I have 3KW of power that could be used 24/7 but...

[dac_2020]

I am not sure if this is in the correct forum but here goes.

I asked a few months back, a question about generating coins. I mentioned that I had many dozens of relatively idle CPUs which could be doing other work. Those servers are always on, 24/7 as backup to another network so for the most part, they are sitting idle.

I was told that CPU based coins are not worth the time/effort at this point so I wanted to ask a similar question based on another resource.

I have some 3KW of power which I can use 24/7, again, mainly, that power is being used for a redundant network but soon, it will not be being used for anything so available for something else.

This 3KW of power, I look at as a resource so my question is, what kind of hardware might be worth building or buying in order to general coins which might have some value. I am not expecting to get rich from this but I would like to take part in what appears to be an interesting movement.

Thanks for your thoughts and input on this. I will answer questions if you have any as I was not sure what all to include for info.

[nsimmons]

If you're not paying for the power...

I did some rough calculations, with 8 antminer s3's you'll gross about 10 dollars a day, with 25~ nvidia gpu's you'll end up with about the same. Setting up a farm is a major undertaking.  Gpus are more versatile, but require more maintenance. I run 30 gpus, it just breaks even these days. My rigs suck about 4-4.5Kw

Maybe 6 months to break even if btc price doesnt move much.

3000 dollars for hardware would buy you 12BTC, you will not earn that much with antminers ever, with increasing difficulty. I wont play the asic game. I spent 1000 dollars in 2012 for gpus and my entire farm is paid for twice over.

[coinableS]

I am not sure if this is in the correct forum but here goes.

This belongs in mining.

I mentioned that I had many dozens of relatively idle CPUs which could be doing other work.
I was told that CPU based coins are not worth the time/effort at this point so I wanted to ask a similar question based on another resource.

That is correct, you can't do anything with your CPUs.

This 3KW of power, I look at as a resource so my question is, what kind of hardware might be worth building or buying in order to general coins which might have some value.

Do some searches on mining hardware. Checkout some ASICs like bitmain's S series.

[dac_2020]

I have been doing some research, that is why I decided to post. Reading tons of stuff doesn't ever come close to what responses from real people who are doing similar things .

Thanks for the input, it is appreciated.

[stonerider]

3KW will get you about 7-8 THS for bitcoin mining, will generate about 0.08 BTC a day at current difficulty. Difficulty will continue to rise, about 5% increase every 12 days currently.

As someone said above, spend your $3000 and buy 12 bitcoins directly. Small-time mining is a dying breed at this point in time. You will never get your 12 coins back by mining now. You are at least 2 years too late.

[dac_2020]

I'm too late? Isn't coin mining something that is actively going on as a hobby and industry? From what I have read, it only costs a few grand to get into this and there seem to be LOTS of small players in this so am not sure why someone would be too late.

I can throw 5KW (and more) 24/7 into this if there is a value in it. I am generating my own power with a 10KW solar install that was being used to offset the cost of running the server room. That is why I have power to throw into something interesting.

What I am wanting to learn from this post is which type of mining is still worth doing, how can I start on a small scale, so I can learn more about it, adding resources as it makes sense. I have the power right now, I have a large amount of hardware left over from another venture but it seems CPUs aren't worth much so am looking for input on what might be worth trying/doing.

Thanks.

PS: This is an interesting article.
http://coinbrief.net/bitcoin-mining-worth-it/

[philipma1957]

I'm too late? Isn't coin mining something that is actively going on as a hobby and industry? From what I have read, it only costs a few grand to get into this and there seem to be LOTS of small players in this so am not sure why someone would be too late.

I can throw 5KW (and more) 24/7 into this if there is a value in it. I am generating my own power with a 10KW solar install that was being used to offset the cost of running the server room. That is why I have power to throw into something interesting.

What I am wanting to learn from this post is which type of mining is still worth doing, how can I start on a small scale, so I can learn more about it, adding resources as it makes sense. I have the power right now, I have a large amount of hardware left over from another venture but it seems CPUs aren't worth much so am looking for input on what might be worth trying/doing.

Thanks.

PS: This is an interesting article.
http://coinbrief.net/bitcoin-mining-worth-it/
[/quote

 do you want some gear? are you usa based I am in New Jersey.

I have 4 spondollies sp20's and 1 ant miner s-5 plus I have psu's.

send me a pm and I can talk about a setup for you.



Basically you should start with 2 sp20's and 2 evga 1300 g2 psu's.

that is about 1 thousand dollars.  It allows for more machines as you can run 3 to 4 units on a pair of evga 1300 g2's depends on your speeds.

if you clock the 2 units to 1450 gh each you will earn . your money back by  august 31st

so every one that says do not do this is wrong.

you should mine you have free power.  what you should not do is buy a ton of gear.

2 units of sp20 running at 2900 total will use about 1900 maybe 2000 watts.

your worst case is btc tanks it all dies off and  you have 2 evga 1300 g2 psu's worth over 120 usd each.  so your downside is spend 1000 usd and end up with 240 worth of psu's

here is the calculator 

[nsimmons]

I should add, I typically buy gear if i can get my money back in 2-3 months tops, but once profits start to appear you must act quick. I bought 280x/290x's on a black friday sale, about $7500, literally days before newegg jacked the prices up. I was really lucky. If you act quick, before other people's hardware deploys, you'll do really well. Right now I typically run at a loss unless my rigs are rented out. On the doge run up in 2013 there was some 400-500 dollars days for a couple weeks.

I suspect there is a lot of hardware idling waiting to deployed right away, we'll need to see the price run up considerable, then have the difficulty plateau a bit, with still decent profit. At that time deploy new hardware.

[dac_2020]

So you're saying you got free power? some how i doubt it. Because those Solar panel can be sold if not used. or you can always sell the power back to electrical company.  BTC mining is all about cost of energy. If you pay 5c/KWh or more, forget it.

LOL, bit skeptical aren't you? Why would I bother making stuff up then ask for thoughts?

The power IS being sold back to the power company and the system is much larger than I need these days (over 10KW) so I have a surplus of power that I am interested in using. It was installed to offset the cost of a server room, as I already explained but that server room is slowly being phased out. That means I also have a pretty good sized surplus of computing hardware and am interested in finding a use for it.

Selling the solar system isn't an option, it cost too much as it was a custom install (had to build a costly custom canopy) so tearing it apart would also be foolish and it would end up being sold at a loss. Therefore, I have hardware and power looking for a good use.

So, now that we are back on track...

Um, who in the world pays 5c/KWh? I have not heard of such low prices in many years.

[philipma1957]

So you're saying you got free power? some how i doubt it. Because those Solar panel can be sold if not used. or you can always sell the power back to electrical company.  BTC mining is all about cost of energy. If you pay 5c/KWh or more, forget it.

LOL, bit skeptical aren't you? Why would I bother making stuff up then ask for thoughts?

The power IS being sold back to the power company and the system is much larger than I need these days (over 10KW) so I have a surplus of power that I am interested in using. It was installed to offset the cost of a server room, as I already explained but that server room is slowly being phased out. That means I also have a pretty good sized surplus of computing hardware and am interested in finding a use for it.

Selling the solar system isn't an option, it cost too much as it was a custom install (had to build a costly custom canopy) so tearing it apart would also be foolish and it would end up being sold at a loss. Therefore, I have hardware and power looking for a good use.

So, now that we are back on track...

Um, who in the world pays 5c/KWh? I have not heard of such low prices in many years.

Parts of Washington state pay under 5 cents.

Seriouscoin pushes reality. If you are under 8 cents you can make some money.

 If you are like me 13 cents - 3 cents for the value of the heat in the winter it is very hard to make money as my net power cost is 10 cents for the winter.

I try to get cutting edge gear mine for 2 months and sell it cheaper to someone like you with low cost or free power.

Once again  buying used spondoolies sp20's or antminer s-5's is viable for you to do.   at 3000 watts you can under clock the sp20's running 4 at 1150gh using 600 watts.

  2 evga 1300 g2's  will run 4  sp20's under clocked.    you will do 2400 watts and 4600 th.

that is the most you can do realistically. 

[dac_2020]

I'm surprised at the KW/h costs. I haven't seen anything so low in a long time. Before we put the solar in, our costs went two to three times higher because the more power we used, the higher the cost was. The solar put us back into the low cost usage.

I had posted something similar a while back. I sometimes get the sense that the serious players simply want to discourage new people from taking part but at the same time, the math that everyone shares makes a lot of sense too.

It is interesting to me that I cannot get involved in something as interesting as bitcoin is considering the resources that I have at hand. One of the main reasons I am interested in because I hate monopolies and from what I have read, bitcoin could be a way to change things a little, perhaps until those monopolies better understand how to take over at least.

I have watched this happen countless times in technology, where there is an amateur interest which turns into something viable, then it becomes quite large in the internet community, then the monopolies find a way of getting involved and ultimately often taking over and ending opportunities for the masses.

I am not sure where bitcoin is headed. I get that sense of people discouraging others so they won't bother getting involved but I am also given much information which keeps saying don't bother.

Why have things changed so quickly that bitcoin is already looking like a downhill opportunity for most and what is the future opportunity if someone is interested in things which could actually change the world.

 

[philipma1957]

I'm surprised at the KW/h costs. I haven't seen anything so low in a long time. Before we put the solar in, our costs went two to three times higher because the more power we used, the higher the cost was. The solar put us back into the low cost usage.

I had posted something similar a while back. I sometimes get the sense that the serious players simply want to discourage new people from taking part but at the same time, the math that everyone shares makes a lot of sense too.

It is interesting to me that I cannot get involved in something as interesting as bitcoin is considering the resources that I have at hand. One of the main reasons I am interested in because I hate monopolies and from what I have read, bitcoin could be a way to change things a little, perhaps until those monopolies better understand how to take over at least.

I have watched this happen countless times in technology, where there is an amateur interest which turns into something viable, then it becomes quite large in the internet community, then the monopolies find a way of getting involved and ultimately often taking over and ending opportunities for the masses.

I am not sure where bitcoin is headed. I get that sense of people discouraging others so they won't bother getting involved but I am also given much information which keeps saying don't bother.

Why have things changed so quickly that bitcoin is already looking like a downhill opportunity for most and what is the future opportunity if someone is interested in things which could actually change the world.

 

  what math is it you don't like?  1000 usd up front breaks even in 8 months.


  at that point in time since your power is free it earns money.  were you looking to make your 1000 usd back in 1 month or 2 months?

[sidehack]

It's going downhill for exactly the reasons you mentioned - monopolies are taking big ol' bites out of it. Someone with a whole lot of money looked at the numbers, noticed that there was opportunity to turn a whole lot of money into a whole lot more money with very little actual work being done. Since hardware manufacturers would rather sell $1M at 80% retail to a single guy than $1M at retail to a couple thousand regular jokers who are going to need individual shipping and tech support, they get a leg up on all us regular jokers. And since utility providers would rather sell 1MW at $0.04 to a single guy in a single building than 1MW at $0.15 to a couple thousand regular jokers who are going to need monthly bills, service upgrades and repair hotlines, they get another leg up. And suddenly bitcoin slides from "hey here's an idea for the masses to get away from relying on rich guys who wield monetary systems in order to get richer at our expense" to "hey here's a monetary system for rich guys to wield and get richer at others' expense".

If you can compete with the big guys, go for it. Find yourself a return estimate calculator, punch in your details and see if a positive number spits out. If it doesn't, even with your low rate of power, now you know why. If you want to mine anyway, estimating a loss, in order to help decentralize the network or in the hopes that something will change your margins, go for it. You're better equipped to come out ahead than most people. If you want to support bitcoin without mining, buy bitcoins. Buy them and pocket them, which will shift the suppy/demand curve slightly toward demand and raise the price a bit, or buy them and then spend them on goods and services which will increase the perceived value slightly by encouraging utility.

[dac_2020]

  what math is it you don't like?  1000 usd up front breaks even in 8 months.
  at that point in time since your power is free it earns money.  were you looking to make your 1000 usd back in 1 month or 2 months?
[/quote]

I'm sure you'll say you weren't being a little antagonistic with me but it sure looks that way to me.

I'm not insulting anyone, I'm not looking for problems or little forum wars, I am simply asking questions and thankfully, receiving some answers.

I said very early on in my post that I am not looking for a get rich quick scheme but like anyone, if I will invest in something, I would like to better understand it.
 

[dac_2020]

If there was a Like button Sidehack, I would Like your post.

It all makes perfect sense now.

Thanks.

[philipma1957]

 what math is it you don't like?  1000 usd up front breaks even in 8 months.
  at that point in time since your power is free it earns money.  were you looking to make your 1000 usd back in 1 month or 2 months?

I'm sure you'll say you weren't being a little antagonistic with me but it sure looks that way to me.

I'm not insulting anyone, I'm not looking for problems or little forum wars, I am simply asking questions and thankfully, receiving some answers.

I said very early on in my post that I am not looking for a get rich quick scheme but like anyone, if I will invest in something, I would like to better understand it.
 

okay I will ask again what is it that you want to get from 3 kwatt of free power? As I read your question the math is very simple to answer.

You should buy some gear and mine.  As for sidehack's point of buying a few coins to help coin demand you can do that too.

Buy an sp20 and a psu.  or buy an antminer s-5 and a psu.  that is 500 usd. you will get about 1200gh and use about 600-650 watts of your 3kwatts.

with the other 500 buy 2 coins.  I am still pro bitcoin in general.

  Just not as pro as I was a year ago.  

If you buy an sp20 and a psu for 500 here is the math.   you should be paid off in october of 2015 and the unit should make money from then on.
I am not discouraging you.  I am telling you to mine.  but the math below is most likely very close to what will happen.

With a 500 dollar investment in 1 miner and 1 psu and free power you will make a few bucks. I used 5% as the difficulty growth rate some would argue that number should be 8% some would say it should be 3%.  At 3% you look a lot better at 8% you look a lot worse.

[philipma1957]

@ op 

 I won't say I was not antagonistic in my reply I was,but not towards you.  I was antagonistic at anyone that was posting telling you to forget it.

You have free power  there are people that mine at  25 to 50 cents a kwatt.  So they read your question and they try to discourage you talk you into not

mining.

I have been here for years.  I tell people if your power is cheap mine.  So far that has been good advice.  Right now It is pretty simple you should mine.



Here are numbers for higher diff and lower diff
3%




8%

[dac_2020]

@philipma1957;

Thanks for explaining that. I thought it was directed at me but I get your point.
It certainly feels like some are trying to discourage new people from getting into this but I guess I understand that if the market is dying. Like many things which were forged by the internet community only to be taken over by big business, the market shares get smaller and smaller.

However, I don't agree that people should be talking others out of doing something that is positive. Instead, people should be talking about ways of being able to get back on that horse, finding ways where big business can't always simply take over because they can buy K-Mart sized data centers and take the opportunities away.

Have people talked about combining resources? I don't know enough about this to speak but sometimes it takes people taking a step back to see the bigger picture.

What about distributed mining, where no one big company can take it over because it is spread out across hundreds, thousands of member systems? There are so many ways of clustering efforts these days, maybe there are ways of changing the course and pushing big business out?

I for one would love to see more community efforts which prevent big business from being able to take things over. I've seen it too many times now and it is sickening.

[dac_2020]

in the industry alot longer than you. Your 'LOL' makes you looks like a dumb ass.

Your reply shows who the actual one is though. Why bother communicating with me if you are going to act like this?

[dac_2020]

Here is another idea: If you're selling back your solar power, its not FREE isnt it?

I think your lack of business will make you another failure in btc mining venture.

I'm afraid you aren't making any sense and are making a lot of assumptions. I could spend all day going back and forth on this with you but I have nothing to prove to you so I won't bother.

I've explained my position, if you want to make things up when you don't know a single thing about me, then enjoy.