[kwlug-disc] Another Humble Bundle: Cryptocurrency

[Bob Jonkman]

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Chances are, the lower the power (both CPU and electricty), the lower
the available-CPU to consumed-power ratio. In other words, you if you
scale back, you reduce CPU processing power more quickly than you
reduce the power consumed. At some point, you have zero available CPU
power but are still consuming power (think lightbulb or heating pad).

You'll get better return as you ramp up: Increasing the CPU by a
certain amount will also increase electricity use, but at a slower
increasing rate. There's a higher initial cost, but it should take
less time to recover that cost than for a low power rig.

A few years ago I read that running GPU rigs is less efficient than
creating FPGA devices, and once you've got those it's a short step to
ASICs, which are more efficient still. And an ASIC is likely to be
specific to one type of currency, and so has no resale value for
genera-purpose computing.  After ASICs there'll be single
Systems-On-a-Chip...

I can't find the article I read, but the Duck has plenty of info:
https://duckduckgo.com/html?q=bitcoin+fpga+asic&t=gnu

- --Bob.


On 2017-10-10 03:55 PM, CrankyOldBugger wrote:
> I was wondering if a little Raspberry Pi could do the job, while
> only consuming a wee bit of hydro.  I realize it won't make
> millions overnight, but it'd be fun to see a few bucks here and
> there...
> 
> 
> On Tue, 10 Oct 2017 at 15:54 Ron Singh <ronsingh149 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> 
>> ​Yeah, it is all about hash rates and electricity rates.
>> 
>> Thanks,
>> 
>> Ron Singh "in transit, via mobile comm device"
>> 
>> On Tue, Oct 10, 2017 at 3:44 PM, CrankyOldBugger < 
>> crankyoldbugger at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> I saw a similar argument regarding solar panels from a guy in
>>> Alberta who stated "if I lived in Ontario, these panels would
>>> have paid for themselves by now".
>>> 
>>> So what I understand from you, Ron, is that bitcoin mining is
>>> profitable if you don't have to pay Ontario electricity
>>> rates..
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On Tue, 10 Oct 2017 at 15:41 Ron Singh <ronsingh149 at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> I have a friend in Calgary(flat rate of sub.$05/kwh) making
>>>> $240 with 5 of the RX580 video cards. He is happy  with the
>>>> warming of his house due to the 780w draw of his rig. Mind
>>>> you, he had 2800 tied up in hardware for his rig. It will
>>>> take him about a year to recoup his capital costs and
>>>> perhaps even more time if anything dies right after the 1
>>>> year warranty is over on his vid cards. I check my figures
>>>> for 120v juice and I came up with an average of 17.7
>>>> cents/kwh over a 24 hour period in Waterloo with TOU and 
>>>> Hydro One's "Global Adjustment" extortion factored in.
>>>> 
>>>> I just don't see any payback doing mining in Ontario,
>>>> especially with the proof of work demanding more gpu cycles
>>>> as time goes on.
>>>> 
>>>> A mining farm in Alberta would be the ticket
>>>> 
>>>> Thanks,
>>>> 
>>>> Ron Singh "in transit, via mobile comm device"
>>>> 
>>>> On Tue, Oct 10, 2017 at 3:19 PM, CrankyOldBugger < 
>>>> crankyoldbugger at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> While I'm very curious about bitcoin and related
>>>>> ecurrencies, I have to ask... is anyone here making any
>>>>> money off of this?
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> On Tue, 10 Oct 2017 at 14:23 bob+kwlug at softscape.ca < 
>>>>> bob+kwlug at softscape.ca> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>>> I am not affiliated and saddened that simply buying the
>>>>>> books does not load them into my brain, but if anyone is
>>>>>> interested:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> https://www.humblebundle.com/books/bitcoin-cryptocurrency-books
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> 
Bob.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> _______________________________________________ 
>>>>>> kwlug-disc mailing list kwlug-disc at kwlug.org 
>>>>>> http://kwlug.org/mailman/listinfo/kwlug-disc_kwlug.org
>>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> _______________________________________________ kwlug-disc
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>>>>> 
>>>> _______________________________________________ kwlug-disc
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>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________ kwlug-disc
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>>> 
>> _______________________________________________ kwlug-disc
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> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________ kwlug-disc mailing
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- -- 
Bob Jonkman <bjonkman at sobac.com>          Phone: +1-519-635-9413
SOBAC Microcomputer Services             http://sobac.com/sobac/
Software   ---   Office & Business Automation   ---   Consulting
GnuPG Fngrprnt:04F7 742B 8F54 C40A E115 26C2 B912 89B0 D2CC E5EA

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