Ethereium is slated to go POS a while before *3* GB cards become unviable for mining - if the timeframe doesn't get pushed back again.
The real limit is likely to be "when will the diff increase to the point it overcomes the price and mining become uneconomic if your power cost is higher then VERY VERY cheap".
i can assume within this year, etheruem will not be profitable anymore, unless something crazy happen to bitcoin, which may skyrocket to unbelievable level like 2k or more...
At the current rate of difficulty increase, ie 40% a months, in 4 months, when the difficulty quadrupled, most miners will be not profitable.
People have been saying that about Bitcoin every year, yet people still mine and still remain profitable. (Input response: well those are Chinese miners who have $.03 electricity!) The same thing keeps being repeated but look, the S9 just was released, people are buying and still making profit (yes I know the halving ...blah blah blah... if the price continues to go up, mining still remains profitable. Just like any investment, their is risk. Either you risk it or you don't, but let's stop spouting numbers and percentages as if its gospel. Mine or don't mine its your choice. For those that keep asking about profit ...how much longer... if my electricity rate is xyz... stop answering them please. Being older and not having been blessed with the internet at my finger tips since birth, I seem to find all my answers by searching the forum or using google. Its an amazing invention! Stop enabling them). As for ethereum mining, newer, more efficient gpus are constantly being released (aka 480x and 470x.. yes I know we don't know benchmarks yet but will eventually) and the price of ethereum might increase, thus, mining remains profitable even as difficulty increases.
Some individuals continued to mine during "uneconomic" (aka unprofitable) times during bitcoin, especially last year when it was below $200. Now look at the price, stable at $750. Just because mining might become unprofitable, doesn't mean shit, as seen with bitcoin on multiple occasions.
you are comparing orange and apple really, bitcoin is on its own league, do not compare it iwth any altcoin, and anyway there were many miners that shut down their farm because there was not profit to be made
you clearly didn't look at the big picture, so no etheruem will not be profitable forever just accept it
Rofl.
Please explain your "apple and oranges" comment because you obviously can't comprehend the obvious message in my post, so saying I can't compare crypto currencies, especially an altcoin to "bitcoin" is stupid. Bitcoin is the standard, numero uno, anything after is a comparison, knockoff, improvement, etc. from the original so I don't understand your logic. Without Bitcoin, we don't have a premise of what could happen but it does give hope to what could happen. Yes, we have seen many altcoins fail but some have succeeded. Will the success be the same as bitcoin, we can only hope, but again, its a risk.
Also, your comment holds no grounds for anything besides your opinion (again, the point of my message), without once again proof of anything because in reality, nothing can be proven, yet you say it like "you know," as was the point of my original post. (but than again, don't compare or utilize my "original" post because that would be comparing apples to oranges).