The Best GPUs For Ethereum Mining, Tested and Compared (Archive)

[Guest]

Let's take a look at the energy requirements of cryptocurrency mining rigs: Which current-generation GPUs are the most suitable for Ethereum mining?

The Best GPUs For Ethereum Mining, Tested and Compared : Read more

 

[Aris_Mp]

As a side note, we are already working on the next revision of this article which will include all mining-ready AMD cards as well.

 

[iamacow]

Ethereum ASIC miner is coming next month, It would be stupid to buy video cards for Ethereum mining. RIP Ethereum.

 

[vonbose]

Just die already crypto!

 

[pavel.mateja]

Mining on stock clocks is not very good idea.
SPOILER: Vega 64 (950MHz@950mV core, 1085MHz@1025mV HBM, +25% power limit) does over 43MHash.

 

[Aris_Mp]

In the next update we will include optimised settings as well. As for ETH ASICs, I think it will take more than one month till they are released and they will be super expensive and definitely not widely available, so there will be still some life for GPUs.

 

[Giroro]

The value of Etherium is down to under $400 and has been falling steadily since its peak of ~$1400 earlier this year. The entire coin market has experienced similar drops.
A single 1070 can only profit 60-80 cents a day right now. The going rate for a 1070 on newegg right now is ~$550.
I'll be optimistic and say you find your 1070s at $500, and profit 80 cents per day. At that rate it will take 625 days to pay off your graphics cards (it will take this much time no matter how many cards you have) - plus however long it takes to pay off the rest of the necessary equipment.
You would have to have a lot of faith in a dramatic recovery of the crypto market to buy equipment right now considering at current rates it will most likely take 2 years just to break even. Assuming of course the decline levels off soon... but I don't actually think it will considering all the new taxes, regulations, and international bans of crypto.

 

[kyotokid]

...as a CG artist who has been priced out of the GPU market due to the mining craze, I find this and any article that promotes cryptomining a disservice us and the gaming community.

 

[mgalyan]

I use an RX 480 with a slightly tweaked bios, and heavily power restricted in Afterburner. Getting 26 mh/s @ about 72 watts. Haven't seen better efficiency than that setup yet.

 

[solidussnake1984]

Hey Tom's **** you all for creating this article.**** crypto currency and everything about it. I want to play a ***"ing Pc. Crypto miners can eat a bag of **** we need video cards at msrp. This article is a disgrace to Tom's hardware. Go back to focused gaming reviews. Not this crypto ***** . The next crypto article you post I'm done with you all.

 

[Aris_Mp]

This article contains data about gaming power consumption as well, along with temperatures and fan speed.

 

[papality]

You are part of the problem. Please stop.

 

[Brillis Wuce]

Looking forward to your AMD/optimized settings addition. I'm curious as to what you can achieve.
My 1080ti's are getting 39Mh @ 65%TDP + 900MHz memory OC.

My 570's are getting 30-31Mh with custom a custom BIOS and around 100 watts power.
I think once you factor in the custom settings, the 570's are going to rise to the top of the "bang for buck" chart, but we'll see.
Good stuff. Keep it up.

 

[Matt_550]

This is a tech site. Not a "gaming" site. As much as people may dislike research into and anything revolving around Crypto mining it is still something that revolves around tech. Don't be mad at Tom's for doing their job. Be mad at the producers(NVidia and AMD) for failing to create an adequate supply of cards to keep prices reasonable. Demand is going to happen. In all honesty more demand in the long run is a good thing. More jobs and eventually a larger supply at more reasonable prices.

As a gamer I'm not thrilled about prices either. But it's not the fault of Tom's that a shortage exists. The problem lies in the producers inability to accurately predict demand and produce accordingly.

 

[ElectrO_90]

Matt, why would you blame AMD and Nvidia? They are not the ones price gouging. The people ripping us off are the resellers.

 

[mihen]

...as a CG artist who has been priced out of the GPU market due to the mining craze, I find this and any article that promotes cryptomining a disservice us and the gaming community.

From what I have seen, CG artists are barely affected by the crypto-miners since good cards for CG are not as good for mining price to effect ratio.
For instance you can get an AMD Vega Frontier Edition for $50 less than original MSRP.

 

[ph11p3540]

As a gamer and artist, I find this article disheartening. This is only going to make the graphics card market more over priced.

 

[Ninjawithagun]

What this article and many of the comments have failed to include is the cost to operate. Each state and local areas within each of those states have varying levels of cost to use electricity. All-in-all, most profits would be negated just by the cost of mining, especially those mining machines running multiple GPUs. In the end, crypto currency mining is a financial black hole.

 

[AtariST]

As a gamer in the market for a new card, I'm frustrated by cryptocurrency. Just frustrated. There is no reason to be angry at anyone. Supply and demand is the way the economy works.

I'm not mad at the cryptos for wanting the cards more than me. If they are willing to shell out big $$$ for cards, that is their choice.

I'm not mad at Nvidia and AMD. They have no way of knowing when this bubble is going to burst and ramping up production is expensive and potentially dangerous. If the bubble bursts, not only will there be a glut of new cards on the market, there will also be a ton of used cards on the market as well. It could be financially disastrous for them.

I'm not mad at Tom's. They are simply investigating and sharing knowledge on a topic of great interest, if not great support Sharing knowledge is vital. Investigation and dissemination is not the same as support.

BTW, has anyone else noticed that availability is much improved these last couple of weeks and that prices are starting to drop? They haven't reached retail, yet, which is still too much IMHO, but prices are down. Thanks to articles like this, I expect 1080Tis to really start dropping.

 

[Matt_550]

Matt, why would you blame AMD and Nvidia? They are not the ones price gouging. The people ripping us off are the resellers.

People are buying it at those prices, correct? Do the cards fail to remain in stock, as in a shortage exists?

If the answer to both questions is yes then you have to blame the lack of supply for not satiating the demand. Because a shortage always leads to higher prices. ECON 101

 

[g-unit1111]

What this article and many of the comments have failed to include is the cost to operate. Each state and local areas within each of those states have varying levels of cost to use electricity. All-in-all, most profits would be negated just by the cost of mining, especially those mining machines running multiple GPUs. In the end, crypto currency mining is a financial black hole.

Not to mention the cost to break even. You spend $2,000 - $3,000+ on a rig for mining, and then when you combine electricity costs, and you reasonably only make back $1 - $1.50 a day doing 24/7 mining, you're still paying off the cost of your rig for the next year - year and a half before you break even. It could take you even longer if you factor in credit card interest on a rig like that. Nobody ever takes that into account when they decide that they want to get into mining. The money you make back in your first year of ownership is not profit - it's going to pay down that rig you bought. Once you do that, then you can start making some money.

 

[buzznut47]

As others have mentioned, ETH mining is dead. When Scrypt ASICS came out, regardless of expense Scrypt mining was no longer viable. Yes, immediately. I was there, four years ago.
Also the poor ROI for most of the cards mentioned in the article will not appeal to seasoned miners. Look, the only way to be profitable right now (and its not good) is to mine another coin/algo with energy efficient cards. Right now, I would tell anybody wanting to invest in this--DON"T! Even Ethash will suck with the ASICS after awhile.

People need to understand that ETH is moving to proof of stake-no more mining for anyone. People putting in pre-orders for Ethash ASICS are going to lose. Big time.

I would say if you want to get your feet wet, look at cards with a quick return on investment . Such as RX 560, def not a serious hasher but very efficient, and reasonable ROI. Even better, R9 270Xs hash Zcash at 200sols/s which considering power draw is not bad. 270X cards go for around $100 on ebay.

I suggest that it would be wise to research more efficient cards, and take a look at other algorithms. Since you love nVidia so much, Zcash is a good place to start.

 

[therossgalloway]

All of your charts reference ETC, which is Ethereum Classic, not Etherium, which is abbreviated as ETH.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

...as a CG artist who has been priced out of the GPU market due to the mining craze, I find this and any article that promotes cryptomining a disservice us and the gaming community.

Tomshardware isn't a site just for gamers or just for CG artists, though. Its purpose is to cover hardware, regardless of how consumers are buying it or using it in a capitalistic society.

 

[iamacow]

You'll make a whole lot more if you buy coins instead of mine them.