iBuyPower Introduces Coin Mining Computers

By Niels Broekhuijsen
published

iBuyPower is now building coin mining machines too!

iBuyPower has announced a new lineup of pre-built computers, which are not intended for gaming or general use. These systems are built for coin mining.

The systems start at $999. This entry-level model will carry an AMD FX-4300 CPU, 4 GB of DDR3-1600 memory, a 1000 Watt power supply, and most importantly, two AMD Radeon R9 270X graphics cards. Such a system might not make a lot of sense for gaming, but for mining it seems more appropriate.

Going up the scales, the systems can be configured with up to three graphics cards, including the AMD Radeon R9 290X. In addition, you can opt to include stronger processors, faster memory and storage facilities, and more. Include enough accessories and you'll be given a seemingly infinite price tag, which might make earning back that money through mining even more difficult.

"iBuyPower prides itself for being on the edge of technology, and as the world changes, we want to be at the forefront," said Darren Su, VP and Co-founder of iBuyPower. "Coin mining and high-compute systems are one of the few new areas that we have interest in. We're thrilled to be part of revolutions, and crypto-currencies are definitely on the hot-list."

The systems are currently available for order through iBuyPower's website.

Niels Broekhuijsen
Niels Broekhuijsen

Niels Broekhuijsen is a Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware US. He reviews cases, water cooling and pc builds.

13 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Zac Lloyd-Jones
    I'm not really into this mining thing but isn't this a bit pointless just for mining when there are ASIC miners that can crunch a lot more MH/S for a lot cheaper?
    Reply
  • NAG3LT
    12452431 said:
    I'm not really into this mining thing but isn't this a bit pointless just for mining when there are ASIC miners that can crunch a lot more MH/S for a lot cheaper?

    ASIC miners exist for BitCoin at the moment, but not for other crypto currencies. So GPUs can still be useful in the meantime.
    Reply
  • In regards to virtual currency's... is there a competitor to bit coin for which their currency is easily traceable? I want to get into mining and building purpose built systems for other miners but given that bit coin is used for various illegal stuff because of it's cryptic nature is the reason I'm choosing not to ATM.
    Reply
  • Sketro
    They are selling dedicated mining hardware soon - i would not go the GPU route, not profitable.
    Reply
  • vmem
    @megamanxgt there is no huge draw toward crypto currency if it was easily tracable. for those purposes most developed coutries already have a working credit system, and 'mining' a tracable digital currency would be the equivalent of investing in gold mining
    Reply
  • chumly
    Bitcoin is SHA-256, Litecoin and others are based in scrypt. A GPU or FPGA is necessary for scrypt; FPGA's are costly, and ASIC's based on them will not be available until later this year. For LTC mining or other scrypt based coins, these rigs make sense at the moment, however, I do not see you making a return on your investment without selling all the hardware in the future.
    Reply
  • danwat1234
    Bitcoin mining? A far, far better use of computing resources is Folding@home or another distributed computing project.
    Reply
  • razor512
    Mining hardware like this will never pay its self off. mining litecoin is not profitable unless you have a personal mining farm. if you are part of a mining pool, then you will never make enough money. if the difficulty remains the same, 3 r9 290x's would take around 3 years to pay them self off.You only make a profit if you are buying the cards for gaming, and you do not pay for electricity, then what ever money you get, is a profit. If you are only using the system for gaming, then it will never pay its self off, the difficulty will increase beyond what the GPU can handle before it comes close to paying its self off. Currently the only way to make money, is to start your own mining farm (requires hundreds of GPU's working in order to have a chance at mining a block on your own).
    Reply
  • sunshine240sx
    12453746 said:
    Mining hardware like this will never pay its self off. mining litecoin is not profitable unless you have a personal mining farm. if you are part of a mining pool, then you will never make enough money. if the difficulty remains the same, 3 r9 290x's would take around 3 years to pay them self off.You only make a profit if you are buying the cards for gaming, and you do not pay for electricity, then what ever money you get, is a profit. If you are only using the system for gaming, then it will never pay its self off, the difficulty will increase beyond what the GPU can handle before it comes close to paying its self off. Currently the only way to make money, is to start your own mining farm (requires hundreds of GPU's working in order to have a chance at mining a block on your own).

    Yeah I am going to disagree with you on that. I have personaly mined in a month about $230 in LTC with 2 7870's (R9 270'S) and my electric bill with all other appliances runnig was not even close to that. My friend who got me into mining has turned his 6950 into a 7870 and then into 2 R9 280x's all paid for with LCT (and a lot of money left over). The diffuculty has gone up alot since Nov when every one and ther brother bought every highend AMD card out there but it is still possible to make money.
    Reply
  • InvalidError
    12454503 said:
    The diffuculty has gone up alot since Nov when every one and ther brother bought every highend AMD card out there but it is still possible to make money.
    If the difficulty goes up a lot, the chances of getting a decent return on the hardware goes down by that much. If complexity increased by 4X since November then your LTC income should now be around $60/month while your mining electric bill is around $35/month. At $25/month, it will take 40+ months for someone who gets into mining now to recover the cost of a pair of R9-290X assuming complexity does not increase again. If complexity doubles again, PC mining will barely break even on power cost.
    Reply