Minjmum budget to get started?

[jonatron5]

I am in a unqiue situation. I live at home and in the dorm at college so electricity is free to me.

Could I grab a coupke hundred dollar pcie bit miner and skide it into my gaming rig and just let it run? Or would the machine wear out before profit occurs?

Also to mine how good of an internet connection is needed?

[baazju]

If you are trying to make a profit like you have mentioned it will be extremely tough. It helps that electricity is free though. Honestly if I were you I would try and find some Antminer u3 and run those. You could probably make some profit after a few months depending on the value of Bitcoin.

[Aglacan]

You might want to try mining various altcoins as they have much lower difficulty than bitcoins.  At this point, it is hard for anyone but professional mining companies.

-Aglacan

[jonatron5]

Any sktcoin suggestions?

[jmintuck02]

I started with an Antminer U3 and finally forked out 260 dollars and got the S3 and had pre-existing free electricity.

Being on disability, that was a hefty investment. We can say, I made it. I had to use Disability payment for it, but I

made it work out. So far, with sig campaign AND mining altcoin and trading, few faucets and other oddities, I makr

from 0.002- 0.003 a day in btc.

[Hutalar]

If you have low budget and want to mine, it is better to use GPU to mine altcoin. But do not buy too many GPU. 2-3 GPU in your PC is fine. But it will not make you much profit.

[QuintLeo]

I am in a unqiue situation. I live at home and in the dorm at college so electricity is free to me.

Could I grab a coupke hundred dollar pcie bit miner and skide it into my gaming rig and just let it run? Or would the machine wear out before profit occurs?

Also to mine how good of an internet connection is needed?

 Plan on a stand-alone miner. The only folks that ever announced PCI-E based in-computer miners turned out nothing or stuff that's junk.
 IMO probably go with Spondoolies SP20 unit(s) if you can find them cheap enough, since noise is probably a factor.

 You don't need a real fast net connection to mine with, mining is low-bandwidth, but it does need to be fairly reliable and low-latency works better.

[Hutalar]

If you have low budget and want to mine, it is better to use GPU to mine altcoin. But do not buy too many GPU. 2-3 GPU in your PC is fine. But it will not make you much profit.

If you really want to mine, you can buy the old 7970 cards. They are robust, and working on all popular algorithms.

[Jetboy]

Usually, you pay a hefty price for free electricity (like in dorms etc): Noise Heat

You're gonna live and sleep in all that, remember. Having those fans going 24/7....

Believe me, electricity is not free at home when you start mining with a few S7s.

[tittiecoiner]

Usually, you pay a hefty price for free electricity (like in dorms etc): Noise Heat

You're gonna live and sleep in all that, remember. Having those fans going 24/7....

Believe me, electricity is not free at home when you start mining with a few S7s.

Was about to write the same. Had some Scrypt ASICs in the sleeping room for some months, it was a real pain.

Additionally, like he said, energy is never free. Maybe for you, but I doubt your family will be happy to get a huge energy bill to give you free energy for mining.

[rammy2k2]

i would go for scrypt mining, bitcoin difficulty raising too fast, litecoin is a lot more stable, or other coins too

[Almat]

i would go for scrypt mining, bitcoin difficulty raising too fast, litecoin is a lot more stable, or other coins too

You need to buy the Scrypt ASIC. It has no other use apart from mining litecoin. GPU can be used for gaming.

[atp1916]

@the quality of internet connection question in the OP:

You don't need fast internet, but you do need a solid connection with low packet loss.  

[WowCheBit]

I SEND YOU A PM MESSAGE

[rammy2k2]

i would go for scrypt mining, bitcoin difficulty raising too fast, litecoin is a lot more stable, or other coins too

You need to buy the Scrypt ASIC. It has no other use apart from mining litecoin. GPU can be used for gaming.

Of course he needs to buy some ASICS, i dont think there is still something profitable with GPU mining, but i might be wrong ... who knows

[Hutalar]

@the quality of internet connection question in the OP:

You don't need fast internet, but you do need a solid connection with low packet loss.  

If the block time of the coin is very fast, you also need a fast connection. For bitcoin or Credits, there is no need.