I want in will my PC even do it?

[film2240]

Thanks kindly. Even if I don't profit, I'll still be able to try something new and in the end I have a good graphics card. Hopefully the alt-coins will hold for a while. Seems that every time something awesome comes out (read: Magic money machine) they have to go and piss in the pot.

I'll start with the card so at least I can run my games and we'll go from there.

*EDIT: I checked out the Radeon R9-280X. Holy smokes! Impressive looking but no way can I swing over $400 right now. AMD 5870 is a bit over what I was thinking of but definitely doable. It has a Kh/S rate of 400 which is incredible compared to my current card. My wattage is at about 400 and that's the peak value I believe.

I went on the litecoin calculator and though i don't know exactly all the values I entered my wattage, cost of power, and the 400 Kh/S I ended up with $68 monthly profit. Still, I don't know about pool fees and all that, and then what to do with the litecoins or otherwise once I want to cash out. But that's down the road.

If money's an issue go for an HD7950 on ebay,I've seen them going for a good rate as the hashrate can be pretty good (around 650-720 kh/s I hear) for scrypt mining.I say mine DOGE coins or another alt coin then cash them in for BTC,then trade for real money (like I'm doing now,except I repurposed my GPU from mining BTC to DOGE coins as I delegated Bitcoin based alt coins,SHA-256 technology, to my newly purchased Ant miner U1 ASIC as I can mine both kinds of coins at the same time,a practice known as Hybrid mining.)

I'm starting to feel glad that I entered the mining scene from May 2011 (which was completely different which I guess makes me an old member here)

I know what I'm saying is a bit more advanced but I'm sure you can do ok with it.

[Heliarc]

Yep, I'm already getting the card anyhow. If I can make a buck for doing so that's gravy. I wonder though, even if it's not exactly profitable, since my computer is on 24/7 anyhow, won't I at least cut down on my electric bills?

I got most of what you're saying Film. In a few months I'll have the rest of it hopefully. Is it a pretty straightforward affair to swap Alt coins for BTC, and then to hard currency?

[Sonny]

Yep, I'm already getting the card anyhow. If I can make a buck for doing so that's gravy. I wonder though, even if it's not exactly profitable, since my computer is on 24/7 anyhow, won't I at least cut down on my electric bills?

I got most of what you're saying Film. In a few months I'll have the rest of it hopefully. Is it a pretty straightforward affair to swap Alt coins for BTC, and then to hard currency?

You may try to use Multipool. https://www.multipool.us/
It allows you to mine the most profitable coin automatically.


But, don't expect to get much from it, as ATI/AMD graphics card works much better in mining.
For the scrypt hashrate of different cards, you may refer to the following page.
https://litecoin.info/Mining_hardware_comparison

[Stinky_Pete]

Watch out for the difficulty changing. A card that might earn $10 in your first month will give only $5 in the second, $2.5 in the third etc.

[Heliarc]

I'll keep that in mind, as well as the multi pool thing. Sounds like fun though.

[Bigplayermaster]

another option is to mine Bitcoin Srypt - BTCS (anti ASIC)

http://btc2.cryptominer.net/index.php

[MoneyMorpheus]

I wouldn't go for a 5870 right now. It is too old, perhaps you get one with a lot of use or a lot of mining. If you can't afford a 7950 go for a 270x

[CryptoCurrencyInc.com]

your PC can mine bitcoin if the difficulty is under 100. right now, the bitcoin difficulty is too high, so NO, your PC won't be able to mine bitcoin.

[Heliarc]

I wouldn't go for a 5870 right now. It is too old, perhaps you get one with a lot of use or a lot of mining. If you can't afford a 7950 go for a 270x

Even the 5870 blows the doors off my current card. I found the GT530 listed on one Bitcoin comparison chart and it has a Kh/S of 17. It pretty much won't even do a calculation. The 5870 has a Kh/S of 400. It's not a demon unless you compare it with the Nivid I have now. Even so, it's respectable and it's pretty much what I have my eyes on unless my local computer guy can somehow hook me up with something better. I take all my business to him so he might help me out a bit.

And as I've said before, I'm getting a card anyhow. If at all possible I'll go for something faster than the 5870. It only takes a few more dollars to go first class right? But if it isn't possible at least the 5870 will let me get my feet wet and see if this venture is for me or not. If I can prove this is viable I can rake up scratch for better equipment quick fast and in a hurry.

Finally, If it's all for nothing, at least my damn monitor will stop flickering purple and I can crank up the detail and draw distances.

[Ritual]

Heliarc, the 5870 will do admirably for starting out, but see if you can get it fairly cheaply. I wouldn't pay $200 for it. For an extra 50% investment ($300) you could double your hashing power. If you can grab it for $150 I'd say go for it. If you make a few bucks off altcoins in the first few weeks, you can always reinvest and add a second or third card.

Best of luck

Rit.

[bitbitz]

Dont bother mining man.

[Heliarc]

Dont bother mining man.

Well thanks for the encouraging words

Ritual, I have yet to talk to my local guy. He's not going to be in until tuesday. He really pulls some stuff out of nowhere for me though. I won't be buying anything until I've talked with him since he likely has a previous gen card on one of his shelves. His used equipment is dirt cheap. He's not in the parts game, he's in it for service. If I can't get something from him that will do it I won't go over $150 on the 5870. If I can't get the 5870 for that price I'll go the extra mile for a $300 card and be done with it.

I'm going to do some research and find out just what my target is should I have to go the $300 route.

**Edit** I'm thinking a 5970 if I have to go all out. Apparently people are already upgrading from these so my local guy might even have one. If it's been used for mining a lot already is that a bad thing? Seems like mining runs the card full tilt non-stop.

[tompa555]

Dont bother mining man.

why not mining if you have equipment for it. there will always be some coin who is good for mining.

[Ritual]

@Heliarc

Ignore the people who tell you not to mine. There is still money to be made, and it's a cool hobby to have - you will learn alot

wrt to the card you buy, I can only point you at: https://litecoin.info/Mining_hardware_comparison

The basic equation you want to use is: Hashrate/buyprice = value. You want this number to be as high as possible.

(e.g. a 400 KHash card for $200 = value 2, whereas a 800KHash card for $600 = value 1.333 - the first card probably makes more sense. This doesn't take into account power usage though)

Try to take an average of the values you see for cards - some people have managed to get really crazy high rates by spending hours and hours tinkering with every aspect of the settings. You might see an entry for your card at several different places in the list, with a wide variance of hashrates. Aim for the middle.

Your basic strategy should be to monitor the announcement board for new coins, grab a few right at the start, then hope they get added to an exchange, such as Cryptsy. If and when they do, you can then convert them into Bitcoin or Litecoin, or whatever you favour.

GL with it and keep us updated

Rit./

[MegaHustlr]

Hello all. Until yesterday I thought this was just some universal game currency. Now I find it's actual currency that you are providing a service for. Also I've read that much of it depends on what you are using as far as wattage, and your video card.

Currently I'm running a Dell XPS 8300 with a Geforce GT530. The card is on it's last legs and I'm looking for a new one. Once I heard about mining though I figured I might look for an older Radeon that will do the job. If it pays off I can get myself some better equipment but at least I have a decent graphics card. Anyhow, is there something in the $200-$300 range that I can find used that will make a profit? I'll post my specs below. I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction here, or at least tell me if my current machine will even run a GPU that will work. If there is anything I missed please ask. I'm more than happy to help you help me. I thank you.

Make/Model: Dell XPS 8300
CPU: Intel Core i7-2600 3.4 GHZ
Ram: 12 GB
GPU: Nvidia Geforce GT 530

Go for it.. no losses I dont think.

[nasamanBoy]

The SAPPHIRE HD 4870 X2 2G GDDR5 PCI-E

this card definitely can do it
cost approximately 360 USD

[Ritual]

Heliarc, if you're still interested, my site might help you with a few things (I hope):

http://cryptoexperiment.wordpress.com/

More content being added every day, and I'll be working on the layout and categorisation today to make it a bit easier to navigate.

Thanks,

Rit.

[Sonny]

wrt to the card you buy, I can only point you at: https://litecoin.info/Mining_hardware_comparison

The basic equation you want to use is: Hashrate/buyprice = value. You want this number to be as high as possible.

(e.g. a 400 KHash card for $200 = value 2, whereas a 800KHash card for $600 = value 1.333 - the first card probably makes more sense. This doesn't take into account power usage though)

Power usage is indeed important, especially if you are expecting to do mining for a long period of time (well, you can stop anytime, and just sell your graphics cards).
Don't underestimate the electricity cost when you are mining 24/7.  

[nasamanBoy]

exactly
However if you have cheaper sources of energy such as solar panels
Then you it's worth it ....

[Ritual]

You are both correct, I'm kind of ignoring the electricity cost at the moment. I'm viewing this as a complete newbie trying to just get started with one card, to test the water. Power costs would be fairly low for a just-getting-started machine, so assuming that the OP can cover his leccy bill at the moment, he's not likely to be put under immediate pressure with a small machine.

Ofc it becomes a different story with multicard rigs, and it wouldn't be smart to ignore the cost at that point. But if the OP progresses to that point, then he should have picked up on that.

Rit.