Mining for fun and profit: GPU power!
I had 2 ASIC miners from Butterflylabs. They make an excellent door-stop or boring conversation piece.
Yes these specialized mining machines can generate quick returns, but are they sustainable?
The Steemit blockchain is getting longer now, so check out my previous article about my own mining experiences. I've since upgraded my GPU and am able to mine considerably faster.
In fact, I'm mining as I write this article. I pick algorithms that can be run with minimal slow-down in the user interface. Harder ones can be activated when I go to bed!
The profitability hovers around 120 - 150 Japanese yen a day. The interesting thing about this GTX 960 is that I actually bought it off my friend in exchange for 0.052 BTC! Since I thought it's so cool that the card could pay for itself by mining in the currency I paid for it, I've been trying to keep close to 24 hour uptime mining full force.
I've kept a small ledger of the progress so far. It's almost a third paid-off, today is June 22 and it was installed and running on May 24. I expect to start earning a profit within 2 months from now, in addition to having a greatly improved experience 3D gaming! It honestly seems too good to be true, but this is the real world we live in. Computing power is rewarded nicely.
Not only is the GTX 960 faster, quieter and more hashworthy than my old card, it actually uses less power. Roughly 120W vs. 160-180W. I'm saving energy while my computer is on compared to what I was doing before! The decrease in heat generation is wholly welcome this summer.
I'll keep you updated on my mining progress, including the new GTX 1060 in the mail! Don't worry, I don't plan to throw away the old one or even sell it yet. That's right, I'm gonna RUN BOTH AT ONCE!
My conclusions:
Video cards will always be useful for a variety of graphical and computing tasks. Not so for ASICS.
I can mine while I browse Steemit, so even if my awesome posts earn nothing I'll be rewarded anyways!
Soon I'll be able to play the newest 3D Games with the settings cranked!
Happy mining! Hope you find a block!
Nice! Trying to get into mining aswell, but i have only bought some AMD cards for now...
My electrical costs are probably too high to make a profit. But I really like the idea of mining for a hobby.
You haven't priced in the future meteoric rise of Bitcoin into your profit equation!
Be careful with the AMD cards. They are 30+ in mega hashes, but produce more heat. 1060's are only 20mh, but produce the least amount of heat. 5-6 cards is what a miner should aim for. A trick I use is 3 computers in 3 different rooms. The larger the room, the better.