Why is Ethereum actually the only cryptocurrency worth GPU mining?

[acaciosc]

everyone here is talking like the mining will die after ethereum, there is nothing more wrong

we will talk about another more profitable coin in 1-2 years, guaranteed...

How can you be so sure?

because it happened like 3 times already or maybe even more? since 2013 there was always something to mine form time to time, it's not like ethereum was the only coin profitable since altcoin scene went all out

So what? Just because it happened 3 times previously it doesn't mean that it will be the very same thing from now on. I wish I could be that confident.

when you see the same thing happening over and over again, you can't simply ignore that fact, and still believing that going against that trend is the right thing to do

it's all about probability, nothing is certain, but if the probability tell me that it will happen again(higher % than not happening) because of the past, then i follow that route

You are kinda right (because you can't say for sure that in 1 or 2 years there will be another profitable coin to mine with my GPU). Since it's expected with all this "certainty" to find profitable coins to mine with a GPU over and over again, I think I'm going to accept the risk behind all this mining thing. I think it will be my last bet in this "cryptospeculation" mess. I remember when you told me that Bitcoin is the only coin to trust some months ago, though.

[bigs21024]

all i need is a gpu to gety going i have everything else now

[acaciosc]

I failed to mention,I bought mobo's,RAM,CPU's way back in 2011 to mine BTC with GPU's,I still have 6 PCs left from those days.

All was ROI'd way back then,just put em the closet for a rainy day  

Guess what...it's raining    That was about 2 years ago I put em up,they mined alts for abit after BTC went ASIC.

I sold my 5870's,6950's & bought a few 380's,gonna get another 1 or 2 very soon  

BTW,DO NOT BUY GPU's ON EBAY.Just get new ones,the chance you take on getting a faulty GPU isn't worth it............I got a few in a row & I'll buy new from now on  

Ouch. I was thinking about buying one R9 280x for only 227 dollars + one Corsair Cx 750W for only 116 dollars. I can't find the same graphics card in any other website where I live. This GPU is classified as very quiet, which is something that matters to me. The ROI would be possible, I guess. According to both whattomine and coinwarz, I'm going to get around 60 dollars per month (22 mh/s, 450W, $0.13 kwh), so it means that I'm going to have a ROI only after 5 months and half, approximately (if these calculators don't "fool" me because of the skyrocketing difficulty, as pointed by catlove, lol). But what do you guys think? Will I ever achieve my ROI or not? Or is it safer (and/or better) to just buy ETH and hold them for quite some time until it... adds one more digit to its price, perhaps?  

Those calculators are off by quite abit....just mine for a day & go from there,my 7970 & 380 4gig get about 37mh= .35 eth per day approx.

The card I got is VERY quiet,check it out:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202166

And check return policies with Newegg on Ebay,most DO NOT offer returns...beware!!!!

When I was mining Bitcoin with my previously owned S1 I was getting exactly around what was estimated in Coinwarz.

[acaciosc]

Please, just tell me fast which is the best GPU? http://www.sapphiretech.com/productdetial.asp?pid=C4D1B443-6105-4A63-85DE-1732CC9C443D&lang=eng ($210,67) or this one http://www.hisdigital.com/un/product2-786.shtml ($224,72)? I'm afraid to lose this opportunity, because there aren't a lot of R9 280x and this HIS card seems to be one of the quietest R9 280x cards (if not the quietest).

[xingqiaoyin]

The AMD R9 390 8 GB is the best for Ethereum mining. I use the XFX cards with back plate. They are very steady.

But which one should I pick between those two cards? R9 390 8 GB is too expensive.

Sapphire is to AMD what EVGA is to Nvidia so I'd go with Sapphire...
How is the warranty like where you live ? Go with whoever gives you the longest

[acaciosc]

The AMD R9 390 8 GB is the best for Ethereum mining. I use the XFX cards with back plate. They are very steady.

But which one should I pick between those two cards? R9 390 8 GB is too expensive.

Sapphire is to AMD what EVGA is to Nvidia so I'd go with Sapphire...
How is the warranty like where you live ? Go with whoever gives you the longest

These cards are both used, so I will have only 3 months after my purchase. HIS card has 384 Bits, while SAPPHIRE has only 256 Bits (but I don't think that it will matter in my hashrates). Please see the difference and tell me which one is a best buy:
http://www.sapphiretech.com/productdetial.asp?pid=C4D1B443-6105-4A63-85DE-1732CC9C443D&lang=eng
http://www.hisdigital.com/un/product2-786.shtml  

[Unacceptable]

I failed to mention,I bought mobo's,RAM,CPU's way back in 2011 to mine BTC with GPU's,I still have 6 PCs left from those days.

All was ROI'd way back then,just put em the closet for a rainy day  

Guess what...it's raining    That was about 2 years ago I put em up,they mined alts for abit after BTC went ASIC.

I sold my 5870's,6950's & bought a few 380's,gonna get another 1 or 2 very soon  

BTW,DO NOT BUY GPU's ON EBAY.Just get new ones,the chance you take on getting a faulty GPU isn't worth it............I got a few in a row & I'll buy new from now on  

Ouch. I was thinking about buying one R9 280x for only 227 dollars + one Corsair Cx 750W for only 116 dollars. I can't find the same graphics card in any other website where I live. This GPU is classified as very quiet, which is something that matters to me. The ROI would be possible, I guess. According to both whattomine and coinwarz, I'm going to get around 60 dollars per month (22 mh/s, 450W, $0.13 kwh), so it means that I'm going to have a ROI only after 5 months and half, approximately (if these calculators don't "fool" me because of the skyrocketing difficulty, as pointed by catlove, lol). But what do you guys think? Will I ever achieve my ROI or not? Or is it safer (and/or better) to just buy ETH and hold them for quite some time until it... adds one more digit to its price, perhaps?  

Those calculators are off by quite abit....just mine for a day & go from there,my 7970 & 380 4gig get about 37mh= .35 eth per day approx.

The card I got is VERY quiet,check it out:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202166

And check return policies with Newegg on Ebay,most DO NOT offer returns...beware!!!!

When I was mining Bitcoin with my previously owned S1 I was getting exactly around what was estimated in Coinwarz.

Eth is NOT bitcoin......the hashrate fluctuation is extreme,for whatever reason,like a roller coaster.I've noticed on my pool my hashrate goes as high as 48mh & the next minute it's 17mh......

That's why those calcs are off  

[adaseb]

The AMD R9 390 8 GB is the best for Ethereum mining. I use the XFX cards with back plate. They are very steady.

But which one should I pick between those two cards? R9 390 8 GB is too expensive.

Sapphire is to AMD what EVGA is to Nvidia so I'd go with Sapphire...
How is the warranty like where you live ? Go with whoever gives you the longest

These cards are both used, so I will have only 3 months after my purchase. HIS card has 384 Bits, while SAPPHIRE has only 256 Bits (but I don't think that it will matter in my hashrates). Please see the difference and tell me which one is a best buy:
http://www.sapphiretech.com/productdetial.asp?pid=C4D1B443-6105-4A63-85DE-1732CC9C443D&lang=eng
http://www.hisdigital.com/un/product2-786.shtml  

If they are both used they are too expensive. You can get a 380 for that price.

Go on Craigslist and get some second hand 7950-7970 instead.

[Unacceptable]

The AMD R9 390 8 GB is the best for Ethereum mining. I use the XFX cards with back plate. They are very steady.

But which one should I pick between those two cards? R9 390 8 GB is too expensive.

Sapphire is to AMD what EVGA is to Nvidia so I'd go with Sapphire...
How is the warranty like where you live ? Go with whoever gives you the longest

These cards are both used, so I will have only 3 months after my purchase. HIS card has 384 Bits, while SAPPHIRE has only 256 Bits (but I don't think that it will matter in my hashrates). Please see the difference and tell me which one is a best buy:
http://www.sapphiretech.com/productdetial.asp?pid=C4D1B443-6105-4A63-85DE-1732CC9C443D&lang=eng
http://www.hisdigital.com/un/product2-786.shtml  

The "bits" don't matter,the AMOUNT of RAM matters.

You want at least 3gig of RAM on your vid cards,4gig is even better,the DAG is growing & 3gig may not be enough in the near future(or far future).

[acaciosc]

I failed to mention,I bought mobo's,RAM,CPU's way back in 2011 to mine BTC with GPU's,I still have 6 PCs left from those days.

All was ROI'd way back then,just put em the closet for a rainy day  

Guess what...it's raining    That was about 2 years ago I put em up,they mined alts for abit after BTC went ASIC.

I sold my 5870's,6950's & bought a few 380's,gonna get another 1 or 2 very soon  

BTW,DO NOT BUY GPU's ON EBAY.Just get new ones,the chance you take on getting a faulty GPU isn't worth it............I got a few in a row & I'll buy new from now on  

Ouch. I was thinking about buying one R9 280x for only 227 dollars + one Corsair Cx 750W for only 116 dollars. I can't find the same graphics card in any other website where I live. This GPU is classified as very quiet, which is something that matters to me. The ROI would be possible, I guess. According to both whattomine and coinwarz, I'm going to get around 60 dollars per month (22 mh/s, 450W, $0.13 kwh), so it means that I'm going to have a ROI only after 5 months and half, approximately (if these calculators don't "fool" me because of the skyrocketing difficulty, as pointed by catlove, lol). But what do you guys think? Will I ever achieve my ROI or not? Or is it safer (and/or better) to just buy ETH and hold them for quite some time until it... adds one more digit to its price, perhaps?  

Those calculators are off by quite abit....just mine for a day & go from there,my 7970 & 380 4gig get about 37mh= .35 eth per day approx.

The card I got is VERY quiet,check it out:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202166

And check return policies with Newegg on Ebay,most DO NOT offer returns...beware!!!!

When I was mining Bitcoin with my previously owned S1 I was getting exactly around what was estimated in Coinwarz.

Eth is NOT bitcoin......the hashrate fluctuation is extreme,for whatever reason,like a roller coaster.I've noticed on my pool my hashrate goes as high as 48mh & the next minute it's 17mh......

That's why those calcs are off  

Now that's a golden information! So how can I measure if I will ROI or not with Ethereum?

[acaciosc]

The AMD R9 390 8 GB is the best for Ethereum mining. I use the XFX cards with back plate. They are very steady.

But which one should I pick between those two cards? R9 390 8 GB is too expensive.

Sapphire is to AMD what EVGA is to Nvidia so I'd go with Sapphire...
How is the warranty like where you live ? Go with whoever gives you the longest

These cards are both used, so I will have only 3 months after my purchase. HIS card has 384 Bits, while SAPPHIRE has only 256 Bits (but I don't think that it will matter in my hashrates). Please see the difference and tell me which one is a best buy:
http://www.sapphiretech.com/productdetial.asp?pid=C4D1B443-6105-4A63-85DE-1732CC9C443D&lang=eng
http://www.hisdigital.com/un/product2-786.shtml  

If they are both used they are too expensive. You can get a 380 for that price.

Go on Craigslist and get some second hand 7950-7970 instead.

Do you think I'm from the USA? I'm from Brazil. There is a shortage of these cards (R9 280x). Especially used.

[acaciosc]

The AMD R9 390 8 GB is the best for Ethereum mining. I use the XFX cards with back plate. They are very steady.

But which one should I pick between those two cards? R9 390 8 GB is too expensive.

Sapphire is to AMD what EVGA is to Nvidia so I'd go with Sapphire...
How is the warranty like where you live ? Go with whoever gives you the longest

These cards are both used, so I will have only 3 months after my purchase. HIS card has 384 Bits, while SAPPHIRE has only 256 Bits (but I don't think that it will matter in my hashrates). Please see the difference and tell me which one is a best buy:
http://www.sapphiretech.com/productdetial.asp?pid=C4D1B443-6105-4A63-85DE-1732CC9C443D&lang=eng
http://www.hisdigital.com/un/product2-786.shtml  

The "bits" don't matter,the AMOUNT of RAM matters.

You want at least 3gig of RAM on your vid cards,4gig is even better,the DAG is growing & 3gig may not be enough in the near future(or far future).

Yeap, I was almost sure that the "Bits" thing has nothing to do with the amount of hashrate my GPU will achieve. But I didn't know I must aim for a 4 GB card instead... that's a lot!!

[adaseb]

The AMD R9 390 8 GB is the best for Ethereum mining. I use the XFX cards with back plate. They are very steady.

But which one should I pick between those two cards? R9 390 8 GB is too expensive.

Sapphire is to AMD what EVGA is to Nvidia so I'd go with Sapphire...
How is the warranty like where you live ? Go with whoever gives you the longest

These cards are both used, so I will have only 3 months after my purchase. HIS card has 384 Bits, while SAPPHIRE has only 256 Bits (but I don't think that it will matter in my hashrates). Please see the difference and tell me which one is a best buy:
http://www.sapphiretech.com/productdetial.asp?pid=C4D1B443-6105-4A63-85DE-1732CC9C443D&lang=eng
http://www.hisdigital.com/un/product2-786.shtml  

If they are both used they are too expensive. You can get a 380 for that price.

Go on Craigslist and get some second hand 7950-7970 instead.

Do you think I'm from the USA? I'm from Brazil. There is a shortage of these cards (R9 280x). Especially used.

What is the cost of living in Brazil? Is rent around $100USD per month or so?

Food $20USD per month?

If so you can get rich very quickly with that one 280X.

[acaciosc]

The AMD R9 390 8 GB is the best for Ethereum mining. I use the XFX cards with back plate. They are very steady.

But which one should I pick between those two cards? R9 390 8 GB is too expensive.

Sapphire is to AMD what EVGA is to Nvidia so I'd go with Sapphire...
How is the warranty like where you live ? Go with whoever gives you the longest

These cards are both used, so I will have only 3 months after my purchase. HIS card has 384 Bits, while SAPPHIRE has only 256 Bits (but I don't think that it will matter in my hashrates). Please see the difference and tell me which one is a best buy:
http://www.sapphiretech.com/productdetial.asp?pid=C4D1B443-6105-4A63-85DE-1732CC9C443D&lang=eng
http://www.hisdigital.com/un/product2-786.shtml  

If they are both used they are too expensive. You can get a 380 for that price.

Go on Craigslist and get some second hand 7950-7970 instead.

Do you think I'm from the USA? I'm from Brazil. There is a shortage of these cards (R9 280x). Especially used.

What is the cost of living in Brazil? Is rent around $100USD per month or so?

Food $20USD per month?

If so you can get rich very quickly with that one 280X.

A rent for only $100? Yes, they are at least ~$100, although the average price is... $469,69 ($9.06/m²)!! I don't think you will find one for such low price in big cities. Perhaps in a favela? 
By the way, what is the average price, in m², in the USA (I'm supposing you are from this country)? Food here costs ~$106,74 for each person ("cesta básica" - basic food basket, if that's how it's known in the United States). Nobody can get rich quickly with a single 280x, regardless of the country s/he lives in. That's nonsense.     

[Unacceptable]

The AMD R9 390 8 GB is the best for Ethereum mining. I use the XFX cards with back plate. They are very steady.

But which one should I pick between those two cards? R9 390 8 GB is too expensive.

Sapphire is to AMD what EVGA is to Nvidia so I'd go with Sapphire...
How is the warranty like where you live ? Go with whoever gives you the longest

These cards are both used, so I will have only 3 months after my purchase. HIS card has 384 Bits, while SAPPHIRE has only 256 Bits (but I don't think that it will matter in my hashrates). Please see the difference and tell me which one is a best buy:
http://www.sapphiretech.com/productdetial.asp?pid=C4D1B443-6105-4A63-85DE-1732CC9C443D&lang=eng
http://www.hisdigital.com/un/product2-786.shtml  

If they are both used they are too expensive. You can get a 380 for that price.

Go on Craigslist and get some second hand 7950-7970 instead.

Do you think I'm from the USA? I'm from Brazil. There is a shortage of these cards (R9 280x). Especially used.

What is the cost of living in Brazil? Is rent around $100USD per month or so?

Food $20USD per month?

If so you can get rich very quickly with that one 280X.

A rent for only $100? Yes, they are at least ~$100, although the average price is... $469,69 ($9.06/m²)!! I don't think you will find one for such low price in big cities. Perhaps in a favela?  
By the way, what is the average price, in m², in the USA (I'm supposing you are from this country)? Food here costs ~$106,74 for each person ("cesta básica" - basic food basket, if that's how it's known in the United States). Nobody can get rich quickly with a single 280x, regardless of the country s/he lives in. That's nonsense.    

Is there problem with getting gifts in the mail?? Like if I were to buy a card for you,with your money of course & ship/mail it to you could you get in trouble?? Just a thought  

Most apartments are about $600-1000 a month,food for 1 person can be about $150-300 a month (being very conservative with those costs).

I have rented single wide trailers for $450 a month though   

[acaciosc]

OMG, I just clicked in "buy now" in both a 850W PSU and a R9 280x! I'm deeply uncomfortable!!!

[acaciosc]

The AMD R9 390 8 GB is the best for Ethereum mining. I use the XFX cards with back plate. They are very steady.

But which one should I pick between those two cards? R9 390 8 GB is too expensive.

Sapphire is to AMD what EVGA is to Nvidia so I'd go with Sapphire...
How is the warranty like where you live ? Go with whoever gives you the longest

These cards are both used, so I will have only 3 months after my purchase. HIS card has 384 Bits, while SAPPHIRE has only 256 Bits (but I don't think that it will matter in my hashrates). Please see the difference and tell me which one is a best buy:
http://www.sapphiretech.com/productdetial.asp?pid=C4D1B443-6105-4A63-85DE-1732CC9C443D&lang=eng
http://www.hisdigital.com/un/product2-786.shtml  

If they are both used they are too expensive. You can get a 380 for that price.

Go on Craigslist and get some second hand 7950-7970 instead.

Do you think I'm from the USA? I'm from Brazil. There is a shortage of these cards (R9 280x). Especially used.

What is the cost of living in Brazil? Is rent around $100USD per month or so?

Food $20USD per month?

If so you can get rich very quickly with that one 280X.

A rent for only $100? Yes, they are at least ~$100, although the average price is... $469,69 ($9.06/m²)!! I don't think you will find one for such low price in big cities. Perhaps in a favela?  
By the way, what is the average price, in m², in the USA (I'm supposing you are from this country)? Food here costs ~$106,74 for each person ("cesta básica" - basic food basket, if that's how it's known in the United States). Nobody can get rich quickly with a single 280x, regardless of the country s/he lives in. That's nonsense.    

Is there problem with getting gifts in the mail?? Like if I were to buy a card for you,with your money of course & ship/mail it to you could you get in trouble?? Just a thought  

Most apartments are about $600-1000 a month,food for 1 person can be about $150-300 a month (being very conservative with those costs).

I have rented single wide trailers for $450 a month though   

I would have to pay A LOT in import fees. In fact, Brazil has one of the most expensive import fees in the world, afaik. Also, it would take > 15 days for the shipping time, which would affect my ROI, obviously.

[Unacceptable]

The AMD R9 390 8 GB is the best for Ethereum mining. I use the XFX cards with back plate. They are very steady.

But which one should I pick between those two cards? R9 390 8 GB is too expensive.

Sapphire is to AMD what EVGA is to Nvidia so I'd go with Sapphire...
How is the warranty like where you live ? Go with whoever gives you the longest

These cards are both used, so I will have only 3 months after my purchase. HIS card has 384 Bits, while SAPPHIRE has only 256 Bits (but I don't think that it will matter in my hashrates). Please see the difference and tell me which one is a best buy:
http://www.sapphiretech.com/productdetial.asp?pid=C4D1B443-6105-4A63-85DE-1732CC9C443D&lang=eng
http://www.hisdigital.com/un/product2-786.shtml  

If they are both used they are too expensive. You can get a 380 for that price.

Go on Craigslist and get some second hand 7950-7970 instead.

Do you think I'm from the USA? I'm from Brazil. There is a shortage of these cards (R9 280x). Especially used.

What is the cost of living in Brazil? Is rent around $100USD per month or so?

Food $20USD per month?

If so you can get rich very quickly with that one 280X.

A rent for only $100? Yes, they are at least ~$100, although the average price is... $469,69 ($9.06/m²)!! I don't think you will find one for such low price in big cities. Perhaps in a favela?  
By the way, what is the average price, in m², in the USA (I'm supposing you are from this country)? Food here costs ~$106,74 for each person ("cesta básica" - basic food basket, if that's how it's known in the United States). Nobody can get rich quickly with a single 280x, regardless of the country s/he lives in. That's nonsense.    

Is there problem with getting gifts in the mail?? Like if I were to buy a card for you,with your money of course & ship/mail it to you could you get in trouble?? Just a thought  

Most apartments are about $600-1000 a month,food for 1 person can be about $150-300 a month (being very conservative with those costs).

I have rented single wide trailers for $450 a month though   

I would have to pay A LOT in import fees. In fact, Brazil has one of the most expensive import fees in the world, afaik. Also, it would take > 15 days for the shipping time, which would affect my ROI, obviously.

Well,that sucks,I'd be willing to help but it would be fruitless your saying.Very sad to hear this    I'll be in Costa Rica in about 6 months if things go right,maybe meet & have a fantastic meal?? 

[adaseb]

Yeah I heard about that. iPhones are the most expensive in Brazil actually due to the import cost. I think they cost exactly double from US prices.

[QuintLeo]

Ethereum isn't the only GPU-mineable coin that can be profitable right now - it's just probably the MOST profitable, and pretty much profitable even if you have average-to-high electric rates at this point.

 X11 (Dash) is still GPU mineable, there hasn't been enough ASIC deployment to noticeably affect the hash rate.
 YET.
 But that looks likely to change this summer.

 There are other coins that can be GPU mined for a profit if you have cheap to VERY VERY cheap electric, but cryptocoin mining has always had a "cost of electric" factor to it's profitability.


 8GB cards are overkill for Ethereum mining, though if you plan to have other uses for the card later the extra memory might be useful.
 Based on DAG file size growth rate and probable timeframe of Ethereum converting to PoS from PoW, it's uncertain if a 4GB card would be overkill (3GB will almost definitely be needed late this year or early next year, I forget the exact timeframe, if Ethereum stays profitable to mine).


 IMO avoid HIS fan-cooled cards, they tend to use VERY CHEAP fans that die way too young. Their Ice-Q BLOWER models seem to use good blowers though.


 Rents in the US vary a lot - but the average if you avoid HIGH RENT areas like Southern California or the New York megaplex seems to be in the ballpark of $10-15/m(squared).
 Where I live right now is at the low end of that range, but it's a fairly low cost-of-living area - apartments for $500 are easy to find, most around here are less than that for
 1-2 bedroom places.
 Most folks in the US don't speak Metric very well if at all, US is still on the old "imperial" measurements system with feet, miles, and such with some exceptions.

 Food - varies. I eat pretty comfortably on $190/month but a lot of that is Diet Pepsi consumption - drop the soda and I could get down to more like $100-$120 range.
 I have pretty simple tastes though.