Just a practical beginner's mining unit, please help!

[M3t]

What do you recommend for a unit, just to get my feet in the water, my price range is $2000.

Any specific GPU/FPGA unit would you recommend and why? Where can I get it?

^_^ Thanks!

[beppe]

in that price range you can get 3x 7970 and overclock them to obtain something near 2.0 GH/s.

[John Self]

According to my understanding: some new ASIC systems are being shipped out, which will effect an increase in mining difficulty steep enough to endanger such investments. It would be wise to investigate this matter further.

[M3t]

So do not buy a 7990?

[tysat]

I would advise against building a GPU mining rig for bitcoins, it won't be profitable very soon because of ASICs coming online.

[M3t]

And let me ask, a 7970 GHz edition or not? What is the thing that matters when looking at the specs?

[Gator-hex]

lol I thought you said a beginners unit.   7970 is pro.

Beginners I'd recommend starting with 5830s because they are cheap £60/$90 for 260-300MH/s

Then you could keep some money aside for an ASIC.

[M3t]

I would advise against building a GPU mining rig for bitcoins, it won't be profitable very soon because of ASICs coming online.

I'll be one of those risk-takers ordering either the 60Ghz Avalon or BFL units soon. That's why I want to test out the water with a GPU first, to get the hang of it, before dropping a $5000 bomb.

So, help me, 7970 GHz edition or not? What am I looking for when it comes to GPUs?

[Gator-hex]

What am I looking for when it comes to GPUs?

AMD/Ati, Stream Processors and good cooling.

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

[M3t]

Quick noob question, I have a 3930K intel chip, will this in any way conflict with an AMD video card?

[tysat]

Quick noob question, I have a 3930K intel chip, will this in any way conflict with an AMD video card?

Nope

[M3t]

Thanks so much boys! I've this card in tow:

http://www.microcenter.com/product/382945/7970PE53G_AMD_Radeon_HD_7970_3072MB_GDDR5_PCIe_30_x16_Video_Card#tab-specs

Is it decent? Seems OK; I don't think it's a GHz edition like these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007709%20600286767%20600356257&IsNodeId=1&name=Radeon%20HD%207970%20GHz%20Edition#

Does it matter much if it's the 7970 GHz edition or the 7970 normal edition?

[M3t]

http://i47.tinypic.com/9k5574.jpg

just got 'em.


now what do i need to do next... hmmm...

what software / mining guild / etc?

tips?

[TheBigYak]

CGMiner or Diablo are currently doing very well.. you can see the list of settings used and speeds reached here: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_hardware_comparison

As far as pools, BTC Guild is one of the biggest and longest running right now.  Slush's pool is also very popular as well, and both have good support for high-speed mining (called Stratum protocol) which you'll need going forward if you try to make the jump to ASICs like you mentioned

[M3t]

http://i46.tinypic.com/1at93.jpg

Okay, so now I just install the Bitcoin-QT and Armory, and I will have a bitcoin address. From there, I install Diablo or cgminer, and e-mail a mining group like Slush or BTC Guild asking to join?

[tysat]

I think you may have jumped in a little too fast if you're not even sure how to mine...

I'd suggest at least googling how to mine bitcoins, or check out the mining section of the forums.

[M3t]

Don't want to waste my time mining with a 260 for $1/mo.

Might as well get 2 kick-ass cards and make a $50-$100 rebate before ASICs come out, right?