<p>To mine most crypto-currencies you'd need a good graphics card, preferably AMD than nVidia. Graphics chips integrated with the mother-board are typically bad for this, if they can be used at all.</p>

<p>There are some cryptocurrencies you do can mine with CPU only, like Protoshares, Quarkcoin, Primecoin and a few others. To avoid affecting the normal usage of a computer, mining program can run with a very low priority so it's only running when computer's not really used.</p>

<p>However, mining on a laptop is <strong>strongly discouraged</strong> for they're typically not designed to be run with their processors at 100% the whole time, so you're going to wear down the components earlier due to overheating - capacitors, battery, even hard-drive or microprocessor could die earlier because of that (e.g. Apple Airs wear down very fast if you put them to mine, a friend of mine experienced it).</p>

<p>If you can somehow ensure they'll have VERY good ventilation, or if you limit the mining to 4 or 5 hours a day, with several "rest" hours between each, you might make some money off them. But then, you ought to measure carefully the cost of the extra power they eat (plus the extra refrigeration's consumption) vs. what they would take if idle, vs. what you earn after a while - it might be profitable, or it might not.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-01-19T23:30:15.433Z
2014-01-19T23:30:15.433Z
Joe Pineda
<p>You'd waste money on energy and you'd slowly wear down the laptop's inner components (capacitors LOVE to die in machines that are on 24/7 for years). You aren't gonna get much mining done either, the best mining you are gonna get is from the GPU not CPU, and laptops aren't graphical powerhouses. You'd probably be making a cent a day.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-01-19T23:05:34.720Z
2014-01-19T23:05:34.720Z
John T
<p>I have lots of laptops that are idle nearly all the time. Some of those laptops are new, some of them are old. Sometimes a word processor is opened and that's it. </p>

<p>Is it possible to use these laptops for mining in order to make money? </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-06-27T06:49:09.800Z
related: [Can I use my laptop to mine bitcoins?](http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/20080/5406)
Murch
<mining-profitability><cpu-mining>
Can mining with lots of laptops make money?
citizen_of_noobville
# Can mining with lots of laptops make money?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-01-19)

I have lots of laptops that are idle nearly all the time. Some of those laptops are new, some of them are old. Sometimes a word processor is opened and that's it.

Is it possible to use these laptops for mining in order to make money?

**Tags:** mining-profitability, cpu-mining

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: related: [Can I use my laptop to mine bitcoins?](http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/20080/5406)  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2014-01-19. Score: 2

To mine most crypto-currencies you'd need a good graphics card, preferably AMD than nVidia. Graphics chips integrated with the mother-board are typically bad for this, if they can be used at all.

There are some cryptocurrencies you do can mine with CPU only, like Protoshares, Quarkcoin, Primecoin and a few others. To avoid affecting the normal usage of a computer, mining program can run with a very low priority so it's only running when computer's not really used.

However, mining on a laptop is **strongly discouraged** for they're typically not designed to be run with their processors at 100% the whole time, so you're going to wear down the components earlier due to overheating - capacitors, battery, even hard-drive or microprocessor could die earlier because of that (e.g. Apple Airs wear down very fast if you put them to mine, a friend of mine experienced it).

If you can somehow ensure they'll have VERY good ventilation, or if you limit the mining to 4 or 5 hours a day, with several "rest" hours between each, you might make some money off them. But then, you ought to measure carefully the cost of the extra power they eat (plus the extra refrigeration's consumption) vs. what they would take if idle, vs. what you earn after a while - it might be profitable, or it might not.


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### Answer by username_3 on 2014-01-19. Score: 0

You'd waste money on energy and you'd slowly wear down the laptop's inner components (capacitors LOVE to die in machines that are on 24/7 for years). You aren't gonna get much mining done either, the best mining you are gonna get is from the GPU not CPU, and laptops aren't graphical powerhouses. You'd probably be making a cent a day.


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