How can mining ever make me any money?

[TheHole]

So I've set up a worker on my PC using GUIMiner and using Slush's pool(http://mining.bitcoin.cz). The program says I'm getting 26 Mhash/sec(Nvidia 8800 GT). Which would make me 0.05 BTC/24h(0.88$), minus the 3% commissions. My increase in electric bill would be higher then what I make.


Am I missing something here?

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[Turix]

So I've set up a worker on my PC using GUIMiner and using Slush's pool(http://mining.bitcoin.cz). The program says I'm getting 26 Mhash/sec(Nvidia 8800 GT). Which would make me 0.05 BTC/24h(0.88$), minus the 3% commissions. My increase in electric bill would be higher then what I make.


Am I missing something here?

Only certain pieces of hardware are able to profit from Bitcoin mining; please take a look at https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_hardware_comparison

The most used cards are the ATI HD 6xxx and 5xxx series.

[zhalox]

That's why AMD HD 5800 or 6800 series & above cards are recommended for higher profitability in mining.  I use my HD 5870 and make about $10+ a day

[Jack of Diamonds]

Nvidia cards are bad for mining.

Radeon 5830 and above are ideal for mining but out of stock almost everywhere.

[TheHole]

So I might as well give up? Because I'm not buying a new card for this.

[slush]

So I might as well give up? Because I'm not buying a new card for this.

If your mining income < costs and you don't want to speculate for future (higher) price of bitcoin, then - yes.

[NetTecture]

So I might as well give up? Because I'm not buying a new card for this.

Yes. Point.

Invest or leave it.

I just puchased 9 x 6990 for 3 mining servers. Decent investment. More to come.

[bitbitcoincoin]

I can't believe there are people who can't even look into this enough to see the minimum reqs for making a profit before trying.

If you have a poor GPU you won't make money, if you wont put money into your system to make money mining isn't for you.

[TheHole]

I'm a poor student who bought 50BTC some time ago, I don't want to sell yet and im just looking for a way to make more.

[niooron]

A new card isnt that expensive, and you can even exchange some of your btc for dollars and buy an used card, like a Radeon 5770 or 5750.

[NetTecture]

I'm a poor student who bought 50BTC some time ago, I don't want to sell yet and im just looking for a way to make more.

Mining IS a business investment, not a work. You dont get paid for your time mining. Ergo you need to purchace. to poor to invest - you wont earn return on investment. Life is not fair.

[MiningBuddy]

I'm a poor student who bought 50BTC some time ago, I don't want to sell yet and im just looking for a way to make more.

I'm sure you've done the maths on how much you could make by selling those 50btc at Today's price.
I would say, sell 25btc and buy yourself a decent gpu, join in on the fun 

[bitbitcoincoin]

I'm a poor student who bought 50BTC some time ago, I don't want to sell yet and im just looking for a way to make more.

if you have 50 BTC you aren't that poor.  At least, not so poor that you can't buy a couple vid cards to start a mining operation.

[Sukrim]

I would say, sell 25btc and buy yourself a decent gpu, join in on the fun 

That GPU would need to create more than these 25 BTC during it's lifetime, which is... questionable at least!

[BombaUcigasa]

So I might as well give up? Because I'm not buying a new card for this.

You're buying bitcoin in your own home. Do the price and see how much you pay for a coin. Then check a market graph and realize how stupid it is to give up while ahead.

And buying a new card will pay for itself in 35 days: http://www.bitminer.info/

Why not buy a new card? Why not continue mining? Why not buy bitcoins directly? Why not do all three?

[xen82]

So I might as well give up? Because I'm not buying a new card for this.

Yes. Point.

Invest or leave it.

I just puchased 9 x 6990 for 3 mining servers. Decent investment. More to come.

Damn, and I felt good about my 4 x 6990s.

How will you be powering the 6990s? I had a Thermaltake 1500W and it wasn't enough for 3 x 6990s in one case.

[bcpokey]

So I might as well give up? Because I'm not buying a new card for this.

Yes. Point.

Invest or leave it.

I just puchased 9 x 6990 for 3 mining servers. Decent investment. More to come.

Damn, and I felt good about my 4 x 6990s.

How will you be powering the 6990s? I had a Thermaltake 1500W and it wasn't enough for 3 x 6990s in one case.

THat's because with few exceptions thermaltake makes total crap PSUs.

A 1500W PSU is way way more than enough for 3x 6990s.

[Sukrim]

And buying a new card will pay for itself in 35 days: http://www.bitminer.info/

If he takes that money from Bitcoins though, he will loose more in the end than he gains.

Also I doubt that you took difficulty increases into consideration - and right now mining is EXTREMELY profitable, expect this to change!

[DigitalAsh]

I would sell enough bitcoins to build a decent mining rig, say you sell 25 btc you can make that back in a month and then continue profiting. It is an investment, either you think it's worth it or you don't.

[Sukrim]

I would sell enough bitcoins to build a decent mining rig, say you sell 25 btc you can make that back in a month and then continue profiting. It is an investment, either you think it's worth it or you don't.

How can you mine 25(!) BTC with equipment worth ~500 USD that still needs to be shipped within 1 month?! This is BAD advice!

Also, if you say: "But he can get 500 USD back, as the conversion rate increases if the difficulty goes up!" then I say: "If he does not 100% need this computer right now, he will make more then 500 USD by keeping the 25 BTC and selling them in 1 month!"


Paying Bitcoin to mine is a bad deal in very many cases. This is one of them!