Author: Chris Hoffman / Source: howtogeek.com
People mining cryptocurrency have driven up the price of GPUs. So, if you’re a gamer and you already have a powerful GPU in your gaming PC, can you really make some extra cash mining cryptocurrency (like Bitcoin) with your PC?
We’re not talking about setting up a dedicated mining rig or getting too technical here.
And we’re definitely not recommending you buy hardware just to mine. We’ve seen reports that anyone with a reasonably powerful GPU can just download easy-to-use software and put that GPU to work, and that’s what we tested.How Does Mining Work?
If you’re not familiar with mining, here’s how it works. The software basically maxes out your GPU’s resources doing work. This makes your GPU use more electricity than it would normally use when idle, which in turn increases your electric bill. It also generates additional heat, so you’ll need to ensure that your PC is properly cooled. Technically, mining involves solving mathematical equations for the blockchain.
You probably aren’t gaming 24/7 (everyone needs to sleep sometimes!), so the cryptocurrency miner software can put that GPU power to work when you aren’t using it. You will have to stop the mining software when you want to use your GPU for gaming, but that’s easy enough if you’re making money while it’s not being used, right?
What Is NiceHash?
NiceHash provides easy software that allows you to sell your GPU’s “hashing power.” You create a NiceHash account, download the graphical NiceHash miner software, and click a few buttons. This makes you a “seller” of processing power.
“Buyers” of processing power place orders on the NiceHash marketplace, and the NiceHash software on your computer automatically works on the most profitable orders. You’ll be part of a large mining pool mining altcoins for someone. NiceHash pays you in Bitcoin.
NiceHash is easy to use, and any gamer can do some mining just by installing and running a graphical application. But is it worth it?
How Much Money Can You Actually Make?
The real question is just how profitable this mining is. NiceHash offers a Profitability calculator page that told me I could be making about $70 a month after electricity costs with my NVIDIA GTX 980 TI hardware and $0.10 USD/kWh electricity prices. However, this is an estimate based on earnings over the previous month.
You will make more money if you have a faster GPU, as it can do more work. However, if you have to pay more for electricity, that will cut into your profits.
NiceHash’s…
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