Bonus is in soooo a GTX 680 or an AMD 7970?

[RussianSensation]

The thing is, even though the Geforce 680 is a slightly better gaming card, I've already paid off half of one of my 7970's from mining Bitcoins. At the current prices and mining speeds I'll likely even have both of my 7970's paid off before the end of this year so for me I have no regrets going with 7970's.

Everyone keeps saying that and the math doesn't add up unless electricity is free for you. I've ran bitcoin with my 6950 to test it out and it's never as good as people claim it to be. It's pretty much not worth it at all given the access noise and power consumption costs. Below I outline my analysis:

For example, a quiet overlcocked HD7970 costs at least $550. I assumed hash rate of 700 and electricity cost of $0.15 per kWh. To get such a high hash rate, the cards needs a 1200mhz or so overclock. At this rate, most 7970's need a voltage bump which means the card is burning ~250W of power. Without even accounting for a minimum 10% loss due to the PSU, I'll keep it at 250W for simplicity sake (but really it's probably even more at the wall).

Ok so now using this calculator:

It would take 2 years and 276 days to break even on a $550 HD7970 assuming you run it 24/7 every single day and never game on it at all.

This might work for people who are paying $0 for electricity. For people who also game, the profit will be much lower. So it would take well over 3 years to just make the price of 1 card back. However, it's only going to get worse as difficulty risess and by end of the year profitability will plummet in half.

I ran the numbers for my 6950 and it gets 390 MHash. 225W power consumption gets me $10.37 a month assuming I run it non-stop (which is a joke as most people spend more on coffee in a week). In the summer time this just makes things worse since you'd need to run your A/C more.

Basically, either bitcoin mining is extremely overrated, people are paying $0 for electricity or they are exaggerating their gains. If bitcoin mining value goes up from $4.90 to say $10-15 or something, then it will become better. By the end of the year the BTC/block will drop to 25 some time around December 2012. By that point, HD7970 will make almost no $ like my HD6950.

Unless this calculator is way off or my math is incorrect somewhere, how in the world can one make $275 in 3 months of bitcoin mining if HD7970 only makes $1.23 a day after subtracting what I consider very reasonable cost of electricity?

 

[chimaxi83]

Maybe he meant he's already paid off half with Bitcoins already in his possession? That, or free power, are the only things that make a little sense.

 

[Elfear]

Everyone keeps saying that and the math doesn't add up unless electricity is free for you. I've ran bitcoin with my 6950 to test it out and it's never as good as people claim it to be. It's pretty much not worth it at all given the access noise and power consumption costs. Below I outline my analysis:

For example, a quiet overlcocked HD7970 costs at least $550. I assumed hash rate of 700 and electricity cost of $0.15 per kWh. To get such a high hash rate, the cards needs a 1200mhz or so overclock. At this rate, most 7970's need a voltage bump which means the card is burning ~250W of power. Without even accounting for a minimum 10% loss due to the PSU, I'll keep it at 250W for simplicity sake (but really it's probably even more at the wall).

Ok so now using this calculator:

It would take 2 years and 276 days to break even on a $550 HD7970 assuming you run it 24/7 every single day and never game on it at all.

This might work for people who are paying $0 for electricity. For people who also game, the profit will be much lower. So it would take well over 3 years to just make the price of 1 card back. However, it's only going to get worse as difficulty risess and by end of the year profitability will plummet in half.

I ran the numbers for my 6950 and it gets 390 MHash. 225W power consumption gets me $10.37 a month assuming I run it non-stop (which is a joke as most people spend more on coffee in a week). In the summer time this just makes things worse since you'd need to run your A/C more.

Basically, either bitcoin mining is extremely overrated, people are paying $0 for electricity or they are exaggerating their gains. If bitcoin mining value goes up from $4.90 to say $10-15 or something, then it will become better. By the end of the year the BTC/block will drop to 25 some time around December 2012. By that point, HD7970 will make almost no $ like my HD6950.

Unless this calculator is way off or my math is incorrect somewhere, how in the world can one make $275 in 3 months of bitcoin mining if HD7970 only makes $1.23 a day after subtracting what I consider very reasonable cost of electricity?

My 7970 runs at 1170Mhz at 1.081V for mining purposes. Hash rate is ~690 Mhash. Power draw for the whole system is 290W and should drop 10W or so once I figure out how to clock the ram down from 1375. It's not nearly as bad as you make it out to be. Even with the cost of electricity, I'm making ~$1.30 a day. With another 7970 you could make an extra $2.00/day. $3.30/day for 90 days is $297. Just over half of a new 7970.

 

[Madpacket]

Everyone keeps saying that and the math doesn't add up unless electricity is free for you. I've ran bitcoin with my 6950 to test it out and it's never as good as people claim it to be. It's pretty much not worth it at all given the access noise and power consumption costs. Below I outline my analysis:

For example, a quiet overlcocked HD7970 costs at least $550. I assumed hash rate of 700 and electricity cost of $0.15 per kWh. To get such a high hash rate, the cards needs a 1200mhz or so overclock. At this rate, most 7970's need a voltage bump which means the card is burning ~250W of power. Without even accounting for a minimum 10% loss due to the PSU, I'll keep it at 250W for simplicity sake (but really it's probably even more at the wall).

Ok so now using this calculator:

It would take 2 years and 276 days to break even on a $550 HD7970 assuming you run it 24/7 every single day and never game on it at all.

This might work for people who are paying $0 for electricity. For people who also game, the profit will be much lower. So it would take well over 3 years to just make the price of 1 card back. However, it's only going to get worse as difficulty risess and by end of the year profitability will plummet in half.

I ran the numbers for my 6950 and it gets 390 MHash. 225W power consumption gets me $10.37 a month assuming I run it non-stop (which is a joke as most people spend more on coffee in a week). In the summer time this just makes things worse since you'd need to run your A/C more.

Basically, either bitcoin mining is extremely overrated, people are paying $0 for electricity or they are exaggerating their gains. If bitcoin mining value goes up from $4.90 to say $10-15 or something, then it will become better. By the end of the year the BTC/block will drop to 25 some time around December 2012. By that point, HD7970 will make almost no $ like my HD6950.

Unless this calculator is way off or my math is incorrect somewhere, how in the world can one make $275 in 3 months of bitcoin mining if HD7970 only makes $1.23 a day after subtracting what I consider very reasonable cost of electricity?

Go to "http://bitcoinx.com/profit/index.php"

Punch in 0.0725 cents per KW (what I pay here in southern Ontario for energy)
Punch in 1400MH/S (2*7970's undervolted @ 1185MHz core, 600 Mem)
Punch in 1100 cost for the cards (ref Gigabyte models, 3 year warranty)
Punch in 515W for the energy usage. (measured from the wall with my Killwatt)

I purchased both cards on launch day (almost 3 months ago) and have been mining steady ever since. Sold a bunch of coins closer to the 5.70 mark and the difficulty was lower in January to about mid-late February so I was earning more coins during this time.

I should have the 7970's paid by the end of the year as I have two other already paid for with BTC video cards dual role miners assisting them - a dedicated HTPC and a decent gaming box that is powerful enough to handle 99% of today's crappy console ports. I'm closer to 1950MH total with them helping. Anything can happen between now and then but I'm already at a point that if BTC goes away tomorrow (very unlikely but possible) I would still be ahead if I sold the cards.

I figure by the time they are paid off there may finally be games that I need the 7970's for

TLDR;

If you live in an area with cheaper electricity, you can really subsidize the cost of these 500+ dollar 7970 cards by mining for Bitcoins. This makes the Geforce 680 much less attractive even though it's a better gaming card.

 

[taltamir]

Basically, either bitcoin mining is extremely overrated, people are paying $0 for electricity or they are exaggerating their gains.

Bitcoin mining IS extremely overrated.

 

[BoFox]

Wow, that's a real good reason to buy Radeon cards.

If BTC actually pans out as a successful currency in the future, then you guys are some real lucky bastards. I guess that's the "hidden" reward for supporting the underdog - even if Stereo3D gaming is hardly a viable option. I'm kicking myself for not doing the early mining with my HD 4870 1GB when I had it for almost 2 years (crunching for Milkyway@home instead...)

At least you guys are keeping AMD alive, which is important for the tech/competition that benefit the customers the most.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

lol

There is also business to be had in having a high end cpu coupled with Fermi, college students will pay good money for access to such a beastly setup... At least that's what I've heard, programs like 3DSMAX and other CAD work can fetch you a good price for computer time if your PC is fast enough.

I've heard of people making $2000 a week off a 990x + 580 all liquid cooled and overclocked. I dunno how valid that is or if it's even true though some people just talk to talk on the internet.

 

[chimaxi83]

lol bitcoin miners keeping AMD alive... the ignorance is disgusting

 

[BoFox]

lol bitcoin miners keeping AMD alive... the ignorance is disgusting

It's like the only reason to go AMD right now, isn't it? (At least that's what the posters are saying in this thread..) That's what keeping AMD alive this round?

 

[chimaxi83]

Yawn, troll elsewhere bud.

We'll be the ones to decide who needs to leave; thanks.
-ViRGE

 

[BoFox]

Well, I do wish I could mine for bitcoins right now, but electricity is a bit more expensive here. Perfect for college students living in dorms, or for anybody else who don't have to pay for elec..

 

[taltamir]

Well, I do wish I could mine for bitcoins right now, but electricity is a bit more expensive here. Perfect for college students living in dorms, or for anybody else who don't have to pay for elec..

what kind of magic fairy land college dorms give you free electricity? Or free anything for that matter?

 

[Ferzerp]

There is a value in the real datacenter world that we have use. It's called PUE. Traditional datacenters have a PUE of around 2.0, meaning that when you use one unit of electricity in computing, you typically use another unit of energy in ancillary things to maintain it (cooling, etc).

Something tells me all these bitcoin "miners" don't understand their PUE and how much they're actually spending keeping their PCs running 24x7

 

[blckgrffn]

what kind of magic fairy land college dorms give you free electricity? Or free anything for that matter?

Well, maybe you could say it is prepaid?

But I have never heard of a dorm in the US where you had to pay for power. OR internet (actually, I have heard of this - a free baseline speed and then you pay for more). Or heat. Or cooling.

That said, I think my roommate and I figured that we were paying something like $1300 a month between the two of us to have a two room dorm room. That did include some 14 meals a week.

Too bad BitCoin was after my time at college, I would have turned the AC full on and lined a wall with machines (all year long)

There is a value in the real datacenter world that we have use. It's called PUE. Traditional datacenters have a PUE of around 2.0, meaning that when you use one unit of electricity in computing, you typically use another unit of energy in ancillary things to maintain it (cooling, etc).

Something tells me all these bitcoin "miners" don't understand their PUE and how much they're actually spending keeping their PCs running 24x7

I would think it really depends on the density of the miners operation. A couple PCs in the basement running? Probably not a lot of ancillary costs there (bandwidth is already paid for, the increase in cooling capacity is minimal, etc.) Maybe you are spending money on fans or power supplies as it is unlikely that most consumer parts are built for 100% duty cycles, but that should be pretty obvious, right?

 

[Vengor]

How in the world did my thread get turned into this? Well I have my order in my burning question has been answered.

Time to return to the lurking depths for at least 12 years and 2 months now.

*the leviathan lurker sinks out of sight returning to the depths from whence he came.*

 

[Axon]

How in the world did my thread get turned into this? Well I have my order in my burning question has been answered.

Time to return to the lurking depths for at least 12 years and 2 months now.

*the leviathan lurker sinks out of sight returning to the depths from whence he came.*

This is the GPU forum, my man. Sanity leaves at the door.