In 2017, even people who do not have access to the Internet know what Bitcoin is. And active network users have information not only about the features and rapidly growing rate of bitcoin, but also about the specifics of the issue of this cryptocurrency, namely, the ability to mine it independently. Therefore, it is natural that in stores selling powerful video cards, from time to time there is a shortage of hardware - people buy up cards to create their own Bitcoin farms and mine cryptocurrency on them. But to make a profit from mining digital coins, purchasing a card with a high hashrate and installing it on your PC will not be enough. You also need to understand how a Bitcoin farm works, how to assemble it yourself, and how to start mining. Let's try to answer these questions in simple words, and also tell you how to assemble a bitcoin farm for 50,000 rubles. And we’ll separately figure out whether it’s possible to earn bitcoins by playing virtual games with withdrawal of money.
Bitcoin farm: what is it in simple words and how it works and produces cryptocurrency
The custom of calling computers used for cryptocurrency mining “farms” came from the United States, because it was American miners who, when communicating with each other, jokingly began to call their PCs equipped with several video cards that way. Now the term Bitcoin farm is used all over the world, and in any country this phrase means computers connected to one network with powerful equipment connected to them, on which digital coins are mined.
Theoretically, processors, video cards, and specialized equipment - ASIC miners - can be used as hardware for Bitcoin mining. But in practice, the power of the processor and even a gaming video card today is no longer enough to mine the most expensive and popular cryptocurrency. Therefore, Bitcoin farms that bring consistently high profits operate on the latest ASIC models.
If you answer the question, a Bitcoin farm - what is it in simple words and how does it work, then we can say this: it is one or several powerful machines interconnected that mine Bitcoin. Of course, a Bitcoin farm must always be connected to the Internet, because all operations to create new coins are carried out online. And due to the fact that in the Bitcoin system one new block, which today brings 12.5 coins, is mined on average in 10 minutes, computers must work around the clock. The reason for this is simple - 24/7 mining maximizes the chances of solving each new block before other miners do.
Software tasks performed by a Bitcoin farm
The Bitcoin farm has only one task - to solve a new block before other miners and thereby earn a reward for its owner. That is why the characteristics of the processor, motherboard, RAM and hard drive of the computer on which mining is carried out do not play any role. But the performance of video cards or ASICs, which are used to mine cryptocurrency, is key. The fact is that both the complexity of bitcoin mining and the number of bitcoin farms are increasing every day, and in order to successfully compete with other “diggers” of electronic coins, you need to have very powerful equipment with a high hashrate.
Mining itself, from the point of view of the software problems being solved, represents the following sequence of actions:
- The Bitcoin system provides all miners with the hash function of the new block, and some of the hashing characters were taken from the previous, newly created block, and the other part were arbitrary.
- Software equipment installed on mining farms all over the world solves a new block in parts by enumerating numbers - that is, it selects characters that would fit a given hash function (for reference, each block contains tens of thousands of characters, and the hash - the function is a chain of several dozen characters).
- When any mining farm manages to solve a block, it will immediately be entered into the blockchain, and the system will give miners a new hash function that must be solved to obtain a new block.
- For a solved block, the miner who extracted it receives a reward of 12.5 btc. Those who did not cope with the task simply begin solving a new block.
According to the principle described above, new blocks are created not only in bitcoin, but also in other cryptocurrency systems. Only the hashing algorithms differ: BTC uses SHA-256, Ethereum uses Ethash, Litecoin, Dogecoin and Digitalcoin uses Scrypt, etc.
On video cards you can mine cryptocurrency with almost any hashing algorithm, the main thing is to install the appropriate software on your computer. But ASIC miners are initially “tailored” to a specific algorithm, so each model is suitable for mining a limited number of electronic currencies.
Bitcoin farm - how to start mining digital coins
Considering cryptocurrency mining as a way to make money online, novice miners first of all wonder how a bitcoin farm is assembled and how to start mining bitcoins on it. In fact, there is nothing complicated in assembling a mining farm for bitcoins or any other cryptocurrency, and any user who knows how to connect other equipment to the motherboard will be able to complete the farm in less than an hour.
Assembling a small Bitcoin farm involves removing the case from the computer system unit and installing it on a rack made in the form of a frame, and then connecting it to the motherboard via video card risers and placing them on the rack at a distance of at least 10-15 cm from each other. Since powerful video cards require additional power, they come with special wires through which the cards installed on the motherboard are connected to the power supply.
The price of cryptocurrency is growing rapidly. As a result, the number of people interested in purchasing it increases. And due to the fact that great and even increasing competition today does not make it possible to mine digital monetary units on an ordinary home computer, many are starting to think about creating special mining farms, that is, powerful equipment assembled with their own hands and designed specifically for cryptocurrency mining. And although the situation is different for different cryptocoins, assembling the farm itself is a simple process. Even those who are poorly versed in computer technology will be able to create a good station without any problems and start using it to mine cryptocurrency. Today, all boards and other components are supplied with manuals that simplify the assembly process and easy-to-connect drivers.
A ready-made mining rig is an electronic computing device to which equipment is connected that provides performance benefits to the system. In most cases, graphics editors act as components - a tool traditionally used for computer games and rendering.
However, the mining farm is not limited to collecting components. It is also necessary to take care of high-quality ventilation of the assembled installation. After all, its total power is quite large, which means that it will heat up quickly. And if you do not take some measures to cool the components, the equipment may burn out and fail.
If you install additional coolers, the air circulation will increase. In this case, the farm will work not only longer, but also more efficiently.
What nuances need to be taken into account when assembling a mining rig?
Typically, during assembly, the video card is installed on a remote rack, and coolers are attached to the structure from different sides. Considering the capabilities of motherboards of modern personal computers, no more than six graphic editors can be connected to one of them simultaneously.
An important issue that a miner must take care of is energy consumption. The fact is that the graphics processor uses a huge amount of electrical current during its operation. Therefore, when assembling a farm from scratch, you must take into account energy costs. After all, they will be considerable. The minimum power consumption of average-priced devices is 50 watts per hour. However, such a computer has far from the best performance. If you create a full-fledged farm, then you should purchase video cards that consume a hundred watts per hour during operation. And provided that there are 6 of these video cards in one assembled device, the total will be more than half a kilowatt per hour.
However, six graphic editors are not all the components of a full-fledged mining farm. Its other components will also consume some energy, which can be measured in hundreds of watts per hour. And therefore, in total, such equipment will consume about 1 kilowatt per hour. And since this system is designed for round-the-clock operation, it will use about 25 kilowatts of electricity per day. For many residents of our country, this figure is the monthly norm. Therefore, a house with a mining farm can be compared in terms of energy consumption to a small office. It is also worth remembering that the farm will occupy a considerable amount of space. Its dimensions will not be much smaller than the dimensions of some diesel generator. And the mass of such an installation can be measured in tens of kilograms.
Hello! In this article we will talk about mining farms.
Today you will learn:
- What is a mining farm?
- How it works.
- How to build your own farm.
What is a mining farm
Let's start, as always, with a little theory.
In simple words mining farm – a set of components interconnected and producing virtual currency.
Cryptocurrency farms can consist of completely different components: video cards, processors, hard drives, special equipment created exclusively for mining. Initially, the concept of “farm” did not exist. Especially at a time when you could only use your home PC for mining.
But over time, the complexity of mining increased, algorithms improved and became more complex, and therefore mining on a home PC became simply unprofitable. Then people started looking for components and the right combination of them. Initially these were processors, then hard drives were added, and then video cards.
True, now most miners mean by the concept of “farm” several video cards interconnected. Such a design can perform only one task - to mine cryptocurrency using its computing power.
Farms on video cards have become popular thanks to Ethereum, which has a mining algorithm that is not as complex as Bitcoin, but has already gained great popularity. That is why many remembered that earlier, back in the 12-13s, cunning gamers used their video cards to mine bitcoins. And they did it quite successfully.
And in order to mine bitcoins now, just a farm on video cards will not be enough. You need special equipment - ASIC processors, which cost a lot of money (from 5 thousand dollars), but have colossal computing power, ideally suited for mining.
The first cryptocurrency mining farms have come a long way from home PCs to full-fledged installations that cost several million rubles.
In this article we will talk mainly about farms on video cards, because:
- They have a fairly simple design;
- Do not require huge financial investments;
- They pay for themselves quickly (150-180 days including electricity).
Bitcoin mining farm
Before we talk about farm work and how to do it at home, you should immediately understand one thing:
A bitcoin mining farm will now be practically unprofitable.
Due to the high difficulties in mining this cryptocurrency and the entry of large Asian companies into mining, a single farm simply cannot cope and will work with much lower profits than if it were mining, for example, ether or z-cash.
This does not mean that you will not be able to mine bitcoins. Not at all, you are guaranteed to receive your income.
But another question is what you need for this:
- Use third-party services, lending them your power;
- Share profits with other participants;
- Depend on complete strangers.
And this all means that such production turns out to be too risky and less profitable.
How does a mining farm work?
Let's pay attention to video cards. The “red” representatives of Radeon are best suited for mining. They are more adaptable, have more computing power, and therefore produce a lot of currency.
But since there are almost no Radeon video cards in Russia, and those that exist cost a lot of money, you have to be content with green analogues from GTX. Their later models have average mining performance, but demand for them has not yet reached the point where the price becomes disproportionately high.
Now let's talk about how the mining farm works.
To put it quite simply, then mining farm - an installation that directs its computing power to solve one problem - cryptocurrency mining. That is, you build a small analogue of a PC (very conditional), connect all the necessary equipment, configure it, and after that all resources at the maximum level will be directed to the extraction of cryptocurrency.
The power of one farm is approximately 26 times higher than that of an average home PC costing 40-50 thousand rubles. Moreover, unlike a computer, power is not distributed to work programs, maintaining the system, or carrying out any operations. It is clearly focused on one thing - currency extraction.
Now that you roughly understand how a mining rig works, let's figure out what it takes to assemble a rig.
What is needed for a mining farm
In order to assemble a mining farm, you will need:
- Motherboard. An ordinary motherboard with the required number of connectors for a video card will be sufficient.
- HDD. 60 gigabytes may be enough, but it’s better to take 100-160. One wallet with Ethereum weighs only 25 GB, and with Bitcoin - from 50 and above.
- Video cards. No special advice here. Choose a suitable video card for mining, and then, based on this, assemble the remaining parts.
- Power unit. Farms with 4+ video cards often require more than one power supply. They basically buy several 750-watt units and simply connect them together to work.
- Adapters for mounting video cards (preferably Razer).
- Equipment start button.
- It would be advisable to buy 1-2 more coolers for better cooling.
Another important detail is the frame for the truss.
Its approximate dimensions:
- Width: 42 cm;
- Length: 55-60 cm;
- Height: 35 cm;
- Height of the video card bracket: 23 cm.
It is best to make the frame from wood or aluminum. The size of the mining rig will be slightly larger than its frame due to protruding parts, adapters and the cooling system.
In total, the average truss will be approximately half a meter in height, 70 cm in length and 50 cm in width. A large mining rig can reach length and height parameters of one meter.
Now some tips regarding equipment:
- Don't buy ASRock motherboards. Although the developers claim that they created their product solely for cryptocurrency mining, experienced miners actively discourage inserting them into farms, citing overloads and overheating solely due to the design of the motherboard.
- Buying video cards in Russia is becoming increasingly unprofitable. Those models that literally a year ago cost 10-11 thousand rubles are now sold in leading stores for 18 thousand. If you decide to assemble a farm yourself, pay attention to stores in Western Europe and America.
- Don't spend a lot on a motherboard and hard drives. The cost of all related equipment should not exceed 10-15% of the price of the farm itself.
Now to more detailed instructions on how to assemble your farm.
How to build a mining farm
Assembling a farm yourself is not an easy task. However, if you know a little about computer hardware, this will not be difficult for you.
Video on creating a mining farm:
Farm setup
Once you have assembled the basic structure, you need to set up the truss. In fact, setting up a farm comes down to completely tearing down the system, installing new drivers and then working with programs.
After installing the operating system, we immediately update the hardware drivers to the latest versions. Then download MSI Afterburner from the official website to overclock your video cards. Next, install Teamviewer to work with the farm remotely, set the swap file to 20 GB and install.
We go to the site through which you will mine, select the pool (the network through which we will mine) and download the program itself. Then we open it like a notepad and write in it our wallet number, the name of the farm and the email to which notifications will be sent. We close it, click start, and the mining farm starts working.
Add the miner program to the autostart of your farm so that immediately after turning it on, it starts mining cryptocurrency.
This is roughly how a mining farm is set up from scratch. Almost all of the setup time will be spent installing the operating system.
To understand this better, watch the video:
Where to buy a ready-made farm for mining
If you don’t want to bother yourself with finding the necessary components, assembling, installing and configuring equipment, then it will be much easier to buy a farm. But there is one important detail.
There is no point in buying ready-made mining rigs on the secondary market or message boards. Firstly, people do not know the real cost of their structures and often inflate the price (up to 2 times), and secondly, you may encounter incorrect settings or low-quality equipment.
If you are in Moscow or St. Petersburg, then in your cities there are several companies that sell already configured turnkey mining farms.
In the provinces this is more difficult. It’s rare that anyone engages in mining in principle, and sells a finished farm either for a lot of money, or one that has already been killed.
Speaking about the ready purchase of farms, we cannot fail to mention special equipment for mining. It is created by manufacturers in order to make maximum use of hardware with minimal investment.
The most popular special equipment is ASIC processors. These are designs made specifically for working with bitcoins. They produce maximum power precisely in terms of production, but are completely unsuitable for everything else.
If we compare the cost of special ASIC equipment with the price of one average farm, it turns out that a mining farm will cost much less, even if you buy a ready-made one.
The capacity of farms at the same costs will be approximately 1.5 times less. But when buying special equipment for mining, there is a high risk that if the threshold for entering the system increases greatly, you will not be able to mine anything on it, and there will be no one to sell it to, since the designs are not suitable for anything else.
Therefore, if you only want to engage in mining with maximum profitability, then it is better to buy a ready-made installation that will mine cryptocurrency. Prices: from 3 thousand dollars for the minimum configuration.
What cryptocurrency to mine on your farm
The question of which cryptocurrency to mine is quite interesting and controversial. On the one hand, there is a clear answer - ether. On the other hand, the complexity of mining and small rumors about changes in mining algorithms force us to look for backup options.
These options can be divided into two groups:
- Famous cryptocurrencies;
- Altcoins that are gaining popularity.
It’s up to you to decide, but dealing with popular cryptocurrencies is much safer and more profitable, and more profitable with those that are gaining popularity.
If you want to mine new altcoins, it is recommended not only to mine this cryptocurrency, but also to buy it. So, as the value increases, you will receive more money from the farm and have stability from your investment.
But dealing with altcoins is now very unsafe. You can easily go broke and lose several days/weeks, or even months of your farm’s work. Therefore, if this is your only farm and one of the few sources of income, then it is better to limit yourself to popular cryptocurrencies like Ether, Z-Cash, etc.
There you need to select a mining algorithm, set the power, and after that you will be given a list of options with the profitability of each of them.
How much does a mining farm earn?
The most interesting question is, of course, “How much does one mining farm earn?”
It will not be possible to answer this unequivocally due to the fact that, firstly, there are different farms, and secondly, the cryptocurrency rate has been actively jumping in recent months, and it will no longer be possible to talk about exact figures.
The only reliable figures that can be obtained are the payback of video cards. If we consider the most popular model in Russia now - NVIDIA GTX 1060, then the payback period varies from 140 days to 200, depending on the cost of cryptocurrency and electricity. Well, from setting up the farm, of course. Other video cards take a little longer to pay for themselves.
By overclocking the video card, you can significantly reduce the payback rate of the farm, by about 20-40 days. True, such a farm will heat up more, consume more electricity, require a better cooling system and, in principle, will last less.
Therefore, miners are forced to balance between income right now and the prospect of stable earnings for several years. But since the future is still vague, despite the increasing interest in cryptocurrency, experts still advise overclocking your video cards, if, of course, you know how to do it.
Moreover, judging by numerous articles on the Internet, investments in a farm pay off in 100-110 days. But if you explore the topic a little deeper and look at reliable forums, the figure will increase to 140-150 days at best. Based on our realities, we can talk about semi-annual investments, and in some cases, annual ones.
That is, video cards pay for themselves in an average of 150 days + equipment from the cooling system, motherboard and electricity will take another month. In total we get 5 - 6 months of payback.
For those who like specific numbers, it will all sound something like this:
- A GTX 1060 farm brings in 90 rubles per day x number of video cards;
- A GTX 1070 farm brings in 120 rubles per day x number of video cards;
- A GTX 1080 farm brings in 130 rubles per day x number of video cards;
- A GTX 1080 TI farm brings in 180 rubles per day x number of video cards.
Data valid for September-October 2017. What will happen next is still unknown.
If we compare prices with profitability and payback period, it turns out that the more expensive the video card (from those presented in the list above), the greater the profit and payback period will be.
That is, in the long run, it may turn out that the nominal income from 1 farm with 1080 TI will be higher, but for the same money that was spent on 4 TI video cards, you can buy 3 farms with 1060.
It is now difficult to find real data on how much farms bring in per day. And it’s even more difficult to predict its income, because due to its great popularity, mining algorithms are becoming more and more complex, prices are still jumping, and cryptocurrency sellers at any moment risk simply collapsing the market with their actions.
To see if mining is worth it at all, do some research with hardware suppliers. This is called cloud mining. It will allow you to understand whether there is money in cryptocurrency, whether it is profitable to invest in it, and generally get a “taste of money” in it.
While you are testing cloud mining, you need to watch training materials on:
- Creating a mining farm at home;
- Overclocking video cards;
- Correct setup of equipment.
This is done so that you simply do not lose your investment. And now you will have to spend 100-110 thousand rubles on the first farm, which is quite a lot, taking into account the unstable economic situation.
Once you've tried cloud mining, compared all the costs and watched the training video, it's time to start building your own farm.
This is done quite simply, we even told you how. But one important point is still worth remembering: you need a normal cooling system. Overclocked video cards get very hot, and overheating is one of the most common causes of breakdowns of gaming video cards, not to mention mining, in which poor cards work even harder.
And now about acceleration. As they said on one of the forums: “If you can’t overclock your video card for mining, then it’s better to find yourself a stable job.” No matter how harsh it may sound, it is true.
Overclocking a video card from scratch is not an easy task, especially when you have absolutely no experience in it. But YouTube is one big instruction on how to overclock video cards, including for mining.
To understand how to overclock video cards, watch the video:
And one more, but very important note. If you are assembling a mining farm at home, then you need to live either with very peaceful neighbors, or in a house with very good noise insulation, since the farms hum quite loudly.
What to do with the farm if cryptocurrency goes to the bottom
Frankly speaking, the situation in which the cryptocurrency breaks the bottom is almost unrealistic. Demand for bitcoins, the flagship virtual currency, has been growing steadily for more than eight years. This is a pretty good indicator.
Another question is that there were periods when it sank significantly, and lost up to 50% of the positions earned for the year within 1-2 weeks.
It is in light of this uncertainty that people are wondering what to do when “mining ends.” This is especially true with the government’s statements that it seems to want to regulate the circulation of biktions and cryptocurrency in general, but continues to firmly tighten the screws on money laundering.
The easiest option that comes to mind is to sell components. And this is the most correct option. You will have nowhere else to use your computing power except to mine another cryptocurrency.
Those who are seriously thinking about assembling PCs from mining rigs can be safely advised to forget about this idea. You will have to spend an amount comparable to the cost of a farm on components for 3-6 PCs (depending on the number of video cards). At the same time, you will also need to understand that a used video card will cost much less than a new one.
All that remains is to closely monitor the video card market, and immediately after the equipment becomes obsolete, throw it onto the secondary market, within a week at most.
Important fact. The Russian secondary market is now reacting very sharply to everything that happens to the economy. But despite this, computer components have always stood apart, because there are always gamers, and they need hardware. Therefore, if you carefully consider the moment, dismantle the farm and sell the video cards, then you can easily recoup the cost of the farm in a week, if you have time.
But everything is not so sad. Blockchain technology is very interesting for businesses and entrepreneurs. Therefore, cryptocurrencies will continue to be created quite actively.
True, these are often hype and made in order to collect money into the owner’s wallet. But in some cases, worthy and interesting projects emerge. So, the same ETH in 2014 was “another alternative to Bitcoin,” and now it is already the second cryptocurrency in the world.
The world of currencies is developing very quickly and in the near future, perhaps we will get two or three more worthy replacements for the old cue balls.
Therefore, do not rush to part with mining farms and think about what to do after Bitcoin or Ether loses value. You will be able to mine and trade altcoins that are just starting to appear. With proper investments in trade and equipment, you can.
Conclusion
To summarize, we can say that a mining farm is now the only way to adequately invest in cryptocurrency earnings. If for some reason renting a mining farm is inconvenient for you, then assembling your own installation in your apartment will not be difficult. This will require only a monetary investment (100+ thousand rubles) and a little time to completely figure it out.
Don't expect your investment to pay off instantly. Most people who talk about 2-2.5 months are simply far from cryptocurrency and modern farming realities. Time passes, the algorithms become more complex, the price rises, but the payback still remains in the region of 120+ days (at best). If you want to start mining, it's a little late, but it's still profitable.
Recently, for a number of reasons, mining profitability has begun to decline. The constant complication of hash calculations and a decrease in the reward for the mined block, which is practiced in most projects, makes miners doubt the feasibility of this undertaking. How to make a budget farm in 2020 to start making money on it? What components to assemble it from and where it is more profitable to buy them - about this and much more below.
For example, let’s consider the option of assembling a budget mining farm, the cost of all components of which varies between 2000-2700 dollars. Payback period is about 1 year.
What you need for a budget mining rig
The right choice of equipment is the foundation for future success. The following components are required for operation:
- Motherboard. The possible number of connected video cards depends on what card is installed on the computer. The cheapest is the As Rock FM 2A88M board, costing only $63, but it is of little use for efficient mining due to lack of power. The best choice is ASRock FM2A88X, which can connect six video cards. Its price is about $110.
- Frame. This is an element on which you can save a lot by assembling it yourself from aluminum corners or wooden blocks. If you do everything from start to finish without outside help, you can easily get it under $14.
- CPU. When choosing, two main conditions must be met: the processor must have average power and be suitable for the motherboard. The best choice is an A4 category unit for $48.
- RAM. Two 2 GB boards will cost less than one 4 GB board, but the effect will be the same. Cost – $16 x2 = $32.
- HDD for 60 GB. The cost of the most budget option is $40.
- Video card from 2 GB of memory.
- Cooling system(fans, cooler, etc.)
It is worth dwelling on the choice in more detail. Of the inexpensive models, the Nvidia Ge Force GTX 1050 Ti ($120) is worthy of attention. It is also recommended to consider the Radeon RX 470 Sapphire ($300).
The Radeon card is featured in this guide for a reason. It cannot be classified as budget, but these costs will justify themselves. Radeon video cards are the best for mining today. Most often, manufacturers optimize cards for games, and not for crypto mining, so specialized models are very rare, and the RX 470 is just one of them. In general, only cards made by NVidia and Radeon are suitable for mining farms.
Where to buy farm components
In specialized stores, everything is simple: the goods can be picked up on the day you order them, there is no need to wait for delivery. But the difference in price compared to Amazon can reach 100%. Thus, the GeForce 1050 Ti card in stores sells for $220-230, and on the Internet it can be purchased for $130. It is better to order components on Ebay or Amazon at a reasonable price and wait 20-25 days for delivery.
The diagram for assembling a mining farm with your own hands is quite complicated, but if you do everything according to the instructions, you will not get confused. Procedure for assembling a farm for cryptocurrencies
- Assembling the frame on which all equipment will be mounted. When assembled, it resembles a server rack.
- Assembly of components. The process is no different from assembling a regular computer. The motherboard is placed on the bottom shelf of the frame, but always so that it does not come into contact with its surface.
- Installing a cooler and processor on the motherboard.
- Mounting the power supply to the corner using self-tapping screws. Reliable engagement of the block with the corners guarantees the safety of the device (protection against spark formation in contact).
- Installation of the power button and indicators.
- Connecting a hard drive.
- Connecting a video card through raisers using Molex.
The inexpensive one is almost ready. All that remains is to install the operating system (better if it is Windows 10) and download the software for mining coins.
Farm Software
You only need to work with functional software and use programs
Ethminer and sgminer-gm-windows. These programs are optimal for mining. Their main advantages are ease of installation and configuration. To mine other coins, you can use Ethereum Claymore’s Dual or Sia.
How much can you earn on a budget farm in 2020?
The main thing that interests the miner, regardless of whether he buys a farm or assembles it himself: what income can he get from it?
You need to understand right away: it is impossible to mine expensive on budget equipment. Since the main cryptocurrency began to break growth records, the number of its participants began to increase exponentially. As a result: system slowdown, scaling problems, increased commissions and hash calculation difficulties. Now, without powerful, expensive equipment, it is impossible to confirm the next block of Bitcoin. In addition, the cost of the block was halved, so the profitability of VTS mining was significantly reduced.
Therefore, it is worth paying attention to other cryptocurrencies:
- Ethereum;
Ether mining is considered the most profitable today, but you can try mining other digital coins.
Ethereum is one of the promising cryptocurrencies, which is catching up with Bitcoin in popularity. Example of a budget farm
An inexpensive mining rig can be assembled from the following components:
- GA-Z97X-Gaming 3 motherboard.
- Seasonic power supply 1,200 W.
- Three PCIExpress slots with a RadeonRX 480 video card with a hashrate of 30 Mhash/sec.
- Risers (sold at a bargain price on risers.ru);
- Winchester SSD Now V300 (120 GB).
- Kingston 4 GB RAM.
OS installation. As mentioned above, Windows 10 is suitable for mining. But since an economical option is being considered, you can install free Ubuntu, created specifically for Ethereum mining.
Despite the general decrease in profitability and increase in the payback period of mining, this budget option can bring up to one hundred percent per annum at a cost of $2 – 2.7. In addition to bitcoin, the extraction of which today is only effective on industrial farms, provided that inexpensive electricity is used, there are a lot of young promising currencies that can bring good dividends. And then they can be exchanged for bitcoins or ether, which is no less reliable for long-term storage.
Cryptocurrency mining: detailed and simple: