Butterfly Labs Jalapeno - Worth it?

[Elldctic]

Hi all,

First post and have a question for those in the know. I've been reading about mining for some time now but been hesitant to invest real money but now feel I may be missing out...question is am I too late to the party?

I'm thinking about getting a Butterfly Labs Jalapeno.

From what I can gather the following is the rough specs of them (though I'm sure people here can correct me/be more specific):

* 5 GH/s
* ~45w
* Can be bought 2nd hand for around £250 ($411.75) (maybe a bit cheaper)

Now in my area electricity costs around £0.1261 ($0.21) /Kwh.

So based on the above, would I ever make the £250 investment back?

I would run it using an EEEPc 901 which draws about 10w on idle (assuming the miner does most of the work), so looking around:
45w+10w = 55w * 24 = 1320w / 1.320Kwh per day = £0.166452 per day on electricity.

Can anyone help?

[vpasic]

forget about it!
not worth it at all.
5gh will earn you 0.001/day and less and less every difficulty jump.
since there is no sha-256 more profitable than btc 5gh is pointless to mine with it.
don't throw your money away.
you have much more to read about btc mining.
diff is so high right now that without 200gh/s don't even try.
sorry dude.

[empoweoqwj]

Hi all,

First post and have a question for those in the know. I've been reading about mining for some time now but been hesitant to invest real money but now feel I may be missing out...question is am I too late to the party?

I'm thinking about getting a Butterfly Labs Jalapeno.

From what I can gather the following is the rough specs of them (though I'm sure people here can correct me/be more specific):

* 5 GH/s
* ~45w
* Can be bought 2nd hand for around £250 ($411.75) (maybe a bit cheaper)

Now in my area electricity costs around £0.1261 ($0.21) /Kwh.

So based on the above, would I ever make the £250 investment back?

I would run it using an EEEPc 901 which draws about 10w on idle (assuming the miner does most of the work), so looking around:
45w+10w = 55w * 24 = 1320w / 1.320Kwh per day = £0.166452 per day on electricity.

Can anyone help?

Nah, forget it. The "tech" is so old now, you won't get your money back.

[bitcoin_UK]

Sorry buddy but I have to agree with the above post. Mining on a jalapeño won't be profitable or even break even. If you're looking at your first step into mining it's an affordable option worth looking at. If you're serious about using mining as a means of making money then the ship may have sailed. Like you said though, second hand around £250 isn't a bad way of getting into the game.

Best of luck!

[bcp19]

Why spend $411 for a 2nd hand 5GH when they are selling 10GH models for $374?  Hmm.. seems they are off the website ATM, but the 50GH is back at $984 with "immediate shipping".

[ProudMiner]

Jalapeno not worth it, this is a cheaper solution
http://technobit.eu/index.php?id_product=60&controller=product&id_lang=1

[Elldctic]

Thanks for the replies.

Is there anything that £/Watt/GH for up-to £300 that would actually be profitable at the moment?
I'm just looking to start into mining but would like to at least cover the electricity of running the thing!

Key thing is it has to be USB/self contained so it can run with a low powered netbook.
I am also considering using solar to run such a machine so ideally something that comes in under 50w would be best.

[raskul]

with current difficulty, anything under 100GH/s is pointless (even that will struggle to ROI).
best luck.

[empoweoqwj]

Thanks for the replies.

Is there anything that £/Watt/GH for up-to £300 that would actually be profitable at the moment?
I'm just looking to start into mining but would like to at least cover the electricity of running the thing!

Key thing is it has to be USB/self contained so it can run with a low powered netbook.
I am also considering using solar to run such a machine so ideally something that comes in under 50w would be best.

There is nothing really profitable at the moment if you are talking bitcoins.

[Elldctic]

Hmm ok, I'll have to do some reading then. Not sure about the credibility of alternatives.

I guess I could just get one, leave it running on solar and forget about it.
I'll take a look into some calculators to work out if it's worth me looking into it.

[empoweoqwj]

Hmm ok, I'll have to do some reading then. Not sure about the credibility of alternatives.

I guess I could just get one, leave it running on solar and forget about it.
I'll take a look into some calculators to work out if it's worth me looking into it.

Altcoins aren't necessarily as "credible" as bitcoin but they are a better way of making money from mining at the moment. The bitcoin mining scene just got way too "overheated" with ASIC manufacturers piling in the last 6 months. Just depends what you want from the experience. A chance of a profit or the education of learning how to mine bitcoins specifically.

[ManeBjorn]

How much does that come out to in BTC?
That looks like a decent product.

Jalapeno not worth it, this is a cheaper solution
http://technobit.eu/index.php?id_product=60&controller=product&id_lang=1

[NecroBones]

If you're considering a 5 GH/s Jalapeno, I'd recommend buying 4 Antminer U1 sticks instead. Even with 4 of them, it's cheaper, and they easily overclock to 2GH each, plus they only draw about 2 watts each. So for less money, you'd get 8 GH/s for about 8 watts or so (not sure how much wattage is added with the overclock).

[cxboyminer]

This can be used for other not-so-famous alt sha-256 coins

[Sp00n1980]

antminer U1's are down to less than £50 each on ebay now ....thats 10Gh/s for the same money (£250) 

[empoweoqwj]

antminer U1's are down to less than £50 each on ebay now ....thats 10Gh/s for the same money (£250) 

Very good point. And still won't make a profit

[Cheshyr]

If you're set on buying mining hardware, look into some of the newer hardware, like the stuff based on the BitMine A1.  If you get it early enough, and at a low enough price, it has a decent chance of... I don't want to say break even, but it's a lower risk hardware investment.  I think it's possible to make money mining.  You just have to take the right risks at the right time.  You're either 4 months too late, or 3 weeks too early, depending on who you ask.

You'll notice a lot of IFs in that previous paragraph.  The truth is, if we knew the answer, we'd be buying it ourselves.  The risk profile right now is difficult to analyze.  Mining hardware sells though, so someone must be making money with it.

[empoweoqwj]

If you're set on buying mining hardware, look into some of the newer hardware, like the stuff based on the BitMine A1.  If you get it early enough, and at a low enough price, it has a decent chance of... I don't want to say break even, but it's a lower risk hardware investment.  I think it's possible to make money mining.  You just have to take the right risks at the right time.  You're either 4 months too late, or 3 weeks too early, depending on who you ask.

You'll notice a lot of IFs in that previous paragraph.  The truth is, if we knew the answer, we'd be buying it ourselves.  The risk profile right now is difficult to analyze.  Mining hardware sells though, so someone must be making money with it.

The people making the chips make money

[surftime]

How good are theses? honestly, not sure they are worth the price

[empoweoqwj]

How good are theses? honestly, not sure they are worth the price

Old and terrible, have you read through this thread without getting the msg?