MSI Advertises GE76 Raider Laptop As a Mining Machine

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Mining on laptops is becoming more common.

MSI
(Image credit: MSI)

A surge in crypto mining interest has led not only to users seeking out the best mining GPUs, but since graphics cards are so hard to find in stock and the GPU price index for cards on eBay is just crazy, mining with laptops is becoming a thing.  In fact, we have even seen mining farms that only use notebooks. Now, MSI is trying to advertise its latest GE76 Raider notebook as a mobile mining machine. 

In an official blog post MSI describes how it plans to use one of its latest gaming notebooks, the 17.3-inch GE76 Raider with Intel's Core i9-10980HK processor and Nvidia's GeForce RTX 3080 GPU inside, for mining for one month. To mine, MSI will use the NiceHash platform (see how to mine Ethereum) as well as the Excavator miner with the DaggerHashimoto algorithm.

MSI admits that one of its top-of-the-range gaming notebooks is hardly the most cost-efficient mining option, but since it is hard to get a higher-end graphics card, miners may still want to try it.

(Image credit: MSI)

MSI claims that its GE76 Raider has a hash rate of around 52.8 MH/s, which is just a little below that of a desktop GeForce RTX 3070 graphics card. Assuming that the laptop consumes 240W of power and the cost of power is $0.12 per kWh, then the machine will bring about $134.08 in profits per month, according to CryptoCompare.

MSI does not talk about the long-term effects of using its laptop for mining and whether the components are built to endure years of 24/7 use. Yet, it sends a clear signal to to potential buyers that its gaming notebooks could be used for mining.

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Anton Shilov
Anton Shilov
Contributing Writer

Anton Shilov is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. Over the past couple of decades, he has covered everything from CPUs and GPUs to supercomputers and from modern process technologies and latest fab tools to high-tech industry trends.

10 Comments Comment from the forums
  • bigdragon
    MSI is now advertising its laptops for mining purposes. Meanwhile, shipments of GPUs have declined. I don't think any new GPUs went up for sale today at any retailer -- just a few used models. The supply is definitely drying up. The 3080 and 3060 Ti appear to no longer be offered for sale. MSI is probably doing this laptop advertising because they're no longer allocating GPUs for the consumer market.

    I feel like I'm watching a train wreck happen, live, and the situation just keeps getting worse. I'm now in this weird place where I eagerly await Intel's entrance into and disruption of the dGPU market.
    Reply
  • LolaGT
    All the new Intel entries have to do is be average middle of the pack, or not even that, just function well enough, have enough ram, and no one will be able to find and buy them either.

    I feel like I'm watching a train wreck happen, live, and the situation just keeps getting worse. I'm now in this weird place where I eagerly await Intel's entrance into and disruption of the dGPU market.
    Reply
  • g-unit1111
    bigdragon said:
    I feel like I'm watching a train wreck happen, live, and the situation just keeps getting worse. I'm now in this weird place where I eagerly await Intel's entrance into and disruption of the dGPU market.

    I would like to hope that by summer things will start getting better, but I agree. I've never seen anything like this and I've been building PCs for almost 1/2 my life now. It's truly insane what is happening to the GPU market and I hope NVIDIA and AMD start correcting the ship before it hits the iceberg, though it might be too late for that.

    This is even worse than the 2018 shortage and at least that one got corrected. It may be a while before this one gets corrected.
    Reply
  • Jim90
    Good to see Tom's continuing to provide mining airtime.
    Reply
  • mac_angel
    I don't get why it needs such a powerful CPU if it's for mining.
    Reply
  • Co BIY
    LolaGT said:
    All the new Intel entries have to do is be average middle of the pack, or not even that, just function well enough, have enough ram, and no one will be able to find and buy them either.

    If they were better than a 1050ti from a second tier AIB manufacturer and available they would be top of the market.

    If they ship with firmware/software that allows simultaneous use with the IGP then they would be pretty interesting.
    Reply
  • Co BIY
    MSI seems to begging someone to come make them an offer for those Laptop GPUs. I'm sure they could be placed on AIBs for regular mining use .

    They are already binned for low power use.
    Reply
  • bigdragon
    Jim90 said:
    Good to see Tom's continuing to provide mining airtime.
    You know what crypto miners hate most right now? Other miners. The more people that jump in, the less profit they make. I have been irked at mining info being posted to Tom's in the past, but now they should post as much of it as they possibly can. Open the flood gates and let the miners fight amongst themselves. It's not like you can buy a GPU for gaming anymore -- all models haven't restocked new in days (only used/returns).
    Reply
  • Nemesia
    No wonder it's popular these days. You can mine Ethereum with a 5000 dollars mining rig and recuperate the entire 5000 inside 2 months.
    Reply
  • JfromNucleon
    mac_angel said:
    I don't get why it needs such a powerful CPU if it's for mining.
    It doesn't, unless ofc you're mining monero but that's beside the poiint, they only need a solid GPU
    Reply