Over the past few years, the crypto industry has witnessed exponential growth with widespread retail adoption. This attracted more people to the digitized currency and made investors extremely happy with the influx of profits with high-interest levels for other cryptocurrencies as well such as Ethereum, Dogecoin, and Shiba Inu.
This newly increased worldwide popularity of cryptocurrencies gave rise to several other critical and investor-friendly innovations facilitating an acceleration in crypto acceptance and adoption on a global basis.
However, it wasn’t all profits and no threats. Due to the records being entirely digital, the risk of copying, counterfeiting, or double-spending the same coin more than once increased. And that’s where the concept of mining stepped in. Mining or “crypto mining” solves this problem by serving as a bridge to validate and confirm new transactions to the blockchain and to intercept double-spending by bad actors.
In addition, to all this, it is also used to introduce new bitcoins into the system. Indeed, it is far more cost-effective to join the network as a miner than to try to undermine it.
Mining involves vast, decentralized networks of computers from around the globe to verify and secure blockchains, the virtual ledgers that document cryptocurrency transactions. In exchange for contributing their processing power, computers on the network are rewarded with new coins. It’s an endless cycle. So, while the miners maintain and secure the blockchain, the blockchain awards the coins, and the coins provide an incentive for the miners to maintain the blockchain.
How is Crypto Mined?
Graphics Processing Units (GPU) are the most common method of mining cryptocurrencies presently when compared to even the most powerful ASICs or the lower-end CPU miners.
However, cryptocurrency mining was originally performed using Central Processing Units (CPUs). But its limited processing speed and high power consumption lead to limited output, hence, declaring the CPU-based mining method inefficiently slow.
That’s when GPU-based mining stepped in, with countless benefits over the use of CPUs. For example, a standard GPU, like a Radeon HD 5970, has a clocked processing speed of executing 3,200 32-bit instructions per cycle. This is 800 times more in comparison to the speed of a CPU that executed only 4 32-bit instructions per clock.
For miners to be awarded new coins, they need to deploy machines that solve complex mathematical equations in the form of cryptographic hashes. A hash is a truncated digital signature of a block of data. Hashes are generated to secure data transferred on a public network.
Crypto Mining Using GPUs
Hence, as discussed above a GPU is a more well-suited option to mine crypto since that multiplies the earnings. For crypto mining using a GPU, you can hook up to 9 GPUs while for CPU; you can use two unless it is virtual CPUs. It maximizes computational power by bringing together a set of GPUs under one mining rig.
This characteristic of a GPU makes them suitable and better for cryptocurrency mining, as the mining process requires higher efficiency in performing repetitive computations. The mining device continuously tries to decode the different hashes repeatedly with only one digit changing in each attempt.
Additionally, GPUs are also equipped with a large number of Arithmetic Logic Units (ALU), which are responsible for performing mathematical computations. Thanks to the ALUs, the GPU is capable of performing and handling more calculations, leading to improved output for the crypto mining process.
GPUs range in the amount of hash rate each can deliver and the price, from the most powerful currently – the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 to the lowest end in the range – the likes of AMD Radeon R9 380, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti, AMD Radeon RX 470, and AMD Radeon RX 570.
Best GPUs For Crypto Mining
Cryptocurrency mining is a vigorous process for even the best graphics card out there. When mining these resources, your PC operates at full load on the GPU over extended periods of time. Going for the absolute most expensive and powerful GPU available may not be a clever decision for all crypto miners, which is why we’ve rounded up some of the best mining GPUs to help reach a suitable conclusion.
When choosing a graphics card, there are various factors to consider to get the best value for money. The most important factor of any GPU for crypto mining is efficiency — you want a high hash rate for as little electricity consumption as possible.
While the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 is a fantastic graphics card, other alternatives are also available for the best mining GPU if one is mindful of energy use and initial cost.
1. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti — Best overall
Hashrate: 60MH/s | VRAM: 8GB GDDR6 | TDP: 200W | Power input: 1x 12-pin PCIe (FE only) or 1x 8-pin PCIe
| PROS | CONS |
| 60MH/s hashrate | Awkward 12-pin connector on FE cards |
| 8GB GDDR6 VRAM | |
| 200W | |
| 4,864 CUDA cores | |
| Affordable RTX 30-series GPU |
2. AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT — Runner-up
Hashrate: 54MH/s | VRAM: 8GB GDDR6 | TDP: 225W | Power input: 2x 8-pin PCIe
| PROS | CONS |
| 54MH/s hashrate | Some instability issues |
| 8GB GGDR6 VRAM | Lacks latest-gen AMD features |
| 225W | |
| Great value | |
| Efficient performance |
3. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 — Best value
Hashrate: 36MH/s | VRAM: 8GB GDDR6 | TDP: 225W | Power input: 2x 8-pin PCIe
| PROS | CONS |
| 36MH/s hashrate | Older generation |
| 8GB GDDR6 VRAM | |
| 225W | |
| 2,304 CUDA cores | |
| Good value |
4. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 — Best performance
Hashrate: 121MH/s | VRAM: 24GB GDDR6X | TDP: 350W | Power input: 1x 12-pin PCIe (FE only) or 2x 8-pin PCIe
| PROS | CONS |
| 121MH/s hashrate | Expensive |
| 24GB GDDR6X VRAM | Power hungry |
| 350W | |
| 10,496 CUDA cores | |
| Great for gaming |
5. AMD Radeon RX 580 — Best budget AMD
Hashrate: 28MH/s | VRAM: 8GB GDDR5 | TDP: 185W | Power input: 1x 8-pin PCIe
| PROS | CONS |
| 28MH/s hashrate | Lower rate of return |
| 8GB GDDR5 VRAM | Higher power draw |
| 185W | |
| Affordable |
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER — Best budget NVIDIA
Hashrate: 26MH/s | VRAM: 6GB GDDR6 | TDP: 125W | Power input: 1x 8-pin PCIe
| PROS | CONS |
| 26MH/s hashrate | Lower rate of return |
| 6GB GDDR6 VRAM | |
| 125W | |
| 1,408 CUDA cores | |
| Low Powet Consumption | |
| Cost-efficient |
Conclusion
All in all, because blockchain mining is resource-intensive, it seldom puts strain on one’s GPU or other mining-related hardware. In fact, it is not unheard of for GPUs to blow out, or for mining rigs to burst into flames. However, keeping your rigs running at a moderate pace and a sufficient power supply is generally considered a safe option.