Mining computer?

[outatime1]

What kind of computer do I need to start mining and what altcoin is good to mine right now?  Can I just use a laptop?  I guess I just want to get started the easiest way possible to learn about it.

[CryptoGore]

What kind of computer do I need to start mining and what altcoin is good to mine right now?  Can I just use a laptop?  I guess I just want to get started the easiest way possible to learn about it.

Preferably is better a Desktop PC if you want to mine altcoins (intended mining coins with GPUs). Because of course you can mine "altcoins" such LTC or DASH with asics and fpga...

A laptop will overheat easily and most of them aren't suitable for GPU mining. However if you want just to experiment you can try laptop with cpu solo mining (and watch out your settings to avoid damages, so maybe before read some tutorials about it;) )

Actually there are many good opportunities but many of them are only PoS and you cannot mine them actively, but you can earn only by staking coins in your wallet. Coins that you must have bought or exchanged

I suggest you to take some time and get a look at this section of the website where you can find almost all the announcements thread for altcoins: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=159.0

Regards.

[leowonderful]

Try ethereum. Rather profitable if you have the right AMD gpu, but because of difficulty you will probably lose a shit ton of money on electricity. Unless ou mine right when a coin is launched, theres really no hope for mining.

[SlidingHorn]

What kind of computer do I need to start mining and what altcoin is good to mine right now?  Can I just use a laptop?  I guess I just want to get started the easiest way possible to learn about it.

The first question you should answer here is "How much am I willing to spend on this venture?"

For the most part, buying an actual PC (laptop or desktop) isn't going to be an efficient or really capable means to mine most coins.  You have to take into account that the competition on most coins is pretty strong, so here's my recommendation:  Set up a machine(s)/rig(s) that is essentially just processing & power supply.  Hook up several GPUs on some risers, and power them up.

[odolvlobo]

Any computer will work because you use the computer to manager the mining hardware. You don't use the computer to mine.

[nickenburg]

The best would really to build a pc with 3 or 4 of the best video cards for mining Bitcoins in it.
Those gpu's will get you a lot of altcoins 1 videocard only will get u a small fraction of coins.

And of course more video cards the more profits u will make.
So if u really want to buy a good mining pc get 1 with more videocards, because otherwise it will have no point

[btcdevil]

The best would really to build a pc with 3 or 4 of the best video cards for mining Bitcoins in it.
Those gpu's will get you a lot of altcoins 1 videocard only will get u a small fraction of coins.

And of course more video cards the more profits u will make.
So if u really want to buy a good mining pc get 1 with more videocards, because otherwise it will have no point

As per my knowledge now it is not right for mining bitcoins it will be totally waste of time and money. as the maintenance and electricity cost is high. altcoin mining is good but for that first you have to get knowledge of which coin is good and which can mint you more returns.

[shintosai]

What kind of computer do I need to start mining and what altcoin is good to mine right now?  Can I just use a laptop?  I guess I just want to get started the easiest way possible to learn about it.

I just did try this mate, I use my asus i7 3rd gen w/ 940 nvidia gpu, sadly speaking mate you will gonna waste your time with, the amount of the coin that you'll get would not cover your expenses. maybe if you really wanted to mine much better to check for those mining platform. invest with those trusted and recommended mining pool.

[jlauzon]

If you want to mine sha256 based coins, a used S3 might be a cheap start, but as others have said ROI is hard to get these days.

You could get a Compac USB stick or two and solo mine for fun.

[NeuroticFish]

If you only want to learn, try to find an altcoin which is either just started existing, either has a rather small community.

Or you can try XMG, which is designed to drive off the big miners.
Now, laptop is not good for mining, since you'll use it 24/7 and the laptop components are not great on continuous heavy use.
A CPU that can do AES (I think gen 2+ i5/i7) will already do OK. Or a good gaming GPU.

Mining is hard to do. Keep in mind that all this hardware will get you pennies/day and may not pay for the electricity. So it's only for learning indeed.

[Technosafe]

If you want to mine sha256 based coins, a used S3 might be a cheap start, but as others have said ROI is hard to get these days.

You could get a Compac USB stick or two and solo mine for fun.

With S3, there is not ROI at all. The cost of electricity will be higher than the bitcoin produced if you pay for electricity.

[QuintLeo]

The best would really to build a pc with 3 or 4 of the best video cards for mining Bitcoins in it.

 Error. No GPU will mine Bitcoin at a profit or even close, and even with FREE electric the cards will die before you ever made back enough to pay for them.

 Ditto for any other SHA256 based coin.

 Scrypt is almost as bad.


 non-Scrypt non-SHA256 coins are where to look at if using a GPU, though it appears that X11 (and possibly X13/X15) days of GPU mining for profit might be ending soon, *IF* the recently-announced ASIC miner for them turns out to be real and not vaporware/scamware.



 Unless you have VERY VERY cheap electric, or FREE electric, you won't make ROI on any currently available ASIC Bitcoin miner at this time. The upcomming 14/16nm full custom generation might change that.

 Scrypt with ASIC is viable right now even with not-real-cheap electric, if you go with any of the used A2 or Alcheminer units around, and POSSIBLY with the used Titan units around *IF THEY LIVE LONG ENOUGH* (the Titans are pretty notorious for their mining chips having dies go dead far too often, the A2 has proven to be a tank that just don't quit and the Alcheminers seem to have good long-term reliability as well but haven't been around nearly as long).

[Ayers]

you just need one card, one 280x or one 970 will do the trick, you're done then no need anything else, set your software and point at ethereum, seems the most proftiable for the tiem being

[jlauzon]

If you want to mine sha256 based coins, a used S3 might be a cheap start, but as others have said ROI is hard to get these days.

You could get a Compac USB stick or two and solo mine for fun.

With S3, there is not ROI at all. The cost of electricity will be higher than the bitcoin produced if you pay for electricity.

I did preface that will "ROI is difficult", which it is. Those of us on municipal electricity with very low rates can. But yeah, unless you solo mine and get incredibly lucky very early, these are not money makers right now. If BTC goes WAY up, then that's a different ballgame. Never say never.