With cryptocurrencies on the rise (especially Ethereum and
Bitcoin) but also others like Dash and Monero, and the ease of mining some of
them (mainly Ethereum, which is the easiest to mine with a GPU), has made a lot
of people Launch mining and want to know which are the best graphics cards to
mine cryptocurrencies and above all which are more profitable when generating
these virtual currencies.
Therefore, we are going to see which are the most
interesting models to choose from, taking into account the return on
investment, and also what algorithm to use, which are usually Equihash and
Ethash. Hive OS also have this page where you can see the statistics of the
most used models.
For those new to the game, there are two main mining
algorithms right now: Equihash and Ethash (with the main currencies being zcash
& ethereum respectively).
Considerations to
take into account
Hashrate
The power with which we measure and compare graphics cards
is through their hashes per second ratio or millions of hashes per second (MH /
s). This depends on different factors, and it is the starting point on which we
must focus when choosing between one model and another.
Consumption
Power consumption is the amount of electricity a card consumes
during mining. The greater the efficiency of the graphics card, the lower
consumption and the more profitable mining is, since electricity consumption is
a fixed cost that we must assume. It is important to keep this in mind;
especially the newer models are those with lower consumption architectures.
Vram
Without going into too much detail, a DAG is a file created
every 30,000 Ethereum blocks. Since the DAG is stored in the VRAM of the GPU,
the GPU must have enough storage capacity to load it. Because of this, Ethereum
can only be mined with cards that have at least 4 gigabytes of VRAM.
AMD vs Nvidia
AMD cards are the most common because they usually cost
between 20 and 30% less than Nvidia and that is why they are preferred by
people who start in this world. The main problem is that they are more
difficult to configure and do not support as many algorithms, in addition to
being less efficient and consuming more energy. Although AMD cards are more
efficient in Ethash and Cryptonight algorithms, Nvidia cards outperform them
overall. Computer accessories available online are always full of risk to to
whenever you are looking the online accessories check out saimdeals, read reviews and then make a mind
about purchasing one.
The best GPU for
mining Ethereum / Ethash
Most people currently mine Ethereum primarily, so we’ll
focus on this when we talk about the guide.
AMD RX 580
The AMD Radeon RX 580 and Radeon RX 590 are cards that also
work very well when mining. Throughput is typically around 25 MH / s. The RX
590 consumes more and costs more than the RX 580, but the performance it gives
is slightly higher, above 30 MH / s.
AMD Radeon Vega 56
Like its older sister, the Radeon Vega 56 is built under the
same processes and also has 8GB of ram. The performance is around 35 Mh / s,
with an approximate consumption of 210 watts. It is more efficient than the GTX
1070 and cheaper, but it also consumes more which makes it hotter too.
Nvidia GTX 1060
The main advantage of the GTX 1060 is its price, as it costs
five times less than the GTX 1080 Ti with good mining rates of between 20-22.5
Mh and s. Of course, you have to choose the 6GB version so that we have enough
space for the DAG.
Nvidia RTX 2060
Like the RTX 2080, this model also uses the Turing
architecture. The performance is similar to the GTX 1070, although with 2GB
less memory, but it is also cheaper and with lower consumption, which
translates into greater efficiency.
Nvidia GTX 1070 / Ti
Probably the more used of the two brands. The GTX 1070 is
capable of operating at 30Mh / s and is quite efficient in consumption (over
150W), which makes it more efficient than the RX 580. The bad part is that the
price is higher with hashrates similar to those of its competitor. From AMD.
Nvidia RTX 2080 / Ti
Launched in August 2018, its main advantages are the Turing
architecture, which translates into greater performance and efficiency compared
to 1080. It reaches 50 MH / s ratios
Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti
It works with 11 GB GDDR5X memories and is together with the
RTX 2080 the high-end of Nvidia. This graphics card manages to get a
performance of up to 45Mh / s with Ethereum with a consumption of about 220W,
so it is not the best in terms of profitability.
Conclusions
AMD leads the mining segment when it comes to graphics
cards. If we compare consumption and hashrate, the most recommended models are
the Radeon RX 580 or RX 590, somewhat less efficient in consumption but
performance equal to or greater than its big sister. If we wanted to look for
higher performance models, we have the RX Vega 56.
As for the Nvidia models, the main competitor is the GTX
2070, which reaches ratios of 30MH / s with low consumption and also gives the
possibility of using Nvidia’s exclusive Claymore software. Of course, you will
have to sacrifice the price since in some cases it can exceed the RX 580 by up
to 100 euros.
On the other hand, we also have the GTX 1080 / Ti and the
RTX 2080 / Ti, which constitute the high-end of Nvidia. They have hash rates of
45 and 50-52 MH / s respectively, and as we have already mentioned, their
handicap is the high price for the performance they develop.