Mining on a video card: a complete overview of cryptocurrency mining on video cards, choice, profitability, calculators, instructions and recommendations

The volatility of the crypto market also entails variability in trends. When altcoin rates go up, mining on video cards becomes relevant . But before buying equipment, you need to study many nuances - not every, even very powerful, video card can bring the expected profit. In addition, there is usually a need to use several cards at once, for example, four or six. And this implies serious costs.

The editors of Profinvestment.com figured out the features of GPU mining - which video cards can bring profit in the future and how to organize the process: from preliminary calculations to choosing software.

Mining on video cards

Features of mining on video cards

When cryptocurrency first appeared in 2009, it was possible to mine it on an ordinary home computer. But over the years, the process has become so complicated that it is no longer possible to do without powerful equipment. Thanks to their efficiency and flexibility, video cards have been popular in the mining industry for many years. Key points :

• Compared to the central processing unit (CPU), the graphics processor is much faster and more efficient, since its primary purpose is to be responsible for rendering images on the screen. This makes it useful in the blockchain industry.
• GPUs are also equipped with a large number of arithmetic-logical units designed to perform mathematical calculations. And this is exactly what is needed in cryptocurrency mining, in order to find the desired value to create a new block. Video cards are ideal for performing millions of repetitive tasks, while a conventional processor is more focused on multitasking.

Features of mining on video cards

The most popular online calculators

Mining profitability calculators are in great demand today, so it is not at all surprising that you can find quite a lot of them online today. Not all of them are executed equally well; some are excellent, largely exemplary resources, while others leave much to be desired. Some are decorated very pretentiously and beautifully, while others prefer a modest, almost ascetic design.

But if you thought that was all, then I’m afraid to upset you - the differences don’t end there. Such resources also differ in functionality. The largest services provide information for both mining farms and ASIC equipment, while making calculations for many current algorithms and cryptocurrencies. However, you can also find sites where only the profit of video cards or, conversely, only ASIC systems are calculated. You can also often find resources that provide comprehensive information for almost any equipment, but only for one specific cryptocurrency.

Choosing a mining calculator is not the most difficult task compared to other concerns of a “young farmer”. Nevertheless, we will still take the liberty and look at some of the most popular online calculators today.

Whattomine

If, in search of information about mining, you looked at popular YouTube bloggers in this area, you have probably heard and seen more than once how they refer to an online profitability calculator called Whattomine. And in fact, they do this for good reason. Today, Whattomine is one of the most convenient and most informative resources of this kind. With its help, you can calculate the profitability of many video cards for mining, as well as choose the optimal video card for yourself in terms of price/hashrate ratio if you are a beginner.

In addition, on this site you can also find out the results of the most popular ASIC equipment, which can be very interesting when directly comparing special equipment and GPU farms. The site presents all the most current algorithms and a large number of cryptocurrencies.

Profit mine

Profit mine is another fairly popular online mining calculator. He is less famous than our previous hero, however, he is in no way inferior in quality, and in some aspects he could be called even more attractive. This resource allows you to fine-tune the capabilities of video cards in mining, and the choice of presets here is much higher than on Whattomine. Information on all algorithms and cryptocurrencies is available, and there is also a special section for ASIC equipment.

It is also equally important that the resource is completely localized into Russian, has a convenient design and user-friendly interface. In addition to the calculator itself, on the site you can also find information about exchange rates of currencies and which of them has the highest priority for mining on a particular video card model.

Cryptocompare

The site is in English, providing users with a lot of information about the world of cryptocurrencies, including a fairly convenient cryptocurrency mining calculator. The design of this calculator is quite simple and ascetic. Here you cannot substitute the values ​​of a specific video card model; it works on the principle of a hash calculator. In a special field you need to enter the hashrate value of your farm, after which the site will display results about the farm’s profitability for the day, week, month and even year.

Also, Cryptocompare cannot boast of a calculator for a large number of cryptocurrencies. However, the most basic coins such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Monero and Zcash are presented on the site.

99bitcoins

Another resource similar to the previous one, but this time more specialized in the Bitcoin cryptocurrency. In addition to calculating the profitability of Bitcoin mining, this resource also contains a calculator for the profitability of mining on video cards, however, again only for the most popular cryptocurrencies. One of the advantages of this resource is that the calculator takes into account many variables and generally produces a fairly accurate result.

Bits media

This Bitcoin mining calculator is a fairly advanced system. It allows the user to set many individual calculation parameters, including expected fluctuations in the stock exchange rate. There are, of course, more familiar settings in the form of the hashrate issued by the equipment, the cost of electricity, and the like. Just fill out all the fields, and at the end the system gives you a profit. Nevertheless, this calculator is suitable only for experienced users who have been familiar with this topic for a long time.

Asictrade

A convenient online calculator in Russian, with a pleasant design and minimalistic design. Judging by the name, you might think that this site specializes in calculations for ASIC equipment, but this is not entirely true. In addition to traditional calculations for the Bitcoin cryptocurrency, Asictrade also has tabs for mining Ethereum, Zicash and Monero.

Although the calculator is quite simple, it will cope with the task of finding out how much your video card mines. You can select equipment from a list or enter the hashrate manually; in addition, the site presents quite convenient tables and graphs.

Bitcoincloudmining

A cloud mining service that, in addition to its main function, can also provide you with a good cryptocurrency mining calculator. This calculator is nothing extraordinary, it just performs its functions well. The advantages of this platform include working with a large number of algorithms and cryptocurrencies. In particular, a profitability calculator for Ethereum, Monero, Dash, Zicash and many others is available.

Nicehash

The famous resource Nicehash also boasts its mining performance calculator on video cards. The peculiarity of this site is that, although the results are calculated in detail for many algorithms and cryptocurrencies, this is done primarily for the internal capacity rental platform. However, on the Nicehash website you can very quickly calculate the mining speed of your video card, and also plan which equipment would be best to buy next time. Also, from the bonuses, we can highlight that since this resource is one of the leaders in earning money from mining and most beginners prefer to start mining on Nicehash, they can immediately quite accurately see their profit for the day, which, moreover, in almost all cases turns out to be reliable .

Criteria for choosing video cards

Factors that you should pay attention to when choosing equipment for mining on video cards:

• The amount of memory is at least 4 GB. The more memory, the higher the mining performance.
• A high-quality cooling system that will prevent the equipment from overheating even under high loads.
• Memory type HBM5 or GDDR5 - the main thing is that there is a good balance between speed and electricity consumption.
• Overclocking capabilities. Many video cards can be overclocked by 30-40% by slightly adjusting the settings.
• Tire width. The bus is a channel connecting the GPU and memory. Its width is an indicator of how much information the bus can process per unit of time. It is recommended to select cards with a 256-bit parameter.
• Potential. When choosing a device, you need to consider how long it will be relevant for mining on video cards using promising algorithms.
• Difficult to set up and use. Some video cards are effective only when used in farms of 4-6 pieces. Some require complex settings in the BIOS before starting work.
• Payback. Before you start making a net profit from mining, you will need to fully recoup the costs of the equipment. So this criterion is one of the most important.

New video card models appear on sale regularly. They need to be tracked, but this does not mean that you need to buy all new models - purchases are made only based on performance and payback calculations. Older video cards are often more efficient than new ones, because it's not just about performance, but also about power consumption.

Criteria for choosing video cards

Bitcoins using a farm

If you want to get rich, you not only need to work hard, but also invest a lot of money in mining. As professionals say, to create a small farm you will need to spend at least a thousand dollars. And this is based on the most conservative estimates.

Such an economy requires not only finance, but also proper distribution of resources. Therefore, you will need to follow the step-by-step instructions:

1. At the very beginning, you need to buy several video cards or special devices designed for mining. But it should be clarified that it is important to take not just any device, but those that meet the performance and cost requirements.
2. Buy a powerful power supply, because mining equipment requires a lot of money. Each board draws at least 300 watts, so not all units can provide such support.
3. All additional equipment must be assembled and connected.
4. Set the air circulation to maximum to keep the farm cool.
5. Connect your computer to the pool and start mining.

To calculate how much all this will cost, you need to clarify the cost of the equipment and other nuances:

• One Radeon R9 380x video card at least 10 thousand rubles;
• The cost of electricity is 4 rubles. per kilowatt;
• Power consumption 375 W;
• Bitcoin rate – $2,700;
• Video card power – 0.5 Ghash/s.

But to earn bitcoins you will need much more. The farm must consist of several similar sets in order to produce and mine bitcoins. To calculate whether the farm will be unprofitable, you can use a special calculator, which indicates the current exchange rate of Bitcoin in relation to different currencies.

Best GPU Mining Hardware in 2022

Nvidia and AMD – the products of these companies are most in demand in the crypto industry. Let's look at the best models that are showing positive results at the moment:

• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070. This video card had a lot of expectations, and for the most part they were justified. On some algorithms it shows better results than top models. Technical characteristics: memory 8 GB, power consumption 185 W, memory type GDDR6, core frequency 1410 MHz.
• NVIDIA GeForce RTX In 2022, NVIDIA released a new line of video cards that added RT cores (special processors for ray tracing). As a result, productivity is increased by 20-25% compared to its predecessors. Technical characteristics: memory 8 GB, power consumption 215 W, memory type GDDR6, core frequency 1515 MHz.
• AMD Radeon RX 5700 and 5700 XT. Representatives of the model range based on 7nm FinFET semiconductor technology. Due to the reduced size of electronic components, energy consumption is reduced. Technical characteristics of the RX 5700: memory 8 GB, power consumption 180 W, memory type GDDR6, core frequency 1625 MHz. Technical characteristics of the RX 5700 XT: memory 8 GB, power consumption 225 W, memory type GDDR6, core frequency 1755 MHz.
• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti. Powerful video card with a good cooling system. However, due to the high power, overheating can still occur; it is possible to assemble a rig of six such cards. That is, an additional fan will be required. Technical characteristics: memory 11 GB, power consumption 250 W, memory type GDDR6, core frequency 1635 MHz.
• AMD Radeon RX Vega 64. The card was released as a gaming card, but it was quickly appreciated by miners. It has a fairly good cooling system. According to the experience of miners, Vega shows the best profitability on the Ethash and CryptoNightV7 algorithms, so Monero and Ether are most often mined with its help. Technical characteristics: memory 8 GB, power consumption 295 W, memory type HBM2, core frequency 1247 MHz.
• Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti. The video card performs well in mining Ethereum and Zcash, but only after correct configuration. In particular, if you do not reduce the power limit, the heat dissipation will be too strong. Technical characteristics: memory 11 GB, power consumption 250 W, memory type GDDR5X, core frequency 1480 MHz.
• AMD Radeon RX580. Immediately after their release, these video cards were sold out in stores so quickly that their prices jumped by 40%. Only then was the demand regulated. The card is already overclocked to the maximum out of the box, and if you overclock it a little more yourself, you can count on good performance. Technical characteristics: memory 8 GB, power consumption 225 W, memory type GDDR5, core frequency 1340 MHz.
• AMD Radeon VII. Developed on the second generation RX Vega architecture and showing higher frequencies with modest power consumption. Technical characteristics: memory 16 GB, power consumption 295 W, memory type HBM2, core frequency 1400 MHz.
• Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070. Its popularity in mining on video cards is explained by its low power consumption combined with good performance and overclocking capabilities. Technical characteristics: memory 8 GB, power consumption 150 W, memory type GDDR5, core frequency 1683 MHz.

Comparative table of the hashrate of the listed models using the most popular algorithms:

Equipment

You can use any computer for mining, however, the benefits from mining on outdated hardware will be minimal, if not negative. In modern realities, working with crypto on a GPU with less than 4 GB of video memory does not make sense. For example, let's look at the revenue from the GTX 1060 3 GB in 2022:

It doesn’t even come out to $20 a month, and although this is still income, you need to take into account the depreciation of the equipment, because it is under constant load and requires more attention in maintenance.

Here are the profits from mining on your computer with an RTX 3070 installed:

More than $100 per month, which is already a good indicator, considering the newness of the GPU and the optionality of its frequent maintenance. The price for video accelerators now cannot be called adequate, but even at an average of 150,000, the payback will be 18 months. In any case, you receive income, and at the same time you can continue to use the PC for other purposes. A similar review of the Radeon RX video card and its profitability:

Other components that do not directly affect the speed of mining Ethereum and altcons:

• CPU;
• motherboard;
• RAM;
• storage device.

How to start mining on a video card and what you need for this

Let's go through the main stages that preparation for mining includes:

Preliminary calculations in the calculator

This is where it all begins. Calculations help to understand whether it makes any sense to mine cryptocurrency in the current situation (your financial capabilities, the state of the crypto market). For calculations, you can use special mining calculators. Examples of such calculators:

• WhatToMine is considered the most popular mining calculator, allowing you to calculate profits when using both video cards and ASIC miners. The platform takes into account different algorithms and determines the hashrate for each of them, you can also specify the cost of electricity, select the exchanges on which you are going to trade, and set the difficulty. Therefore, the calculation results are as accurate as possible.

  
  WhatToMine mining calculator

• Coinwarz. A calculator with a simple interface and a minimum number of functions - you only need to select an algorithm, enter the hashrate of your equipment, power consumption and the cost of electricity. As a result, the site will provide information about the difficulty and profitability of the most profitable coins.

  
  calculator for calculating mining profitability Coinwarz

• Cryptocompare. The disadvantage of this calculator is that it offers few coins for analysis - at the moment you can calculate the profitability of only seven cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Monero, Zcash, Dash, Litecoin). But it allows you to specify the pool commission and receive information about profits both in monetary and percentage terms. Information is updated in real time.

  
  mining calculator Cryptocompare

So, in order to calculate the profitability of mining, you need to know several parameters - the hashrate of the equipment you plan to purchase, the algorithms of the cryptocurrencies you are interested in, the cost of electricity, the preferred exchange for trading.

Calculation example

Let's use the WhatToMine calculator to calculate profitability with the following parameters:

• algorithm – Ethash
• AMD Radeon VII video cards (the most profitable according to WhatToMine for April 2022)
• quantity – 4
• electricity cost – $0.05 per kilowatt

mining profitability on an AMD Radeon VII video card
Having specified all the described parameters, click on the Calculate button. After this, a list of cryptocurrencies that are most profitable to mine on a video card right now will be displayed on the page below. The penultimate column shows the income per day and (in bold) the net profit per day. The basis is the current exchange rate and difficulty of the coin. The last column displays the current profitability and estimated profitability for the day/3 days/7 days.

Thus, using the calculator, you can identify the coins that are most effective for mining on video cards today. Results will vary depending on the price of electricity in your region, exchange rates, and available capacity.

mining profitability on the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti video card

As an example, let’s take the calculation with 1 GeForce RTX 2080 Ti video card, the average price of electricity in Russia ($0.05) and all available algorithms. Under such conditions, the ZCoin cryptocurrency using the MTP algorithm turned out to be the most profitable.

Calculators are a must-have tool for any future or current miner. Do not underestimate their importance and rely only on your intuition.

Mining rig assembly

At first glance, it is difficult to assemble a setup for mining on video cards, but in fact the main thing is to select and purchase all the necessary equipment. But there are no particular difficulties in combining it into one whole.

Make sure you have a reliable power supply and an Ethernet network configured first.

We have already discussed the choice of video cards in detail in previous sections. What else will you need to buy to start a mining farm:

Motherboard

All other components are connected to it. Therefore, it should be compatible with all the devices you choose for mining. Based on the motherboard, the processor type, number of video cards, and memory limitations are determined. A good motherboard should be capable of connecting at least six GPUs.

A popular option is the MSI Z170A.

power unit

The required power supply power depends on the equipment that will be used. Video cards will take up the most electricity, so you need to take the power of one card, multiply it by the number of cards in the farm and add the recommended power - approximately 500 W. The resulting number is the minimum recommended power supply. Please pay attention to the calculations so that there are no overloads during operation.

Cooling

The unit should be placed in a well-ventilated, cool place as it tends to overheat. And video cards need an optimal temperature to function properly. Therefore, in addition to directional fans installed on video cards, it is necessary to cool the room as much as possible, for example, using an air conditioner.

Frame

A solid frame is needed to hold all the components together. A computer case is also suitable for small farms. Many people make wooden or metal shelving with their own hands. Ready-made options are also available for sale, but you need to find one that will fit the parameters of your installation.

Processor, hard drive, RAM, etc.

A powerful processor is not required, so you can save money on it. All computing operations during mining will be carried out on video cards.

An SSD with a capacity of 60 GB is suitable as a hard drive so that the operating system runs stably and without failures. Those planning to mine without a pool will need additional disk space to download the entire blockchain. But it is recommended to mine in a pool, it is much more efficient.

RAM is not important for mining, 8 GB is enough if you use Windows, and 4 GB if Linux.

If you plan to connect more video cards than the motherboard allows, then also purchase several adapters (risers).

rig for video cards

Assembly order

Includes several steps:

• Insert the processor into the motherboard and apply thermal paste. Install coolers.
• Place the motherboard in the frame and secure with screws. Make sure that it does not touch conductive metal surfaces.
• Attach the SSD drive and RAM to the board.
• Connect the power supply using the connector next to the processor.
• Connect a SATA cable to the SSD.
• Carefully secure all the wires so that they do not dangle and interfere with work. Use zip ties for this.
• Connect the power supply to the 6-pin connector.
• Route all the necessary cables to the places where the video cards will be located.
• Install video cards and connect them.

Before starting, you need to write the operating system you need onto a flash drive, for example, Windows 10 (it supports all the latest hardware and drivers, and also allows you to work with 12 graphics processors simultaneously).

Connect the monitor to the motherboard, then the power supply to the outlet. The next step is to connect the Ethernet cable.

Then you need to turn on the computer and go into the BIOS. In the power management section, enable the option to automatically restart the PC in the event of a power failure. Turn off the computer and turn it on again with the USB flash drive connected, install the operating system, download all the necessary drivers and updates. After this, it is better to disable the automatic updates option.

Restart your computer and make sure that the system has detected all video cards.

Overclocking

Mining on video cards will be much more profitable if you use overclocking capabilities. This process must be gradual and deliberate, and includes continuous monitoring and analysis of changes. Step-by-step instructions for overclocking:

• Accurately determine GPU parameters using the GPU-Z program.
• Conduct a stress test with the FurMark application to ensure that the video cards can withstand overclocking. FurMark must be open during parameter changes to immediately monitor their impact.
• Install MSI Afterburner - this program works with all popular Nvidia/AMD cards and has a simple interface.
• Gradually move the memory clock slider in 50 MHz increments. After each change, check the temperature and load of the GPU. At some point, one of the following negative effects will appear: FurMark crash, graphical artifacts, driver error message, screen blackout, blue screen of death. By default, Afterburner does not save changes, so after restarting Windows everything will be as it was. After recovery, set the memory clock to the last working value.
• To reduce power consumption, drag the power limit slider to the left until you see hashrate or profitability begin to drop.

Pay attention to the stability of the mining rig. Let it work continuously for 24 hours and make sure that it does not freeze or reboot, the GPU load graph is more or less even, and profitability does not fluctuate. If any of these symptoms are present, it may be a sign of overclocking.

Selecting a pool and connecting to it

After preparing all the technical parts, it is time to decide which pool to join. There are pools for each coin. For example, for Ethereum the leaders are Ethpool / Ethermine, f2pool, DwarfPool, 2Miners. One pool can support several algorithms.

In a mining pool, miners pool their computing power and make rewards based on each person's contribution. This way the income is stable and constant. If you mine solo, you will have many competitors who are doing the same thing. But only one will receive the reward, almost like a lottery. That is, you need to hope for luck.

It is much more effective to join a pool, where, thanks to the combined power of thousands of participants, the chance of reward is much higher. As a result, you will receive more frequent income, albeit in small amounts.

When choosing a pool, the following parameters are taken into account:

• Number of participants and market share.
• Reward distribution system.
• Location (if possible, close to your place of residence so that ping is minimal).
• Commission fees.

Pools usually charge a commission for their work, on average 1%. This is a justified fee for performing tasks such as account support, collecting statistics, distributing tasks, paying for hosting and Internet, and equipment maintenance.

To join the pool, you just need to register on the site and add information about your equipment (this is necessary to track its operation). Mining software is also downloaded from the pool website.

Software for mining on video cards

There are many different mining programs, but it is recommended to use the ones recommended by the pool you choose. The most popular options:

• CGMiner. The program was released in 2011, but is still actively used due to its compatibility with various hardware (video cards, ASICs, FPGA). An open source miner available for Mac, Linux and Windows.

  
  mining program CGMiner

• Claymore. Software with support for dual-mining functions. The main algorithm is Ethereum, but you can additionally mine Siacoin, Decred, Pascal, Lbry. With double mining, the commission is lower than with single mining. The program is available for Linux and Windows.

  
  mining program for Claymore video cards

• Cudo Miner. It differs in that it has a graphical interface, so it is suitable for beginners who do not want to understand how to operate the console. However, there is a console mode here too. The application has versions for Windows and Linux.

  
  Cudo Miner program

Which OS and mining software to choose when working on a GPU

Honeyminer is a service for mining pools that provides you with its own software to work with. You can use it on your desktop computer (or GPU mining rig if you're running Windows) to mine with any processor. It will mine whatever cryptocurrency is most profitable, but pays rewards in Satoshi, the smallest denomination of Bitcoin. Follow all operating rules to fully set up and hash your mining rig.

Recommendations

Some tips for those who are planning to start mining on video cards:

• The graphics cards you need can be difficult (or even impossible) to find in stores. Use eBay or other sites to find used options, but pay attention to the date of manufacture of the equipment - the newer the better.
• When assembling, elements must be placed carefully. The power supply is usually placed on the side, and additional fans are placed in such a way as to blow away all the heat generated by the video cards.
• You don’t have to worry about buying a keyboard and mouse for your mining rig. They will be needed only for the initial setup, and in the future the farm will be managed mainly remotely.
• Before starting mining, you should disable location detection, speech recognition, diagnostics, relevant advertising, cloud services (like OneDrive) and other individual functions in Windows.
• Drivers are downloaded only from official sources - manufacturers' websites.
• It's normal if there are some errors and problems at first - setting up a new farm always takes some time.

Where to buy video cards?

Due to the hype around cryptocurrencies, their prices in stores have doubled. In addition, they are often out of stock, and a suitable card can only be purchased upon order. Users buy cards through advertisements in China and in foreign online stores. Miners often order video cards in America, electricity is expensive there, coin mining is not as profitable as here, so there is no shortage of equipment. Be careful when choosing a seller, make sure he is trustworthy and compare shipping costs from several sellers. It is not recommended to buy used video cards.

Advantages and disadvantages

pros

• GPU mining is scalable and flexible - you can expand the farm at any time and switch to mining another coin.
• The process does not harm decentralization.
• If you want to stop mining, you can easily sell video cards; they are always in price.

Minuses

• It’s more difficult to get started in a technical sense; you need to spend time assembling the farm.
• Productivity and economic efficiency are lower compared to ASICs.

What tokens are available for a home video card?

In June 2022, only BTC cannot be mined on a personal PC, and in the near future ETH may join it. All other coins can be mined at home, for example:

• ZCash;
• Dogecoin;

It will not be possible to identify a clear leader, since the situation on the crypto market is constantly changing. You need to monitor the exchange rate, for example, through online exchangers, and based on the most profitable coin, switch to it.

Basic Concepts

Mining on video cards is the process of mining cryptocurrency using graphic processors capable of performing a huge number of calculations per unit of time.

An algorithm is a set of cryptographic functions that encrypt information in a cryptocurrency network.

Calculator is a site that calculates the profitability of mining based on user-specified data (equipment hashrate, cost of electricity, mining algorithm).

Overclocking is adjusting video card parameters to increase performance or reduce power consumption.

A mining pool is a community of users who pool the power of their equipment to find blocks faster.

A rig is a setup that includes a case, video cards, motherboard, processor, RAM, hard drive and other auxiliary components for mining.

Payback is the period during which the costs of the equipment will be fully recouped and net profit will begin to flow.

How equipment relates to earnings

Anyone wishing to make money from mining must have the latest equipment to meet the requirements. Equipment may become obsolete within a few years. For example, the latest ASIC mining rigs start at $1,500 per computer.

Energy costs

The price of electricity is a decisive factor in the profitability of miners. Currently, many successful miners live in countries with cheap electricity. However, most retailers are susceptible to fluctuations in retail prices and must factor this into their investments. Additionally, the price of electricity does not matter when profitable altcoins are mined using GPU systems.

Electricity will be the main operating expense. Mining profitability can range from $0.03 to $0.08 per kW. A shift of a few cents can have a significant impact on mining profitability. It is imperative that the miner can use electricity at minimal cost.

Questions and answers

• What do you need to start mining on video cards?
• First you need to calculate the profitability of this process based on what costs are planned for the equipment. Then purchase the hardware, assemble the farm, download the software.

• Is it necessary to overclock video cards?
• Yes. This must be done carefully, but this process can add up to 40% to profitability.

• Why join a mining pool?
• To get regular profits, it is better to earn a few tens of cents every day than to wait for years for one “lucky ticket” in the form of a full block reward.

• How to choose suitable video cards?
• The WhatToMine website provides an up-to-date rating of the most profitable cards at the moment. Our article describes devices that have been performing well in mining for several years or months now. When choosing, you should focus on cost, amount of memory, and the most effective algorithms.

• Why is mining on video cards better than on ASIC?
• Many miners find this process much more interesting and also useful for decentralizing the network. Unlike ASICs, GPU mining does not disrupt the ecosystem.

• How much money do you need to start mining?
• You can meet 350,000 rubles, it all depends on the selected video cards and their quantity. This is the main cost item. You should also remember that every month you will have to pay a considerable amount for electricity. Take all this into account in your preliminary calculations.

How to mine Ethereum cryptocurrency

Read more about Ethereum mining in our article “ How to mine Ethereum ”

Let's look at setting up mining from scratch and step by step present the entire process of earning digital coins. First of all, you need to download the cryptocurrency mining program located on the website ethermine.org.

Link to download the miner program

A folder with a large number of files will be loaded, but to set up mining you will only need to change one of them. It is at the very bottom and is called “start”.

Changing the settings of the Start.bat file of the miner program

By selecting the “Edit” item in the context menu, you will see a text document opened in the standard Notepad program. All existing entries must be deleted, replacing them with the command: EthDcrMiner64.exe -epool eu1.ethermine.org:4444 -ewal “your wallet number for Ethereum”. Ferma -epsw x. If you don't already have a digital coin wallet, be sure to get one before you start mining cryptocurrency.

After editing the “start” file according to the specified scheme, you need to save the changes. After that, by double-clicking on it, you can launch the program for mining cryptocurrency. A window will open showing the total performance and power of each running video card.

Window of the running mining program

The cryptocurrency mining program shows indicators for the current point in time. Statistics for a long period are available on the website ethermine.org. To get acquainted with it, you need to indicate the number of your cryptocurrency wallet in a special field located in the upper right corner.

Checking mining statistics on ethermine.org

Bands of different colors reflect performance according to this principle:

• Green – nominal;
• Blue is factual.
• Orange – medium.

An example of Ethereum mining statistics on the website ethermine.org

Do I need to use a personal PC to mine crypto?

In the event that you already have an assembled machine with parameters suitable for mining a token, you need to try it. In any case, your computer was originally assembled for other purposes, such as work, study, games, and you will only engage in cryptocurrencies as additional income. Yes, it is not suitable for Bitcoin mining, but earning money through Ether and altcoins is quite accessible.

Be sure to provide your video card with decent cooling inside the case and stable power supply, and then it will become a good assistant in mining cryptocurrencies.

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