So you want to start mining?

Congratulations so does everyone else interested in crypto. It seems like a great way to make a quick buck right? Buy some parts, flip on a miner and make cash. It's not that easy though. These parts cost money, sometimes a lot more than they should (GPUs). So how can you get started and handle the cost up front?

How I started:

This is my Black Friday pc. I didn't build it for mining, but that's how I'm starting to use it. This build didn't come without it's flaws, but I would like to discuss some of the things that I did get right:

Cost; this entire build was $229 after rebates, which I definitely recommend you complete. A low cost means I can hit an ROI faster. However, I'm not majorly concerned because I only spent $29 of my own money because I had a gift card from my birthday.
Scalability; no, I can't install 20 graphics cards or constantly make major upgrades, but I'm not long term committed to any of the parts in this build, so I can resell them and move on if needed.
Performance; this is the most surprising to me. With some major tweaks to improve performance, this actually provides a pretty good bang for the buck in the world of mining.

There are problems though:

Performance; the GT 1030 pictured isn't the best at mining. The Ryzen 3 falls short when compared to some other processors.
Lack of features; The AB-350 motherboard is extremely limited in features that help for mining. Overclocking is difficult, and any mess up results in a long reset process. There are only 3 PCI-e x16 slots, and two PCI-e slots.
Poor case design; this is probably a given at a price of $15, but the case I chose has little airflow and as a result hinders performance. Cable management is a huge problem.
Upgradeability My PSU, the EVGA 450 BT sucks for mining. It only has 2 GPU cables and a low power output. The only positive is it is the suggested 80 plus bronze that nearly all PSUs have.

Return On Investment:

At the current rate, difficulty and price, I will ROI at about 20 months. This is pretty awful by mining standards. However, I didn't make the best decisions on this build and will create a new list of suggested parts in the next post. This post is just to establish my own experience and share with you what I have done so far and where I'm planning on going with these posts.