Why is Ethereum actually the only cryptocurrency worth GPU mining?

[ol92]

Its a combo of the coin price, mining rewards and difficulty.

It will take a long time to roi if you don't own any preexisting gear already.  The 280x only hashes about 20 mh and if you spent 80 for the psu and 200 for the gpu that's $280, so you are looking at more than 3 months with free electricity.  Which I guess isnt bad but not that long ago you could payoff gpu's in about a month, also difficulty is continuing to rise more with the high value of eth.

you don't need to roi on equipment, only on gpu, equipment are always useful for future upgrade and future mining

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...

possible : yes
probable : I tend to agree
guaranteed : lol
This happened with litcoin, then dodge (less than the others at least in amount of time) then ethereum (probably more than the others two combined). Three time (after bitcoin : I count only coins which have been able to provide profitable mining for a large amount of miners and a significant period) : do you think it is enough to be so sure it will happen again?

[Amph]

Its a combo of the coin price, mining rewards and difficulty.

It will take a long time to roi if you don't own any preexisting gear already.  The 280x only hashes about 20 mh and if you spent 80 for the psu and 200 for the gpu that's $280, so you are looking at more than 3 months with free electricity.  Which I guess isnt bad but not that long ago you could payoff gpu's in about a month, also difficulty is continuing to rise more with the high value of eth.

you don't need to roi on equipment, only on gpu, equipment are always useful for future upgrade and future mining

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...

possible : yes
probable : I tend to agree
guaranteed : lol
This happened with litcoin, then dodge (less than the others at least in amount of time) then ethereum (probably more than the others two combined). Three time (after bitcoin : I count only coins which have been able to provide profitable mining for a large amount of miners and a significant period) : do you think it is enough to be so sure it will happen again?

yes because i don't look specifically at a single coin, i look at the whole time frame where there was profitability, and late-2013-end summer of 2014, blow out of the water the current time frame for etehreum porfitabilitym, by a long shot

yes instamining does count, if you like it or not it's always profit, and yes now it's not possible anymore, but from time to time some good early mined coin show up and give you enormous profit

[acaciosc]

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.

Are you sure that X11 (Dash) is actually worth mining?? Both coinwarz and whattomine tells it is not. According to whattomine, with one R9 280x (~6.4 Mh/s, with my computer consuming ~450W and $0.13 kWh) I would get ~$1.13 per day... IN DEBTS!! And so is with any other coin mineable with a GPU, except ETH... for now! Or aren't these calcs able to estimate correctly even for these coins?

I just bought a HIS R9 280x (see above if you want to know the technical specs of this graphics card), so I hope you are wrong. 

I forgot that the metric system used in the USA is different. My bad. In fact, USA is exception among practically every single country, lol: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Metric_system_adoption_map.svg/2000px-Metric_system_adoption_map.svg.png

You drink too much soda, by the way! Why don't you opt for drinking juice instead?

[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.

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?? 

Yes! Why not? 

[Amph]

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.

Are you sure that X11 (Dash) is actually worth mining?? Both coinwarz and whattomine tells it is not. According to whattomine, with one R9 280x (~6.4 Mh/s, with my computer consuming ~450W and $0.13 kWh) I would get ~$1.13 per day... IN DEBTS!! And so is with any other coin mineable with a GPU, except ETH... for now! Or aren't these calcs able to estimate correctly even for these coins?

I just bought a HIS R9 280x (see above if you want to know the technical specs of this graphics card), so I hope you are wrong.  

I forgot that the metric system used in the USA is different. My bad. In fact, USA is exception among practically every single country, lol: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Metric_system_adoption_map.svg/2000px-Metric_system_adoption_map.svg.png

You drink too much soda, by the way! Why don't you opt for drinking juice instead?

you can reach 11 mega with the 280 and also that wattage you mentioned is too high, a single 280x can consume 200 if undervolted, still x11 is not profitable unless you have 5 cent electricity or lower

[acaciosc]

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.

The main problem is not the high import costs (although it matters for products/commodities brought internationally, obviously). It's the low purchasing power, high cost of living, high inflation, economical/political crisis and so on... practically everything here is damn too expensive, regardless of being produced here or not.

[acaciosc]

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.

Are you sure that X11 (Dash) is actually worth mining?? Both coinwarz and whattomine tells it is not. According to whattomine, with one R9 280x (~6.4 Mh/s, with my computer consuming ~450W and $0.13 kWh) I would get ~$1.13 per day... IN DEBTS!! And so is with any other coin mineable with a GPU, except ETH... for now! Or aren't these calcs able to estimate correctly even for these coins?

I just bought a HIS R9 280x (see above if you want to know the technical specs of this graphics card), so I hope you are wrong.  

I forgot that the metric system used in the USA is different. My bad. In fact, USA is exception among practically every single country, lol: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Metric_system_adoption_map.svg/2000px-Metric_system_adoption_map.svg.png

You drink too much soda, by the way! Why don't you opt for drinking juice instead?

you can reach 11 mega with the 280 and also that wattage you mentioned is too high, a single 280x can consume 200 if undervolted, still x11 is not profitable unless you have 5 cent electricity or lower

11 Mh? Ok, I have no clue if that's NOT possible. 200W? Yes, my GPU should need less than 300W without needing to underclock it - but what about all the other components, such as MOBO, HDD, network card, etc..?

[Amph]

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.

Are you sure that X11 (Dash) is actually worth mining?? Both coinwarz and whattomine tells it is not. According to whattomine, with one R9 280x (~6.4 Mh/s, with my computer consuming ~450W and $0.13 kWh) I would get ~$1.13 per day... IN DEBTS!! And so is with any other coin mineable with a GPU, except ETH... for now! Or aren't these calcs able to estimate correctly even for these coins?

I just bought a HIS R9 280x (see above if you want to know the technical specs of this graphics card), so I hope you are wrong.  

I forgot that the metric system used in the USA is different. My bad. In fact, USA is exception among practically every single country, lol: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Metric_system_adoption_map.svg/2000px-Metric_system_adoption_map.svg.png

You drink too much soda, by the way! Why don't you opt for drinking juice instead?

you can reach 11 mega with the 280 and also that wattage you mentioned is too high, a single 280x can consume 200 if undervolted, still x11 is not profitable unless you have 5 cent electricity or lower

11 Mh? Ok, I have no clue if that's NOT possible. 200W? Yes, my GPU should need less than 300W without needing to underclock it - but what about all the other components, such as MOBO, HDD, network card, etc..?

it's possible but you need the last sgminer and a specific drivers not the last one, regarding wattage, other component do not consume much

[acaciosc]

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.

Are you sure that X11 (Dash) is actually worth mining?? Both coinwarz and whattomine tells it is not. According to whattomine, with one R9 280x (~6.4 Mh/s, with my computer consuming ~450W and $0.13 kWh) I would get ~$1.13 per day... IN DEBTS!! And so is with any other coin mineable with a GPU, except ETH... for now! Or aren't these calcs able to estimate correctly even for these coins?

I just bought a HIS R9 280x (see above if you want to know the technical specs of this graphics card), so I hope you are wrong.  

I forgot that the metric system used in the USA is different. My bad. In fact, USA is exception among practically every single country, lol: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Metric_system_adoption_map.svg/2000px-Metric_system_adoption_map.svg.png

You drink too much soda, by the way! Why don't you opt for drinking juice instead?

you can reach 11 mega with the 280 and also that wattage you mentioned is too high, a single 280x can consume 200 if undervolted, still x11 is not profitable unless you have 5 cent electricity or lower

11 Mh? Ok, I have no clue if that's NOT possible. 200W? Yes, my GPU should need less than 300W without needing to underclock it - but what about all the other components, such as MOBO, HDD, network card, etc..?

it's possible but you need the last sgminer and a specific drivers not the last one, regarding wattage, other component do not consume much

Hm, that's great... But STILL, even if it were amazingly possible to have a rig running for 200W (that's the average consumption of a computer with a low-end GPU included in this math - http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r9-280x-r9-270x-r7-260x,3635-18.html), I would just have to pay more for the power bill, instead of "profiting" at least pennies. As you said, unless I paid ~5 cents of electricity, there is no way to profit from this crappy coin.

Two R9 280x needs a 1000W PSU for a good reason - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUvUmo8dBmU

[Unacceptable]

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.

Are you sure that X11 (Dash) is actually worth mining?? Both coinwarz and whattomine tells it is not. According to whattomine, with one R9 280x (~6.4 Mh/s, with my computer consuming ~450W and $0.13 kWh) I would get ~$1.13 per day... IN DEBTS!! And so is with any other coin mineable with a GPU, except ETH... for now! Or aren't these calcs able to estimate correctly even for these coins?

I just bought a HIS R9 280x (see above if you want to know the technical specs of this graphics card), so I hope you are wrong.  

I forgot that the metric system used in the USA is different. My bad. In fact, USA is exception among practically every single country, lol: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Metric_system_adoption_map.svg/2000px-Metric_system_adoption_map.svg.png

You drink too much soda, by the way! Why don't you opt for drinking juice instead?

you can reach 11 mega with the 280 and also that wattage you mentioned is too high, a single 280x can consume 200 if undervolted, still x11 is not profitable unless you have 5 cent electricity or lower

11 Mh? Ok, I have no clue if that's NOT possible. 200W? Yes, my GPU should need less than 300W without needing to underclock it - but what about all the other components, such as MOBO, HDD, network card, etc..?

it's possible but you need the last sgminer and a specific drivers not the last one, regarding wattage, other component do not consume much

Hm, that's great... But STILL, even if it were amazingly possible to have a rig running for 200W (that's the average consumption of a computer with a low-end GPU included in this math - http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r9-280x-r9-270x-r7-260x,3635-18.html), I would just have to pay more for the power bill, instead of "profiting" at least pennies. As you said, unless I paid ~5 cents of electricity, there is no way to profit from this crappy coin.

Two R9 280x needs a 1000W PSU for a good reason - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUvUmo8dBmU

You gotta put something in (power costs) to get something out.My power is 13kwh,I make .30-.35 eth per day,I barely see my bill rise with 350 watts or so.Making $4.50 per day at current rates of $12.63.
That's why I didn't go with the biggest vid card,380's are quiet & efficient 

Now when I had my 2 S3+ mining at 750-800 watts,I noticed obvisously,but the earnings were barely pennies per day,not $$$$$ per day  

[QuintLeo]

Are you sure that X11 (Dash) is actually worth mining?? Both coinwarz and whattomine tells it is not. According to whattomine, with one R9 280x (~6.4 Mh/s, with my computer consuming ~450W and $0.13 kWh) I would get ~$1.13 per day... IN DEBTS!! And so is with any other coin mineable with a GPU, except ETH... for now! Or aren't these calcs able to estimate correctly even for these coins?

 0.13 is a rather HIGH electric rate - THAT is what is killing your profitability on most coins, it's almost DOUBLE my non-Summer rate.

 For me, Dash specifically is profitable - but it's not by a LOT, electric does eat enough that the power company profits more than I do where I'm at currently.

[Amph]

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.

Are you sure that X11 (Dash) is actually worth mining?? Both coinwarz and whattomine tells it is not. According to whattomine, with one R9 280x (~6.4 Mh/s, with my computer consuming ~450W and $0.13 kWh) I would get ~$1.13 per day... IN DEBTS!! And so is with any other coin mineable with a GPU, except ETH... for now! Or aren't these calcs able to estimate correctly even for these coins?

I just bought a HIS R9 280x (see above if you want to know the technical specs of this graphics card), so I hope you are wrong.  

I forgot that the metric system used in the USA is different. My bad. In fact, USA is exception among practically every single country, lol: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Metric_system_adoption_map.svg/2000px-Metric_system_adoption_map.svg.png

You drink too much soda, by the way! Why don't you opt for drinking juice instead?

you can reach 11 mega with the 280 and also that wattage you mentioned is too high, a single 280x can consume 200 if undervolted, still x11 is not profitable unless you have 5 cent electricity or lower

11 Mh? Ok, I have no clue if that's NOT possible. 200W? Yes, my GPU should need less than 300W without needing to underclock it - but what about all the other components, such as MOBO, HDD, network card, etc..?

it's possible but you need the last sgminer and a specific drivers not the last one, regarding wattage, other component do not consume much

Hm, that's great... But STILL, even if it were amazingly possible to have a rig running for 200W (that's the average consumption of a computer with a low-end GPU included in this math - http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r9-280x-r9-270x-r7-260x,3635-18.html), I would just have to pay more for the power bill, instead of "profiting" at least pennies. As you said, unless I paid ~5 cents of electricity, there is no way to profit from this crappy coin.

Two R9 280x needs a 1000W PSU for a good reason - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUvUmo8dBmU

i'm paying 0.28 cent and i have profit, so you can have profit unless you are paying more than 0.35...

your gpu is outdated, it's better to buy 390, nano or 970, or also 380, all the other are not a good option right now

[Technicrate]

The quickest ROI card is the R9 390 considering the whole system cost. That can be achieved by undervolting.

[Amph]

The quickest ROI card is the R9 390 considering the whole system cost. That can be achieved by undervolting.

i don't agree 970 is equal in power, just buy them used, they are sold for $250 or lower here, and within two week, you may find them at $200 already due to 1070 release

mine hash at 147w/22MH, g1 gaming, reference or msi would be even lower, g1 gaming is power hungry

[Simpan]

In my place, the 970 and 390 cost the same. So for me, it is better to buy the 390. It also has 8GB memory.

[Almat]

In my place, the 970 and 390 cost the same. So for me, it is better to buy the 390. It also has 8GB memory.

If the Ethereum last more than 2 years, we might need big memory size to minimize the hash rate decrease.

[ol92]

Its a combo of the coin price, mining rewards and difficulty.

It will take a long time to roi if you don't own any preexisting gear already.  The 280x only hashes about 20 mh and if you spent 80 for the psu and 200 for the gpu that's $280, so you are looking at more than 3 months with free electricity.  Which I guess isnt bad but not that long ago you could payoff gpu's in about a month, also difficulty is continuing to rise more with the high value of eth.

you don't need to roi on equipment, only on gpu, equipment are always useful for future upgrade and future mining

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...

possible : yes
probable : I tend to agree
guaranteed : lol
This happened with litcoin, then dodge (less than the others at least in amount of time) then ethereum (probably more than the others two combined). Three time (after bitcoin : I count only coins which have been able to provide profitable mining for a large amount of miners and a significant period) : do you think it is enough to be so sure it will happen again?

yes because i don't look specifically at a single coin, i look at the whole time frame where there was profitability, and late-2013-end summer of 2014, blow out of the water the current time frame for etehreum porfitabilitym, by a long shot

yes instamining does count, if you like it or not it's always profit, and yes now it's not possible anymore, but from time to time some good early mined coin show up and give you enormous profit

High profitability for mass miners has been for short windows periods only.
Of course more clever miners, targeting carefully chosen coins at launch or when unknown from the masses and carefully selling the earned coins at right times have been highly profitable for most of the time : but this is not for the big masses of miners and it requires investing a lot of time.

Moreover, the past is not enough to predict the future.
Investing in mining always present some risk.

[Docnaster]

In my place, the 970 and 390 cost the same. So for me, it is better to buy the 390. It also has 8GB memory.

If the Ethereum last more than 2 years, we might need big memory size to minimize the hash rate decrease.

That is right. That is the reason why I mine with 8 GB and 4 GB cards. I have 280x, but they are hashing less and less.

[Marvell1]

In my place, the 970 and 390 cost the same. So for me, it is better to buy the 390. It also has 8GB memory.

If the Ethereum last more than 2 years, we might need big memory size to minimize the hash rate decrease.

That is right. That is the reason why I mine with 8 GB and 4 GB cards. I have 280x, but they are hashing less and less.

yeah i dumped around 30 280x on ebay last week $200 per card or so not bad considering oi bought them about a year ago for $220 a card and have mined thousands of eth with them over the last year.

[mastica]

In my place, the 970 and 390 cost the same. So for me, it is better to buy the 390. It also has 8GB memory.

If the Ethereum last more than 2 years, we might need big memory size to minimize the hash rate decrease.

That is right. That is the reason why I mine with 8 GB and 4 GB cards. I have 280x, but they are hashing less and less.

yeah i dumped around 30 280x on ebay last week $200 per card or so not bad considering oi bought them about a year ago for $220 a card and have mined thousands of eth with them over the last year.

Are you buying the 490 or other high end cards?