How effective can a 50TH miner be at solving a block alone? Is it really worth it? I feel like I could keep it running for a while, but my buddy says it’s more efficient to mine with 120TH for a month instead of running 50TH for two months. What do you guys think will actually solve a block?
It's a clear 1:1 ratio. A 100TH miner has double the chance of a 50TH, a 150TH has three times the chance, and so on. Even with several PH, you’re still looking at a block every few years. The real question is whether you can handle the power bill for what could be a lifetime of mining just one block.
Honestly, just stick to mining in a pool with your 50TH. Don’t waste time solo mining for a month or two. Instead, try solo mining for 13 hours every 13 days with that 50TH setup. It’s like mining two bitaxes every day for 13 days straight. You won’t have to buy new gear, and you can still make some profit.
This is basic math. 50 TH for 60 days gives you 3,000 terahash-days. 120 TH for 30 days gives you 3,600 terahash-days. If the network hashrate stays the same, your odds of hitting a block are way higher in the second case. But even then, it's still pretty slim.
With how crowded mining is now, it’s really more about luck than math. Competing against miners with huge hash rates means your chances of getting a block are tiny. If you’re thinking about solo mining, be ready for the reality check when the costs outweigh the rewards. Most solo miners who scored were just lucky.
Math can’t be ignored in this game. If you’re comparing mining with 50 TH for 60 days versus 100 TH for 30 days with a network hashrate of 1 ZH/s, you’ll see that going for the higher hashrate for fewer days makes more sense financially. I can break it down for you if you want, but I think you can figure it out.
If we break it down, the second option is slightly more favorable. Network hashrate is around 600 EH/s, which means about 4,320 blocks a month. Case A: 50 TH for 2 months equals 100 TH-months. Case B: 120 TH for 1 month equals 120 TH-months. So yeah, your friend’s right about the math. But regardless, the odds are still low. Good luck!