Bitcoin mining has long required special equipment, but a number of popular coins are still mined on video cards. The rise in prices for cryptocurrencies has attracted crowds of people wanting to make money into mining. Mid-price video cards have disappeared from the shelves. Optimists believe that growth will be followed by a fall, and disappointed miners, realizing the unprofitability of their business, will begin to sell expensive cards at low prices to the delight of gamers who want to make money. Let's figure out whether video cards are suitable for use after mining.
The technical side of mining on graphics cards
As you know, mining is based on the fact that a community of people performs a lot of operations in real time, and the result of these operations is a block. The block is hashed many times in a row until the correct hash is generated. This is a solution to a problem, for which participants receive cryptocurrency as a reward. And so that no one can control the operations, the blocks are lined up in a chain, where each next one is an order of magnitude more complex than the previous one.
It is clear that performing such a number of operations requires a lot of computing power. Compared to the processor, a video card can provide many times more of this power. Especially when there are several of them (“farm”). That’s why mining on processors has already sunk into oblivion, but on video cards, on the contrary, is thriving.
Despite the fact that these devices are initially designed to be able to display high-quality images, including for games, their resources are also sufficient to perform a large number of mathematical operations.
In simple terms, the processor is designed to solve problems (it’s not for nothing that it is called the brain of the computer). And the video card is ideal for repeating the same type of operations.
That's why miners choose graphic cards.
How to choose a video card
Currently, mining Ethereum requires cards with RAM of 3 GB or more. But the process of cryptocurrency mining is designed in such a way that as the blockchain grows, the resource requirements for its processing increase.
NVIDIA GTX 1080 Ti.
This means that soon, when 3 GB is not enough, such hardware will become unnecessary and they will start selling it. In addition to these, very good copies are used: NVIDIA GTX 1070, 1080, 1080 Ti.
Studying advertisements
Most users honestly indicate that the video card is sold from a disassembled farm. Sellers who want to hide its past usually write that they were “gifted” or that they are “upgrading to a more powerful card.” A person who begins cooperation with a lie can easily deceive you about something else.
Visual inspection
Typically, used equipment is cleaned before being sold. But the seller will not be able to bring it back to the same form as it was on the first day of purchase. There is always a light layer of dust remaining.
Before purchasing, you need to carefully inspect the video cards to avoid further problems with the warranty service.
However, if the seller claims that he used the card, but it is not covered with dust, this may indicate that a different radiator or water cooling was installed on the video card for mining. Inspect the card for screwdriver marks. If this is indeed the case, you may have warranty issues after purchase.
Testing
It would be a good idea to test the video card before purchasing. Even in resource-intensive games, the shortcomings of the card will appear only after 2-3 hours of intensive play. It is better to run special programs in stress test mode.
For example, the well-known FurMark. Problems will be detected within 10-20 minutes.
Guarantee
Most likely, you are purchasing a card while it is still under warranty. Most stores have warranty periods for video cards of up to 36 months. It would be logical to take care of the documents that will be required in the event of a warranty claim. Check the integrity of warranty seals, seals and stickers. Take all documents from the seller. The store should accept the goods without them, but it is better to come with documents than to waste energy and nerves fighting unscrupulous sellers.
How quickly does wear occur?
Of course, with such intense work, the video card breaks down much faster than if you play Uncharted at maximum speed for several hours a day. Moreover, the wear rate is at least six times higher.
Mining kills the video card, literally burning out its batteries. As a result, the memory fails and the chip breaks down irreparably. Video cards are simply not designed for 100% load around the clock. As a result, they overheat and sooner or later burn out.
However, there is another opinion: if you mine correctly, then no harm can be done to the graphics card. Proper ventilation is sufficient. And the lifespan of the graphics card is 10,000 hours even when fully loaded.
Many people believe that gameplay is much more detrimental to the product due to the continuous cycle of heating and cooling. While a constant temperature, even high, does not cause such harm.
Users’ actions to manually overclock and raise the voltage cause a lot of harm in the mining process. The pursuit of income is good, but you shouldn’t forget about the state of your farm.
A little about power burnout - an inevitable problem when mining. In this case, the quality of the voltage from which the memory and GPU are powered decreases, which means stability decreases. To achieve stability again, you will have to lower the frequency.
Should I buy a used card after mining?
On Avito and similar sites you can find tempting advertisements: “I’m selling a video card inexpensively, I urgently need money. New, only used for 3 months.” With a standard 2-year warranty, the product may have another 20 months left, which is what tempts potential buyers.
We strongly do not recommend that you fall for the tricks of enterprising miners. As already mentioned, the video card wears out faster when mining cryptocurrency, which means that after just a few months it completely exhausts its entire resource and cannot be repaired.
We also do not know the integrity of the former owner - perhaps the card is close to burning due to improper use. Excessive overclocking, direct use without risers, lack of proper cooling - and the card will be killed in a couple of months.
AMD Radeon 5th and 6th series cards are especially susceptible to this.
If you still want to take a risk, then when purchasing, pay attention to the condition of the printed circuit board. Ask to test the card for 3 days. During this period, play games and run graphics-intensive applications. A normal card will not quickly overheat or produce glitches.
Check list
So, you decided to buy a used video card. Let's repeat five simple steps that will help you choose a reliable piece of hardware.
Choosing a used video card after mining
- Carefully study the advertisement: how the card was used, what is the reason for the sale.
- Agree to check before purchasing, take FurMark with you on a flash drive.
- Carefully inspect the cooling system and warranty seals.
- Ask for all the documents for the hardware or information about the store - where it was purchased, when, order number.
- At home, return the video card to its factory state: restore the standard BIOS using a proprietary utility, do not indulge in overclocking if the warranty period is coming to an end.
Have a good hunting!
Which video cards last longer?
When purchasing a video card for mining, it is important to check the following parameters:
- memory capacity (min 2 Gb);
- memory standard (DDR 5 is current for 2022);
- bus width (256 only);
- cooling (users are impressed by the active cooling system in Radeon).
As we have already found out, cooling can play a significant role in how much mining will damage the device. Therefore, be sure to pay attention to the last point, and also install additional cooling.
In 2022, the most successful options for mining are:
- Radeon RX 470
- Radeon RX 480
- Radeon RX 580
- Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060
The optimal farm size is 6-8 cards.
It is noteworthy that the modernity of cards is far from the most important parameter, so you should not immediately buy all the new items. Often, older models turn out to be many times longer in mining crypto coins. Among them there are rare specimens that can now only be bought secondhand or abroad.
Farm care
In order for equipment to last longer, you must follow the rules for caring for it. The main enemy of a mining farm is dust, which leads to overheating even with proper cooling. It needs to be removed regularly; the specific frequency of blowing depends on the degree of dust in the room.
Many people store their farms in auxiliary rooms, for example, on a balcony or in a garage. But here it is very important to get into the temperature regime - not below zero degrees (otherwise destructive condensation will form), and not too much heat. Keep in mind that the cards themselves generate a huge amount of heat. As practice shows, in frosty temperatures of -30 degrees, several farms in the garage heat the interior to +5.
Timely cleaning of dust is carried out with an air compressor. But here you need to be careful - too much or too long a pressure can lead to breakdown. The coolers are held in a stationary position by hands.
As you can see, passive income from mining is not so passive.
What causes video cards to deteriorate?
The coin is mined 24/7, without allowing the equipment to rest for a second. Many are sure that crypto mining spoils the video card, and buying cards from miners is strictly not recommended. Let's take a short excursion into the video card device.
The silicon crystals that make up semiconductor chips are very reliable. Only mechanical elements are subject to natural wear, but there are none in the crystal, so constant monotonous work does not harm it. But the conditions in which it operates are important: food and temperature.
Severe deviations from the norms cause degradation of microscopic transistors and breakage of the crystal. Overheating can damage the chip solder. An inappropriate voltage will damage its harness.
A sharp temperature change from 90-100 degrees causes microcracks in the solder balls. With their help, the chip is attached, so the soldering becomes less durable. The chip loses contact with the board and the card stops working.
When there is a lack of supply voltage, voltage drops in the power lines are observed. An increase in current will lead to an increase in heat loss through the resistance. Overheating of power elements (transistors, resistors, capacitors, diodes, etc.) over time causes their degradation and failure.
Mining itself is unlikely to wear out the video card. But if during its process you do not monitor temperatures and do not make adjustments to reduce power consumption or increase hashrate, then the video card will fail. A similar effect can be achieved not only by mining.
A gaming computer that is covered in dust may also overheat. In addition, the loads on the iron are not the same. When a gamer launches a powerful toy, the temperature can rise to 100 degrees, and then cool down sharply to normal when the owner gets bored with playing. A graphics card in a gaming rig that isn't well maintained is much more at risk than a card in a well-kept, well-balanced farm.
Cooling
As we have already found out, overheating has a detrimental effect on the condition of video cards and accelerates their wear. There are two aspects to complete cooling: cooling the video cards themselves and lowering the room temperature. For the first, experts recommend effective water cooling - its elements are inexpensive and are sold in almost all electronics stores.
Of course, you can’t ignore fans/air conditioners. The downside is that they consume additional electricity, of which a huge amount is already spent on the farm, especially in the summer heat. While Bitcoin mining can still recoup its costs, cheaper coins cannot do this.
Is mining profitable today?
It is difficult to give a definite answer. It all depends on what resources users have. Mining at home has almost become obsolete. Miners have to organize pools to reduce energy costs and pay for their equipment faster. Many people prefer cloud mining, paying certain tariffs.
Companies with financial resources are gradually taking over the mining market, and most likely very soon will completely oust individual miners. Therefore, it can be argued that mining remains profitable, but only for large pools and companies that have the resources to mine cryptocurrencies. The time for home mining is finally over.
Author: Vadim Gruzdev, analyst at Freedman Сlub Crypto News
