Ethereum mining still profitable?

[Rumant]

The problem with Ethereum mining is that it will become PoS within a year. If you want to buy graphics card for mining, you might not get your money back.

Profit-cost ratio (for me) is currently 5:1. Before Serenity comes, 'tis why you mine now and convert to other coin/fiat while it's worth something. To each their own, but what I'll still have is a damn good/cheap gaming box to enjoy that ASIC miners won't.

If the Revenue/electricity cost ratio is 5:1. You should definitely mine now. You can even buy a few GPUs to do that. You can sell the GPU later.

[alienesb]

I just set up another PC for mining eth the other day.

64-bit Win10.

You'll want to start by getting geth running

https://build.ethdev.com/builds/Windows%20Go%20master%20branch/Geth-Win64-latest.zip

Using geth you can download the blockchain and create a wallet.

Once you have a wallet

Go here and grab the windows installer https://github.com/ethereum/webthree-umbrella/releases
You'll also likely need this: http://www.microsoft.com/en-US/download/details.aspx?id=40784

Once its done you have to find the folder with ethminer in it.

Then choose your favorite pool (look at the ethereum forums) and follow their instructions for proper settings.

I heard Win 10 is not good for mining Ethereum. Did you compare it with the previous Windows?

Win 10 still sucks 

GTX 970 on Win 10 = 6-7 MH/s
GTX 970 on Win 7 = 17-18 MH/s

[mickiya]

I just set up another PC for mining eth the other day.

64-bit Win10.

You'll want to start by getting geth running

https://build.ethdev.com/builds/Windows%20Go%20master%20branch/Geth-Win64-latest.zip

Using geth you can download the blockchain and create a wallet.

Once you have a wallet

Go here and grab the windows installer https://github.com/ethereum/webthree-umbrella/releases
You'll also likely need this: http://www.microsoft.com/en-US/download/details.aspx?id=40784

Once its done you have to find the folder with ethminer in it.

Then choose your favorite pool (look at the ethereum forums) and follow their instructions for proper settings.

I heard Win 10 is not good for mining Ethereum. Did you compare it with the previous Windows?

Win 10 still sucks 

GTX 970 on Win 10 = 6-7 MH/s
GTX 970 on Win 7 = 17-18 MH/s

For the AMD 2;80x, there is no difference between Win 7 and 8.1. I am not sure about Win 10.

[ol92]

...
CUDA and OpenCL rates are basically equal between a GTX970-980 and Radeon 290, power draw on GTX makes it the winner.
...

My R9 290X tri-x is doing 31Mh/s for around 180W (gpu@1150, hynix memory). A R9 290 with hynix memory and identical clock will do about the same. With some undervolting and no oc, you should be around 28Mh/s with 140W.
http://www.mininghwcomparison.com/list/index.php?brand=amd

Nvidia is very good for others algo. I have mined spreadcoin with it but Ether is now amd territory (with the increased dag file, 750 ti is no longer as good as before).

[bluebox]

...
CUDA and OpenCL rates are basically equal between a GTX970-980 and Radeon 290, power draw on GTX makes it the winner.
...

My R9 290X tri-x is doing 31Mh/s for around 180W (gpu@1150, hynix memory). A R9 290 with hynix memory and identical clock will do about the same. With some undervolting and no oc, you should be around 28Mh/s with 140W.
http://www.mininghwcomparison.com/list/index.php?brand=amd

Nvidia is very good for others algo. I have mined spreadcoin with it but Ether is now amd territory (with the increased dag file, 750 ti is no longer as good as before).

3-4GB/card is plenty for the dag at the moment, and thanks to Genoil's work on the cuda implementation it's been a good combo. Each 970 draws 90w stock clock; but more importantly (which people seem to ignore) is *total* system draw is ~270W (core i5-based). A little o/c brings it to 300W, getting 38-40GH/s. Very profitable @ $2.50/eth currently!

[Marvell1]

A 970 is more expensive than a 280 or 280x
Unless you already have the nvida hardware its best to buy AMD

[Jistlad]

My R9 290X tri-x is doing 31Mh/s for around 180W (gpu@1150, hynix memory). A R9 290 with hynix memory and identical clock will do about the same. With some undervolting and no oc, you should be around 28Mh/s with 140W.
http://www.mininghwcomparison.com/list/index.php?brand=amd

Is that the current hash rate and power consumption? The dag size is larger, so hash rate of most cards has decreased.

[ol92]

My R9 290X tri-x is doing 31Mh/s for around 180W (gpu@1150, hynix memory). A R9 290 with hynix memory and identical clock will do about the same. With some undervolting and no oc, you should be around 28Mh/s with 140W.
http://www.mininghwcomparison.com/list/index.php?brand=amd

Is that the current hash rate and power consumption? The dag size is larger, so hash rate of most cards has decreased.

The effect of the dag file increase is minor on R9 290 till now.

[bluebox]

A 970 is more expensive than a 280 or 280x
Unless you already have the nvida hardware its best to buy AMD

There's the rub -- GTX may cost a bit more initially but will recoup some in electric cost over time, perhaps a long time depending on coin/exchange rate! GTX have held resale value a little better over time if that's a factor (not to me), and besides -- my box was always a gaming rig first, mining off-hours second, when profitable. I exchange coins fairly quickly, selling to the greater fool while they're still "worth" something.

[antantti]

A 970 is more expensive than a 280 or 280x
Unless you already have the nvida hardware its best to buy AMD

There's the rub -- GTX may cost a bit more initially but will recoup some in electric cost over time, perhaps a long time depending on coin/exchange rate! GTX have held resale value a little better over time if that's a factor (not to me), and besides -- my box was always a gaming rig first, mining off-hours second, when profitable. I exchange coins fairly quickly, selling to the greater fool while they're still "worth" something.

Where I live it's best to buy AMD even if you already have Nvidia. Used quality 7970 sets you back 130-150€ (22-24MH), 290(X) 220-240€ (28-31MH), GTX 970 300-320€ (20-22MH). After tweaks power consumption is almost the same (~200W per card). For gaming 290(X) is a s fast as GTX 970.

I'm paying 0.1€/ kWh and my nvidia rig is still more profitable hashing 110MH@1000W than 83MH@600W (lowest I can go with 5 x 970).

[Marvell1]

A 970 is more expensive than a 280 or 280x
Unless you already have the nvida hardware its best to buy AMD

There's the rub -- GTX may cost a bit more initially but will recoup some in electric cost over time, perhaps a long time depending on coin/exchange rate! GTX have held resale value a little better over time if that's a factor (not to me), and besides -- my box was always a gaming rig first, mining off-hours second, when profitable. I exchange coins fairly quickly, selling to the greater fool while they're still "worth" something.

Where I live it's best to buy AMD even if you already have Nvidia. Used quality 7970 sets you back 130-150€ (22-24MH), 290(X) 220-240€ (28-31MH), GTX 970 300-320€ (20-22MH). After tweaks power consumption is almost the same (~200W per card). For gaming 290(X) is a s fast as GTX 970.

I'm paying 0.1€/ kWh and my nvidia rig is still more profitable hashing 110MH@1000W than 83MH@600W (lowest I can go with 5 x 970).

What tweaks are you making, 290x pulls 260 plus watts on my end compared to the 220 watts on my 280x
Miners .

I agree with you on the 970s the entry price is too high given that I only plan on mining eth, by the time the 970 gets into the green homestead will be over and mining will be done by summers end

[adaseb]

When did GPU mining become profitable again? About a year ago I sold my GPUs to get Antminers and now it seems I should sell my Antminers and get GPUs again.

I quit because I had a bunch of 280X and only made like $2 per day, now with the same amount of cards I can make $10.

[Eliovp]

When did GPU mining become profitable again? About a year ago I sold my GPUs to get Antminers and now it seems I should sell my Antminers and get GPUs again.

I quit because I had a bunch of 280X and only made like $2 per day, now with the same amount of cards I can make $10.

Yeah, lots of people sold their GPU's because they weren't making enough profit anymore.

I had a chance of buying a 280x farm back then, but i decided not to do it. Now i wish i did :p

However, i still have 95% of my GPU's from when i started GPU mining (a little over 2 years ago.), and i'm happy i still have them!

Also, it seems that the good days aren't over yet. New and interesting coins are peeking from behind the corner ready to be GPU-mined :p

+ it's more fun as well. Antminer just sit there, you can't do anything with them except change pool.

[antantti]

What tweaks are you making, 290x pulls 260 plus watts on my end compared to the 220 watts on my 280x
Miners .

I agree with you on the 970s the entry price is too high given that I only plan on mining eth, by the time the 970 gets into the green homestead will be over and mining will be done by summers end

Underclock core, overclock memory, undervolt card. You need to find yourself what works best for your card.

Undervolting can be done with software in windows, in linux you need to flash modded bios.

[bluebox]

Where I live it's best to buy AMD even if you already have Nvidia. Used quality 7970 sets you back 130-150€ (22-24MH), 290(X) 220-240€ (28-31MH), GTX 970 300-320€ (20-22MH). After tweaks power consumption is almost the same (~200W per card). For gaming 290(X) is a s fast as GTX 970.

I'm paying 0.1€/ kWh and my nvidia rig is still more profitable hashing 110MH@1000W than 83MH@600W (lowest I can go with 5 x 970).

Of course, understood. Different everywhere you go. California pays $0.25 kW/h, Nevada is next to nothing at night... AMD works well for highest hashrates, nVidia offers the power play (so long as cuda devs can wring it out of the code). My cards are over a year old, having mined a good bit of dark until difficulty rose a bit too high and the price dropped (coming back though).

New 970's can be had for $300 in the US (285€). Wasn't suggesting buying new for mining though; best if you already had 'em — or like you said, get older or used AMD, and I suppose underclocking them if electricity and ROI are issues. Juice where I'm at is $0.085 kW/h (0.075€)

[antantti]

Where I live it's best to buy AMD even if you already have Nvidia. Used quality 7970 sets you back 130-150€ (22-24MH), 290(X) 220-240€ (28-31MH), GTX 970 300-320€ (20-22MH). After tweaks power consumption is almost the same (~200W per card). For gaming 290(X) is a s fast as GTX 970.

I'm paying 0.1€/ kWh and my nvidia rig is still more profitable hashing 110MH@1000W than 83MH@600W (lowest I can go with 5 x 970).

Of course, understood. Different everywhere you go. California pays $0.25 kW/h, Nevada is next to nothing at night... AMD works well for highest hashrates, nVidia offers the power play (so long as cuda devs can wring it out of the code). My cards are over a year old, having mined a good bit of dark until difficulty rose a bit too high and the price dropped (coming back though).

New 970's can be had for $300 in the US (285€). Wasn't suggesting buying new for mining though; best if you already had 'em — or like you said, get older or used AMD, and I suppose underclocking them if electricity and ROI are issues. Juice where I'm at is $0.085 kW/h (0.075€)

New 970's start here from 330€ but it is still very hard to find good used ETH mining card (no 6+6 pin, no hynix, under warranty) under 300€. For some reason there is demand... 

[adaseb]

When will Ethereium stop being possible to mine with 3GB GPUs ?

[Bokelka]

When will Ethereium stop being possible to mine with 3GB GPUs ?

Around end of this year. But PoW phase of mining will finish before then. It will change to PoS before then.

[adaseb]

When will Ethereium stop being possible to mine with 3GB GPUs ?

Around end of this year. But PoW phase of mining will finish before then. It will change to PoS before then.

I heard it was like in 45 days.

[Zaducis]

When will Ethereium stop being possible to mine with 3GB GPUs ?

Around end of this year. But PoW phase of mining will finish before then. It will change to PoS before then.

I heard it was like in 45 days.

Where do you hear about it? PoW will last for around 10 months, then it will be replaced by PoS.