How do I get started with mining, when I don't need to pay electrical costs?

[Moepius]

Hey, I'm a student located in Germany!

I thought you could help me in finding good hardware for my needs and also what to mine.
Currently I'm living in a student appartement with several units, where I don't have to pay any extra
for electrical costs. I recently started to inform myself about mining and tried to use nicehash as a starter.
That worked quite fine, but I also know that many don't like it for several reasons and in the long term I don't
want to rely on a thrid party. I used my gaming PC for a month (rtx 2080 super) and liked the results, so I decided
to start with actual mining.

I want to spend around 1000€ (~1200$), because thats what I am able to invest without getting in trouble if I loose it all.
Because I am living in a small appartement with just one room I need my mining rig to not be louder than 40-50DB,
cost under or around 1000€ and also not beeing insanly chunky.

Is there any hardware currently available that I can get in Germany in my price range that fits my needs?
I have not decided what to mine yet, guess that also depends on the hardware I can get my hands on. I also don't
have a preference in which kind of hardware I want to use as long as it meets my expectations above.


Thanks for your help!

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[Yogee]

....Currently I'm living in a student appartement with several units, where I don't have to pay any extra

The owner of the apartment is already kind enough not to charge you with electricity but I suggest that you shouldn't abuse it. As I look up on the internet, Germany is second in the highest electricity cost per household in EU https://www.cleanenergywire.org/news/german-household-electricity-prices-second-highest-eu

I know there are also mining pools that you can join but I'm afraid I can't suggest you a name.

[Moepius]

It's not like I live there for free. With over a 1000 Students living there, while also them beeing a big real estate company, I don't think I have to feel guilty for starting a new hobby. If they see that electrical cost gets to high for them to make profit, they will charge us, no doubt.

[Yogee]

.... If they see that electrical cost gets to high for them to make profit, they will charge us, no doubt.

If ever this happens, will you step up and take most of the electricity charges since you're the biggest consumer?

[joniboini]

You could buy a bunch of GPUs I guess. Take a look at https://whattomine.com/ and see it for yourself. Assuming your electricity cost is 0 I guess anything could be profitable. But your apartment manager will definitely find out. Don't know how much they'll charge you, but I don't think it is worth the risk. Staking might be better imo.

[Moepius]

.... If they see that electrical cost gets to high for them to make profit, they will charge us, no doubt.

If ever this happens, will you step up and take most of the electricity charges since you're the biggest consumer?

Yes and no. I won't buy a full blown setup with 8 GPUs or sth. because that's a) not in my price range and b) I wouldn't be the first one. I know of at least 6 other students that started to mine last year or several years ago with small steups that are mostly silent.
But if I ever happen to buy me a 12000$ ASIC-miner and use it in my small appartement, then yes I'll step up and get me a new contract and also open a sauna for everyone to use.

[Moepius]

You could buy a bunch of GPUs I guess. Take a look at https://whattomine.com/ and see it for yourself. Assuming your electricity cost is 0 I guess anything could be profitable. But your apartment manager will definitely find out. Don't know how much they'll charge you, but I don't think it is worth the risk. Staking might be better imo.

Thx for mentioning this site. I will take a look at it! Yeah, any setup would be kinda profitable, but I also don't want to waste money in not effcient hardware.

Yes, I thought about that. I am aware that they will find out if too many people in one building start to mine. But right now I would be the first one in my building (as far as I know) and also with 90 units in one building I don't think it will stand out between the electrical stoves, fan heaters and dish washers etc. At least not with a setup for 1000€.

[RickDeckard]

You could buy a bunch of GPUs I guess. Take a look at https://whattomine.com/ and see it for yourself. Assuming your electricity cost is 0 I guess anything could be profitable. But your apartment manager will definitely find out. Don't know how much they'll charge you, but I don't think it is worth the risk. Staking might be better imo.

Thx for mentioning this site. I will take a look at it! Yeah, any setup would be kinda profitable, but I also don't want to waste money in not effcient hardware.

Yes, I thought about that. I am aware that they will find out if too many people in one building start to mine. But right now I would be the first one in my building (as far as I know) and also with 90 units in one building I don't think it will stand out between the electrical stoves, fan heaters and dish washers etc. At least not with a setup for 1000€.

Tread carefully in this field mate. Albeit this consumption will be detected sooner or later, it all boils down to how the infrastructure is implemented. Assuming it's a big building I'm sure they won't have only one electrical counter in the same building. If made with proper care they will have electrical counters spread out and dedicated to a specific division or even floor. So while they could only notice that spike of consumption at the end of the month (assuming they don't monitor it daily), I'm really sure they'll be able to tell from which Floor/section of the building this consumption came from and from there it's just a matter of time until they find the root cause.

Put things into perspective : Are you willing to risk your actual accommodation just to nab a few dollars per month ? Assuming that the spike of the first month goes uncover that is ... Some things aren't worth doing mate, don't do something that'll make you regret down the line.

[SquirrelJulietGarden]

Mining is not easy.

- You have to choose coin to mine. ASIC can not be used to mine different coins as GPUs. With GPUs, you will have another challenge, when you can choose shit coins to mine. At the ends, you might can not sell those shit coins to pay power bill.
- Heat and ventilation: with your capital, you won't have a farm but heat is high and it can makes you uncomfortable. If you make farm (with bigger capital, and more rigs), you will have to install ventilation system.
- Maintenance: techniques and costs. If you are newbies, you will lost direction when your rigs get technical problems.

I think you can choose an easier way: invest and hold. Bitcoin or some top altcoins. Don't trade if you don't feel good with your trading. Buy and hold till the end of 2021 will be more profitable and easier than mining.

[Moepius]

Thx all for your replies!

I think I'll just do it the chill way and watch GPU prices the next few months. So I can build in a second GPU
in my gaming PC first with a new PSU and then try to maintain a more casual setup so I won't get charged with insane
electrical costs if they find out and charge me the extra I used.

Also I calculate the electrical costs of my city and try to assume what the company pays for it, so I know that I can afford it if they ever come to my appartement and want me to pay what I used extra.

[safar1980]

Thx all for your replies!

I think I'll just do it the chill way and watch GPU prices the next few months. So I can build in a second GPU
in my gaming PC first with a new PSU and then try to maintain a more casual setup so I won't get charged with insane
electrical costs if they find out and charge me the extra I used.

Also I calculate the electrical costs of my city and try to assume what the company pays for it, so I know that I can afford it if they ever come to my appartement and want me to pay what I used extra.

For 1000 euros you can buy RX5700 or RTX 3060ti.
if you find these cards on sale. If I were you, I would buy 3060ti, because you have 2080S
You will need a 700 watt power supply for 2 video cards and the unit must have enough power connectors to connect video cards.
You will need a raiser to plug in your video card and install it near your computer.
Installing two video cards in the computer case will cause them to overheat during mining.
The total consumption from the wall will be 450-500 watts.
Will your socket withstand such a constant load? Ideally, it should have a ceramic box

[Moepius]

Thx all for your replies!

I think I'll just do it the chill way and watch GPU prices the next few months. So I can build in a second GPU
in my gaming PC first with a new PSU and then try to maintain a more casual setup so I won't get charged with insane
electrical costs if they find out and charge me the extra I used.

Also I calculate the electrical costs of my city and try to assume what the company pays for it, so I know that I can afford it if they ever come to my appartement and want me to pay what I used extra.

For 1000 euros you can buy RX5700 or RTX 3060ti.
if you find these cards on sale. If I were you, I would buy 3060ti, because you have 2080S
You will need a 700 watt power supply for 2 video cards and the unit must have enough power connectors to connect video cards.
You will need a raiser to plug in your video card and install it near your computer.
Installing two video cards in the computer case will cause them to overheat during mining.
The total consumption from the wall will be 450-500 watts.
Will your socket withstand such a constant load? Ideally, it should have a ceramic box

Ok thanks for the advice. I have a 2000W fan heater that I use in winter, because our normal heater is not enough. That runs for days without problems.
But yes, I understand that's kinda different from my pc running 24/7, so I'll make sure my socket is able to handle it.

[hatshepsut93]

You should check the laws/rules if it's legal to use the electricity you get as a student for commercial purposes. People often think "oh, I have free electricity at school/work/etc., better use it to get rich", and then they get busted and have to pay a fine or even go to jail if the electricity theft was large.

In most countries it's not even legal to make mining rigs at your home, because you're being provided electricity at cheaper rate than the industry is getting, so there are laws that prohibit any sort of industrial activity in your apartment. People get away with it because no one really cares if it's a few GPUs, but if you'd place like 30 or 50 cards, you'd definitely get attention.

[Lucius]

Moepius, I am not in mining - but you probably know that mining BTC is not an option. Since you have free electricity, the only real cost is your hardware - but the fact is that it can't last forever, and the mining difficulty of any coin changes over time, so the hardware you have can become virtually worthless.

A few days ago there was news that the Chinese have literally started buying laptops with Nvidia RTX 30-series graphics, which has obviously become profitable because the price of some altcoins has gone up significantly. Whichever way you turn mining is an expensive business, even if you have free electricity.

https://twitter.com/harukaze5719/status/1359169860228513799

[joseyphil82]

Hey, I'm a student located in Germany!

I thought you could help me in finding good hardware for my needs and also what to mine.
Currently I'm living in a student appartement with several units, where I don't have to pay any extra
for electrical costs. I recently started to inform myself about mining and tried to use nicehash as a starter.
That worked quite fine, but I also know that many don't like it for several reasons and in the long term I don't
want to rely on a thrid party. I used my gaming PC for a month (rtx 2080 super) and liked the results, so I decided
to start with actual mining.

I want to spend around 1000€ (~1200$), because thats what I am able to invest without getting in trouble if I loose it all.
Because I am living in a small appartement with just one room I need my mining rig to not be louder than 40-50DB,
cost under or around 1000€ and also not beeing insanly chunky.

Is there any hardware currently available that I can get in Germany in my price range that fits my needs?
I have not decided what to mine yet, guess that also depends on the hardware I can get my hands on. I also don't
have a preference in which kind of hardware I want to use as long as it meets my expectations above.


Thanks for your help!

It's good that you are using the exact amount you can afford to lose, that's good to hear mate, since you are on free electricity it's better to use big graphic cards for some reasons like they won't contain huge space and people eye won't be on you since you don't own the house you living, start looking into RX5700 XT, I think two if these cards are enough, you will get around up to 55MH per gpu and that can fecth you 10$ per day right now

[Byakuga]

You should know and understand what is at stake here, you can build a rig now and mining profits goes down, you can also decide to invest instead and mining profits stays around for longer than you expected, this question you asked can only be answered by you, be willing to make a decision