Cryptocurrency mining remains one of the most popular ways to participate in the world of digital assets. In recent years, this industry has attracted more and more people and companies who are looking to increase their earnings through the rising prices of cryptocurrencies. But what is required for the process to be successful? In this material, we will tell you how to choose the right graphics cards for mining to achieve the optimal hash rate and payback.
Criteria for choosing the optimal graphics card for mining
“The heart” of any mining farm are video cards, which perform complex mathematical tasks to create new cryptocurrencies and ensure the proper operation of the entire system. In order for a video card for mining to bring income, it must successfully combine a number of important characteristics, namely:
Performance (Hashrate)
In order to perform the maximum number of computational operations per second, the graphics card must be powerful enough. The higher the hash rate, the more coins a miner will be able to mine, thus increasing his or her potential income.
If you have chosen to mine Ethereum Classic cryptocurrency, it is best to consider modern graphics cards such as AMD Radeon RX 6000-series or NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30-series, because they have a high hash rate and low consumption compared to older models.
When mining this cryptocurrency at low power consumption, AMD Radeon RX 6000-series graphics cards will provide the following hashrate:
AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT – about 50-55 MH/s;
AMD Radeon RX 6800 – about 60-65 MH/s;
AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT – about 65-70 MH/s.
On NVIDIA GeForce GeForce RTX 30-series graphics cards this figure will be:
NVIDIA GeForce GeForce RTX 3060 Ti – about 60-65 MH/s;
NVIDIA GeForce GeForce RTX 3070 – about 65-70 MH/s;
NVIDIA GeForce GeForce RTX 3080 – about 105-110 MH/s.
NVIDIA GeForce GeForce RTX 3090 – around 120-130 MH/s.
If the budget is limited, you can also consider earlier models of AMD’s RX 400/500-series which give out 30-35 MH/s or NVIDIA’s GTX 1660 Ti/Super 25-35 MH/s.
*Calculations for Etherium Classic mining
Power consumption
The mining process requires a lot of energy resources, so you should choose graphics cards with low power consumption so that your electricity bills do not exceed the income you earn.
When mining Ethereum Classic on NVIDIA graphics cards, a good indicator of consumption will be 100-250 watts, and on AMD – 110-200 watts (depending on the model).
For an entry-level mining farm, it is best to use RX 570 and RX 580 graphics cards, as well as GTX 1660 Ti and GTX 1660 Super, but it is better to focus on newer models that are more energy efficient. For example, the RX 6000-series and RTX 30-series graphics cards, which provide a high hash rate while being more energy efficient.
GPU RAM
A large amount of memory will allow you to handle larger mining tasks, which improves system performance. We recommend considering devices with 8 gigabytes of video memory or more, such as NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30-series or AMD Radeon RX 6000-series. In any case, we do not recommend to consider in 2023 video cards for mining with a memory size below 4GB, and better not below 6GB, because many profitable coins you simply can not mine because of the large size of the DAG-file, which is buffered in the memory of the video card when mining coins.
Cooling System
The lifespan of your graphics card and its performance depends on the reliability of the cooling system. Mining puts a lot of strain on the card, so it should be protected from overheating and premature wear and tear. A good cooling system necessarily includes 2 or more fans with a diameter of at least 80 mm, as well as a massive radiator with copper heat pipes. In more expensive versions of video cards, the heatsink and the rear reinforcement plate (backplate) are in contact with the RAM chips, directly cooling them. This has a positive effect on their temperature and the life of the graphics card as a whole.
Overclocking Potential
Choosing an overclocked graphics card can be more profitable, as it provides better mining performance than a standard graphics card with software-clamped frequencies.
To estimate the potential income from an overclocked card, we suggest using our calculator for detailed calculations of mining profitability.
Firmware also plays an equally important role in optimizing graphics card performance. With their help you can adjust frequencies and voltages to achieve better performance. On our website you can find firmware for mining and instructions for overclocking graphics cards for mining.
Price
You shouldn’t buy expensive graphics cards because the more expensive the graphics card, the longer it will take you to recoup your investment. Often, more affordable models return the money spent on their purchase faster and are more effective at generating a profit. Considering that graphics video card prices have fallen by 70% since 2021, it’s profitable to get into mining now. For more accurate prices on graphics card models, we recommend checking eBay or aliexpress.
So, which cards should you choose?
It is difficult to answer this question unambiguously, because the world of crypto-mining is big and constantly on the move. New video cards appear regularly, so you should focus on your specific goals, budget and the availability of optimal models on the market. We believe that the best cards are the ones that you will pay off the fastest.
But if you want to get an arithmetic average, with minimal labor costs – choose NVIDIA, because it has a simpler setup. AMD can bring you more profit, but you need to have the technical skills to flash and customize it, or contact our Jethash team for customization for mining.
You can get more information and personalized assistance from our Jethash Telegram bot. We will support you every step of the way in the world of mining!
25 Sep 2023
