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Best Graphics Cards For Mining
Mining cryptocurrencies is an interesting activity that can give huge profits. Each of us can make some extra buck – we only need to harness the power of our graphics cards if we don’t have specialized mining equipment. However, in order to approach this topic professionally, we need a properly performing graphics card, which we usually don’t have.
What are the best graphics cards for mining at the moment?
The best graphics cards for mining are those that are simply powerful enough for mining and their power consumption isn’t too big, so that the mining is profitable. When buying a new GPU we must take into the account not only its performance, but also its cost-effectiveness. The costs to be considered include the costs of the card and the electricity. The profit is, of course, the amount of money we will earn after all costs have been deducted. Sometimes the most expensive graphics card can be less profitable than the cheaper one.
The cryptocurrency market changes incredibly fast and that’s why it’s necessary to constantly broaden your knowledge on this subject. We need to analyze the odds that change from day to day, hour to hour. Prices of equipment often can change rapidly. Newer and newer graphics cards are being created, that can make the cryptocurrency mining even easier. However, new, faster equipment and the constantly increasing amount of people getting into cryptocurrencies makes the mining more difficult. Therefore, the profitability of our investments has be constantly monitored.
Top 3 Graphics Cards for mining
First place
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 3GB/6GB
Cheap, powerful, loaded with innovative new technologies, making it the perfect choice for miners. Powered by the NVIDIA Pascal architecture the GeForce GTX 1060 delivers brilliant hash rates that open the door to cost effective cryptocurrency mining.
Second Place
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 8GB
Top-of-the-line graphics card with 8GB of GDDR5 memory that provides very high performance. Supplied with an aluminium heat sink and a turbine to keep it at a low temperatures, low power consumption and the use of the latest technologies makes it a great card for mining cryptocurrencies. Why is it second on the list? The price-to-perfomance ratio which is lower that the one of it’s cheaper sister, the GTX 1060
Third Place
AMD Radeon RX 480 8GB
The last place on the podium was taken by the AMD’s graphics card. 8GB of GDDR5 memory and a Polaris architecture makes it a fantastic card for both gaming and mining. It has very good technical parameters, it’s energy efficient, durable and has quiet cooling system. All this makes the AMD Radeon RX 480 the top 3 graphics card for mining cryptocurrencies. In short, the biggest advantages of this card are : its memory capacity, work efficiency, use of modern technologies, big set of connectors and the most important factor – the price.
Mining those sweet, sweet coins
So what are the best graphics cards for mining on the market right now? The Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 6GB is the winner. Its stronger but more expensive and less profitable sister Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 8GB is second, and the third place is taken by the AMD Radeon RX 480. Remember that it’s always worth keeping up to date with new mining equipment that comes out on the market! Technologies, graphics card prices and exchange rates are also constantly changing. A professional miner always tries to keep up with the latest news, because he knows that it’s crucial for his earnings. Keep in mind that when choosing a particular GPU, attention should be paid to its power consumption and cost-effectiveness.
So, I want to choose the best one – the GeForce GTX 1060, which variant should I consider?
The line-up of GTX 1060 chipset-based graphics cards is tremendous. Cards with this chipset can be divided into two subcategories according to the amount of VRAM used in them:
- GTX 1060 3GB – Due to the lower cache capacity, GTX 1060 3GB cards are noticeably cheaper than those with more VRAM, but it’s not a huge difference. Among the cards with 3 GB of RAM there are proposals of various brands, such as Gigabyte, Palit or Gainward.
- GTX 1060 6GB – Higher cache capacity translates into a higher hashrate when digging Ethereum, so a GeForce GTX 1060 with 6GB of RAM are eagerly chosen by the miners of this cryptocurrency due to the DAG size of this coin which is currently around 2.8GB and it’s increasing fast. The cheapest variants of this card can be purchased for as little as $300, which isn’t that big of a cost when we take into the account its performance. Among the GeForce GTX 1060 6GB cards you will find variants of various brands: EVGA, Inno3D, MSI and others.
Particular models of the GeForce GTX 1060 cards differ only with the type of sticker the manufacturer decided to put on them and their cache capacity, but at this stage it’s already worth considering choosing a card with preferred RAM capacity. For Ethereum mining it’s best to choose a version with 6 GB of VRAM, and the 3 GB variants will work for less demanding coins, although the price difference between 3 GB and 6 GB cards is not big, so it’s worth considering whether the GTX 1060 with 6GB of RAM will still be a better option for your needs.
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