Questions about mining

[kimmel7183]

I'm new to this & was hoping for a little more understanding about the difference between Nvidia & AMD. & there are so many cards that are the same but not. I'm sure you guys understand. The Price can be so much different. Also info about motherboards. Which is a preferred operating system? Windows 10, Linux, or ethos? While on that subject, do you prefer one platform over another & where do you mine at? Solo or in pools? Thank you in advance for your time.

[scr4wl]

You are going to need to do your research.

[ir_cow]

The problem is no one is going to have the same answers because it comes down to preference mostly.

 

AMD and NVIDIA cards are good at mining different set of coins and very little overlaps. I don't have any AMD cards because I got into mining after AMD already had all there cards basically sold out across the internet. But at least I say for Nvidia cards, the higher the tier type of card, the better the return is. BUT also an increase in cost and power. So for example 3x GTX 1060 is a little faster than a 1080Ti overclocked in Equilhash Algo. You pay $230 per 1060 or $720 for a single 1080Ti. Also power comes out to be the same. So basically for NVIDIA and the Pascal (10 series) it comes down to how much money you have to burn.

 

As for motherboards, generally the idea is cheaper the better because all you need is a 1x slot to run a card. This doesn't mean you can't use your $500 extreme gaming motherboard. Its just a wast of money for mining purposes.  I'm using a X79 ASUS ROG Black Edition with a i7 3960X for one of my rigs because I already had it setup. Its a bit of a power waste even at idle. but I don't care.

 

For OS. unless you like dicking around with Linux and manually setting overclocks in code, I suggest SimpleOS or Windows. You get less of a hashrate in windows because the OS takes up resources, but to me its worth the trade so I don't have to spends days trying to play around with stuff.

 

Lastly on the subjects of pools. Unless its a brand new coin or you have 100+ video cards, solo mining is impossible. You will spends weeks getting nothing.

[scr4wl]

Since someone answered you... lol

 

You don't necessarily want the most expensive card. I've got an rx 470, three rx 480's, three rx 570's, an rx 580, a gtx 1060, two gtx 1070s, a gtx 1080, and four gtx 1080tis.

 

It depends on what you mine (and how much you pay for a card in these crazy markets), but I have had plenty of days where the AMD cards are more profitable then the NVIDIA cards. Also, out of all those cards, the 1080ti's took the longest for roi.

[cchalogamer]

It also depends on how dedicated the idea you are.  I started out with cards I had and added in my first 1080 Ti because I figured even if I didn't hit ROI I would have a cheaper than MSRP upgrade.  I still in the back of my mind have the idea that I can more easily dump the 1080 Tis should I need to vs a 1060 or RX 570 should I decide it's not worth it to me to mine in a month or two. (And yes I realize there would be many of them one the market, but I'm willing to sell at a "loss" if I've already made the money back.)  

 

There's also how you mine to consider.  Personally I'm lazy, hate tracking even 10 different coin values and can't be bothered as this is a fun hobby and excuse to buy more hardware, not my sole source of income so I don't mine and keep various alt coins, I either auto convert to one of the 4 options I can cash out at coinbase or use Nicehash to sell my processing power.  

 

As far as simple Nicehash has been the easiest brain dead way to end up with BTC in a wallet and USD in the bank for me but every system has flaws and they had a huge one back in December with a hack and loss of over 4500 BTC (.085ish of which was mine) but have come back with a free withdraw to coinbase from internal wallets option that has me transferring from them daily with relatively low risk.  I just don't get the reward of mining the next coin that goes crazy and making crazy money (I also don't have to worry about whatever I mine being worthless either), just some money and still more than enough to fund the hobby.

 

So yeah...preference.  

 

TLDR: your choice how you do it and there's not a simple "this is the best answer"

[kimmel7183]

Thank you all for your comments. That's kinda what I already had in mind. There is just so much I feel to building because I have actually never built one. But I figured this would be a fun project to do with my son plus have a roi. Win/win. I'm thing to start with a evga 1080ti. With a mobo that has 6 slots for GPUs. Plan to buy some more later. So I think I'll start with windows 10 to make it easier. Does anyone have any recommendations for mining software or pools to look for. I've tried ccminer or cgminer. Can't remember which one I used. Also tried nice hash. I like the simplicity of nice hash. Again, thank you for your advice.

[Braegnok]

You can pick up a new Intel H81 motherboard for cheep,..  https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4RE6RY1618&cm_re=mining_motherboard-_-9SIA4RE6RY1618-_-Product

 

Open air mining rack,..  https://www.amazon.com/xlpace-Mining-Aluminum-Frame-Bitcoin/dp/B078J5214K/ref=pd_sbs_147_4?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B078J5214K&pd_rd_r=HHP58JS4B6G8PKYH3VF1&pd_rd_w=d1wjX&pd_rd_wg=jErjw&psc=1&refRID=HHP58JS4B6G8PKYH3VF1

 

Power supply kit,.. https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAC5F6R79774&cm_re=mining_rig_power_supply-_-9SIAC5F6R79774-_-Product

 

GTX 1060 graphics cards X6 to get started,.. https://www.amazon.com/PNY-Video-Graphic-Cards-VCGGTX10606PB-CG/dp/B01K1JTMD0/ref=sr_1_9?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1516115040&sr=1-9&keywords=gtx+1060+6gb+graphics+card

 

Riser cards,.. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074PS39BK/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B074PS39BK&pd_rd_wg=y4hzg&pd_rd_r=32GP81WJBW9KSRD4JZCS&pd_rd_w=F49w2

 

USB Boot Drive,.. https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147453&cm_re=usb_flash_drive-_-20-147-453-_-Product

 

Mining OS,.. https://simplemining.net/

 

CPU,..  https://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Celeron-G1820T-2-4GHz-LGA-1150-SR1CP-Haswell-2M-2-Core-35W-CPU-Processor/302570353095?epid=841503088&hash=item46729931c7:g:8I8AAOSwywRaOJNY

 

Memory,.. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Kingston-KP382H-HYC-8GB-2-x-4GB-PC3-10600-1333MHz-DDR3-Desktop-RAM/173094323482?hash=item284d39c51a:g:MRYAAOSwh1paI0sk

 

A few hardware suggestions to get you off and running, keep your Investment down low on first rig,.. your main mission is quick ROI.

 

Good Luck, Welcome to OCC       

Edited January 16, 2018 by Braegnok

[ir_cow]

You can check out my thread http://forums.overclockersclub.com/topic/206212-everything-cryptocurrency-thread/I have going already. IF you already have 1080TI than download DSTM miner and jump on Supernova or Mining Pool Hub and have at it!

[kimmel7183]

So I finally received my hardware. I went with the biostar tb250 motherboard, evga 1080ti gpus, & 1200 psu. I actually have it up & running right now. & I have miner gate setup just to get things going & to kind of give me a starting point. I wanted to use nicehash but for some reason, I couldn't get it to load up properly. That's the only issue with programs I've came across so far. I also for some reason couldn't get the bios to update. I checked the date & it was the 2nd newest update so I moved forward & installed windows & updated the drivers. It's all running but I'm having some trouble figuring out how to overclock & other options in the bios setup to help me boost it more. If you have any more suggestions, I would really appreciate them. Thank you all who did answer positivity, because my son & I are learning a lot.