Help. New to bitcoin mining. Suggestions?

[Aburgz123]

What's up,

I'm new to mining bitcoins and had a few questions.

First off I don't have a computer/rig appropriate for mining even by any stretch of the imagination. Even with my weak computers is it possible for me to generate any amount of Bitcoins that would be worth anything? I have BitMinter and it would take years for me to get anything at all. Is there a Miner that would be more suited for me and allow me to receive Bitcoins.

Secondly I have have access to multiple computers and would like to know how I can put there power together to Mine Bitcoins more quickly. What if the computers are on a different network in a different location? Can I still use them together?

If you need to know anything else let me know.

Thanks 

[Gabi]

Hi and welcome

To mine bitcoin you can use Guiminer. You need an ATI graphic card because well, mining via your CPU is almost useless and if you have an NVIDIA well... a same price ATI mine much much faster (like 10 times faster)

About the CPU you can use it to mine Litecoins and sell them for BTC

As for using other computers, are they yours? If you don't own them, you need to be allowed to use them for mining, using them without being allowed to is illegal of course.

[N.Olmos]

Join a pool.

If you have low hashrate computers, your best bet is to join a pool. You will earn a steady stream of small fractions of a bitcoin.

You can have as many computers as you want to mine for you in one or more pools. Most pools allow about 8-10 workers (computers) per account. Open additional accounts if you need more.

I am not sure if all workers for an account have to be in the same location (I don't think they do). You can however, have many accounts in many pools so you should be able to get all your computers mining for you.

Use a receiving address from the same wallet to get all your bitcoins from various pools/accounts into the same wallet.

I should also consider mining litecoin. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=47417.0

Litecoin uses your CPU instead of your GPU to mine.

n.olmos

[mc_lovin]

1) Merry Christmas

2) I totally agree with the others that you should use spare CPU time to mine Litecoins in addition to using your GPU to mine Bitcoins.

3) I was going to suggest a pool but it seems you are using bitminter which is a good choice.

You should give us the spec of your current PC and we can estimate your daily rewards.

[Aburgz123]

Thanks for all the suggestions they are very helpful so far so good  

As for litecoins is there an online wallet I can save my litecoins similar to the bitcoin wallets? Can I mine litecoins on a linux mint operating system?

Heres the specs report I generated for my netbook (I got more comps but can't post them right now)

Processor   2x Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU N270 @ 1.60GHz
Memory   1018MB (442MB used)
Operating System   Linux Mint 8 Helena - Main Edition

Resolution   1024x600 pixels
OpenGL Renderer   Mesa DRI Intel(R) 945GME GEM 20090712 2009Q2 RC3 x86/MMX/SSE2

Uptime   11 hours, 8 minutes
Load Average   1.71, 2.12, 3.43

OpenGL
Vendor   Tungsten Graphics, Inc
Renderer   Mesa DRI Intel(R) 945GME GEM 20090712 2009Q2 RC3 x86/MMX/SSE2
Version   1.4 Mesa 7.6
Direct Rendering   Yes

Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU N270 @ 1.60GHz   1600.00MHz
Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU N270 @ 1.60GHz   1600.00MHz


And here is my memory. Sorry for the long list I'm not completly sure what information is important here.

Total Memory   1018180 kB
Free Memory   105884 kB
Buffers   40444 kB
Cached   470268 kB
Cached Swap   47140 kB
Active   428452 kB
Inactive   434476 kB
Active(anon)   192212 kB
Inactive(anon)   231916 kB
Active(file)   236240 kB
Inactive(file)   202560 kB
Unevictable   48 kB
Mlocked   48 kB
High Memory   130760 kB
Free High Memory   1204 kB
Low Memory   887420 kB
Free Low Memory   104680 kB
Virtual Memory   602396 kB
Free Virtual Memory   369964 kB




thanks

[BadBear]

I wouldn't even bother with an atom netbook.  Mining is pretty competitive, and even those who get creative and have efficient setups aren't making much profit, and a lot are only making any profit if you don't count the fact that they haven't paid off their hardware yet, and the fact that it's winter.  There are more who are mining at a loss but are counting on bitcoins being worth more in the future. 

[Shashi Yakuza]

There's not much point in using what you have, it's not enough horses to pull the load these days. You might have thermal issues as well depending on your netbook. Use it for a netbook, that's what it was designed to be.

The only point in buying equipment to mine bitcoins is that you find it amusing, at this time it's improbable that you would ever break even on the investment. Once you are mining it's really really boring, there are lots of more amusing things you can buy, golf and hookers come to mind as examples 

[jjzm]

I was considering mining but it would take like a year to generate 0.072 Bitcoins... Hahaha, my computer is crap I guess.

Anyone have any tips? I can get my hands on a few desktops... is it worth doing?

[Queelis]

I was considering mining but it would take like a year to generate 0.072 Bitcoins... Hahaha, my computer is crap I guess.

Anyone have any tips? I can get my hands on a few desktops... is it worth doing?

Basically, only if the desktops have fairly recent AMD cards (from 4000 series up). Otherwise no.

[Wekkel]

Mining is not that profitable unless you already have the hardware and access to cheap electricity. The other option is just as viable: just buy BTC instead.

[Shashi Yakuza]

Mining is not that profitable unless you already have the hardware and access to cheap electricity. The other option is just as viable: just buy BTC instead.

+1
The best model is like going to a casino or arcade: buy chips/tokens, use them, and cash them in before you leave.