Litecoin GPU mining efficiency.

[iruleeveryone28]

Hi there.

I'm planning on building a mining rig next week, GPU for litecoins.

I plan on starting small, the card I have in mind is the XFX 6870 @ 900mhz, which has reportedly thrown back a khash/s of anwhere between 250 and 350.

I am willing to fork out up to £100 more on a card, which seems could buy me anywhere in the region of 50-100 khash/s which I feel is reasonably proportionate.

My question is this; is 250-350 khash/s (solo mining) going to throw back a decent return?  I'm aware this is not an easy question to answer, and there are a lot of variables.  However considering LTC difficulty has increased over the last few months (and probably at a crazy level now) will this khash/s level mine me a block (or two) even over, say, a week?

Basically has the difficulty dramatically changed the speed at which we should mine.  To compete, should I consider a far more powerful card?  Or a second?

I would be over the moon at 1 block per week.

[DarkHyudrA]

Hi there.

I'm planning on building a mining rig next week, GPU for litecoins.

I plan on starting small, the card I have in mind is the XFX 6870 @ 900mhz, which has reportedly thrown back a khash/s of anwhere between 250 and 350.

I am willing to fork out up to £100 more on a card, which seems could buy me anywhere in the region of 50-100 khash/s which I feel is reasonably proportionate.

My question is this; is 250-350 khash/s (solo mining) going to throw back a decent return?  I'm aware this is not an easy question to answer, and there are a lot of variables.  However considering LTC difficulty has increased over the last few months (and probably at a crazy level now) will this khash/s level mine me a block (or two) even over, say, a week?

Basically has the difficulty dramatically changed the speed at which we should mine.  To compete, should I consider a far more powerful card?  Or a second?

I would be over the moon at 1 block per week.

You should consider in pooled mining, you will get far more coins this way.

[iruleeveryone28]

I have considered pool mining. 

I have worked out using, say, pool-x.eu @ 350khas/s my return will be 1 coin per day.

A few friends of mine, seemingly lucky ones, have reported a couple of blocks a week at the 370 khash/s mark.

[AmDD]

Its all in how lucky you are, just like with BTC mining. With solo mining you could make a lot more if your lucky but could also make a lot less. Pooled mining takes some of the 'luck' away and gives a more constant payout.

Over a long time period (1 year maybe?) each method should average out and you should make about the same either way.

[iruleeveryone28]

Its all in how lucky you are, just like with BTC mining. With solo mining you could make a lot more if your lucky but could also make a lot less. Pooled mining takes some of the 'luck' away and gives a more constant payout.

Over a long time period (1 year maybe?) each method should average out and you should make about the same either way.

Yeah this seems to be it.  Thanks for both your inputs.

what about electricity costs on one card running at 100%?  Are they fairly negligable?  Trying to find some sort of calculator..

[Cereal]

There is quite a difference in poweruse between a idle and a maxxed-out gpu, difference could be >100W.

In the bitcoin mining hardware comparison page (google it) you can find power use of different cards. (these also applies for LTC when using stock speeds).

[DarkHyudrA]

I have considered pool mining. 

I have worked out using, say, pool-x.eu @ 350khas/s my return will be 1 coin per day.

A few friends of mine, seemingly lucky ones, have reported a couple of blocks a week at the 370 khash/s mark.

You could try PPS, like on Coinotron.
Pool-x si PPLNS, this can make you a few less coins.

[blaabjerg]

You don't really need a calculator

The advertised TDP of a 6870 is 150 watts. That's 3.6 kWh per day if you run it 24/7. Multiply that with your effective cost of electricity per kWh and you've got an estimated daily additional electricity cost.

Example: If you pay 10 cents per kWh, your daily cost is approximately 3.6 * 0.10$ = $0.36/day.

[iruleeveryone28]

You don't really need a calculator

The advertised TDP of a 6870 is 150 watts. That's 3.6 kWh per day if you run it 24/7. Multiply that with your effective cost of electricity per kWh and you've got an estimated daily additional electricity cost.

Example: If you pay 10 cents per kWh, your daily cost is approximately 3.6 * 0.10$ = $0.36/day.

Excellent, thanks for your input

That has cleared some things up for me, my understanding of electrical units is...shoddy...

I've worked out investing £300..$470 odd i think..in a 7970 should double my return (and double electricity output :S) which in the long run should work out great.  Assuming difficulty mining ltc is managable.

Can anyone shed some light on mining difficulty?  In their opinion will it become very difficult to mine on a bog standard rig such as my hypothetical one in the near future?

[wowfreaks22]

Thats the gamble ^^

[iruleeveryone28]

Thats the gamble ^^

Hmm yeah.. what a fun gamble though.  Plus if LTC completely blows up im left with a top of the range card .

The way I'm looking at it is the 7970 at current (pool) mining rates gets you 2LTC per day.  That pays itself off in 8 weeks, based on current market value.  Now the question is, can I mine enough in the first couple of weeks to *fingers crossed* future proof myself against a sudden rise in difficulty, which will lead to a rise in price and therefore those coins should cover me...at least (hopefully).  Basically I hope I'm not too late getting in there .  Glorified gambling, this shit is so addictive.

Will be a fun experience anyway.  An experience I can carry on to other cryptocurrencies...

[nawazish1]

Could some one here lend me 1 BTC here. So that i can start mining LTC by investing that coin on a graphics card. I know that it is very difficult to do but if someone is kind enough to help me then plz do it. I will give back that coin after two months when i will earn the money back. PLZ help is needed.
I can't mine now because my PC is crapyand old can only produce 3kh/s.
my BTC address is   :  1P22tVABsd85L7kkpTmohCv5vK2BypFz3H

[iruleeveryone28]

Could some one here lend me 1 BTC here. So that i can start mining LTC by investing that coin on a graphics card. I know that it is very difficult to do but if someone is kind enough to help me then plz do it. I will give back that coin after two months when i will earn the money back. PLZ help is needed.
I can't mine now because my PC is crapyand old can only produce 3kh/s.
my BTC address is   :  1P22tVABsd85L7kkpTmohCv5vK2BypFz3H

good luck

[gfoot]

Now the question is, can I mine enough in the first couple of weeks to *fingers crossed* future proof myself against a sudden rise in difficulty, which will lead to a rise in price

Why do you think a rise in difficulty will lead to a rise in price?  I think if anything it's the other way around, and even that is tenuous.

Difficulty is calibrated against block rate, so on average we get a steady block rate and a steady 1200 LTC per hour in mining rewards regardless of other factors.  If price goes up then there's an increased short-term incentive to mine and more miners will participate, leading to an accelerated block rate, then an increased difficulty level, which in the longer term leads to lower revenue per miner, probably balancing out at roughly the same real-world level as before the price increase.

But I'm not sure the converse is true - a rise in difficulty indicates prior increased mining activity, and acts directly to balance it out, but I don't see why that would affect the trading value of the coins.  If the difficulty rise wasn't due to a price rise as above, then miners would find it less profitable in real-world terms and may get out of the game, leading to a difficulty reduction.  If anything, the price of the coins would drop though, if the quitting miners sold their coins.

[iruleeveryone28]

Now the question is, can I mine enough in the first couple of weeks to *fingers crossed* future proof myself against a sudden rise in difficulty, which will lead to a rise in price

Why do you think a rise in difficulty will lead to a rise in price?  I think if anything it's the other way around, and even that is tenuous.

Difficulty is calibrated against block rate, so on average we get a steady block rate and a steady 1200 LTC per hour in mining rewards regardless of other factors.  If price goes up then there's an increased short-term incentive to mine and more miners will participate, leading to an accelerated block rate, then an increased difficulty level, which in the longer term leads to lower revenue per miner, probably balancing out at roughly the same real-world level as before the price increase.

But I'm not sure the converse is true - a rise in difficulty indicates prior increased mining activity, and acts directly to balance it out, but I don't see why that would affect the trading value of the coins.  If the difficulty rise wasn't due to a price rise as above, then miners would find it less profitable in real-world terms and may get out of the game, leading to a difficulty reduction.  If anything, the price of the coins would drop though, if the quitting miners sold their coins.

ok thanks for your input, youve certainly got me thinking