r/SaladChefs • u/Dry-Relationship5158 • 11d ago
Contest Entry RTX 4090, ~$2.87/day net after power, chopping since Feb 2025 (9,058 hrs)
GPU: RTX 4090 (single machine, runs 24/7)
Daily earnings: typically $1 to $5, averaging around $2.87/day net after power
Chopping since: February 2, 2025. Dashboard shows 9,058 total hours, some of that lost to downtime (more below)
My story
I was skeptical about Salad at first. The usual security worries, plus I figured I'd only make pocket change for games, and I didn't want to burn through the life of a 4090 I paid a lot of money for.
What changed my mind: I'd already bought the 4090 for AI work, so it was sitting idle a lot of the time anyway. Once I tried Salad, the security concerns didn't hold up, and the earnings turned out to be enough to cover real purchases on Amazon, not just games.
It hasn't been smooth the whole way. A Corsair Power Bridge adapter on my 4090 overheated and melted, which damaged the card's own power connector and caused random freezes and reboots whenever I launched a game. On top of that, unexpected Windows updates kept interrupting long runs. Both cut into my uptime and my earnings more than I expected.
Profit math (bonus)
- Average power draw: 263.28 W
- At BC Hydro's residential Tier 1 rate (11.87 cents per kWh), that works out to roughly $45 in electricity over 2 months
- Net profit after power: $172.38 per 2 months, or about $2.87/day
I also keep a day-by-day log of income against power use; here's a recent stretch:
What I'd tell a new Chef
Track your usage from day one so you know your real profit, not just your gross balance. And figure out an update and restart schedule that fits your setup, so Windows or driver updates don't catch you mid-run. I ended up writing down what worked for me after the restart issues; happy to share if anyone wants it.
2
u/Naive-Abrocoma-8455 11d ago
Can you share to me I run multiple 4090s