Topic: General startup costs for those of us studying mining (Read 150 times)

True, but betting against the profitability of directly mining gold was a safer bet than betting against cryptocurrency mining profitability, at least in my opinion. (And operating picks/shovels requires an additional investment in manpower, for each set of tools, while ASICs have relatively low operating costs per unit.)

good point about why company's provide rigs capable of mining when they could use it to mine but remember during the gold rush fortunes were made selling picks and shovels.

The reason why ASICs became popular is that these dedicated devices are capable of mining on a specific algorithm far more efficiently than general computing devices, such as GPUs or CPUs. For this reason, it is harder for GPU-based rigs to be competitive when mining coins on algorithms where superior ASICs have been popularized.

Scrypt was more ASIC-resistant than SHA-256, but now there are ASICs out for both. GPU-mining LTC isn't the most profitable option. However, you could mine other coins and trade for LTC, rather than mining it directly.

Hey thanks, resale value was not even a thought at this point. Operation, the ability, learning and potentiality of profit would be my motivation. Thus far, yes, a GPU has been what I'm leaning towards. Functionality other than that of mining would not be any kind of factor to me, I play few video games etc so this is solely about mining and you guys have confirmed my thoughts that litecoin is the way to go.

If profit is your main goal, it's always important to consider whether or not trading fiat for crypto would lead to higher returns than investing in mining hardware.

Additionally, obtaining reliable ASICs tends to be rather difficult. Companies such as Bitmain and Baikal don't exactly have good reputations, especially in comparison with the big GPU manufacturers: AMD/Nvidia, along with their respective partners (MSI, ASUS, Gigabyte, etc.). Regardless of how bad of an RMA experience you may have had after purchasing a graphics card or other typical desktop component, the experience you can expect to get dealing with a foreign ASIC company is likely to be much worse, if you're unfortunate enough to receive a defective unit. (And of course, while negotiating the return process, you'd be losing out on mining revenue.)

If profit is secondary to the experience, I strongly suggest going with a GPU-based rig. It's quite a bit more hands-on (you actually assemble your rig from the components), and you can try to mine a much larger range of coins than any single ASIC could.
Furthermore, GPUs can be used for other purposes. (Gaming, video editing, machine learning [primarily Nvidia GPUs], etc.) This last point also contributes to resale value, although buyers today are much more wary of used graphics cards, for fear of them having been used for 24/7 mining at high core temps.

Hey thanks guys, ya litecoin sounds good. I live in New England so our electricity is very expensive it is definitely something I need to put into consideration. That, along with litecoin appreciation, or lack of, would determine my ROI. 1,500 is a decent amount of quagmire to drop, it's not even in my dreams to get rich mining but for some reason the idea fascinates me. I don't know if it's I can pm either of u but I may try as I have no clue where the best place to purchase one of these rigs is and I don't know if that is discussed here
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GPU-based rigs give you quite a bit of flexibility as far as scalability is concerned. You can start from an extra graphics card or two in an existing desktop system, to a dedicated 6+ card rig, to multiple rigs around the home, or even renting out space to run many rigs.

ASICs are a different beast. Running a single ASIC in the home isn't as popular of a choice as picking up some extra graphics cards for small-time mining, since ASICs tend to be optimized for space-efficiency, and thus often have a compact body with one or more high RPM fans (which are NOISY).
Large ASIC-based mining farms can be more efficient with physical space, however.
Resale value is [arguably] more of a gamble than with GPU-based rigs, since it depends greatly on the price of the coins based on the mining algorithm the unit is capable of mining, and how much of an upgrade future ASIC chips are. (The value of the unit is solely tied to its ability to generate revenue for the user, depending on how much a potential buyer values the cryptos it can mine [usually, but not always, based on current or projected exchange rates to fiat currency]. Either that, or its ability to act as a paper weight or be scrapped for materials.)
Back in 2012, a lot of people jumped on the BFL bandwagon for preordering SHA256 ASICs, and many of us who didn't buy into it held the exact same concerns we have now: Why would a company sell the hardware instead of mining with it on their own? Are they setting some units aside to mine for themselves, and hedging their bets by selling the hardware for immediate gains? (Meanwhile shipping units out months late...) Do investors believe that mining would be unprofitable and just want to take advantage of the demand for dedicated miners?

On another note, as always, operating costs (primarily electricity, but also those associated with dedicated mining facilities, if applicable) are an important factor for profitability. Do research keeping your specific conditions in mind.

Well, if you are interested in Litecoin and Ethereum, then Litecoin seems a good option as of now to get started with mining.
Ethereum will switch to complete POS consensus by the end of next year, and building a mining rig for ETH will cost around $3000.
Whereas, Litecoin can be mined by an ASIC that you can get for around $1500 or so and start mining immediately as soon as you receive it.

Hey dudes, I have been reading up on mining and at this point only have a rudimentary understanding. I am interested in mining litecoin and or etherium thus far. As part of my research I looked at rigs and see them running the gamut from hundreds to tens of thousands. Wanted to see what any of you have found for someone who wants to get in it but more as a hobby and learning theme than balls to the wall.