Valve's Steam Deck as a Mining Machine?

[SirJohnVonSlotty]

Hey guys,

I'm trying to make an article that would rank all the current gen consoles and their mining capabilities, this is just for a random assignment that I'm doing, I'm not serious about mining on consoles

I found enough info on the PS5 and Xbox Series XIS, but I'm having trouble getting any on Valve's Steam Deck.

This is the console I'm talking about: https://store.steampowered.com/steamdeck

It is a Zen 2 + RDNA 2 setup on Linux, and it can be easily modified.

In terms of the software and hardware, what would need to be modified and what could one expect?

p.s. I'm still new to the forum so I hope I placed this in the right sub-category.

[heslo]

I've got a Deck, trust me, the thermals in such a small unit would be prohibitive. You'll end up with a lot of heat and not a lot of hash to show for it

[SirJohnVonSlotty]

The default OS is based on Arch Linux and Valve doesn't perform any serious system lock, so i expect you just need to launch terminal and download/run needed mining software.

Which is what I hoped some of the users here already tested But I'll try to do it myself then and test it out, I'm just curious and would like to rank them all per performance.

[OgNasty]

The default OS is based on Arch Linux and Valve doesn't perform any serious system lock, so i expect you just need to launch terminal and download/run needed mining software.

Which is what I hoped some of the users here already tested But I'll try to do it myself then and test it out, I'm just curious and would like to rank them all per performance.

As long as you’re doing it for fun or educational reasons and not to try and make money. Obviously this device isn’t ideal for mining for many reasons and will probably cost you money without ever making you anything. For fun though this is a great project and I’m sure there will be people who appreciate having more mining data available with yet another new device. Good luck!

[Crypt0Gore]

Op I will like to know more about the information you gathered about mining on a Xbox series x because I have one and I got tired of it, now I play games on PC, I know that the series x have a very good GPU but I can't find any information about using it for crypto mining.

[SirJohnVonSlotty]

Op I will like to know more about the information you gathered about mining on a Xbox series x because I have one and I got tired of it, now I play games on PC, I know that the series x have a very good GPU but I can't find any information about using it for crypto mining.

For now it's mostly speculation, here and there you have a thread popping out like this one: https://www.reddit.com/r/ethereum/comments/po2uzk/i_created_an_opensource_ethereum_miner_for_xbox/

But I'm still researching and will link you too it soon

In general though, all the current gen consoles are capable of doing it, it's just a question on how much and how long they can sustain it.

I'll keep you posted! 

[FP91G]

Op I will like to know more about the information you gathered about mining on a Xbox series x because I have one and I got tired of it, now I play games on PC, I know that the series x have a very good GPU but I can't find any information about using it for crypto mining.

For now it's mostly speculation, here and there you have a thread popping out like this one: https://www.reddit.com/r/ethereum/comments/po2uzk/i_created_an_opensource_ethereum_miner_for_xbox/

But I'm still researching and will link you too it soon

In general though, all the current gen consoles are capable of doing it, it's just a question on how much and how long they can sustain it.

I'll keep you posted! 

Mining on game consoles was relevant during the shortage of video cards and their very expensive cost. Mining was very profitable, so laptops and game consoles were used for mining. Now it is irrelevant and not profitable due to the end of ethereum mining and the presence of a large number of inexpensive video cards on the market.

[philipma1957]

Op I will like to know more about the information you gathered about mining on a Xbox series x because I have one and I got tired of it, now I play games on PC, I know that the series x have a very good GPU but I can't find any information about using it for crypto mining.

For now it's mostly speculation, here and there you have a thread popping out like this one: https://www.reddit.com/r/ethereum/comments/po2uzk/i_created_an_opensource_ethereum_miner_for_xbox/

But I'm still researching and will link you too it soon

In general though, all the current gen consoles are capable of doing it, it's just a question on how much and how long they can sustain it.

I'll keep you posted! 

Mining on game consoles was relevant during the shortage of video cards and their very expensive cost. Mining was very profitable, so laptops and game consoles were used for mining. Now it is irrelevant and not profitable due to the end of ethereum mining and the presence of a large number of inexpensive video cards on the market.

but for the future you never know.

[rdluffy]

but for the future you never know.

I remember people desperate buying laptops with 3060 here and it was profitable at that time, the future is unknown, maybe our old cards can mine again, maybe consoles, who knows?

When I stopped my mining operations in 2018 due to market crash, I sold almost all equipment, thinking that at that moment everything was done forever, but I was wrong.
My family took to garbage more or less 15 risers cable, at that moment nobody would buy. But after 2020 I need to buy all the risers again, more than 200 USD of risers...
My old RX 480s and 580s could give me more profits than I earned when I sold...
Old motherboards with dated CPUs saved my mining some times, just to test or until my package comes...

So it's hard to say about the future.


For a short period of time I had a Steam Deck, it was a great machine, very powerful to a portable console, but I sold easily in a few hours, a person offered a lot of money 
You can be sure in a few months some guy can make a miner to run on Steam Deck, because for now it's not wide available to buy, I think just last month Valve was delivering without lines.

[FP91G]

Op I will like to know more about the information you gathered about mining on a Xbox series x because I have one and I got tired of it, now I play games on PC, I know that the series x have a very good GPU but I can't find any information about using it for crypto mining.

For now it's mostly speculation, here and there you have a thread popping out like this one: https://www.reddit.com/r/ethereum/comments/po2uzk/i_created_an_opensource_ethereum_miner_for_xbox/

But I'm still researching and will link you too it soon

In general though, all the current gen consoles are capable of doing it, it's just a question on how much and how long they can sustain it.

I'll keep you posted! 

Mining on game consoles was relevant during the shortage of video cards and their very expensive cost. Mining was very profitable, so laptops and game consoles were used for mining. Now it is irrelevant and not profitable due to the end of ethereum mining and the presence of a large number of inexpensive video cards on the market.

but for the future you never know.

This is true, but we cannot make an assumption.
Game consoles use the same graphics chips, if they don't nitpick a lot about technical issues.Game consoles are not designed to be mined 24 hours a day. First, a new ethereum should appear, which will give a big profit for GPU miners, but I don’t think about it now.

[SirJohnVonSlotty]

Mining on game consoles was relevant during the shortage of video cards and their very expensive cost. Mining was very profitable, so laptops and game consoles were used for mining. Now it is irrelevant and not profitable due to the end of ethereum mining and the presence of a large number of inexpensive video cards on the market.

Yeah I remember the Ukrain PS4 farm that was in the news last year Here it is: https://www.techarp.com/business/ukrainian-crypto-mine-ps4/

This is why I was curious and started the research.

[JayDDee]

Mining on game consoles was relevant during the shortage of video cards and their very expensive cost. Mining was very profitable, so laptops and game consoles were used for mining. Now it is irrelevant and not profitable due to the end of ethereum mining and the presence of a large number of inexpensive video cards on the market.

Yeah I remember the Ukrain PS4 farm that was in the news last year Here it is: https://www.techarp.com/business/ukrainian-crypto-mine-ps4/

This is why I was curious and started the research.

The only reason is it was the easiest way to get a GPU at the time. Mining with laptop GPUs was also popular.
They both have the same issues. In a normal market they cost more for their mining performance and mining runs them harder than they are designed for.

[SirJohnVonSlotty]

I spoke with Glenn from EsportsHeadlines.com, the same guy who loves to write extremely long tests and overviews of the Steam Deck (check out his SD Card article here) and he agreed to test out the Linux Etherium miner on the Steam Deck, I'll keep you posted guys

[loveselenagomez]

Mining on steam deck possible but may not profitable due to mining difficulty & crypto price. So you can't mine cryptocurrency with a Valve Steam Deck.

[FP91G]

Mining on game consoles was relevant during the shortage of video cards and their very expensive cost. Mining was very profitable, so laptops and game consoles were used for mining. Now it is irrelevant and not profitable due to the end of ethereum mining and the presence of a large number of inexpensive video cards on the market.

Yeah I remember the Ukrain PS4 farm that was in the news last year Here it is: https://www.techarp.com/business/ukrainian-crypto-mine-ps4/

This is why I was curious and started the research.

When you have free electricity, you can mine coins on any equipment. Power engineers have long learned to detect increased consumption and confiscate mining farms. When you work officially and pay for electricity at a commercial rate, you will understand that this is unprofitable.

[ZeeeN]

but for the future you never know.

I remember people desperate buying laptops with 3060 here and it was profitable at that time, the future is unknown, maybe our old cards can mine again, maybe consoles, who knows?

When I stopped my mining operations in 2018 due to market crash, I sold almost all equipment, thinking that at that moment everything was done forever, but I was wrong.
My family took to garbage more or less 15 risers cable, at that moment nobody would buy. But after 2020 I need to buy all the risers again, more than 200 USD of risers...
My old RX 480s and 580s could give me more profits than I earned when I sold...
Old motherboards with dated CPUs saved my mining some times, just to test or until my package comes...

So it's hard to say about the future.


For a short period of time I had a Steam Deck, it was a great machine, very powerful to a portable console, but I sold easily in a few hours, a person offered a lot of money 
You can be sure in a few months some guy can make a miner to run on Steam Deck, because for now it's not wide available to buy, I think just last month Valve was delivering without lines.

yes we don't know about future but can't compare with 2018 we know ETH will back in some day.

but after the merge, ETH can't mine anymore it hard to say other coin can perform profit like ETH for miner.

PS. i think mine with game console or handheld it not good idea yet

[SadGoodbye]

Are you crazy?  Steam Deck can't handle crypto mining with that tiny closed case, if you can afford a steam deck then you can afford a gpu bro, go get one and get on your mining fantasy. 

[SirJohnVonSlotty]

Are you crazy?  Steam Deck can't handle crypto mining with that tiny closed case, if you can afford a steam deck then you can afford a gpu bro, go get one and get on your mining fantasy. 

Seems like you completely ignored what I wrote in the thread and just focused on the title.

[fmz89]

Steam deck rdna2 with 15w tdp would be fun for hobbies, and op said doing it for rank, but i dont think you will get exact number for each console, specially newer one like ps5&seriesxs. Last year rtx 3060mlaptop is profitable, i bought one and it paid self around 6months, it runs cooler than every gpu i ever had lol, and efficiency is the best one, even chinse manufacture makes dedicated mining gpu from 3000 mobile version

[Daltonik]

Yes, now it has lost its relevance, if only it is used for research or just testing, and for the end user who wants to do mining, it should not be considered seriously, unless you are going to grab a lot of Valve's Steam Deck devices.