Topic: Are GPUs still relevant and for how long - page 4. (Read 10835 times)

I invested about $4k into 2 rigs, with 3 7950's each. They've been running for about 1 month, and I've earned 4 bitcoins since. It's a slow payback, but I didn't do this for a fast return. We'll see how well it goes.

The critical path item is the pricing of BTC/USD, and secondary, the trade of a given coin to BTC. The conversion of the latter usually hovers real close to the generation rate of the one compared to the generation rate of the other, eg all hardware being equal, how many bitcoins can be generated and how many Digicoins can be generated in the same exact time frame, and express that as a ratio. That's the median... you might see pricing shoot above it as investing is done, then drop back down toward the median, maybe slightly dipping below for a very brief time.

The more critical item is BTC/USD. This itself is what determines the pricing for just about everything else. And at this point, we have to thank the people who pay USD and buy BTC, as they are the ones who inject the cash into the economy. If BTC stays level at $120, then yes, slowly things will tend toward un-profitable, as the one CONST is block reward decreases, and the variable that figures in to change things is difficulty, driven by global hashrate. (The same was said when BTC was steady around 5 a couple years ago, and 30 a year ago.)

As before, you will see one of two major changes:
-BTC/USD stays stable, causing miners with less profitable equipment to drop offline, global hashrate to decrease, and difficulty to decrease. (In this case, GPUs that are from the x7xx of their line and earlier... but in the case of SHA256, also GPUs heading up into the high x9xx cards.)
-BTC/USD rises, causing purchase of more equipment, and more global hashrate, driving a difficulty increase.

Not much longer at 1 BTC = $120
600MHs cards work out about $30 profit per BTC after power costs.
It won't be long before it's cheaper the buy the BTC than run the graphics cards at this rate.
If the price of BTC rises GPUs will stay running.

If you use sites like coinchoose, dustcoin, or coinwarz, and are actively involved with switching your miners to the most profitable coin at the time (even if its only twice a day... like when you leave for work, and before you go to sleep), and actively and regularly converting those coins at the exchanges (BTC-E, vircurex, cryptsy) to BTC, it is still quite viable to pay down a GPU. If you put some of that BTC into a stock site like BTCT or bitfunder into a dividend paying stock, the initial paydown time will be delayed, but that money is still available to pull out (unlike pyramining), and is gaining some interest in the form of dividends. Now, if you're buying riser cables, a new Power supply, or a whole new system, it will obviously take longer, and yes, could theoretically take too long.

If you are morally opposed to mining any other coin, and insist on mining JUST Bitcoin and nothing else... then yes, GPU mining will probably not pay off in a sensible amount of time. GPUs give certain hashrates... And with the influx of Avalons, Avalon-chip miners, the slow influx of BFL, ASICMINER blades, and the eventual influx of KNC ASICs, the amount of hashes your card can put out compared to the huge rise in difficulty will be negligible. Unless the pricing of BTC/USD increases to match, then yes, GPU mining will be unprofitable. It would THEORETICALLY be possible to pay off that new GPU if you could even guarantee 1 penny per day off it after power costs, but that GPU is not going to live for 75 years.

Scrypt coins were made to address just this issue, the rise of ASICs and eventual obsolescence of GPUs in SHA256.

Agree. I am still buying old HD5850 ($120) for mining LTC. At present difficulty level the hardware break even date is about 205 days. If it is not profitable, I will sell the card, for $60.

A newly bought GPU will not make the price back from bitcoin.

Maybe you can mine the cost back with litecoin.. It's a big maybe.

I guess that's a bonus of being married to a geekgurl, lol