Opportunity for cheap electricity | Want to create a small BTC farm | Help

Question

I am a business owner and I know enough about BTC to believe in it and buy it. I also do understand what a blockchain is etc., but I am not an expert when it comes to the hardware.

Recently I got an opportunity for cheap electricity in an eastern european country. Price would be 0.05 EUR/kWH.

I would rent a container, which is on the site of a power plant. I would like to use this opportunity, but I need to consider a lot of things here:

• Security in a 3rd world country:

Due to the fact that the container would be in close proximity to a power plant I am sure that this is not an issue. Also I will be not the first one to receive a container there. It seems there a already many mining containers there. I will need to visit the place first, but I dont think that my mining equippment is in danger.

• GPU's VS Antminers:

I knew already that there are dedicated mining maschines for certain coins, but now I did more research on this and learned a few things. Do I understand this correctly? There are different mining algorithms, which have different efficiency. For example:

an RTX 3080 will make 8 EUR~ profit a day if electricity is: 0.05 EUR/kWH.

an RTX 3080 will make 6 EUR~ profit a day if electricity is: 0.35 EUR/kWH.

an Antminer s19 pro will make 25 EUR~ profit a day if electricity is: 0.05 EUR/kWH.

an Antminer s19 pro will make 3 EUR~ profit a day if electricity is: 0.35 EUR/kWH.

The antminer wins if the electricity price is low, but loses if the electricity price rises, while the RTX 3080 makes profit even if the electricity price is ridiculous, e.g.:

an RTX 3080 will make 2 EUR~ profit a day if electricity is: 1.00 EUR/kWH.

an Antminer s19 pro will make -50 EUR~ loss a day if electricity is: 1.00 EUR/kWH.

I took the values from this site: nicehash calculator.

This shows me that the hashrate is not the most important factor, its a combination of electricity consumption and type of algorithm. Antminer s19 Pro 110TH/s and RTX 3080 96MH/s.

Also the reason why the new GPU's are now much more popular than the antminer is their price, resell value and stability if electricity price rises. I assume these are the reasons why every miner targets the new GPU's instead of dedicated mining maschines?

Also the antminer costs almost 10k EUR and can mine only BTC (which is not a problem). If things go wrong and something happens to BTC I am stuck with a worthless maschine, while the GPU's can still sell at very high value to gamers.

• Setup in container:

I have once made a small mining test with an antminer L3+ for litecoin. The setup was very easy. You just turn on the maschine and it mines. I assume its equally easy with the antminer s19 pro for BTC. The container has a cooling system, so I do not need to install something here. I think it should be enough for GPU's and antminers.

How reliable is the mining process? Do I need to employ someone if a maschine for some reasons stops working and needs a restart? I assume its much more stable with an antminer?

How complicated is it to setup, lets say 100 RTX 30 GPU's? I imagine I would have 1 laptop, which controlls the whole mining setup? I should probably use Linux, or does it not matter?

I plan also to install video surveillance. Keep in mind, the container is not in the same country. I cannot visit the place for trivial things like restarting the systems. Maybe having multiple PC's is a good idea? With some sort of remote control, could this work?

100 GPU's need a lot of power, do I need to consider here something special? Do I maybe need an electrician?

What about driver updates for the GPU's? Is this something important?

• New RTX 30 GPU's mining lock by NVIDIA

A lot of recent information I found indicates that NVIDIA recently is trying to remove/limit the mining functionalities of their new RTX 30 GPU's. Is this a problem? Is there a way to remove these locks or does this mean that the GPU's are not an option anymore?

These are my thought. Big thanks to the people who take the time to read this and think about possible issues.

EDIT

I am currently thinking is it even worth it to go to a foreign country for mining with cheap electricity while the new RTX GPU's do not care about electricity price.

Answer 1

Recently I got an opportunity for cheap electricity in an eastern european country. Price would be 0.05 EUR/kWH.

This is realistic.

Security in a 3rd world country

While in general Eastern Europe is safe, your business might not enjoy the same level of protection as in Western countries.

It seems there a already many mining containers there. I will need to visit the place first, but I dont think that my mining equippment is in danger.

It still can be a scam. It is your responsibility to verify what you call a business opportunity.

There are different mining algorithms, which have different efficiency.

Yes, in general dedicated hardware is more energy-efficient compared to GPUs, i.e. you get a higher hash rate for an equivalent amount of energy.

This shows me that the hashrate is not the most important factor, its a combination of electricity consumption and type of algorithm.

This is true. However, the pure efficiency in terms of hash rate per Watt is very different and Ant miner wins. If I assume RTX hashrate to be 115 MH/s while consuming 250 W (source) and Ant miner to be 110 THz = 110,000 MHz while consuming whooping 3250 W (source), the energy use of the first 250/115 = 2.2 J/MHash, while the energy use of the Ant miner is only 3250/110,000 = 0.0295 J/MHash. Therefore, the Ant miner should be a better choice independently of electricity price. I wonder how do they estimate the returns in their calculator.

Also the reason why the new GPU's are now much more popular than the antminer is their price, resell value and stability if electricity price rises.

GPUs are more versatile, i.e. they can be used not only for mining. However, I am not sure about what does it mean "stability if electricity price rises".

Also the antminer costs almost 10k EUR and can mine only BTC (which is not a problem). If things go wrong and something happens to BTC I am stuck with a worthless maschine, while the GPU's can still sell at very high value to gamers.

Exactly.

Do I need to employ someone if a maschine for some reasons stops working and needs a restart?

This would be reasonable to have someone in a physical proximity. As in general with data centers, there should be a person having a physical access to it.

I assume its much more stable with an antminer?

A priori, no difference.

How complicated is it to setup, lets say 100 RTX 30 GPU's?

That is not that complicated if you can handle CLI and have some intermediate Linux/Unix knowledge.

I imagine I would have 1 laptop, which controlls the whole mining setup?

Yes, you may need a machine to setup the pool. It can be any CPU instance.

I should probably use Linux, or does it not matter?

It does not matter. But in my experience Linux will be the easiest.

I plan also to install video surveillance. Keep in mind, the container is not in the same country. I cannot visit the place for trivial things like restarting the systems.

This is not a bad idea in general. However, which exactly problem are you trying to solve? That no one will touch your equipment or that no one will access your mined tokens?

In the last case I (obviously) suggest not to store your wallet on-site and password-protect everything.

Maybe having multiple PC's is a good idea? With some sort of remote control, could this work?

You should definitely establish SSH connection. Otherwise, the whole idea makes no sense. However, since you are already asking this question no one can guarantee if multiple PCs will save the day if not done properly.

100 GPU's need a lot of power, do I need to consider here something special? Do I maybe need an electrician?

Make sure that your cooling system is reliable. It will not hurt if a professional can inspect the electrical security. Also make sure that your setup can handle (both physically and in software) 100 connected GPUs.

What about driver updates for the GPU's? Is this something important?

In practice, given your use case, I don't believe that you will need to update the drivers.

A lot of recent information I found indicates that NVIDIA recently is trying to remove/limit the mining functionalities of their new RTX 30 GPU's. Is this a problem? Is there a way to remove these locks or does this mean that the GPU's are not an option anymore?

Yes, NVIDIA will limit mining on some of their new GPUs.

new RTX GPU's do not care about electricity price

This statement is not true. GPUs consume electricity and electricity price can impact your returns.

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Disclaimer: While I make an effort to provide information as accurate as possible, use it at your own risk.