this is a lot to handle at once. I'll start reading before doing anything. for now I'm going to test every single possibility, then chose the best way. I have a vps to test on and I may try with ASIC, and I'm right now going to test my cpu mining and gpu mining.
I've crunched the numbers, partly because I was curious, and partly because I'm a nice guy who wants to lend a hand.
At current rewards, in order to mine 5000 DGB with modern SHA-256 ASIC equipment, you'll need ~2.4 kWh. With modern Scrypt ASIC equipment you'll use ~7.5 kWh. And with the GPU algos (all very similar) you'll consume ~9.9 kWh.
As you can see, there is quite a bit of difference between SHA-256 and GPU, but whether that difference is enough to cover your fixed hardware investment or not, that is if you buy an Antminer or not and can reach ROI, for example, is up to you to figure out.
The difference between scrypt ASIC and GPU is much less pronounced, but if you've already got a gaming rig set up, it probably won't take too much convincing to just use what you've got and get with installing and configuring your miner since we're only talking about 30-40 cents a day of difference.
Edit: I've always been in favor of rotating out SHA-256 and substituting it with a more widely distributed friendly algo BTW.
5000 is that the block reward? and the time frame? per day( 24h) or what ? and these calculation are bit too high don't you think ? I do nor have a perfect gaming rig, I do not consider it a gaming rig at all.
I have some old laptops that are no use to me but they still work, I may try to eliminate the display and why not the hard disk too, to minimize the electricity consume, I have like 4 2 (Pentium 4) and 2 (core 2 duo) I may use there cpu.( I have a electronic degree, that won't be a big of a deal)
without forgetting my nvidia.
I tried to do some calculation but, I had really big struggle with mining !! I downloaded the soft and followed the instruction, but my ind kept telling me that I'm not mining, so I changed to the websites that had worker thins so I started mining with there url etc.. and my worker status kept being inactive.
so I had no luck testing my stats.
Hi Crazy.
The current block reward is about 1054 (it is reduced every month). A block is discovered on the network every 15 seconds. We have 5 mining algorithms (SHA, Scrypt, Groestl, Skein, and Qubit). As a result, you could figure that a block is discovered per algorithm about every minute 15 seconds. Total daily mining rewards are just over 6,000,000 DGB per day. Each mining algorithm has a different difficulty level that is adjusted asymmetrically between blocks (to reduce mining pool attacks). We call the difficulty adjustment "MultiShield," which is the newer version of DigiShield.
There are 2 ways to mine: (1) you could solo mine; or (2) you could mine in a mining pool. When you solo mine - if you find a block - you receive the whole block reward. When you mine in a pool - if you find a block - the block reward is shared by all the people in the pool who contributed hash rate during the period that the block was found. Most people mine in pools. It's easier to set up and it creates less variance in rewards over time. For instance, if I were mining solo I might find a 5 blocks a day. I would get all the rewards - so I would get 5270 DGB if I found 5 blocks. But, some days I would find no blocks. Other days I might find more than 5 blocks. So my rewards would be highly variable on any given day.
When I mine in a pool, I combine my hash rate with everyone else mining in that pool. For the Official DigiHash Pool, the hashrates (and thus rewards) are divided into different algorithms. The combined hashing power allows the group to find blocks more frequently than people who are solo mining. The pool might find approximately 100 blocks per day. The reward per block is less per block, but the variance of reward payout is smaller. In the long run (i.e. over indefinite amount of time) you would theoretically get the same rewards mining in a pool or mining solo. However, in practice, mining pools allow miners with lower hashrates to earn regular rewards more quickly (a fact that is especially true with coins that have a high difficulty - such as BTC).
I would recommend that anyone new to mining DGB start mining in a pool. I would recommend using the official Developer DigiHash Pool because it helps support DGB.
If you intend to mine with a GPU, you will want to use any of the algorithms EXCEPT SHA-256. SHA is pretty much all ASIC at this point. Scrypt is both ASIC and GPU, but the GPU hash rate is going to be tiny compared to the ASIC. I'm not an expert at GPU mining (I haven't done it for about 3 years, and I've forgotten pretty much everything). If you do not want to use the DigiHash Easy Miner software, you will need to set up some mining software on your computer. You might try something like multiminer (which is a GUI running on top of BFG miner). I've never tried it for DGB and I'd be interested to hear if anyone has?
The truth is that nobody can tell you exactly what your mining rewards or costs will be ... it doesn't matter what anyone posts here or anywhere else. People can give you rough estimates. You can attempt to use mining calculators to get rough estimates. But, the final result depends on many different variables (difficulty at any given moment for the algorithm you are mining, settings for the GPU, cost you pay for electricity, hashrate of the GPU, mining pool, exchange rate, need to sell to cover costs or ability to hold and trade at moments of opportunity, etc.). I do remember when I was GPU mining. It involved lots of little tweaks to get the most efficient settings and highest rewards.
I've been mining DGB for about 1.5 years (I don't mine any other coins). I mine with a scrypt ASIC, and I don't mine in the summer because it's too hot. I actually have a couple of different ASIC rigs that I use (and have used) throughout the year (and years). I stated mining about 3.5 years ago with GPUs for LTC and small ASICs for BTC.
Here is my best advice based on my years of experience mining:
I think you should try it. It's fun, it's addictive, and it's a valuable way to understand digital currencies at a more fundamental level. You're not going to get rich doing it. I think people should start mining for a couple of reasons. First, it is a good way to begin to understand and experience digital currencies at a deeper level. It's not just trading; it's participating and supporting. Don't invest tons of money into mining at the beginning. Learn about how DGB works and start slow. The second reason people should mine is because they believe in DGB and want to help support the network.
thanks you that's a clear explanation.
I prefer taking a chance and having the block reward to my self.
and I'm drooping the idea of mining with a CPU.
btw the Scrypt ASIC is a CPU, why does it mine better than normal CPU, is it customized for that use only, and why not customized the laptop CPU to do the same . I'm going to give it a look.
I concluded from all this that mining is dying. and can be used as a tool to learn. and to knowledge more about the crypt-world
I don't think mining is dying. Not at all. It is just different today than a few years ago. The BTC company with the most venture capital investment is 21 Inc, which is a company devoted to developing mining equipment.
There was a time - especially for BTC, LTC, and DOGE - when people were mining with anything they could get their hands on because it was super profitable. It was a mining "bubble" in every economic sense. The bubble burst toward the end of 2013 and into 2014. There were a series of scandals (bufferfly labs, Mt. Gox, Black Arrow, HashFast, etc.). Then, several of the big legitimate mining manufacturers shifted their focus from consumer products to centralized commercial business (BitFury and KNC). In the past 12 months there have been several scandals with the cloud-mining companies such as GAW and ZenMiner. If we just consider BTC - during the same time huge portions of the BTC mining business were developing in China, which further increased difficulty and centralization - both of which work against the home-based consumer. Bitmain has remained a true champion for the home-based miner.
At the same time that the mining bubble burst (end of 2013 through mid-2014) we saw the introduction of proof-of-stake. POS was a novel concept that appears to present a possible technological solution to the problems with centralized mining and rising difficulty that were pricing individual consumers out of the market. Many people who argue strongly in favor of POS today are the same people who were priced out of mining. The problems I have with proof-of-stake are motivated by economics. It is interest and creates the same problems as high interest rates.
Instead of adopting POS, some coins remained as proof-of-work coins (like DGB). Many of these coins decided to look for alternative algorithms that would allow home-based, distributed mining. Quark, Skein, Groestl, etc., etc..
One of the best aspects of DGB is that it is open to miners who use ASIC as well as GPU and CPU mining. DigiByte has a tremendous diversity in mining. And that fact is a great advantage for the long-term value of DGB.
As I said at the start - mining is changing not dying. At the height of the bubble, a kid in his parents' basement could make a couple thousand dollars a month with a host of GPUs and first generation ASICs. Today, there are a couple of different approaches. The corporate approach uses huge capital outlays and looks to make small percentage returns on big amounts. The approach that is being developed by 21 Inc. is to create small integrated mining within lots of devices (currently something like the raspberry pi but the ambition is more comprehensive). Imagine every cash register at every store quietly mining a little bit here and there ... digital picture frames, light bulbs, televisions, really any electronic device ... in this instance, the mining rewards are super small. Instead of the device being used specifically for mining, it is just doing a small amount of mining in the background. I really like the approach that 21 Inc. is taking with building integrated mining into other devices. However, They are exclusive to BTC at the moment. It would be great if they opened up to other digital currencies.
For the rest of us, mining has become not an end ... but a means. In other words, in the past people mined exclusively to get the mining rewards and make a profit. Today, I could still profit from mining DGB. But, instead of thinking about mining as an independent activity, I think about mining as a small part of my comprehensive approach to investing and supporting DGB. Mining allows the other stuff to happen and creates revenue, drives value, and secures the network. A secure network, intrinsic value, and streams of revenue and consumption are the foundation of the economics at the heart of digital currency. If a coin doesn't have all of those things, it's just a ponzi scheme for traders. DGB has all of them. And compared to most other alt-coins, is exceptionally good at all of them. That's one of the main reasons I mine and support DGB instead of any other coin.
By the way ... if you're going to solo mine ... you'll need to do some modification to the DGB Core Wallet to turn on the server functionality of the wallet. It's pretty simple command line stuff but I've never done it so I'm not qualified to give you instructions. But, I'm sure someone here will be able to help.
