Whether you want to start with a single cryptocurrency mining rig or hoping to build a farm of them, you need high-performing graphic cards. Finding the best graphic card can be really tough which is why we are always ready to help. In this roundup, you will find the very best GPU for mining rated according to their best attributes.
Contents
- 1 What are the best GPU for mining cryptocurrency?
- 2 1. Most Likely to Turn a Profit: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070
- 3 2. Great Value: AMD Radeon RX 580
- 4 3. Best Budget Buy: AMD Radeon RX 570
- 5 4. Best for Power Efficiency: ASUS GeForce GTX 1060
- 6 5. Honorable Mention: AMD Radeon RX Vega 56
- 7 6. Honorable Mention: AMD Radeon RX 470
- 8 How to Buy a Graphic Card for Mining
- 9 How We Made Our Picks
What are the best GPU for mining cryptocurrency?
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1. Most Likely to Turn a Profit: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070
- New pascal architecture
- 8gb 256-bit gddr5.supported os:
- Virtual reality ready
- 1x dual-link dvi, 3x DisplayPort (version 1.4), 1x HDMI (2.0b)
Buy it if: You want to mine cryptocurrency long term, can front the expensive price tag
Though expensive, the GTX 1070 is the most likely GPU to turn you a profit. That is mainly due to the GPU’s hashrate of 30 ms/s and low energy consumption. Less efficient machines will draw more power to achieve that same hashrate, which will ultimately cut into your profit margin. We highly recommend the GTX 1070 to anyone who intends on mining cryptocurrency for the long run and is willing to invest a few hundred dollars upfront.
The 1070 has a good reputation for reliable and consistent performance without the chances of overheating. It is built to last long with its die-cast aluminum body and modifiable back. This is arguably the most efficient Nvidia card and yields the best performance per watt among all the Nvidia cards here. It is also among the best graphics card for gaming.
2. Great Value: AMD Radeon RX 580
- Chipset: AMD Radeon RX 580
- Boost / Base Core Clock: 1366 MHz
- Video Memory: 8GB GDDR5. Form Factor: Plug-in Card
- Memory Interface: 256-bit; Bus: PCI-Express 3.0 x16
Buy it if: You can't afford the upfront cost of the GTX 1070
One of the most popular GPUs for mining crypto, the Radeon RX 580 is less expensive than the GTX 1070, but may be a little harder to turn a profit. The 580 delivers a high hashrate (about 28 to 30 mh/s), however, it pulls a bit more energy than the GTX 1070 making it a little costlier to maintain. Nonetheless, the AMD Radeon RX 580 should be considered no less than the 2nd best GPU for mining. This graphic card can offer 1340MHz boost clock speed and when you pair this with either 8GB or 4GB of GDDR5 memory, you can be sure of improved mining efficiency. You may have a little trouble ordering it however, as its popularity has made it difficult for retailers to keep up supply.
3. Best Budget Buy: AMD Radeon RX 570
- 1310 MHz Boost Clock (OC Mode) for 7% performance improvement over reference....
- Asus Aura Sync RGB lighting features a nearly endless spectrum of colors with...
- Directcu II with patented wing-blade Fans on 0dB fan technology delivers 30%...
- Easily monitor and control your GPU's performance and cooling with the intuitive...
Buy it if: You cannot afford a more expensive GPU
At a little bit more than $200, the RX 570 is a popular budget buy among miners and gamers. Thought cheap, you will still get incredibly high performance with hash rate that is close to what you get from more costly graphic cards. It comes at a cheaper rate when compared to the RX 580 but performs quite close to it in terms of efficiency and hash rate. Another thing you will like about this graphic card is its power consumption, which is relatively lower than what you will get with most graphic cards in this list.
Read: Best Laptops Under $500
4. Best for Power Efficiency: ASUS GeForce GTX 1060
- 1809 MHz boost Clock (OC mode) with 6GB GDDR5;NVIDIA ANSEL for a revolutionary...
- Dual-fan cooling provides double airflow for 3x quieter gameplay
- Vr ready with dual HDMI 2.0 ports to simultaneously connect headset & monitor
- GPU TWEAK II makes monitoring performance and streaming easier than ever,...
Buy it if: You can't afford the GTX 1070
The GTX 1060 will perform efficiently without increasing power consumption or heat production. This is a budget graphic card that offers something close to what you can obtain from some costly options in the market. The 6GB version is the original one but there is a 3GB option that still performs very well. This one with 6GB GDDR5 memory is definitely impressive and allows full HD operation. This GPU is powered by the impressive Paschal architecture.
5. Honorable Mention: AMD Radeon RX Vega 56
- Chipset - AMD Vega 56
- 8GB HBM2 Memory
- Crossfire ready
- AMD LiquidVR ready
We would recommend this card for anyone who wants a really high hash rate in a single chassis. The card offers top-of-the-class performance that is rare among desktop graphic cards. That shouldn’t be surprising considering the fact that it has 8GB of HBM2 memory on a 2048-bit bus. The major issue you will have is that you need to have adequate power supply as it will consume quite a lot. You will also have to put up with the loud noise and the heat it will produce. Another downside to this card is that it is relatively expensive, costing even more than the GeForce GTX 1070.
6. Honorable Mention: AMD Radeon RX 470
- Interface: PCI-E
- Chipset Manufacturer: AMD
- GPU Series: AMD Radeon RX 400 Series
- GPU: Radeon RX 470
This is one of the best in the AMD Radeon RX 400 series and is considered ideal for the everyday crypto miner. It is built with 4GB GDDR5 Samsung memory. It is highly respected for its power efficiency, and boasts the latest AAA graphics. To top it off, the power draw is only 120W making it less costly to maintain. We would recommend this card to miners where the cost of the electricity bill is of the utmost importance. Another thing you will like about the card is its compact designed allowing it to work noiselessly and with less heat.
How to Buy a Graphic Card for Mining
When you need a graphic card for mining, there are some factors you need to prioritize. First and foremost, the most important thing to consider is profitability. Profitability is a function of the GPUs speed and power usage. You want a GPU that is fast (has a fast hashrate) and consumes less energy (meaning its highly efficient). It is why GPUs have overtaken CPUs as a means of mining, they simply are not efficient enough. To see how razor thin profitability may be, check out this crypto mining calculator.
Hashrate (Speed)
Hashrate is arguably the most important factors to consider when shopping for GPUs for mining. It often follows that the higher the hashrate of any given card, the faster your mining rate. You will see the hash rate of a card expressed in hashes per second H/s. It may also be expressed as MH/s, GH/s, or TH/s. (mega, giga, or tera-hashes per seconds). Generally industry leading hashrate will be about 25 to 30 MH/s though with some optimizations you theoretically could get up to 50MH/s. For anything higher, you would need to create a mining rig of multiple GPUs.
Power Consumption
The 2nd most important factor for GPU mining is the power consumption. Most fast and high-performance graphic cards consume lots of power but there are some cards that will save you power and still perform excellently. You need to consider the power consumption of any given card and see if the performance is worth the amount of power it is consuming. It is best to find cards that consume less power and mine fast as your miner will run all day.
Bus Width
The number of memory chips you can use on any particular GPU is determined by its bus width. Performance of a card at mining is also determined by the memory so you have to consider the bus width when shopping. It often follows that the higher the bus width, the better the performance of the graphic card at mining.
Overclocking and Cooling
It is possible to configure your graphic card to run at a faster speed than the manufacturers default. That is where overclocking comes in. Cards that can be overclocked offer improved performance but it might need to be kept in check in order to be sustainable. Mining is generally power-intensive and since your GPU will run all day and night you must ensure that your graphic card has efficient cooling system. If your GPU doesn’t cool properly, its performance will be affected. Read our guide on liquid cooling vs air cooling to see if liquid cooling is something you should consider for your system.
How We Made Our Picks
In picking the products that featured on our list of the best GPUs for mining we scoured the internet for the most talked about and reviewed GPUs. We then dissected every GPU and set out to determine which one is best for you based on your circumstances. The result is the curated list you see above. We also checked if the products have multiple positive reviews on major online market places to ensure that other users are satisfied with it. What you will find here are truly the best GPUs for mining cryptocurrencies.
