Middlecoin.com vs Multipool.usI did a split test over 1 week to find out which was the most profitable pool. I pointed 1.800 Khash on each pool (100% identical hardware) and started them at the same time.
(a test should be done over a few months, but I wanted max profit now, so I only did 1 week)
On middlecoin.com it's very easy and simple, and no setup is required at all. However there is less control and much less information available.On multipool.us I set up an account on Cryptsy and set every alt coin to auto payout to cryptsy. Then I set cryptsy to auto exchange every alt coin to bitcoin as soon as they came in, so this should give more or less the same result as middlecoin. (but instead of the money ending up in my wallet, they would end up in my cryptsy account). A few minor issues with this is that multipool.us does not allow auto payout of less than 1.0 of any alt coin (and 1000 doge coins), so you get stuck with minor amounts of alt coins, that you must manually payout (and pay a fee for) if you want them exchanged right away. However the same is true for Cryptsy (it won't trade 0.9 of some alt coins). Another minor issue is that Cryptsy some times does not auto exhange your alt coin if you make a auto trade of some amount, then the value of the alt coin drops, and never returns to the value you required for your trade (but this could be adjusted by setting up Cryptsy to trade more aggressively but as a result profits would fall a bit)
Middlecoin.com
7 days of mining with 1800 Khash
Paid out: 0.11560480
Remaining balance: 0.00032817
Unexchanged: 0.0096669
Immature: 0.00451747
Total: 0.13011944 (of which 0.01451465 have not yet been paid when I made this post, and also it may not all be paid depending on immature/unexchanged behavior)
Link 1: http://middlecoin2.s3-website-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/reports/134DF3buwjU9LJLaucYBN1XbDwTDHdESAJ.html
Link 2: http://blockchain.info/address/134DF3buwjU9LJLaucYBN1XbDwTDHdESAJ
Multipool.us
7 days of mining with 1800 Khash
Paid out: 0.09583497
Remaining balance: 0
Unexchanged: 0,0010403
Immature: 0
Total: 0.09687517 (of which 0.0096669 is stuck in minor bit's of alt coin that cryptsy won't exchange before there is 1.0 of that alt coin)
Note: Keep in mind that cryptsy have a 0.00050000 BTC fee for bitcoin withdrawl, regardless of how little/much you take it. So if you wan't to take out BTC to your wallet every day, this would come to allot. If you feel safe holding lots of bitcoins in an altcoin exchange, that's less of an issue. (I personally don't like holding bitcoins in altcoin exchanges as they are highly vulnerable to 51% alt coin attacks as far as I understand it)
Link: I have no link for this, since money held in an exchange, does not have a public address. (or any unique address at all)
In conclusion, I pointed all my miners on middlecoin.com after this test.
Not only do I only want bitcoins, and not alt coins, but I have a full time job, and I am very busy (important me
) and do not have time to keep an eye on multipool.us payouts to an exchange, and then also keep an eye on the exchange. Middlecoin.com does all that for me, and I highly appreciate that and think it's way worth the double fee (multipool.us has 1.5 % fee and then you need to pay cryptsy 0.0005 BTC for each bitcoin Withdraw). Middlecoin has a 3.5 - 4.0 % fee.
Even with the higher fee, payouts from middlecoin.com was considerably higher.
Even if you discount the unexchanged and immature from middlecoin, and accept that you will never get a penny of that paid out (which I assume I will), payouts from middlecoin.com was considerably higher.
I hope this helps
Edit: (bit more information)
I use newest Guiminer (CG miner).
Setup is 1 PC with 2 x 7970 and 1 PC with 1 x 7970 (for both pools)
I live in Denmark - Europe and use the EU pool for multipool.com
Middlecoin miner settings (ignore the new btc address, it was 134DF3buwjU9LJLaucYBN1XbDwTDHdESAJ when test was running last week)
Multipool miner settings
Ps. There are a few alt coins that multipool.us mines, that cryptsy does not accept or trade, but none of those was mined in the 1 week I tested. But you would need to use another exchange for those coins.