We have a sneaky plan to set up bitcoin mining in a friend's dorm, where we will have free electricity.
The rig we are planning on setting up has the following specs:
AMD Semperon 145 Segras 2.8ghz single-core
2gb DDR3 1333
620-watt PSU
Most importantly, a Radeon 6950, flashed to run as a 6970. The mobo has an additional PCI-express x16, which will allow us to add a second card.
The single 6950 (aka 6970) should have a hash rate of approximately 400. Assuming the exchange rate and difficulty stay the same (they should both increase), it should make about $52.00/mo. Since we will be getting free internet and electricity by putting it in a dorm room, there shouldn't be any expense.
We're going with a single higher-end card to start with so that we a) have room for expansion without selling the other cards, and b) if the market were to crash, we could use or sell the card more easily.
The total cost for setup should be between $365 and $400, depending on the deal we are able to get on a used 6950. This means that payback on your investment, should exchange rates and difficulty stay in balance, would be in the 7-8 month range, after which it should be all profit, then if/when we sell hardware, you would receive money equal to your percentage share of that hardware. If enough people are willing to invest, we could do a setup with a pair of 6950s, which would pay back in about 6 months, and produce about 15% more profit on the dollar invested.
We hope to get everything ordered in the next 24-48 hours and be up and running by the start of next week.
Anyone interested in investing some? We're thinking minimum $40 per person investing, so it's worth the while to divide it up and all.
don't they lock down the campus network tightly at most campuses?
Quote from: Edina Monsoon on January 31, 2012, 08:10:36 PM
don't they lock down the campus network tightly at most campuses?
I don't know what you mean by this. There is nothing illegal about it... It uses IRC for connections, which is definitely not blocked.
Quote from: applesauce on January 31, 2012, 08:14:16 PM
I don't know what you mean by this. There is nothing illegal about it... It uses IRC for connections, which is definitely not blocked.
it's not that it is illegal or anything, but i thought it was standard practice at some schools to automatically quarantine computers with excessive network requests as a possible bot
hmm....I am interested in bitcoin mining schemes, but skeptical of running it like this. it seems like something is bound to fail.
if you want to make this .... super serious.... I have key card access to the rack I use (and half-own) at Corporate Colo in LA. obviously this would provide guaranteed power and connectivity (and a fuckton of it). we can setup a nicer pc with a number of GPUs for fast mining and quick payout, stick it in the rack, and let it run 24/7.
maybe something to think about if you can get it working reliably in a dorm on a smaller system.
also, not really related, but the campus might very well block IRC connections...would be easy to get around though.
Quote from: Edina Monsoon on January 31, 2012, 08:18:59 PM
it's not that it is illegal or anything, but i thought it was standard practice at some schools to automatically quarantine computers with excessive network requests as a possible bot
This is true, but mining even in a pool uses less bandwidth than the average computer user does.
Quote from: vziard on January 31, 2012, 08:22:49 PM
hmm....I am interested in bitcoin mining schemes, but skeptical of running it like this. it seems like something is bound to fail.
if you want to make this .... super serious.... I have key card access to the rack I use (and half-own) at Corporate Colo in LA. obviously this would provide guaranteed power and connectivity (and a fuckton of it). we can setup a nicer pc with a number of GPUs for fast mining and quick payout, stick it in the rack, and let it run 24/7.
maybe something to think about if you can get it working reliably in a dorm on a smaller system.
also, not really related, but the campus might very well block IRC connections...would be easy to get around though.
We've used IRC from there before.
Do you get free unlimited power there?
Quote from: applesauce on January 31, 2012, 08:25:48 PM
We've used IRC from there before.
Do you get free unlimited power there?
not free, and not unlimited (the main cost of renting a rack is the power), but a few GPUs are going to use a lot less power than the 10 4U servers already running in it
Quote from: vziard on January 31, 2012, 08:28:03 PM
not free, and not unlimited (the main cost of renting a rack is the power), but a few GPUs are going to use a lot less power than the 10 4U servers already running in it
If you have to pay for the power, I guess I don't see what is superior about it.
i'm slightly interested in this
Quote from: applesauce on January 31, 2012, 08:31:56 PM
If you have to pay for the power, I guess I don't see what is superior about it.
because I'm already paying a flat rate for the power, so there wouldn't be any additional power cost for throwing in a btc mining machine
Quote from: vziard on January 31, 2012, 08:35:15 PM
because I'm already paying a flat rate for the power, so there wouldn't be any additional power cost for throwing in a btc mining machine
Oooh, so no matter how much additional power you use, providing you don't exceed some ridiculously high max, there's no increase?
Quote from: applesauce on January 31, 2012, 08:40:10 PM
Oooh, so no matter how much additional power you use, providing you don't exceed some ridiculously high max, there's no increase?
yes. there is a power quota that I pay for, but it's ridiculously high compared to the amount of power a few GPUs would use... it's 40 Amps @ 120V, I think
I also bought btc-x.net and btcnext.net awhile ago. possibilities abound VDood;
Quote from: vziard on January 31, 2012, 08:46:10 PM
yes. there is a power quota that I pay for, but it's ridiculously high compared to the amount of power a few GPUs would use... it's 40 Amps @ 120V, I think
Quad 6950s maxes out at 900 watts, make it about 950-975w with the cpu, board, memory, fans. Max 21% of your power...would probably realistically only use 17-18% even under full load?
Quote from: vziard on January 31, 2012, 08:53:49 PM
I also bought btc-x.net and btcnext.net awhile ago. possibilities abound VDood;
Hm, yes. Yes they do.
Well, we are doing this setup here regardless. But setting up a monster quadfire machine with 6950s or better would probably be pretty profitable...
if we set it up in the DC we'd need a system that could hash 1 block per week on average, making ~$1111/mo (already over the cost of the entire rack lol) ---> 3 systems mining 12 blocks/mo = ~$3333/mo ---> move to our own rack, no bandwidth but premium power, full rack of systems mining 48 blocks/mo = $53328/mo (net). Buyout some small btc exchanges, rebrand as BTCNext, weight prices better than anyone else, SEO, BOOM RICH do your eyes have btc signs in them yet??
Quote from: vziard on January 31, 2012, 09:04:56 PM
if we set it up in the DC we'd need a system that could hash 1 block per week on average, making ~$1111/mo (already over the cost of the entire rack lol) ---> 3 systems mining 12 blocks/mo = ~$3333/mo ---> move to our own rack, no bandwidth but premium power, full rack of systems mining 48 blocks/mo = $53328/mo (net). Buyout some small btc exchanges, rebrand as BTCNext, weight prices better than anyone else, SEO, BOOM RICH do your eyes have btc signs in them yet??
1 block/week would be ~9.3 Giga Hash/s, which is more than any single machine can produce. 2-2.5 gh/s is about the max from what I can find...that would be pretty expensive to get 4 of those, and it would take a LOT of power (actually probably right around your 4.8 Kw limit).
Yeah, based on my rough calculations, to mine 1 block per week on average it would take 4 systems each with 6 cards, pulling about 5.6 Kw in GPU alone, and costing about $4,300 in (used) GPUs.
Quote from: applesauce on January 31, 2012, 09:23:39 PM
1 block/week would be ~9.3 Giga Hash/s, which is more than any single machine can produce. 2-2.5 gh/s is about the max from what I can find...that would be pretty expensive to get 4 of those, and it would take a LOT of power (actually probably right around your 4.8 Kw limit).
probably so. 1 block/wk wouldn't be necessary at all, just really nice, and the power is only about $700/mo so in the fantastical situation where we actually did this, supplying the power would be relatively inexpensive and no trouble whatsoever (it's a dc, after all) VDood;
I mean yeah it's not feasible to make $50k/mo mining bitcoins, especially because it's not easy to just convert a large number of them into cash, but this is definitely a viable scheme that could start profiting 5k/mo within 3 months of setup. I'll be interested to see how your dorm run goes
Quote from: applesauce on January 31, 2012, 09:31:50 PM
Yeah, based on my rough calculations, to mine 1 block per week on average it would take 4 systems each with 6 cards, pulling about 5.6 Kw in GPU alone, and costing about $4,300 in (used) GPUs.
that's not even out of the question -- if we had a good way to funnel the coin into cash, 4 blocks per month would make somewhere around $1000/mo (at current rates, which are climbing steadily from when i last checked several weeks ago), which would be just about the cost of the rack. double that setup, and you'd have the startup capital made back in 2 months making unmolested profit on anything over $1000 thereafter, up to the rack power quota. damn solid business plan.
Quote from: vziard on January 31, 2012, 09:35:38 PM
probably so. 1 block/wk wouldn't be necessary at all, just really nice, and the power is only about $700/mo so in the fantastical situation where we actually did this, supplying the power would be relatively inexpensive and no trouble whatsoever (it's a dc, after all) VDood;
I mean yeah it's not feasible to make $50k/mo mining bitcoins, especially because it's not easy to just convert a large number of them into cash, but this is definitely a viable scheme that could start profiting 5k/mo within 3 months of setup. I'll be interested to see how your dorm run goes
that's not even out of the question -- if we had a good way to funnel the coin into cash, 4 blocks per month would make somewhere around $1000/mo (at current rates, which are climbing steadily from when i last checked several weeks ago), which would be just about the cost of the rack. double that setup, and you'd have the startup capital made back in 2 months making unmolested profit on anything over $1000 thereafter, up to the rack power quota. damn solid business plan.
Yeah, as long as the market doesn't crash and you can get cheap power, it is money to be made at a large scale. Obviously we don't have much to invest in the one we are setting up right now, but we should be making a pretty good amount on our investment.
we shall reconvene in some weeks. it is not unlikely that I could invest a few thousand in this later in the year, especially if there were some web platforms linked to it
if you guys keep posting about this I would be interested in investing especially if vziard is involved
I'll invest!
yeah this sounds kind of interesting
Quote from: MF Doom on January 31, 2012, 10:08:36 PM
I'll invest!
If you are still interested once we order things in the next couple days, we can figure this out exactly as to the percentage and such. How much are you thinking?
this would be the idea:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLt8Se3vVNg[/youtube]
except in a dc with proper networking, cooling, security, and possibly in rackmountable cases to save space (but it's also possible to rent plain racks ((like literally just racks)) to put desktops on)
if your numbers are right, a rig half that size could mine ~10 blocks/mo, $2,500/mo if converted directly to monies... less operating expenses like $1200-1500/mo profit, and the expense would be fixed as it grows; if you spent all the initial profit on new hardware it could be churning out 20 blocks/mo // $3,000/mo profit within a few months, then just sit back and let it repay the startup cost (which would be like $7,000 for 10 of those machines assuming you could somehow get wholesale 5970s), then do more cool shit.
sorry i just like thinking about things like this lol
Quote from: vziard on January 31, 2012, 11:31:02 PM
this would be the idea:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLt8Se3vVNg[/youtube]
except in a dc with proper networking, cooling, security, and possibly in rackmountable cases to save space (but it's also possible to rent plain racks ((like literally just racks)) to put desktops on)
if your numbers are right, a rig half that size could mine ~10 blocks/mo, $2,500/mo if converted directly to monies... less operating expenses like $1200-1500/mo profit, and the expense would be fixed as it grows; if you spent all the initial profit on new hardware it could be churning out 20 blocks/mo // $3,000/mo profit within a few months, then just sit back and let it repay the startup cost (which would be like $7,000 for 10 of those machines assuming you could somehow get wholesale 5970s), then do more cool shit.
sorry i just like thinking about things like this lol
dude i'm in
Quote from: applesauce on January 31, 2012, 10:30:19 PM
If you are still interested once we order things in the next couple days, we can figure this out exactly as to the percentage and such. How much are you thinking?
Uhhh I'll let you know once you have percentages figured out
Very cool, Snorkel. I'm a little confused as to how the power is sold when you exceed 4.8 Kw...this is somewhat relevant.
And yeah, before investing in something so large we would have to take a very detailed look at the hash rate per $ of investment and per watt. For our first one we're getting cards that we could theoretically put in our own desktops should the market crash completely or something, rather than resell them on eBay or criagslist. Obviously in the event of a total bitcoin crash, the market for used mid to high end AMD cards would be totally flooded, just as the healthy bitcoin market is sustaining urren prices on such cards.
We're reusing an old cooler master case (one of 3-4 we have lying around the apartment). Just used a dremel to drill out the rivets on the hard drive cage-- it actually removed really nice and clean. Now less restricted airflow between the from fan and the cards, but more importantly, room to install a pair of 11" cards, yum, yum.
Also, I'm going to set up my old laptop which has a broken screen that I never replaced to mine. It has a 5870m, so should do alright for a laptop. I'm guessing ~$20 per month, but I can't find any numbers on it so we'll see. Not the most efficient, but with free power why not?
It's like my sense of reality refuses to compromise this far.
So, we now have my old laptop (with a 5870m) set up mining. Pulled the backplate off and the hard drive out, put everything on a 4GB flash drives, and put a pair of 80mm fans over the GPU. Presto!
(http://i.imgur.com/kPo8O.jpg)
Now mining in the BitClockers pool with a hash rate of ~112mhash/sec from our apartment. Assuming it stays stable and all overnight, we will move it to MSV tomorrow afternoon, and if it sets up fine there we're going to order the parts for the second, primary machine, totaling $353.81. Should hash around 350-400mhash/s. At $353.81 in total, we want to sell shares of the machine in blocks of 10%, for $35.38 each. For every 10% you buy, you will get 10% of the total BTC payed out to that machine, as well as 10% of the resale if we were to sell the machine back.
Fucked around with the settings in the GPU drivers, and she's now pulling 203mhashes/s!
happydood;
Seems to bounce around anywhere from 111-220. I'm cool with that I guess. bassir;
Moving to tech board for longevity
I want to be Microsoft so I will offer you 10 Billion dollars for your operations.
Things are going well so far. The pool has finished 2 blocks since we got online last night, and BTC has risen from around $5.30 a couple days ago to $6.20 right now. Hopefully it will hold a general upward trend in the long term. Laptop has made ~$0.35 since last night. Going to move it to MSV this evening. If it sets up we'll be ordering the 6950, processor, PSU, and RAM tonight. Dan has to go get the motherboard from his dad's basement sometime this weekend, and we already have the case all drilled out to get rid of stuff we don't need and add more fans.
sheet mon I think I'm going to dump my Liberty Reserve account into mtgox again
Now working properly in MSV.
Aaaaaaaand I am buying up the entire 5700+ and 6800+ used GPU market in Chicagoland. hocuspocus;
How is this going for you A-sauce?
Is everything running stock? Also, are there any legal, binding contracts involved in this?
Well?