (bitcoin and litecoin)

Mining with these USB miners does not worth, since your budget is limited i would suggest Antminer S4 (on amazon an used costs $675.97)

[niallo27]

What you guys think of a second hand S3 for 250 euro. Are these easier to set up than the USBs

[extrabyte]

What you guys think of a second hand S3 for 250 euro. Are these easier to set up than the USBs

Just search in youtube[1] first and you will find many results how to setup an Antminer S3.

Don't compare things from the setup complexity but by the hash rate and how long does it reach to get the investment back.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=antminer+s3+setup

[niallo27]

Ok i will do. I will be in canada for few weeks with work in a few weeks. Would the price over there be a lot cheaper plus i will have free electricity for the few weeks i am there.