Two R4s or Two L3+ for Mining at Home?

[Didley1JT]

New to mining. Don't have a ton to invest... you can guess my general budget based on the two options I've proposed.

Initially, I was gunning for one s9, but I can't accommodate the noise and heat. Can't keep it in the house as the noise is too much for my wife/kids. I live in Louisiana, so the garage is around 90-100 during the day with 85-100% humidity. I'd have to construct an enclosure with cooling and ventilation to go that route and it's just more than I can plan for at the moment.

So, the R4 seems like a great alternative and was designed for home mining. But I also like the option of mining Scrypt coins... I'm too new to make up my mind, so I was hoping you can help.

In the end, it may simply come down to the first piece of hardware to go back into stock at Bitmain.com. I just missed the last L3+ order, so it's likely to be the R4.

[1714801912]

1714801912

[NotFuzzyWarm]

Given the very poor history of the R4's don't hold your breath on them. I rather doubt Bitmain is going to release any more unless they do a major redesign. f you get a good one it's great , will behave well and very very quiet. Problem is way too many folks have had them lose 1 of the 2 hash boards within a few hours to a few weeks and as far as I know Bitmain no longer repairs them - warranty folks have taken s9/t9's as replacements.

I have 3 of the R4's, 2 been running perfectly for almost a year, 1 had a board fail after 25 hours.

[Didley1JT]

Damn. I was starting to notice more and more complaints on the R4 as I did more research. Was hoping it was a bad batch, but that's quite an investment to make for something with a known issue like that.

The 741s are going to be available on the 30th... Not sure if I'm patient enough for the L3+ but I'll probably kick myself if I don't wait.

[NotFuzzyWarm]

You'd like the Avalons. I have 6 and if needed they can be turned down a bit to handle high heat. Mine run in an ambient up to 95F at times.

As I and others have posted in the Avalon thread, Canaan's only weak point is the back end to their order process. A bit convoluted and might take a few days to get a BTC address from them but is a good company. Once they got a handle on the last round of orders (got swamped) things seem to be resolving very nicely. My latest 741 (making 7) should arrive on Wed.

[Didley1JT]

You'd like the Avalons. I have 6 and if needed they can be turned down a bit to handle high heat. Mine run in an ambient up to 95F at times.

As I and others have posted in the Avalon thread, Canaan's only weak point is the back end to their order process. A bit convoluted and might take a few days to get a BTC address from them but is a good company. Once they got a handle on the last round of orders (got swamped) things seem to be resolving very nicely. My latest 741 (making 7) should arrive on Wed.

I've very quickly been sucked into this world. I know I'm only looking to start with 2 miners, but that will definitely change. I'm going to want more and more computing capacity and the ability to mine any altcoin...

My wife thinks it's funny how obsessed I've become researching all of this.

[NotFuzzyWarm]

It can certainly grow on you. Started in Feb 2014 with 2 little 10GHs miners then 2 of the Bitmain S1's. Poured about 1/2 the income back into the farm for expansion/upgrades until I recently ran out of available power where the farm is. Now running 240THs, gross monthly revenue a bit over $8.1k from it.

[Didley1JT]

It can certainly grow on you. Started in Feb 2014 with 2 little 10GHs miners then 2 of the Bitmain S1's. Poured about 1/2 the income back into the farm for expansion/upgrades until I recently ran out of available power where the farm is. Now running 240THs, gross monthly revenue a bit over $8.1k from it.

That's fantastic.

Any words-of-wisdom for a starry-eyed, aspiring miner? I am 100% all ears.

And is there any benefit of the so-called "lottery miners?" (The underpowered hardware that runs solo mining with the hope that it might just happen along the correct number to solve the block)

[NotFuzzyWarm]

for 1 the quick Bitcoin 101
related to that https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2130218.msg21296857#msg21296857

On lotto miners like Sidehacks sticks. Got 3 of them and yes folks *do* find blocks. Odds are better than Powerball but still pretty slim. Think ck's solo miner site has had 236 block winners since it started a few years ago.

[Didley1JT]

for 1 the quick Bitcoin 101
related to that https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2130218.msg21296857#msg21296857

On lotto miners like Sidehacks sticks. Got 3 of them and yes folks *do* find blocks. Odds are better than Powerball but still pretty slim. Think ck's solo miner site has had 236 block winners since it started a few years ago.

Ah-hah! Sidehacks is a member here. I just sent him a message asking about his Gekko stick (found an old post where he was selling them).

I don't mind slim chances... negligible cost for one hell of a surprise (possibly) is fine with me. It would really just be something to surprise the wife with anyways.

[BuddyDavis501]

The R4's are prone to board failure as you have already found out.  I think the R4 was targeted at the average consumer that wanted to mine a few hours a day...  those machines really were not made to run 24/7 and when they are...  damage occurs.

L3's are great but now you are getting into some more expensive machines... not even close to an R4. 

Either way, build a dedicated room if you are going to mine in your house...  keep the dust out and most importantly...  get rid of the heat!!

[Didley1JT]

The R4's are prone to board failure as you have already found out.  I think the R4 was targeted at the average consumer that wanted to mine a few hours a day...  those machines really were not made to run 24/7 and when they are...  damage occurs.

L3's are great but now you are getting into some more expensive machines... not even close to an R4. 

Either way, build a dedicated room if you are going to mine in your house...  keep the dust out and most importantly...  get rid of the heat!!

Thank you.

Given the (lack of) availability for the Bitmain products, I'm planning on purchasing 2 or 3 Avalon 741s.

Using the CryptoCompare calculator for three 741s, I have a total of 21.9 TH/s, 3450 Watts, and a power cost of .10 kWh. It says I'm looking at $20/day return (~$600/mo). I'm fine with that return, but is that actually realistic? Seems too good to be true.

After the miners, PSUs, and other odds and ends, I'm looking at around $3000 initial investment, with a 5 month ROI (all else remaining constant).

Any advice?