I am trying to gather the parts needed for a mining rig but I was wondering if it will become obsolete in the next couple years when Ethereum releases Metropolis and Casper?
Is it worth setting up a rig now and paying premium prices for graphics cards since they are all sold out now?
"One of the most anticipated events in the Ethereum ecosystem is the switch from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake. Both of these systems are used to achieve consensus and maintain the security of a blockchain-based network.
Proof-of-Work uses mining, requiring vast amounts of computing effort and electrical power. Proof-of-Stake is meant to move away from a system that demands such a high expenditure of resources and instead secure consensus through network participants putting up a “stake” of their virtual currency in return for proportional (to the amount staked vs. all coins available across the network) rewards for their “virtual mining.” No PoW-style mining actually takes place in PoS; the deposit is more about incentivizing honest actions. A validator’s deposit is burned (automatically forfeited and destroyed) if they make a malicious move, as defined by the minimal slashing conditions."
Read more: https://www.ethnews.com/proof-of-stake-vitalik-buterin-shares-casper-contract-code