<p>Yes. Mining devices such as this are merely highly-specialized processors that communicate with a computer via serial over USB. The computer is necessary in order to tell the device what to do, and to get its result to post to the mining system (i.e. a pool or <code>bitcoind</code>).</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-07-01T22:06:39.493Z
Really? This means, additional to the energy consumptions of the Miner comes the energy consumed by the PC/Laptop?
powtac
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-07-02T01:50:40.417Z
Yes. There's a bit of an assumption that you'd already have it running 24/7, or that you're running a lower power machine anyway. The hashrate to wattage ratio of an ASIC will always beat that of a GPU.
Colin Dean
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-07-02T04:47:19.840Z
@powtac Keep in mind that you can have very low power footprint devices connected. ie, android tablet, or phones or Raspberry pi device. There is a article made by a guy from NZ showing his setup using the 5GH/s butterfly lab device running with raspberry pi which was using a total of 44wat IIRC
wired00
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-07-01T20:45:03.623Z
2013-07-01T20:45:03.623Z
Colin Dean
<p>When the <a href="https://products.butterflylabs.com/homepage/5-gh-s-bitcoin-miner.html" rel="nofollow">BitForce Bitcoin Miner</a> is mining, does it have to be connected to a PC all the time? </p>

<asic><mining-setup>
Has the BitForce Bitcoin Miner be connected to a PC all the time?
powtac
# Has the BitForce Bitcoin Miner be connected to a PC all the time?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-07-01)

When the [BitForce Bitcoin Miner](https://products.butterflylabs.com/homepage/5-gh-s-bitcoin-miner.html) is mining, does it have to be connected to a PC all the time?

**Tags:** asic, mining-setup


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2013-07-01. Score: 1

Yes. Mining devices such as this are merely highly-specialized processors that communicate with a computer via serial over USB. The computer is necessary in order to tell the device what to do, and to get its result to post to the mining system (i.e. a pool or `bitcoind`).

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Really? This means, additional to the energy consumptions of the Miner comes the energy consumed by the PC/Laptop?  
> **username_1**: Yes. There's a bit of an assumption that you'd already have it running 24/7, or that you're running a lower power machine anyway. The hashrate to wattage ratio of an ASIC will always beat that of a GPU.  
> **username_2**: @username_0 Keep in mind that you can have very low power footprint devices connected. ie, android tablet, or phones or Raspberry pi device. There is a article made by a guy from NZ showing his setup using the 5GH/s butterfly lab device running with raspberry pi which was using a total of 44wat IIRC  

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