GPU prices have risen as a result of bitcoin mining. So, if you're a gamer with a powerful GPU in your gaming PC, can you really make some additional money mining cryptocurrency (like Bitcoin) on your computer?
This isn't about putting up a dedicated mining rig or getting too sophisticated. And we're not advising you to acquire hardware solely to mine. We've heard that anyone with a strong GPU can just download easy-to-use software and put it to work, and that's exactly what we did.
In this article you will learn:
What's the best mining pool for gamers ?
Mining pool is simply a software that connects you too the Blockchain network and allows you to mine.
The best one for gamers is MinerGate. It allows gamers to use their GPU and CPU to mine. It's effortless to use, you just download it and start mining. It has very low fees.
It has a lot of coins to mine like Ethereum, Litecoin and others.
What is Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency?
Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency that was created in 2009 and has recently gained a lot of popularity due to its sharp growth in value. Cryptocurrencies work with blockchain technology, which protects the currency's security by encrypting it from beginning to end
Cryptocurrencies, particularly Bitcoin, have been dubbed the "currency of the future" since they are not tied to specific entities such as banks or governments, making them unregulated and simple to use.
How Does Mining Work?
Here's how mining works if you're not familiar with it. The app simply uses all of your GPU's resources to do tasks. This causes your GPU to consume more energy than it would typically consume when idle, resulting in a higher electric bill. It also generates more heat, so you'll want to make sure your computer is adequately cooled. Mining is the process of solving mathematical equations for the blockchain.
Because you probably aren't gaming 24 hours a day (everyone needs a break! ), the cryptocurrency miner software can put your GPU to work when you aren't using it. When you want to use your GPU for gaming, you'll have to turn off the mining programme, but that's easy enough if you're making money while it's not in use, right?
What is Bitcoin’s proof-of-work protocol ?
The approach assures that Bitcoin miners put in real labour by requiring them to spend time and electricity sifting through all of the available combinations. To separate itself from other forms of block-creation methods, Bitcoin's consensus system is dubbed "proof-of-work."
Proof of work (PoW) is a decentralized consensus process that demands network users to put out effort to solve a random mathematical challenge. The transaction and mining of new coins can only be validated by solving this mathematical challenge.
What's Hashes and Encryption ?
Hashes are a type of one-way encryption. Decrypting them into their input data is nearly hard until every conceivable combination is examined until the result matches the hash.
Bitcoin miners do something similar: they cycle through trillions of hashes per second until they locate one that meets a "difficulty" criterion. Both the difficulty and the hash are extremely big integers expressed in bits, and the condition demands that the hash be less than the difficulty. Difficulty adjusts every two weeks or so in 2016 Bitcoin blocks to maintain a consistent block time, which refers to how long it takes to mine each new block.
Even the tiniest modification to a block's predicted hash — and that of subsequent blocks — would have a noticeable impact. This wrong version of the blockchain would be immediately rejected by nodes, protecting the network from meddling.
What Is NiceHash?
NiceHash is a simple piece of software that allows you to sell the "hashing power" of your GPU. You sign up for a NiceHash account, download the NiceHash miner programme, and press a few buttons. This qualifies you as a "processing power seller."
On the NiceHash marketplace, "buyers" of processing power submit orders, and the NiceHash software on your computer automatically works on the most profitable transactions. You'll be a part of a huge mining pool that mines altcoins on behalf of someone. NiceHash will compensate you in Bitcoin.
NiceHash is simple to use, and anyone who can install and use a graphical application can start mining. Is it, however, worthwhile?
Mining case study
How Much Money Can You Actually Make?
The main question is whether or not this mining is profitable. With my NVIDIA GTX 980 TI hardware and $0.10 USD/kWh electricity pricing, NiceHash's Profitability calculator estimated that I could make roughly $70 per month after electricity costs. However, this is a guess based on the prior month's earnings.
Because a faster GPU can do more work, you will earn more money. However, if you have to pay more for electricity, your profitability will suffer.
NiceHash's profitability calculator made it sound appealing, so I downloaded the software and gave it a day to work.
I was disappointed by the earnings, which were predicted to be somewhere between $1.50 and $2 a day—and that’s before electricity costs. That’s also assuming I ran NiceHash twenty-four hours a day.
In the spirit of saving money, I plugged my computer into a Kill-a-Watt and measured its power use. At idle, the PC used roughly 65 watts of power, and while mining, it might use up to 300 watts.
So, to convert watts to kWh per day and then calculate how much $0.10 per kWh costs, we do the following math:
7200 watt hours per day = 300 watts * 24 hours7200 watt hours per day divided by 1000 is 7.2 kilowatt hours per day
$0.72 = 7.2 kWh * $0.
To put it another way, if I keep my PC mining all day, it costs me $0.72 in electricity. After electrical expenditures, I might make a dollar a day if I obtain an average of $1.75 from mining.
We may argue about the math—perhaps the PC would be running all day anyway, so you're only looking at additional 235 watts of power—but it won't make a significant difference. For all the heat generated and possible stress on my computer's components, that's a pretty small amount of profit, so I won't be mining with NiceHash on my PC.
The NiceHash calculator is a little deceptive because it emphasises the prior month's figures, but it appears to be correct if you look closely. If you look at the data, Nicehash calculates that I would have made $1.43 profit in the last day, which is roughly what I saw. That's also in line with the average profits during the previous week.
So, rather than focusing on the optimistic "1 Month" figure that NiceHash promotes, look at the "1 Day" information while using the NiceHash profitability calculator. The profitability of mining using a consumer graphics card is rapidly dwindling.
Even with a reasonably high-end graphics card, mining does not produce a significant lot of money in my experience. If you have a newer, faster graphics card, you might make more money, but don't buy one solely to mine bitcoin.
How to Try It Yourself
If you want to play around with NiceHash and check how your hardware works, you may do so with ease. Simply visit NiceHash.com and create a new account. Because you'll be selling your processing power, you'll be a "seller."
After you've created an account, download and install the NiceHash miner programme on your computer. Start it up, input the email address linked with your NiceHash account, and let it run several benchmarks for you.
You may click "Start" to begin mining and "Stop" to stop mining when you want to use your GPU for something else once it's all set up.
A "Fan Control" button is located in the bottom right corner of the display. If you need cooling, click it to make your GPU's fan operate at maximum speed. To avoid overheating, keep an eye on the temperature of your GPU.
During mining, everything happens automatically. You'll see a Command Prompt window with details on what's going on, but you can dismiss it.
Remember that while NiceHash displays your earnings in USD, they pay you in Bitcoin.
It's worth noting that getting Bitcoin out of the NiceHash miner and into the NiceHash wallet or an external Bitcoin wallet incurs service and withdrawal fees. If you wish to sell Bitcoin and convert it to USD or another currency, you'll have to pay additional transaction fees. All of those fees, of course, will eat into your profits.
How to store your crypto ?
How to make mining profitable ?
On the experiment above mining wasn't worth it.
The reason why was choosing the wrong coin
Nowadays, mining Bitcoin is a very heavy process. In the beginning, it wasn't so. The first could of years of Bitcoin, the process was simple and any device can do it.
With the grow of Bitcoin, more and more people started mining which results in increasing the competition dramatically which results to decreasing the profit.
In other words, you need very big and expensive equipments to mine or it won't be profitable.
The solution is to find a good cryptocurrency on its early stages where the competition is very low.
There's an article for full list of this coin, here
How to optimize your PC for mining?
How to lower GPU power draw ?
- MSI Afterburner should be launched.
- Increase the power limit to 80%.
- Then press the apply button.
- Begin the mining process with NiceHash.
- From the miner command line window, note your hash rate (in MH/s).
- Reduce the power restriction in Afterburner by another 5%.
- Then press the Apply button.
- After 10 minutes, check your hash rate again.
- Steps 6–8 should be repeated until the hash rate drops or you reach the minimum power limit.
Change Windows 10 power settings
- Then press the Windows key.
- Type "power" into the search box.
- From the list of options, select "Power & Sleep."
- Change "Never" to "Never" in both drop-down lists.
- Select "Additional power settings" from the drop-down menu.
- "High performance" should be selected.
What's the Double-spend problem ?
The issue of ensuring that digital money cannot be easily reproduced is referred to as the "Double Spend Problem." Double spends are prevented by trusted third parties, such as banks, privately confirming each transaction. By allowing each member to verify each transaction, the Bitcoin Network avoids double spending.
The 'double-spend dilemma' refers to the necessity to come to an agreement on a transaction history. Bitcoin ownership can be mathematically confirmed using public key cryptography, and today's technology cannot break it. However, such cryptography does not guarantee that a certain coin has not already been delivered to someone else. To create a common history of transactions, there must be an agreed-upon ordering on which it is built. However, because any external input can be influenced by the person who delivers it, participants must have faith in the third party.
What are the risks of Bitcoin mining ?
When it comes to Bitcoin mining, it's not all roses and chocolate. Every business activity, including Bitcoin mining, comes with its own set of hazards. Here are the top three dangers to be aware of.
1. Financial Risks – Strong price fluctuations
2. Physical Risks – Burning out
There are physical hazards associated with employing ASICs in addition to the financial risk of not making a profit.
To avoid the mining equipment's components being burned out owing to overheating, proper ventilation is required. Because of the significant power consumption of Bitcoin mining equipment, you need carefully assess the restrictions of your electrical grid. The electricity network in your home has a maximum capacity, and each outlet has its own rating. Excessive use of those limits could lead to frequent outages or electrical fires. Consult a professional to see if your electrical setup is suitable for mining
3.Obsolescence of ASIC
Conclusion
As a result, select a cryptocurrency that will be valuable in the future.
It is feasible to mine with a gaming PC till you have powerful graphics cards. I recommend that you disable CPU mining, regardless of the mining programme you use, because CPU mining will cause your computer to crash, therefore it's best to turn it off.
The mining compensation will be deposited into your cryptocurrency wallet. You will be paid in bitcoin or real-time money such as the US dollar. Choose software that pays off on a daily basis.