I wanna get into mining.

[Regalx]

Im from Norway and wanna get into mining as a kind of hobby. Im a student atm and can't afford the newer models of antminers. But i have the possibility of having a miner in my parents garage, so costs of running the miner wouldnt be that big of a problem. There seems to be very few miners in the country at this point, so miners are hard to come by. but i just came across a used Antminer S4 for 280$. Should i consider buying it? or should i try to buy something unused?
Id be grateful for any tips

[NotFuzzyWarm]

For a start, read Bitcoin Mining 101 at the top of this section. If you can deal with the power needs, heat and noise, then proceed.

As for the miners - do you have FREE power? If so, the s4 was a decent miner for its day but a better choice would be an s7 as it is 2x the speed while using the same amount of power as the s4. If you ARE paying for power then odds are only the current gen miners will be worth it.

[Regalx]

No, i wont be paying for power I have no chance to buy anything over 400$ I have also seen a S5 for 380$

[Regalx]

Well, i dont really have free power, but my parents will be paying it, hehe I dont think they mind tho, since we recently built a shed that probably would have some sort of heating anyways

[unholycactus]

No, i wont be paying for power I have no chance to buy anything over 400$ I have also seen a S5 for 380$

Can't run a S5 without buying a power supply. I feel like it's a crazy amount to pay for it nowadays too.

[leowonderful]

No, i wont be paying for power I have no chance to buy anything over 400$ I have also seen a S5 for 380$

Can't run a S5 without buying a power supply. I feel like it's a crazy amount to pay for it nowadays too.

Power supplies come pretty cheap, especially if you can snag a server PSU and a breakout board or solder on connectors yourself. Sometimes with rebate you can get decent bronze PSUs that can run an S5 for sub $30 as well. The S5 seems pretty expensive, you could get an S7 or A6 pretty easily for that price in the States. GPU mining could also be profitable with last gen GPUs.

[NotFuzzyWarm]

Well, i dont really have free power, but my parents will be paying it, hehe I dont think they mind tho, since we recently built a shed that probably would have some sort of heating anyways

Well then since the S4 has a built-in PSU that would work dandy. Be aware that at stock speed they pull around 1.300W as I recall. Using that number, running 24x7 and a 30-day billing cycle that is an additional 936kWh your folks will be seeing on their bill each month... What is the local rate per kWh?

[Regalx]

Average is about 0.10$ My parents might have a little cheaper tho. So its probably about 90$ a month right, i dont think they mind that, they both have good jobs and everything.
Also i just saw that a heating-fan from a local store uses 2000W (http://www.jula.no/catalog/bygg-og-maling/innendorsklima/oppvarming/varmevifter/byggvifte-411134/#tab02)
So this might actually be a win-win situation

[chickenado]

No, i wont be paying for power I have no chance to buy anything over 400$ I have also seen a S5 for 380$

Can't run a S5 without buying a power supply. I feel like it's a crazy amount to pay for it nowadays too.

Power supplies come pretty cheap, especially if you can snag a server PSU and a breakout board or solder on connectors yourself. Sometimes with rebate you can get decent bronze PSUs that can run an S5 for sub $30 as well. The S5 seems pretty expensive, you could get an S7 or A6 pretty easily for that price in the States. GPU mining could also be profitable with last gen GPUs.

Maybe those fast GPU processors was so expensive and not a good idea to those countries whose electricity is expensive. Of course if we wanted good results on mining, we should invest for a reliable hardware like miners. To those mentioned parts I think everything will went well if you had good budget for that, so better think about it prior investing with mining.

[reliable]

I think it is better to invest in them the money in cryptocurrency

If you are not a technical guy and you country's stand is unsure regarding bitcoin then yes even I suggest to friends that instead of mining buy cypto currency and save it for long term or sell it at high and make the gains out of it. Because if country has legally accepted bitcoin then its fine else its a difficult moment when things may change and your equipment will no longer be useful to you if mining is banned in your country.

[prodigys]

must i use a antminer to mine, not a computer?

[Viiiii]

Is there any kind of thread here were i can find some good calculations how much energy consumtion/cost is needed to produce 1BTC or other altcoins?! Would be great to get some specific numbers to make a small research project about combining solar power in poor areas to intergrate them in the crypto movement.

[NotFuzzyWarm]

must i use a antminer to mine, not a computer?

Antminer is Bitmain's brand name for their miners, that further breaks down into Bitcoin miners like their s9 and altcoin miners like the D3 and L3. Not all miners are Bitcoin miners! That said there are other Bitcoin miner makers: Canaan.io with their Avalons, Ebang, and Hotmine.io

Read Beginners and Help section to start out...