Wait for ASIC?... or build new GPU/FPGA rigs?

[ibminer]

I have access to a good amount of technology-related equipment, including plenty of video cards/processors/and full systems... and have pretty good buying power with some of the bigger vendors out there selling equipment like this, and plenty of knowledge on building computers, and could easily setup additional 'rigs'. I currently have a group of machines generating a good amount of hashpower (between 3000-5000MH/s, depending on how many machines I have mining at once) and cheap power... but curious as to whether its even worth trying to upgrade or add to this right now or if I should hang around with what I have and wait for an ASIC device and invest there. Probably a million dollar question, but thought I would ask anyway to get some insight... struggling with which way to go right now, don't really want to invest funds in gpu/fpga devices knowing the hashpower they generate is going to be wiped out by ASIC devices. Any thoughts/recommendations for a newbie?    

[Mike Christ]

AFAIK, everyone's recommending that you ditch GPU and invest in an ASIC.  Once ASICs get popular, GPU mining will be so inefficient that you'll be paying more for electricity and burned out cards.

[SaintFlow]

why bother if you can buy asicminer shares?
trust issue or you actually love to dig your hands in tech which i can totally relate with 

[NegativeNancy]

Even if your GPUs were free, the time and effort involved getting up to speed on it would not be worth it. GPU mining will absolutely be unprofitable very soon, and it takes a while to get it running smoothly.

[SgtSpike]

Not worth it.  BFL might be shipping next week, and difficulty will be up 3x what it is now once that happens, continuing to climb rapidly over the next months as well.

[ibminer]

why bother if you can buy asicminer shares?
trust issue or you actually love to dig your hands in tech which i can totally relate with 

I guess its a little of both... I looked a little into buying asicminer shares... I did not do a ton of research on it because it didn't really appeal to me.  I do like getting involved with tech-related devices, building them up, etc... so that is a big part of it... but I do have trust issues as well, which is another piece of it.  Although, I did get involved with a mining pool, which is a big step for me in the trust arena, but I literally researched for over 2 weeks before deciding which pool to go with  

[ibminer]

Not worth it.  BFL might be shipping next week, and difficulty will be up 3x what it is now once that happens, continuing to climb rapidly over the next months as well.

It is not easy sending any money towards BFL considering the backlash of posts on this forum, and on others... but I feel like ASIC must be the way to go at this point.  Hopefully Avalon will open up a 3rd batch, although Avalon's seem to consume way more power than BFL's are claiming to use?... not sure there are many of them out there to even verify actual power consumption, but that's what it seems like to me. It seems like BFL has the superior product... but seems a little unstable on the management/organization side of things.

[SgtSpike]

Not worth it.  BFL might be shipping next week, and difficulty will be up 3x what it is now once that happens, continuing to climb rapidly over the next months as well.

It is not easy sending any money towards BFL considering the backlash of posts on this forum, and on others... but I feel like ASIC must be the way to go at this point.  Hopefully Avalon will open up a 3rd batch, although Avalon's seem to consume way more power than BFL's are claiming to use?... not sure there are many of them out there to even verify actual power consumption, but that's what it seems like to me. It seems like BFL has the superior product... but seems a little unstable on the management/organization side of things.

Certainly understandable, but why send money to anyone at this point?  You do not want to invest in GPUs right now, and you do not want to invest in unproven ASICs.  So wait until the ASICs are proven, then order.

I wouldn't buy an Avalon myself because of the power usage, but I think it is quite reasonable, at this point, to buy BFL once they are proven to be working.

[Jenger]

Its not worth it plain & simple. Even if you order an asic today, by the time you will receive it the difficulty will be so high that it just wont be worth it. At this rate I think you would be very lucky to receive an asic by the end of the year if you ordered right this second.

[SaintFlow]

if you are in the hardware thing so much and have it all there already:

just get going already - you have my 100% garanteed valid permission slip!


perhaps this rally really is the beginning of a revolution that overturns old
govermental structures by consensus agreement that their methods of keeping
people in line is so 19th century declase!
And if this happens my friend - every second and every satoshi will make itself
count - or in otherwords: hardware influences the social software by
brainwetware interface.

perhaps not.

what counts is that you had fun with your time and electricity

[SaintFlow]

on a revised note: why don't you take some of the money and put it into sollar power
so these "rigs" will remain hashing forever until you finally plug your asic into the sollar
socket?

Why?
IF you are not shure to do A or B
THEN consider C
test operate exit

[SgtSpike]

on a revised note: why don't you take some of the money and put it into sollar power
so these "rigs" will remain hashing forever until you finally plug your asic into the sollar
socket?

Why?
IF you are not shure to do A or B
THEN consider C
test operate exit

Because that would be a waste of money compared to investing in additional ASIC units.  Solar power pays itself back after 7-20 years.  A Bitcoin ASIC would pay itself back after less than one year.

[d3liri0usk]

ASIC all the way.

[phillyj]

ASIC all the way.

But no one is selling any? I took a look at the FPGAs and ASICs listed on the hardware comparision site and not one is available. Sure, you can buy a pre-order for something that will be delivered some time in the future. Isn't that more risky? Set up a 800 Mhash/s miner now and mine while its high. In a few months, prices might hover around $50. There's no way to tell if it will go up or down. Long term, chances are good but in the short term, you might lose money trying to get an ASIC.

[blakethesnake]

Wait for the ASICs

[ThemThereHills]

If you already have the equipment, DO IT NOW. Don't wait. Do it immediately. You only have a couple of months before ASICS go mainstream. Still, the difficulty is pretty high, already, and you probably won't mine that many coins.

IMO, it's kind of pointless to attempt to get an ASIC now. The people who will be receiving them in a couple of months or who already have them ordered them last year. Think about that. These people were lucky enough(or connected enough) to be in the know last year and to have the capitol to invest. AND EVEN THOSE PEOPLE have a limited window of opportunity. You don't don't even have a window right now.
Once the ASICs arrive(and I don't mean BFL because, let's face it, we don't even know they actually exist) and a bunch of people are using them, they will become obsolete rather quickly. With in 4-6 months so even if you ordered an ASIC right now, it will arrive after those 6 months. Maybe not, but that would mean you would be able to take advantage of about 1 month of that 4-6 month window.

Your best bet is wait for tech that comes after ASIC and preorder a year before they arrive like the people who currently have ASICs(or are receiving them soon). Of course, they will be even more expensive than ASICs.

However, if you are a technophile, and just want to do it for fun, I would still say find another endeavor. lol


People need to realize that, if they want to mine and make money, they need to be ahead of the curve. You're better off just buying BTC. There is a legit reason why people keep saying that. Mainly for the reason I just stated.


GL

[Monarch]

ASICs will be mainstream if we will be ready for them. Now we are not.

[Launebaer]

just invest all the money you have into btc and wait for them to be more worth

[Deins]

Asic's will take very long time....

[Anonymouss]

just invest all the money you have into btc and wait for them to be more worth

People need to stop hoarding bitcoin, if you don't plan on using it properly you shouldnt get into it imo.