A good graphics card can still be used for mining cryptocurrency, though its effectiveness has diminished since Ethereum switched mechanisms. Still, should you be on the hunt for a cheap GPU to help earn you some passive income or simply wish to learn what the best graphics cards would make, this guide is for you! While the options are limited, there are a few out there you can buy.
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Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti
Best for mining and gaming
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Best GPU for mining
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti
- Ray Accelerators/Cores
- 38
- Stream Processors
- 4,864
- Base Clock Speed
- 1.41 GHz
- Boost Clock Speed
- 1.66 GHz
- Memory Capacity
- 8 GB GDDR6
- Memory Bus
- 256-bit
Nothing beats the RTX 3060 Ti in terms of value. It may be an older GPU now, but this card is still capable of smooth 1440p (2K) gaming and mining some crypto with a good degree of efficiency.
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Best budget GPU
NVIDIA GTX 1660 Super
The GTX 1660 SUPER may be the most affordable GPU in this collection, but don't rule it out for building a small cryptocurrency stash. This is the better buy for a machine where a few can be running together.
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Best mining performance
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090
- Brand
- Nvidia
- Architecture
- Ada Lovelace
- Shader Units
- 16,384
- Ray Accelerators/Cores
- 128
- Base Clock Speed
- 2,235MHz
- Boost Clock Speed
- 2,520MHz
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 is about as ridiculous at mining cryptocurrency as it is gaming. It's still not going to allow you to retire at any point in your life, but it will provide a small trickle of funds.
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Best for mining and gaming
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Ti
- Brand
- Nvidia
- Architecture
- Ada Lovelace
- Process
- 4 nm
- Transistors
- 35.8 billion
- Shader Units
- 7,680
- Ray Accelerators/Cores
- 60
This is the GPU we'd recommend if you plan on playing games and mining cryptocurrency on the same system. It's good enough for 4K gaming and happens to be just good enough to turn a profit when configured and optimized.
Is cryptocurrency mining worth it in 2023?
This is the million-dollar question. Cryptocurrency prices have soared and collapsed numerous times, and the cost of living has only increased, squeezing what profits were available to those without mining equipment. We'd previously recommended an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti as the best bang for the buck when it came to mining crypto, but even this GPU is only capable of a penny per day after factoring in electricity costs.
Everything changed when Ethereum switched from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake when validating transactions on the blockchain. Previously, work was assigned to computers to validate everything with proof-of-stake. As climate issues began to take the front stage, such practices that required considerable amounts of electricity were frowned upon, and the team behind Ethereum worked to switch to a different mechanism.
Buy the best GPU for gaming instead
In 2021 and early 2022, it was easy to recommend the best mining GPU as prices for Ethereum allowed for some serious profit to be made with almost any AMD or Nvidia graphics card from recent generations. This is no longer the case, and we'd recommend looking at our best gaming graphics card guide and picking one that provides the best possible gaming experience with your budget.