Understanding the basics and getting started

[dannyk88]

Hey everyone,

I have been doing alt coin trading for some time now and I think it is finally time for me to build a mining rig but I dont really know where to begin. I have seen a lot of different information online and much of it seems conflicting so I guess I will start out with a few easy questions that Im sure some of you can answer.


1) Not all coins are created equal....By this I am assuming that I cant build just one rig and have it effectively mine any coin I want correct? As fare as I know there is CPU/GPU rigs that can mine most any Scrypt based alt coins like NXT, Doge Lite etc, but not ideal for Bitcoin (which I dont think I want to mine anyways) Could someone shed some light on this? Main coins I would like to mine are, Doge, Etherem, NXT, Dash, Lite, Darkcoin, ripple, peercoin, and a few others.


2) once I figured out the type of rig I'm going to assume it will be some sort of CPU/GPU rig, where can I find a solid current guide to show me how to build one? I have about 3K saved I assume this will be more than enough, and I am also assuming I will be running lunix as well.


3) Is cloud mining really worth it?

4) Can I get some links to sites with good straight forward information, once I build and set up my rig I will wont to figure out what coin to mine first, what one is the most effective and profitable, how easily it is to jump from coin to coin. If I should fly solo or join a pool, and basic things I shouldnt or should do while mining, like dont switch to a new coin untill after you recently mined a block. (IDK if that makes any sense but you get the idea)

Thank for the help I know I prob sound like a total noob here but we all need to start someplace...

Thanks again.

[1714883179]

1714883179

[1714883179]

1714883179

[bluebox]

Seriously?

Use the forum search field...

[morantis]

Some of the coins that you listed cannot be mined at all, per se.  NXT is a hybrid that can only be forged.  There are others that operate in much the same manner.  These are POS or Proff of Stake coins and they are "mined" by having them in their respective wallets.  There is a little more to it than that, but the closest thing to what you may know is it is like earning interest on the balance.

Proof of Work coins, like Bitcoin are "solved".  This is the mining that you are thinking.  Within there are different algorithms.  There is a lot to know to get started.  However, there are also many pools that can make what you mentioned possible.  While a certain piece of mining hardware, like most ASIC's(Application Specific Integrated Circuit) will only mine one type of algorithm, there are pools that you can point to that will basically exchange the coins you are mining for the type that you want.

A computer, a standard computer or even a pretty high end CPU just can't compete these days.  The mining ASIC's are even falling to the side of the road.  I have in a closest an old Avalon, and it is only two years old.  It pushes 60 GH/s.  Even in a pool, with everything set up just right, it could only pull about 0.005 off a pool per day at the most.  Keep in mind that is not everyday.  It is a matter of how long that block takes, the type of payments the pool makes and luck. 

There are pools that per a certain way, I won't throw anymore acronyms at you for now, that work best for certain situations.  If I were to plug that unit in and run it 24 hours a day on the same pool, one day would have the pool find six blocks and the next five days might find only one.  There are pools that pay by the "shift" and that will pay you your share every say 20 minutes or so based on your share rates compared to the whole.  If you ever have a unit drop for an hour, the shift work is nice.  You may miss a few shifts, but you keep the ones you have been hashing on.  There are other types that pay an overall percentage of your work against the entire block.  You will see this running average of how much you are earning on the site.  But if your unit goes down before that block is solved you can watch that payment dissipate to nothing.

These are all things you will need to learn.  You get out there, start mining and think to yourself that you will try this and that pool and you will find yourself paying higher electric bills and have not a single Satoshi to show for it.  Then, once you realize that mining from the house is not going to work you will start throwing coins at sites where you "buy" your hash rate. Many of those are scams and have elaborate hoops to jump through to get paid.  Even at the end of those hoops, you will often not get your payments and will have invested there just to see the site disappear.

One of the safest and still a money waster is renting hash.  Not the way that I just spoke of from the scam sites.  There are sites like miningrigrentals where you rent time on someone else's rig.  But think about this.  There are two types of renters on there, there are those that figure that if the rig is going to be hashing, they might as well an extra buck and there are those that figured out it will take them six years using their equipment to profit a single dollar, but that there are always suckers around to pay them to use the rigs.

Your best bet is to read and read some more.  Once you get some information under your belt you can try some exchanges and other things.  There are those that literally jump on every brand new coin out there and mine 1000 coins.  Then they sit on that balance and see if the coin goes big.  There are those that are happy to buy 1000 coins for $5 and sell them for $7.  You can use loan sites to put your coins out for loans and make interest.  Read some, ask questions and go from there.

[dannyk88]

Hey thank you for the response it was really helpful.

I have focused my energy on trading at this point until I have enough money / coins saved to build a decent sized mining rig, and then just run it 24/7 at my work.

Would you say there is anything better then and asic cpu to mine with that in conjunction with a reputable pool?

Is is Asic pretty much top of the line but still lacking in overall efficiency?

Thanks

[ashkanb]

Would you say there is anything better then and asic cpu to mine with that in conjunction with a reputable pool?

if you are going to Only mine bitcoin, ASICs are the only way to go.
(CPU or GPU mining is still possible but will not make enough returns to even compensate for their electricity bill.)
even ASICs might NOT be profitable it depends how much you pay per KWH of energy!
and unless you have a giant ASIC farm you don't have any other option but to join a pool;
simply because running a couple of ASICS at home have an extremely slim chance of actually solving a block and getting you rewards.

Is is Asic pretty much top of the line but still lacking in overall efficiency?

exactly! it all boils down to how much you pay for the electricity you use to run that asic.
keep in mind how much your asic makes, drop every time difficulty increases, so if its viable for you to mine today, two months from now it might not be!

bottom line don't bother with bitcoin mining unless you have dirt cheap electricity, preferably free electricity!
and never ever ever do cloud mining the only money you'll make is for the people running the mine!