Quote from: paularmstrong on February 12, 2014, 03:40:18 PM

hi guys just a few questions I am new to this so sorry in advance if they are silly.

1 can I use a normal computer? before I make any sort f investmen.
2 I have downloaded bitcoin QT is this any good?
3 is it worth using the likes of cloudhash?

again sorry if they are basic the internet give conflictin advice, also any other advice you guys can give would be appreciated.

regards
Paul

As others have pointed out (1), you can use a normal CPU, but the return vs expenditure is no longer worth it (unless the value of BTC/USD goes very high); (2) using Bitcoin-QT isn't a bad idea to get familiar with the various aspects involved in running as a node in the network with your own copy of the complete cryptographic ledger (blockchain) and how to secure your wallet with a good passphrase, but you may find other wallet clients are more useful that don't require you to download the blockchain to begin using them since they connect you to a service that aleady has the complete ledger, allowing you to use them as a transaction relay point instead (like MultiBit, which connects you to their proxy servers to sync with the network); (3) you'll want to use the following rule of thumb when looking for mining hardware: the hashrate and the cost of running it - so given the difficulty, my favorite way to calculate what I would need is the following mental formula: given difficulty X, hashrate Y, and a mining period of 24hrs, in general, you will need 1000 times more X hashes per second than difficulty X to earn approximately 0.5BTC.

So the current difficulty is about 2,621,000,000. That means you will need 2,621,000,000,000 hashes per second. 1000H/s = 1KH/s. 1000KH/s = 1MH/s. 1000MH/s = 1GH/s. 1000GH/s = 1TH/s. So you would need 2,621GH/s or 2.62TH/s to get 0.5BTC per 24hrs (62904000000000H for a whole day). With this mental calculation at your disposal, you should be able to factor in the cost of your hardwre as well as how much it may cost per KWh to run it, and then factor in the amount of BTC it would make, given the difficulty, to see if the BTC earned at its going or expected market value is a viable option for you.