Cryptocurrency mining on a budget video card - how much can you earn? New experiment

New mining experiment

The rules of the new test are the same as the previous ones. So if you haven’t had time to familiarize yourself with the previous experiment, we recommend that you do so.

And if you’ve already done it, but forgot, we remind you. We take five computers with different video cards. These are Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 ti, AMD Radeon RX470, AMD Radeon RX570, AMD Radeon RX480 and AMD Radeon RX580. The models are inexpensive; on Avito, for example, they will ask from 6 thousand rubles for a previously used card.

For each video card, we select the most profitable coin for mining using the 2CryptoCalc calculator. Well, then everything is even simpler: we connect computers to the 2Miners pool and forget about them for a week. At the end, we count and share the final profit along with the conclusions.

Video card specification

Let's pay attention to other characteristics that were not indicated earlier.

From the information received, it is easy to conclude that although the RX460 used to be an effective video card for mining, now it is not the best solution for mining cryptocurrency. Although the device requires little power, the computing speed is too slow to compete with other video cards.

Mining on Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 ti

Let's start with the GTX 1050 ti, since it is the only green video card - that is, from Nvidia - in this experiment. Our model has 4 GB of memory, which is enough for mining many coins. The 2CryptoCalc mining profitability calculator will help you choose the right one.

He knows how much mining of each cryptocurrency brings in at the moment. Taking this into account, the calculator tells you which coin to choose in order to get the most money. If anything, all of these are forecasts. It is still impossible to look into the future.

So, go to 2CryptoCalc and move on to choosing a cryptocurrency. To do this, you need to enter the hashrate - that is, the performance of the video card. For the GTX 1050 ti, the calculator advised us to dig ZelCash.

By the way, if you have never had to mine, and the phrase “cryptocurrency mining” makes your knees tremble, watch this video. Mining is much simpler than they say.

Projected profit of mining ZelCash on Nvidia

The cryptocurrency has been chosen - all that remains is to find out how much you can earn approximately on it. For this we also use 2CryptoCalc, but this time specifically for ZelCash. For the week, the calculator predicts $2.39 in income in ZEL equivalent.

We also fixed the course. At the start of the experiment on July 22, it was 12.50 cents, and a week later it was equal to 14.05 cents.

Real mining profits on Nvidia GTX 1050 ti

After fixing all current and forecast indicators, we switched to the 2Miners pool and started mining. ZelCash mining lasted exactly a week - this is also confirmed by the open statistics of our video card.

Over seven days of operation, the computer brought in 16.57259 ZEL or $2.328. This is quite a bit lower than the predicted result, so we agree with the result and move on to calculating expenses.

How much did the electricity consume?

The main cost item in mining is electricity. Our computer with Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 ti spent 130 W per hour, which is 21.84 kWh per week. And since the average tariff in Moscow and St. Petersburg is 4 rubles per kilowatt hour, for seven days of computer operation we will pay 87.36 rubles or 1.38 dollars. All that remains is to subtract expenses from income and get net profit.

Result: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 ti brought us $0.948 per week.

If you are disappointed by this amount, it is worth remembering important little things.

1. The GeForce GTX 1050 ti video card is inexpensive. It doesn't have to make millions;
2. For the year, the profit will be $49.29 - and that’s already some money.
3. The cryptocurrency rate may rise, which will have a positive impact on revenue.
4. Farm hashrate and electricity costs are growing disproportionately. A computer with a GTX 1050 ti consumes 130 W per hour, of which 80 W is consumed by the video card, and the remaining 50 W goes to the motherboard, memory, and so on. If we install two GTX 1050 ti cards, performance will increase by 2 times, and electricity costs will increase by approximately 60 percent. If four: the hashrate will increase by 4 times, and the costs will increase by three. And so on.

RX 6600 XT graphics card specifications

RX 6600 XT Specifications

Mining on AMD Radeon RX470

There are four video cards left with which we did the same. First in line is the Radeon RX470. Note that “red” video cards - that is, from AMD - cope better with Ethereum and Ethereum Classic. Usually these are the cryptocurrencies that are mined on them.

Let's test the theory in practice. We go to 2CryptoCalc and perform the usual operation. The result is not surprising - the calculator advises mining Ethereum Classic.

Profit from mining on AMD Radeon RX470

Now let’s record how much money cryptocurrency mining can bring in during the week. 2CryptoCalc predicts $3.81.

And the current course at the beginning of the experiment.

How much did AMD Radeon RX470 earn?

This time the result is behind the predicted one. RX470 earned 0.55406 or $3.32. Statistics are available at the link.

There are two reasons why real results lag behind predicted ones. Firstly, the cryptocurrency rate fell: within a week it dropped from $6.45 per Ethereum Classic (ETC) coin to $6. Secondly, throughout the experiment the difficulty of mining increased - from 115.06 T to 123.34 T. This means that there were more miners in the network, and we got a proportionally smaller piece of the profit pie.

How much did you spend on electricity?

Our AMD RX470 computer consumed 165 watts per hour. For a week this is 27.72 kWh, which will cost 110.88 rubles or 1.75 dollars.

Result: AMD Radeon RX470 brought us $1.57 for the week.

Over the course of a year, that's a nice $82. In addition, as we have already found out, the difficulty of mining is constantly changing. If we are lucky and it becomes easier to mine, we will earn even more.

Video card features

Upon first inspection of the video card, it becomes noticeable that it has rather small dimensions. This will not affect performance, but its small size will allow it to easily fit even in the most compact system unit.

This video card can be called one of the most reliable. All this is thanks to the power system, which runs on the DrMOS SiC780 chip. Branded chokes and solid capacitors are used. Even at the minimum speed of the cooler, the heat generation level remains within 65 degrees. At maximum load, the temperature can rise to a maximum of 74 degrees. The cooler operates at 47%.

The cooler contains ball bearings. This allows it to “live” longer than analog coolers, which quickly wear out during prolonged operation at maximum speed.

If the video card model uses Zero Db Cooling or Nitro Cool Tech cooling technology, then the RPM speed will be independently regulated by the program. The cooling system will begin to work intensively only after the temperature reaches a limit of 52 degrees.

The model was released with 2GB and 4GB GDDR5 generation memory. For mining it is better to choose RX 460 4gb. The difference in price is small, but performance on some algorithms may drop. But we will test the hashrate of both versions and find out how different mining is on the RX 460 2gb from a model with a slightly larger amount of memory.

Well, the main feature is the low level of energy consumption. It is only 75 watts.

Mining on AMD Radeon RX570

The next participant is a computer with an RX570. The video card is very similar to the RX470, so the calculator will most likely also recommend mining Ethereum Classic.

This is true. ETC should bring us about 59 cents of income per day of operation.

Projected profit of Radeon RX570

The cryptocurrency has been chosen, all that remains is to find out the forecast for the week. Go to 2CryptoCalc again and repeat the operation.

The calculator advises to count on the equivalent of $4.07. This is a good result. Especially considering that mining is passive income.

Real mining profits on RX570

A week later, the computer earned 0.60282 ETC or $3.61, see the statistics here.

The result is again lower than predicted, but the explanation is the same. The exchange rate has fallen and complexity has increased - hence the decrease in earnings.

How much did you spend on the light?

The final touch before calculating profits is taking into account electricity costs. Our computer with RX570 consumed 160 W per hour of operation. As a result, the week consumed 26.88 kWh, which is 107.52 rubles or 1.70 dollars.

Result: AMD Radeon RX570 brought us $1.91 for the week.

After a year, the amount will turn into $100 - and this will be enough for another card. By the way, if you don’t waste time, during this period you can learn to reduce the power consumption of your video card and earn more. Experienced miners achieve 20-30 percent profit growth just by adjusting card consumption.

Mining on AMD Radeon RX480

Another red video card that shows its potential in working with Ethereum Classic. 2CryptoCalc did not disappoint here either - we will mine ETC.

Mining profit forecast on RX480

It's time to lock in possible profits. The calculator promises $4.18 per week. Although the result will clearly be lower - just like with other AMD cards in this experiment.

How much does AMD Radeon RX480 bring?

A week of mining on the RX480 brought 0.60034 ETC or $3.60. Why lower? The same factors had an impact: the depreciation of the cryptocurrency and the increase in the complexity of mining. We check the statistics on the miner using the link.

Electricity expenses

A computer with an RX480 spends more - 180 W per hour of operation or 30.24 kWh per week. This is the equivalent of 120.96 rubles or 1.91 dollars.

Result: AMD Radeon RX480 brought us $1.69 for the week.

Per year it is 88 dollars or 5580 rubles. The amount is enough to buy another video card. With it, mining will begin to bring in twice as much money.

How many hashes does the RX 560 produce using other algorithms?

You can mine not only ether on a GPU. Speaking of the RX 560, how many megahashes does the card produce for other cryptocurrencies? We have compiled a card hashrate table (RX 560 hashrate) for popular algorithms. The numbers may be lower than those stated in the reviews, since GPU performance directly depends on the manufacturer and the mining card settings.

Mining on AMD Radeon RX580

The latest contender is the RX580. 2CryptoCalc also recommends donating your video card to the ETC pool from 2Miners. Great choice.

Projected mining income

A week of mining Ethereum Classic using the RX580 will bring in $4.27 in income. Although, given everything that happened with ETC in a week, we will probably get less.

Real income with Radeon RX580

Intuition was correct: our computer with an RX580 inside earned 0.58615 ETC or $3.5169 in a week. The statistics are here, but let's not forget about electricity.

Mining electricity costs

The RX580 repeats the result of the RX480 - 180 W per hour of operation. This is the same 120.96 rubles or 1.91 dollars of expenses per week.

Result: AMD Radeon RX580 brought us $1.60 for the week.

Or $83 per year. We remind you that we will receive this amount simply for the operation of the computer. You will not have to participate in the mining process. But such a prospect is at least worth thinking about.

As a convincing argument, we offer a video on launching Ethereum Classic mining.

How quickly do video cards pay for themselves when mining?

As we have already said, the most profitable video cards today are the Radeon RX 470 and Nvidia GTX 1060 with four and three gigabytes, respectively. But you are unlikely to be able to get significant profits from just one video card. Therefore, professional miners consider farms with only at least four cards, and preferably much more. In this regard, there is a reasonable

The question is, “how long will it take for my farm to pay for itself?”, or “Will I go bankrupt buying such expensive equipment?”

To better navigate this issue and estimate all the risks, we will present to your attention another table, namely a table of the payback period of the most profitable video cards at the moment.

The time to mine has come

2019 was a kind of thaw for the cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin even briefly rose above $13,000, prompting other coins to jump. In other words, experts are now betting on a new growth cycle rather than a decline.

This is supported by the arrival of institutional—that is, very large—investors in the niche. In addition, new tools for investing in cryptocurrencies are emerging. For example, in the second half of July, testing of Bitcoin futures from the world-famous Bakkt platform began.

Development is in full swing, so our task is not to miss the right moment. Although any miner will probably tell you that this moment was yesterday.

Check out the Telegram chat about cryptocurrencies. We will discuss all questions there.