Razer wants players to go to cryptocurrency using their inactive GPUs

Players invest considerable sums in the GPU chips that power their computers. However, even the most hardcore player "Fortnite" will leave his gaming system in neutral for a significant piece of every day as they go to work, attend school or at least sleep. The hardware manufacturer Razer says it's a shame that these expensive devices are not exploited to their full potential, which is why they want players to let them use their inactive GPUs to extract the cryptocurrency.

Razer releases cryptocurrency mining software

To this end, the Singapore gaming giant, which has two offices in Singapore and San Francisco, has introduced cryptocurrency mining software that allows customers to earn passive income from their gaming platforms when they are not used.

Do you have an inactive game system at home? Here is a new way to score Razer Silver: launch Razer SoftMiner on your PC and start collecting Silver, one step closer to the prize you want, to do nothing.

Check out Razer SoftMiner now: https://t.co/PRND2BQ3xU pic.twitter.com/qrHXCdQrjC

– R Λ Z Ξ R (@Razer) December 12, 2018

Once installed on a client PC, the client – called the Razer SoftMiner – will remain inactive while the computer is in use and then activated when the GPU is idle.

It is unclear which cryptocurrency or cryptocurrency the software will be mine, although networks like Monero and Ethereum (at least until Ethash ASICs become widely distributed) are popular options for GPU miners.

Razer is not the first hardware manufacturer to encourage players to install cryptocurrency mining software that uses the power of inactive GPU. Last month, Asus introduced a similar service developed in collaboration with Quantumcloud and that would help PC owners get a passive income stream.

Razer Gets Cryptocurrency; Users get reward points

However, there is a big difference between the two programs. While players who extract encryption using Asus chips can cash directly into Fiat through PayPal or WeChat, Razer customers receive payment through the company's loyalty program, Razer Silver.

According to the company's website, users with the "correct configuration" can earn around 500 Razer Silver every 24 hours. This reward token can, in turn, be used to purchase one of less than 100 items listed in the Razer Silver catalog, and miners will find that their tokens do not have much purchasing power.

The cheaper article in the Razer Silver catalog is a $ 5 discount code for the main Razer showcase, which will return 1,500 credits to users. This is equivalent to about $ 1.67 per day or $ 0.07 per hour, excluding the cost of electricity.

If users want to spend their money outside the walled garden of Razer, the credits become even less valuable. A $ 10 ThinkGeek or Domino & # 39; s Pizza gift card costs 14,000 credits, which would require an optimized rig that works for almost a month. This equates to projected revenue of only $ 0.36 per day or one and a half cents an hour.

In addition, the credits expire after 12 months, which means that even users who maintained a "fair setup" and extracted 24 hours a day for a full year would find that their balances (182,500) had fallen by almost 100,000 credits compared to the most expensive item in the catalog, the 280,000-credit Razer Huntsman Elite that is sold for $ 200.

Is Razer's Crypto mining service worth it? Probably not

Remember, those are probably the best scenarios, those that take Razer's projections at face value. In reality, revenues should fall at regular intervals while other miners update their hardware to faster GPUs. This was not lost by Razer's Twitter followers, many of whom gave an overview of the promotion.

"This is the worst trade deal in the history of commercial negotiations, perhaps ever," wrote a user, channeling his inner Donald Trump. "Seriously? This is a joke from early April, right?" Asked another.

Considering how competitive the mining cryptocurrency has become, one would not expect to make a fortune by lending their power to unused GPUs, particularly since the third party intermediary will make a cut in revenue. However, given the uninteresting revenue figures touted by the company itself, it is necessary to seriously ask whether it is worth using the service.

Nonetheless, as misleading as it may seem, Razer's crude-mining thrust represents another instance of this nascent technology and a patrimonial class that gains further in the mainstream, and that should give the enthusiastic crypts something to rejoice in the background of an otherwise sad market.

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