Complete dummy

[wbmillerkc]

Hey All..
.I've Just kind of stumbled into this whole bitcoin and other coin mining. I've done some research on line about what kind of equipment it takes etc. I don't know a lot about it, I'm not any kind of trader or anything, but what I do know is computers. It seems to me that for the money spent, ASIC mining is the way to go as opposed to GPU, given a set dollar amount to spend on either kind of rig.

I've looked at several mining calculators on line, and they seem to be throwing some rather large dollar amounts around for the amount of money spent on equipment. So what I'm looking for here is some real life opinions based on you guys personal experience before I start throwing cash down for mining rigs.

We'll make a couple of assumptions here.

A) With Butterfly labs new PCI ASIC card running 600 GH, costing $2100.00 USD on pre-order, the rest of the computer costing around $600, putting total system cost at less that $3000.

B) I mine in a pool. That seems to be the general opinion on the way to go.

C) I have the internet and power costs for basicly free. I keep a couple of computers at idle 24/7 anyway, so that is a cost I have whether I mine or not.

D) I have average luck

According to dustcoin.com, @600 GH, that gives me around $5700.00 a month profit for several of the SHA-256 based coins. I know there are some additional fees in there, pool fee's, I'm assuming brokerage fee's when you go to sell them on one of the exchanges etc.

So my real question is... Is that $5700 even close to reality given the market doesn't change dramaticly in the next several months?? I'm thought I'd ask what ya'lls real life experience is, not looking for specific numbers of what you made last week or month. Just are these dollar amounts anywhere close to real life.
Brad

[grumpybearsgirl]

From what I understand, the thing the calculators don't often take into account (enough) is the difficulty of mining as more bitcoins are mined.

Some of them do actually factor it in but it's a moving target so they can't get an exact amount.

I would expect that any number you calculate out is going to be much higher than the real stuff....but the only way to figure it out is to start mining

[Flashman]

You don't really need a machine to run a single Monarch card IN per se, it will also connect via USB, so you will only need a PSU and a pre-existing machine to connect it to. So you could save that $600, trim it down to $100 for the PSU.

By the time you get it, (i.e not january for sure... march hopefully) it's more likely to do about 1500 the first month, 800 next month, 400 following, etc, this is not actually bad, the $2100 price point just about makes them worth it, everything after that is gravy and with a rising BTC you might actually make far more in usd.

[ChuckBuck]

Hi there!  Fellow newbie miner as well.

From reading around the forum, Butterfly Labs is not to be trusted with pre-orders.  They rarely ship in time, and have poor customer service and poor response to emails etc.

I'm hearing alot of positive feedback for Black Arrow Software, just because they're responsive to pre-order questions and they have a good forum presence here, and provide timely updates.

US Re-seller:

https://www.minersource.net/

If you were to get 600 GH/s (or 6 X-1's) of Black Arrow Prospero X-1's at $352 a piece plus shipping, it'd be much less than your upwards of $3k setup with BFL card.  If I'm not mistaken(55 W per X-1), the combined setup would consume less power and electricity.

That $5700 profit you quoted probably is what it'd mine right now.  The difficulty increases every 11 days or so, plus all the Asics ship around Q1 and Q2, so the network hash rate will grow exponentially, also increasing difficulty.

Good calculators here:

http://mining.thegenesisblock.com/

btcinvest.net/en/bitcoin-mining-profit-calculator.php

A popular opinion on these boards is to just buy and hold Bitcoins and hope for the value to jump up in 2014.  Also, another alternative is mine altcoins like Litecoins, PPC, Doge, Name, etc, then exchange them for BTC.


So in other words, be wary of the Butterfly! 

Don't believe me, look at the general forum consensus:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=323857.0


Good luck and Happy New Year on your Crypto-hunt!

Chuck

[colinfx]

Hi,

Whilst I have concentrated my interest in Altcoins, I was of the understanding that it was not possible for a 'normal person' to get the right hardware to mine Bitcoins and make a profit, is this not correct? Surely it's not as easy as spending $2,500 and then the bucks roll in?

Cfx.

[oprahwindfury]

Sure you could spend $2,500 for mining equipment, but on current calculations you'd be lucky to make back 80% of that based on continuing increased difficulty. It's been said before, if you can afford to spend $2,500, spend that on buying bitcoins and re-selling it for a profit if you really are looking to make money.

[wbmillerkc]

Hi,

Whilst I have concentrated my interest in Altcoins, I was of the understanding that it was not possible for a 'normal person' to get the right hardware to mine Bitcoins and make a profit, is this not correct? Surely it's not as easy as spending $2,500 and then the bucks roll in?

Cfx.

Hi There...
On the surface I have to agree with you, hence the question. I'm here to learn, so Please, tell me what I don't know.

Brad

[wbmillerkc]

You don't really need a machine to run a single Monarch card IN per se, it will also connect via USB, so you will only need a PSU and a pre-existing machine to connect it to. So you could save that $600, trim it down to $100 for the PSU.

By the time you get it, (i.e not january for sure... march hopefully) it's more likely to do about 1500 the first month, 800 next month, 400 following, etc, this is not actually bad, the $2100 price point just about makes them worth it, everything after that is gravy and with a rising BTC you might actually make far more in usd.

Thanks for the evaluation, that was what I was looking for. I'm thinking I'll probably mine more Terra coin and Peercoin than BTC, lower difficulty with, according to the calculators, equal payout. Assuming the difficulty factor remains some what the same between the different coins, other SHA-256 coins should be more profitable over the long haul.

[wbmillerkc]

Hi there!  Fellow newbie miner as well.



So in other words, be wary of the Butterfly! 

Don't believe me, look at the general forum consensus:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=323857.0


Good luck and Happy New Year on your Crypto-hunt!

Chuck

Thanks for the heads up! BFL seems to have a strong web advertising presence, that's why I mentioned them... But there is always something better suited to each persons needs out there.

[wbmillerkc]

Sure you could spend $2,500 for mining equipment, but on current calculations you'd be lucky to make back 80% of that based on continuing increased difficulty. It's been said before, if you can afford to spend $2,500, spend that on buying bitcoins and re-selling it for a profit if you really are looking to make money.

You're probably right, IF I had the knowledge, and desire to spend every waking moment in front of the screen. every persons goal is different. I'm not looking to get rich, just supplement my income a little. If I can put a machine together, flip the switch, and walk away for a week... come back and see if it made anything... That's more in line of what I'm thinking right now. Everyones goal is different.