Where to start

[asims33]

Hey all,

I have searched the forums here and am still quite confused where to start.

I have pretty good general computer knowledge and i dont think i will have any issues setting up my own miner(s) but after reading until my eyes went bloodshot i thought i would ask people who have done it.


I am looking to get started on a smaller scale to get my feet wet but i read a few threads and after looking at products out there it seems unrealistic. This is quite possibly one of those "Know just enough to get you in trouble" type situations but... Why do i see so many rigs running at 30-50 GH/s and then i see a soon to be released product the "Monarch" that claims 600 GH/s in just a PCI card... This seems unrealistic at best, after running that in a calculator one could easily make thousands per month (at current difficulty and exchange rates).

So here is my question, instead of me reading through tons of useless BS claims that ASIC companies make. What is the best way to get started, what expectations should i have, and how many of you make at least 1k per month profit?


I would appreciate any input as i am really interested in doing this.

Thanks!

[tripppn]

BEWARE BFL!!!  I wouldn't give them another dime if the monarch was 600TH because you won't get it till its obsolete. 
The monarch is like the next generation of ASIC miners.  There's a 2 TH machine coming out around the same time and when those start shipping the difficulty will skyrocket again.
It's really hard to say where to start... I guess it depends on how much money you have to invest.  You're going to get a lot of reply's here telling you to stay away from mining and they might be right but I personally enjoy it as almost a hobby not solid money making investment because the truth is whatever you buy will prob be obsolete before you make any ROI.  I have 2 Jallys 5 Block erupters and the rest is cloud based...  Some CEX.io, I fell for Cloudhashing.com's scam, and some group buys I found on here.
I would highly recommend the groupbuys, prob gonna get the best bang for your buck with those but if you like the flashing lights in your office then maybe look into the Red Fury USBs or there's something called the Cube (30GH +/-) coming out by the same company that makes the block erupters.

No!!! I don't make anywhere near 1k/mo mining BTC and everything I make burns a hole in my pocket to buy more hashing power... I'm an addict.   

[DeWizLoc]

Well I had literally written a giant post that was about 3k words long but the silly forum idled me out and lost my post..... On that note Im going to keep it short and sweet.

Basically this is what you must know. Consider alternate coins if you dont want to jump in with big hardware.

ASICs come in all shapes and sizes and price ranges. For learning the ropes but not really making much profit USB block eruptors are good. Up from them would be the BitFury USB which produce 2.5GH for the same amount of electricity as the block eruptors, but these are not so good on the $/performance ratio. Right now entry level $/performance probably goes to the asicminer blades which run ~$300 and provide 10GH/sec, and can be installed onto a backplane supporting up to 10 of them for a total of 100GH.

To earn 1K per month mining you need to be prepared to dish out several thousand dollars right now, and continue to invest more into hardware as time goes on.

www.bitcoinx.com can help you predict if its worth it to you to mine BTC. www.coinwarz.com will allow you to gauge alternate coins. Right now if you have a small amount of hashing power alternate coins are much more profitable.

Once you find a coin you want to mine search around the internet for a mining pool as they allow for more consistent payouts.

Sorry this isnt more detailed, and good luck.

[asims33]

Well i your responses. I have started reading a little into alternate coins as well. I would be cool with spending a couple grand on hardware if the ROI is good but i am aware the difficulty raising will cause issues down the road.

If either of you use Steam or Origin or something like that i would love to chat with you and pick your brain.

Either way thanks for the info so far!

[ninjafocus100]

I am a newbie and I am looking and doing research on the alternative as well. I think Peercoin looks promising.

[marcotheminer]

Welcome to the forums!
Just search around for good articles!

[btc_mc]

Hello World! 
Drop my first msg here

[CryptoJunky]

Hey all,

I have searched the forums here and am still quite confused where to start.

I have pretty good general computer knowledge and i dont think i will have any issues setting up my own miner(s) but after reading until my eyes went bloodshot i thought i would ask people who have done it.


I am looking to get started on a smaller scale to get my feet wet but i read a few threads and after looking at products out there it seems unrealistic. This is quite possibly one of those "Know just enough to get you in trouble" type situations but... Why do i see so many rigs running at 30-50 GH/s and then i see a soon to be released product the "Monarch" that claims 600 GH/s in just a PCI card... This seems unrealistic at best, after running that in a calculator one could easily make thousands per month (at current difficulty and exchange rates).

So here is my question, instead of me reading through tons of useless BS claims that ASIC companies make. What is the best way to get started, what expectations should i have, and how many of you make at least 1k per month profit?


I would appreciate any input as i am really interested in doing this.

Thanks!

Bitcoin mining profit margins are still pretty low. For instance, most mining hardware priced in Bitcoin is priced at such a point that you'll break even at best. With the price rising it might be possible for you to find ASICs priced in USD that will be profitable, such as the Cointerra IV. Long story short, investing in ASICs right now is unlikely to yield a higher profit than investing in Bitcoin directly and not many people are making significant profit as miners.

When you look at the profitability of the  ASIC you should really only be concerned with one thing, the GH/S per $. The lower the number the more profitable that ASIC is likely to be. Stay away from BFL, they are a notoriously unreliable company when it comes to shipping timelines.

If you're entirely new to Bitcoin here are a couple articles that will give you background on Bitcoin and Bitcoin GPU mining. My site also has reviews of a few of the lower cost ASICs out there.


http://cryptojunky.com/blog/2013/03/26/absolute-beginners-guide-to-gpu-mining-bitcoin/

http://cryptojunky.com/blog/2013/03/18/getting-started-with-bitcoin/

http://cryptojunky.com/blog/2013/11/16/hashing-with-bitfurys-blue-fury-bitcoin-miners/

[fitsbach]

Like I said in another thread. I think the most reliable and profitable option for now is CEX.
It's basically Cloud Mining where you can also exchange your hashing speed for BTC like on the stock markets!
Depending on the Buy/Sell price you can even make it profitable with Micro-transactions if you know what your doing.

I think you can find a lot of information about them on the Forum here.

Take a look here CEX.io