mining-question

[Han Solo]

Hi!

I don't understand the mining process. How is this distributed? When I run solo mining (I know, it is not recommended, but only for appreciation), is it guaranteed that my solo mining will find a valid block in time x (x=very long)? Or is this just like a lottery, say the mining can run 15 years without any success?

Thanks for your answer.

[kekz]

the mining could take 500 years and success would not be guaranteed. the chance of you finding a block rises proportional to the work you stick into the bitcoin network. but that is only the chance. you could find a block after 10 minutes mining solo, even if it is only 500hashes/s cpu mining, but the chance is near zero.

[TierNolan]

Hi!

I don't understand the mining process. How is this distributed? When I run solo mining (I know, it is not recommended, but only for appreciation), is it guaranteed that my solo mining will find a valid block in time x (x=very long)? Or is this just like a lottery, say the mining can run 15 years without any success?

Thanks for your answer.

It is random.  As your miner runs, it is like buying loads of lottery tickets.  If you hit the "jackpot", you win 50 bit coins.

Mining in a pool means that there is a greater chance of winning, but if you win, the winnings are shared with other miners in the pool (and the pool operator takes a cut).

For example, on your own, you might have a 1% chance of winning per day.  However, a pool might have a 50% chance of winning per day.  If you win, you would only get 1 of the bitcoins.

The large ones tend to win once an hour or more.  In those pools, you have a good chance of winning something but it is shared between lots.

The main point is that in all cases you win the same amount on average, but pools gives more consistency (pools take a fee, so are actually slightly lower).

[adalov]

There are several ways to calculate the average time it will take to finish a block solo, but unless you have some large computing farm it will take several months. In general it's just plain easier to go with a pool as you still earn a decent amount (depending on the pool owner's cut), but you receive smaller payments in much more frequent intervals. In some of the larger pools, payments could be .01 coins every hour or two if you've got a decent machine.


Profitability calculator: http://www.alloscomp.com/bitcoin/calculator.php

[Han Solo]

OK, so if i take my (available) cluster which makes ~5GHash/s (after first tests), you would go into a pool or try mining solo?

[luxgladius]

OK, so if i take my (available) cluster which makes ~5GHash/s (after first tests), you would go into a pool or try mining solo?

It seems like you always want to do pool mining really. As long as the share is based on the amount of work you do, you can't really lose, and you stand to gain more. If you have such a powerful rig that it overpowers the rest of the pool, then you'll get the lion's share of the BTC anyway.

[X68N]

I think even with a Big Rig xD
it is more intelligent to join a pool,
because in the end it helps you like it hlps the others in the pool.

[TierNolan]

I think even with a Big Rig xD
it is more intelligent to join a pool,
because in the end it helps you like it hlps the others in the pool.

It depends on how much processing you have.  In order to win 1 block per day on average, you need 1/144 of the processing power.

Assuming that the total power is 10,000GH/s, then you need 69GH/s in order to win one a day.

With 1GH/s, you would win one every 70 days.  That is probably to much risk for someone to be willing to take.

Joining a pool means that you have to pay a fee (say 3%) and there is a risk that some people are abusing the pool.  OTOH, the pool will quickly tell you if there is a new block, so you might gain a little efficiency boost from that.

Probably, as your processing power increases, it would be worth switching to solo mining.

[X68N]

Hello,
it was maybe in the past worth for Solo mining,
but Now it has  only negative aspects:

If you need 70 days for one Block, a pool could for sure find this block faster and you time was wasted
You forget the increasing difficulty which makes this problem bigger
And Who has today a mining rig with 50Ghash or more? Hand up please ;-)

A pool brings you safe income,  and if a Admin cheats, he get caught very fast, (i check the Rates every 2-8 hours...)
so if i would lost 8h of Minig ok , it sucks but no big deal.
Also it is stupid for an Admin to steal the Bitcoins because he would lost an sure income for a fast small profit.

The fee of 2-3% is really fair, and a payment for the Service/work of the Admin of the Pool!

Think about Goverments which take 19-25% of your income, is that fair? ;-)

[bitcoin-rigs.com]

OK, so if i take my (available) cluster which makes ~5GHash/s (after first tests), you would go into a pool or try mining solo?

As long as you are getting paid based on your share and the pool doesn't charge high fees I feel pool mining is the way to go since you get small payouts and rule out the possibility of just having really bad luck "winning" while solo mining.

[X68N]

Hello,
try out pools with score based payouts, if you are mining 24/7.

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

greets