5 ms·

Still a useful learning experience, and if the GPU is free and the power is free, then the low return rate would still make sense. I imagine there are more tha

Still a useful learning experience, and if the GPU is free and the power is free, then the low return rate would still make sense. I imagine there are more than a few dorms where this kind of thing is going on.

tarsinge 4y ago
For learning why bother with a very inefficient GPU, just mine with the CPU or better with pen and paper: https://hackaday.com/2014/09/29/mining-bitcoins-with-pencil-and-paper/ https://hackaday.com/2014/09/29/mining-bitcoins-with-pencil-...
- bradknowles 4y ago
  Because you want to? You want to see how the GPU works with bitcoin?
  - Ekaros 4y ago
    Install a program, sing up on pool. Run it for few minutes or days get disappointed and stop? Wonder if there is any pools anymore even... It really wasn't anyway practical or fun experience.
Nursie 4y ago
There would be no return rate.
- bradknowles 4y ago
  Not much, but still not zero. I'm sure you wouldn't be interested, but for people who are doing it for other reasons and do t really care about the return rate, why would you try to deny their existence?
  - Nursie 4y ago
    No, there would be zero return rate. The amount a graphics card could even add to a pool would be negligible, and pools pay out when they 'win' a block, based on proof of partial solutions during that block, to prove the contributory hashrate. ASICs are so far beyond what a GPU can do that it is likely that a graphics card would never achieve even a single partial solution and therefore merit any fractional payout from a pool even. So I'll say again, it's likely that a graphics card mining bitcoin right now would produce nothing. Ever. I'd be looking for proof that these people exist before assuming that there are people who are wasting their time and energy on doing something that will never produce a single cent's worth of bitcoin, 'for fun'.
    - bradknowles 4y ago
      Maybe. But that doesn't mean that there aren't people out there trying. Hell, Jeff Geerling is the kind of guy who would attach a GPU to his Raspberry Pi(s), just to prove that he could. And then turn around and do some Bitcoin mining on those rigs, again -- just to prove he could. And he'd get lots of hits on his YouTube channel for doing so. And he's not the only one to try to do that sort of thing. Have you eliminated all the possible YouTube channel owners who might be inclined to pull this kind of stunt, just for publicity and traffic to their YouTube channel?
      - Nursie 4y ago
        > Hell, Jeff Geerling is the kind of guy ... Right, but is he actually doing it? Or are you just supposing again that someone might? > Have you eliminated... I don't need to, that's not how evidence works. You're claiming this thing happens, it's up to you to prove that. Unless you can find any actual evidence of people still mining BTC on a GPU at this point, you're just grasping at straws to try and justify your position. The original point was that bitcoin mining is not done on GPUs any more. This is true in the sense the original post was meant, because the industry moved on years ago and mining on GPUS is now entirely unproductive. It's also true philosophically - if you don't produce anything, can you really be said to be 'mining' anyway? And even if you show that one person or a few people are still doing it "for fun", it doesn't really contradict or disprove the post you replied to.

tarsinge 4y ago

For learning why bother with a very inefficient GPU, just mine with the CPU or better with pen and paper: https://hackaday.com/2014/09/29/mining-bitcoins-with-pencil-and-paper/ https://hackaday.com/2014/09/29/mining-bitcoins-with-pencil-...

bradknowles 4y ago
Because you want to? You want to see how the GPU works with bitcoin?
- Ekaros 4y ago
  Install a program, sing up on pool. Run it for few minutes or days get disappointed and stop? Wonder if there is any pools anymore even... It really wasn't anyway practical or fun experience.

Nursie 4y ago

There would be no return rate.

bradknowles 4y ago
Not much, but still not zero. I'm sure you wouldn't be interested, but for people who are doing it for other reasons and do t really care about the return rate, why would you try to deny their existence?
- Nursie 4y ago
  No, there would be zero return rate. The amount a graphics card could even add to a pool would be negligible, and pools pay out when they 'win' a block, based on proof of partial solutions during that block, to prove the contributory hashrate. ASICs are so far beyond what a GPU can do that it is likely that a graphics card would never achieve even a single partial solution and therefore merit any fractional payout from a pool even. So I'll say again, it's likely that a graphics card mining bitcoin right now would produce nothing. Ever. I'd be looking for proof that these people exist before assuming that there are people who are wasting their time and energy on doing something that will never produce a single cent's worth of bitcoin, 'for fun'.
  - bradknowles 4y ago
    Maybe. But that doesn't mean that there aren't people out there trying. Hell, Jeff Geerling is the kind of guy who would attach a GPU to his Raspberry Pi(s), just to prove that he could. And then turn around and do some Bitcoin mining on those rigs, again -- just to prove he could. And he'd get lots of hits on his YouTube channel for doing so. And he's not the only one to try to do that sort of thing. Have you eliminated all the possible YouTube channel owners who might be inclined to pull this kind of stunt, just for publicity and traffic to their YouTube channel?
    - Nursie 4y ago
      > Hell, Jeff Geerling is the kind of guy ... Right, but is he actually doing it? Or are you just supposing again that someone might? > Have you eliminated... I don't need to, that's not how evidence works. You're claiming this thing happens, it's up to you to prove that. Unless you can find any actual evidence of people still mining BTC on a GPU at this point, you're just grasping at straws to try and justify your position. The original point was that bitcoin mining is not done on GPUs any more. This is true in the sense the original post was meant, because the industry moved on years ago and mining on GPUS is now entirely unproductive. It's also true philosophically - if you don't produce anything, can you really be said to be 'mining' anyway? And even if you show that one person or a few people are still doing it "for fun", it doesn't really contradict or disprove the post you replied to.