Help pick $1,500 rig

[jm514]

I am given an opportunity to present a business plan (small) and if it sounds good i'll get $1,500 in funding for mining hardware.
My power cost here is $0.12 Kw/h
I was originally considering Ethereum, Bitcoin, and Litecoin as my top 3 prospects. I would like some flexibility to change to a different coin if the need arises and i know some rigs are suited only for bitcoin.
I was mostly considering GPU rig compared to an asic one.
I live on the east coast near NJ/PA area so i'm close to a Micro-Center which sells Graphics Cards in stock but they only seem to have 1-2 of any given card in stock and i was considering between 4-6 graphics cards.
My first concern is availability and pricing, even if some cards would be ideal they seem to be sold out or are being re-sold on ebay for3X the price.
The antminers are bitcoin exclusive? They are about $1,300+ and don't ship until  late November, which doesn't rule it out.
Are there any better options or guides anyone would reccomend for someone to get started?

p.s. - From the research I have done it seems impossible to tell the Hash rate of any card without having it tested first.I am a freshman college student majoring in computer science and this is exactly the type of formula I would like to study and understand in the pursuit of knowledge. Thanks.

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[leowonderful]

At $.12/kwh I don't recommend the S9 anymore as difficulty keeps ramping up and your electrical cost isn't that great (I get $.065/kW in NW PA). Polaris 470/570 and up cards would be your best bet as Vega seems bad for mining, and even then profit may take a while. If you do manage to find a D3/L3 from Bitmain at MSRP then I'd take it (batches sell out in minutes though). Anything other than Bitmain's price for D3/L3 miners is an absolute ripoff most of the time.

[jm514]

At $.12/kwh I don't recommend the S9 anymore as difficulty keeps ramping up and your electrical cost isn't that great (I get $.065/kW in NW PA). Polaris 470/570 and up cards would be your best bet as Vega seems bad for mining, and even then profit may take a while. If you do manage to find a D3/L3 from Bitmain at MSRP then I'd take it (batches sell out in minutes though). Anything other than Bitmain's price for D3/L3 miners is an absolute ripoff most of the time.

So the D3 Miner is listed at $1450.
To place an order you must have it in Coin form and send them a ticket right?
The calculator i'm using is listing me at Negative $103/m
Hash = 15Gh/s
PowerConsumtion = 1200W
Electricity Cost = 0.12

Is this correct? Are there actually any profitable options still out there?

The https://ibb.co/gkFiBk

This shows some of AMD's stock from their website you suggested the 470/570+ i'm seeing overwhelming options in price from $80 - $1,000+

[drasperlar]

Hi, i would like to start mining. What do you guys think is profitable to mine btc or alts like eth/zec/drc?

[coinfoundry]

Hi, i would like to start mining. What do you guys think is profitable to mine btc or alts like eth/zec/drc?

I depends on your budget. The cost for entry into the BTC mining space is huge.

[muleman8]

0.12$ is not awfully cheap electricity so I woul dbe looking at cards with very low power draw per hash.  RX470 / RX480 are probably the best bet if you can get hold of any (and mine ethereum).  Get any low power CPU and motherboard to pair with it and a decent gold power supply to reduce the overall power consumption.

[muleman8]

Hi, i would like to start mining. What do you guys think is profitable to mine btc or alts like eth/zec/drc?

depends on your cost of electricity but if you are paying very little for electricity you could buy some second user R9 cards - 7970's can be picked up for around 75GBP and can hash Zcash at around 300sols so you could make a decent amount with a 6GPU rig.  If electricity is expensive I would be looking at mining ethereum with RX470's.

[MetaSk]

I'd go for a 1060 cards rig and reinvest all the gains into the new cards
Mine ether or any better profit coins atm

[Crypt1x]

Obviously mining Ethereum, Bitcoin or Litecoin may not make much sense. Because the amount in your hand is very small for profitability and you may not have enough money to buy them. It may make more sense to wait a little while and increase your savings.

But if you still want to invest, then you can do the Zencash mining which makes sense. In the long run, the profits will be good.

[Vantix]

Go with 1070. It's a efficiency sweet spot

[jm514]

Go with 1070. It's a efficiency sweet spot

A GeForce GTX 1070 Graphics card is running about $400 a piece with a limit of 2 on the website and i can only imagine more for re-sellers.That would be $2400+ for 6 of them. My budget really needs to stick between $1,500-$2,000.  Meaning I could spend $1,200 on 3 of them, but that would put my Hash rate at about 81 Mh/s generating about $180

Obviously mining Ethereum, Bitcoin or Litecoin may not make much sense. Because the amount in your hand is very small for profitability and you may not have enough money to buy them. It may make more sense to wait a little while and increase your savings.

But if you still want to invest, then you can do the Zencash mining which makes sense. In the long run, the profits will be good.

@Crypt what makes ZEN work well in the long term?
Can i use RX 470/ RX 480's to mine?
What Hashrate would i expect with 6 GPU's?

[sevenmiles]

$0.12 Kw/h is not that cheap electricity, but also not that expensive,
And $1,500 is a bit low budget of course - you can not afford most asic miners (unless you don;t sleep and buy antminer S9/D3, but most of time they (bitmain) don;t accept USD directly)
...
so GPU miners are more realistic, but $1,500 today can only build 2-3 GPUs 570/580 or 1060/1070 rig...
I would suggest 6 gtx 1050 ti

[jm514]

$0.12 Kw/h is not that cheap electricity, but also not that expensive,
And $1,500 is a bit low budget of course - you can not afford most asic miners (unless you don;t sleep and buy antminer S9/D3, but most of time they (bitmain) don;t accept USD directly)
...
so GPU miners are more realistic, but $1,500 today can only build 2-3 GPUs 570/580 or 1060/1070 rig...
I would suggest 6 gtx 1050 ti

That's interesting. The GTX 1050 ti cards have some pretty terrible reviews someone said it was "the worst modern card". It's price tag of $157 is enticing but it only brings in about 13 Mh/s conservatively when 6x = 78 Mh/s -Electricity = About $150/month with a cost of $946 in graphics cards alone

This card seems like it would work but would be outdated within 6 months. I don't think it's a good idea but i appreciate your input considering my situation.

[preda]

the best cards for mining are nvidia cards 1060 ihmo..

i have x24 of them and i am satisfied. miners always improves with cuda and you have always a coin to mine with nvidia  

[DevelopmentBank]

p.s. - From the research I have done it seems impossible to tell the Hash rate of any card without having it tested first.I am a freshman college student majoring in computer science and this is exactly the type of formula I would like to study and understand in the pursuit of knowledge. Thanks.

It is possible to tell hashrate beforehand. Lots of people have already benchmarked most GPUs. You can use a calculator like http://nicehash.com/?p=calc

[fmz89]

I am given an opportunity to present a business plan (small) and if it sounds good i'll get $1,500 in funding for mining hardware.
My power cost here is $0.12 Kw/h
I was originally considering Ethereum, Bitcoin, and Litecoin as my top 3 prospects. I would like some flexibility to change to a different coin if the need arises and i know some rigs are suited only for bitcoin.
I was mostly considering GPU rig compared to an asic one.
I live on the east coast near NJ/PA area so i'm close to a Micro-Center which sells Graphics Cards in stock but they only seem to have 1-2 of any given card in stock and i was considering between 4-6 graphics cards.
My first concern is availability and pricing, even if some cards would be ideal they seem to be sold out or are being re-sold on ebay for3X the price.
The antminers are bitcoin exclusive? They are about $1,300+ and don't ship until  late November, which doesn't rule it out.
Are there any better options or guides anyone would reccomend for someone to get started?

p.s. - From the research I have done it seems impossible to tell the Hash rate of any card without having it tested first.I am a freshman college student majoring in computer science and this is exactly the type of formula I would like to study and understand in the pursuit of knowledge. Thanks.

3 vega 56 = 1200$ + 300$((mobo+cpu+ram+ssd)2nd+PSU)

[jm514]

I am given an opportunity to present a business plan (small) and if it sounds good i'll get $1,500 in funding for mining hardware.
My power cost here is $0.12 Kw/h
I was originally considering Ethereum, Bitcoin, and Litecoin as my top 3 prospects. I would like some flexibility to change to a different coin if the need arises and i know some rigs are suited only for bitcoin.
I was mostly considering GPU rig compared to an asic one.
I live on the east coast near NJ/PA area so i'm close to a Micro-Center which sells Graphics Cards in stock but they only seem to have 1-2 of any given card in stock and i was considering between 4-6 graphics cards.
My first concern is availability and pricing, even if some cards would be ideal they seem to be sold out or are being re-sold on ebay for3X the price.
The antminers are bitcoin exclusive? They are about $1,300+ and don't ship until  late November, which doesn't rule it out.
Are there any better options or guides anyone would reccomend for someone to get started?

p.s. - From the research I have done it seems impossible to tell the Hash rate of any card without having it tested first.I am a freshman college student majoring in computer science and this is exactly the type of formula I would like to study and understand in the pursuit of knowledge. Thanks.

3 vega 56 = 1200$ + 300$((mobo+cpu+ram+ssd)2nd+PSU)

Dude they are sold out and ebay is listing them at $600+ a piece not $400.
It seems impossible to find graphics cards in stock from the manufacturer that is efficient with mining

[JamesAdams]

I am given an opportunity to present a business plan (small) and if it sounds good i'll get $1,500 in funding for mining hardware.
My power cost here is $0.12 Kw/h
I was originally considering Ethereum, Bitcoin, and Litecoin as my top 3 prospects. I would like some flexibility to change to a different coin if the need arises and i know some rigs are suited only for bitcoin.
I was mostly considering GPU rig compared to an asic one.
I live on the east coast near NJ/PA area so i'm close to a Micro-Center which sells Graphics Cards in stock but they only seem to have 1-2 of any given card in stock and i was considering between 4-6 graphics cards.
My first concern is availability and pricing, even if some cards would be ideal they seem to be sold out or are being re-sold on ebay for3X the price.
The antminers are bitcoin exclusive? They are about $1,300+ and don't ship until  late November, which doesn't rule it out.
Are there any better options or guides anyone would reccomend for someone to get started?

p.s. - From the research I have done it seems impossible to tell the Hash rate of any card without having it tested first.I am a freshman college student majoring in computer science and this is exactly the type of formula I would like to study and understand in the pursuit of knowledge. Thanks.

Here's my advice: Do not get ASIC miners as they consume lots of electricity. Get a GPU rig instead, it is more versatile. Besides selling them will give back some of your capital.

I'd suggest that you get any cheap RX 470/480/570/580 and GTX 1050Ti/1060/1070 that is close to MSRP. Get the versions with more VRAM as Ether needs loads of those and you might run out of them next year with 3GB and 4GB versions of the cards. Also note that blower style cards are generally not preferred but if you find them at or near MSRP just grab them. You can also mix GPUs even if they are from different brands. I personally prefer getting the GTX 1070s as their resale value is higher, consumes less electricity, gives higher hashrates and can leave more expansion space in case you want to expand your rig to contain more GPUs.

Here's a suggested rig by me:

Mobo+CPU: Any mobo that is a mining mobo and the cheapest Intel Pentium CPU that can fit the socket

EG: Biostar TB250-BTC PRO + Intel Pentium G4560

Cost: 98+64= $162

RAM: A 4gb stick would do

Cost: $40

HDD: A 1/2TB one to store all those blockchains if you want local wallets


Cost (2TB): $67

SSD: No need

Rig Frame: Search up on DIY rig frames and make it yourself.

Cost: 30ish

That leaves about $1200 for GPUs.

Personally I would pick GTX 1070s. You can get 4 of them at MSRP price and they are best for Zcash mining right now, earning around $270 a month at max overclock with electricity prices factored in. But, if you cannot find any 1070s at MSRP or close to (AKA anything over 385) I'd go for GTX 1050Ti, they aren't really overpriced right now. You can get 7 or 8 of them if you stretch your budget a little. Overclocked they can earn around $230-$240 a month mining Ether, enough to buy another to add to your rig. I cannot say much about AMD cards as I don't own them except that Monero mining is more profitable than Ether mining on them right now.

Feel free to ask more questions, I'll be happy to answer.

[jm514]

I am given an opportunity to present a business plan (small) and if it sounds good i'll get $1,500 in funding for mining hardware.
My power cost here is $0.12 Kw/h
I was originally considering Ethereum, Bitcoin, and Litecoin as my top 3 prospects. I would like some flexibility to change to a different coin if the need arises and i know some rigs are suited only for bitcoin.
I was mostly considering GPU rig compared to an asic one.
I live on the east coast near NJ/PA area so i'm close to a Micro-Center which sells Graphics Cards in stock but they only seem to have 1-2 of any given card in stock and i was considering between 4-6 graphics cards.
My first concern is availability and pricing, even if some cards would be ideal they seem to be sold out or are being re-sold on ebay for3X the price.
The antminers are bitcoin exclusive? They are about $1,300+ and don't ship until  late November, which doesn't rule it out.
Are there any better options or guides anyone would reccomend for someone to get started?

p.s. - From the research I have done it seems impossible to tell the Hash rate of any card without having it tested first.I am a freshman college student majoring in computer science and this is exactly the type of formula I would like to study and understand in the pursuit of knowledge. Thanks.

Here's my advice: Do not get ASIC miners as they consume lots of electricity. Get a GPU rig instead, it is more versatile. Besides selling them will give back some of your capital.

I'd suggest that you get any cheap RX 470/480/570/580 and GTX 1050Ti/1060/1070 that is close to MSRP. Get the versions with more VRAM as Ether needs loads of those and you might run out of them next year with 3GB and 4GB versions of the cards. Also note that blower style cards are generally not preferred but if you find them at or near MSRP just grab them. You can also mix GPUs even if they are from different brands. I personally prefer getting the GTX 1070s as their resale value is higher, consumes less electricity, gives higher hashrates and can leave more expansion space in case you want to expand your rig to contain more GPUs.

Here's a suggested rig by me:

Mobo+CPU: Any mobo that is a mining mobo and the cheapest Intel Pentium CPU that can fit the socket

EG: Biostar TB250-BTC PRO + Intel Pentium G4560

Cost: 98+64= $162

RAM: A 4gb stick would do

Cost: $40

HDD: A 1/2TB one to store all those blockchains if you want local wallets


Cost (2TB): $67

SSD: No need

Rig Frame: Search up on DIY rig frames and make it yourself.

Cost: 30ish

That leaves about $1200 for GPUs.

Personally I would pick GTX 1070s. You can get 4 of them at MSRP price and they are best for Zcash mining right now, earning around $270 a month at max overclock with electricity prices factored in. But, if you cannot find any 1070s at MSRP or close to (AKA anything over 385) I'd go for GTX 1050Ti, they aren't really overpriced right now. You can get 7 or 8 of them if you stretch your budget a little. Overclocked they can earn around $230-$240 a month mining Ether, enough to buy another to add to your rig. I cannot say much about AMD cards as I don't own them except that Monero mining is more profitable than Ether mining on them right now.

Feel free to ask more questions, I'll be happy to answer.

Thank you! You're the first person to actually give a decent answer, and i do appreciate it.
I had a funny incident happen the other day i found RX 480's for $40 each on ebay and bouight 5 of them only to find out it was obviously an error.
So i'm back to the drawing boards as to where to specifically get them.
I like your suggestion of the GTX 1050Ti, is a decent price $185 each?

[killerelite]

Why not buy 2x 1080 tis  , U will have room for extra cards if u want to upgrade