CRYPTO-MINING CRAZE
With the current craze in crypto-mining and building computer systems specifically for mining, graphic processing units have become hot commodities as they are the primary method used to mine this new currency. Today we will go over the currently available options for mining cards.
What makes a graphic card the better or worse choice for crypto mining? If it has better performance, it's the better card for mining, right? Well, not entirely.
BEST MINING CARD FOR THE VALUE
The comparative performance for a mining card has been generally defined by the Dagger Hashimoto algorithm. It theorizes that the general mining value of a card depends on a ratio: a graphic card's raw hash rate (mega-hashes per second) versus its total system power draw under load. This makes logical sense as it compares the value a card can generate versus its costs of power drain: the greater the hash rate, the greater the mining potential.
However, as someone looking to profit off mining, you not only look at the profit but also the costs. The main cost for mining is going to be the amount of power you are drawing from your power grid to power these systems. Running mining systems day and night takes a serious toll on your electricity bill. So, how do you find the balance to see if it's worth it? The DH ratio is a good place to start.
Hothardware.com recently did just that--comparing the gains versus the power costs so the rest of us don't have to. See the results of their test below:
By simply comparing these graphs and setting up the GPU performance/ power consumption ratio, we can easily determine who the winners are. The front runners seem to be AMD's Radeon RX 580 and 480. These cards show great performance for their power draw range. While the GTX 1080 Ti demonstrates a powerful GPU performance, it comes at a costly power draw, and therefore a less efficient mining card. Most of the Radeon RX 580/480 cards have been sold out or are selling at an extremely inflated pricing due to sellers understanding their hot demand. Miners have also been desperate enough to purchase the GTX 1080 Ti despite the high power draw. So what is a miner to do?
GTX 1070/1060 MINI GRAPHICS CARDS
Well, it's just your luck because SabrePC has got you covered. When comparing the chart above, NVIDIA's GTX 1070 and 1060 mini graphics cards come second place. We are offering the ZOTAC GTX 1070 and GTX 1060 mini graphic cards at an affordable price. Pick up some of these today for your rig before they're gone and get to mining!
A full selection of graphic cards currently in stock can be found under the Consumer GPU section as well.