Able to mine with this system?

[Dagget]

Trying to get an older system to work properly with OpenCL.  Several potential obstacles and looking for configuration solution or cheapest upgrade path:

Tyan Tiger S2466N  motherboard
AMD Athlon MP 2400 x 2
2 GB ECC memory
HIS 4670 (AMD/ATi) AGP video card w/1gb ram
Windows XP Pro

The closest I have gotten is using the original HIS drivers in conjunction with a somewhat older AMD APP SDK that includes the OpenCL runtime.
It says I can use the CPU's for OpenCL work, but that the driver doesn't support OpenCL.

AMD has dropped OpenCL support from current XP drivers for this range of video cards, though some older ones that might still support it can be dug up.
Also am concerned if my using Athlon MP's is a roadblock, as they lack SSE2 support

Perhaps someone can point to a particular combination of Drivers/OpenCL SDK that gets along together and can let bitcoin apps use the video card?

[Aahzman]

Motherboard, irrelevant.
CPU, irrelevant.
RAM, mostly irrelevant, but only matters. 2GB for XP is ok.

The only thing that matters in a mining rig, really, is the GPU.

You might get 50Mhash/s out of that card.   At current difficulty, mining 24x7, you might make...maybe...between 1 and 2 bitcents a day. so, between 50-100 days to mine one BTC.

Good luck.

[DeathAndTaxes]

Simple answer is ... no.

4670 is not OpenCL capable.  Even if it was the computing power of that GPU is so low you would be lucky to get a couple pennies worth of Bitcoins a week, in exchange for a couple dollars in electricity.  Given the motherboard uses AGP you don't have an upgrade path to a modern GPU and with ASICs arriving soon it is probably not a good idea to invest in new system unless you just like spending money with no hope of a profit.

BTW nothing matters but the video card.  The other specs are meaningless for mining.

[Dagget]

Processing rate is not a concern.

Exactly what generations of Radeon cards *do* support the work?

 I have multiple 7000-series cards working fine on other PC's.  I'm trying to get this older PC into the mix.

Will a 5450 on the regular PCI slot do the trick?

[Aahzman]

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_hardware_comparison

Do a little research.

[Gabi]

People expecting to become rich with their computer do not want to make research or do something, they expect everyone to do the homework for them.

[Aahzman]

I can dream, Gabi. 

[Gabi]

Well after all, we bitcoiners are all optimistic, since we are here 

[Dagget]

I had looked over that chart before, hence the aim for using the 4670, since it does do the work, above comments notwithstanding; it was the best available AGP card I could readily find.

[KWH]

I had looked over that chart before, hence the aim for using the 4670, since it does do the work, above comments notwithstanding; it was the best available AGP card I could readily find.

Simple fact is:




Torturing antiquated hardware for a few bitcents a week is a really bad idea and you would be MUCH better off buying BTC.
We see these types of posts nearly everyday so either you:

A. Didn't read
B. Are too lazy to read/search
C. Didn't formulate a plan worth beans
D. Somehow expect a Unicorn Fairy to appear, sprinkle magic dust of your hardware for Godlike Uber Hash.
E. All the above.

Buy BTC and stop torturing your hardware, Jackwagon!



Your parents, neighbors, friends, whatever will appreciate the lower power bills.

[AndrewJ]

Agree with KWH..
Buy an Asic or buy some BTC!

[darkip]

Before you jump in, I'd recommend against purchasing ASICs until at least one of the vendors has actually shown any proof of a working product. Consult the rest of the forum and you'll see the controversy surrounding ASICs at the moment.

[AndrewJ]

Before you jump in, I'd recommend against purchasing ASICs until at least one of the vendors has actually shown any proof of a working product. Consult the rest of the forum and you'll see the controversy surrounding ASICs at the moment.

Agree with you, hypothetically, ASIC will produce results, practically I don't know?
We'll find out in the future.

[Dagget]

The process I run generates btc, but not for *me* - I do get in-game currency for an online game I play (Wurm Online) for crunching at night, and I have another PC running a 7770 and what it does (about 200 Mh/s) generates an amount of in-game currency that is worth my time directing the PC to that task.  I also run my main PC and it's 7970 at night or when I am at work.  I was simply looking for a way to get the 3rd , much older, PC into the pool using the AGP 4670 card.