Razer SoftMiner lets you gain rewards with your idle PC: Is it worth it?
Your idle gaming rig could score you some new Razer gear, but it may take a while and have hidden costs.
It's like mining for cryptocurrency, except it's Razer Silver.
Eyeing a new keyboard, mouse or accessory for your gaming PC setup? Now you can use your idle PC to help pay for it.
On Wednesday Razer launched Razer SoftMiner, a program that you can run in the background of your PC that rewards you with Razer Silver -- which can then be redeemed for rewards.
Have a gaming rig on idle at home? Here's a new way to score Razer Silver: launch Razer SoftMiner on your PC and start racking up Silver—one step closer to the reward you want, for doing nothing at all.
— R Λ Z Ξ R (@Razer) December 12, 2018
Check out Razer SoftMiner now: https://t.co/PRND2BQ3xU pic.twitter.com/qrHXCdQrjC
But although it seems like you're being rewarded for doing nothing, there may be some hidden costs.
Razer says you can earn about 500 Razer Silver in a day, if you have a strong internet connection and a powerful GPU. But 500 Silver isn't that much. A $5 Razer gift card costs 1,500 Silver (so you'd have to mine for about three days), select Steam games are worth 7,000 Silver (14 days of mining), while a Razer DeathAdder Essential mouse is 51,000 Silver (102 days of mining).
Meanwhile a Razer Huntsman Elite keyboard costs 280,000 Silver (the equivalent of mining for 560 days). At that point, is it worth it? Plus, Razer says the points expire 12 months after they were first earned, which would make it a lot harder to rack up a large balance for higher ticket items. The Huntsman Elite keyboard costs $200 (£200, AU$340), which doesn't seem too valuable for 560 days of mining.
You'd have to factor in the costs of internet, electricity and a slowed PC -- Razer admits in its SoftMiner FAQ that "your PC will likely run slower than its usual speed" while mining. Maybe it's worth it if you already have a PC that's on 100 percent of the time, or run an underutilized server. Or maybe not.
Still, if you already have a Razer Silver balance or want a cheap reward you can always give SoftMiner a shot -- Razer is giving 1,000 Silver to the first 5,000 signups. But if you've got your eyes on the bigger stuff, maybe Razer SoftMiner isn't the best way to get it.
