List of the best cryptocurrency to mine with GPU
Intro
The cryptocurrencies, along with the Blockchain technology, has given rise to several complicated terminologies or technical terms which are proving to be very new to the ordinary people. Any person who is looking forward to investing in the cryptocurrency domain or the Blockchain Technology needs to undertake extensive research work, before any decisions taken concerning the cryptocurrency market since it is highly unpredictable.
Cryptocurrency mining, proof of stake, Consensus mechanisms, Initial coin offerings, Smart contracts, decentralization are only some of the terms, but there are a lot more technological advancements that have been made in the domain. Let us look at some of the best cryptocurrency to mine with GPU.
Cryptocurrency to mine with GPU
The cryptocurrency mining is nothing but a process to solve Complex mathematical algorithms by the Brute Force computations, which require the CPU’s processing capabilities. In short, the cryptocurrency Mining is directly dependent upon the size of the network. More significant, the number of nodes in the network, higher is the mining difficulty. If we consider the case of Bitcoin, earlier before 2015, the cryptocurrency wasn’t that popular, and hence, the mining was possible through the CPUs itself.
To get a clear picture, a Pentium 4 PC was sufficient to mine almost 100 Bitcoins in the year 2010. Nevertheless, the current scenario is highly contradictory to it, as the Bitcoin network has expanded at unprecedented rates. These days ASICs are extensively used for mining purposes, as the CPUs and the GPUs have become obsolete for mining purposes.
Note: GPUs are well known for their property of performing repetitive tasks and doing it well than doing different tasks like those of CPU.
However, there are specific cryptocurrencies that have been developed due to the recent advancements, that don’t require Application Specific Integrated Circuits and can effectively be mined through the GPUs and CPUs. At technical levels, they do not envisage the usage of Proof of Work consensus mechanism but uses some other form of Consensus mechanism to gain stability within their network.
Let us list the best cryptocurrency to mine with GPU:
1. Ethereum (ETH)
If compared with CPUs, GPUs have a higher hash rate that makes them more useful when it comes to guessing puzzle answers quickly. The best way to choose a GPU is by looking at the hash rate performance, the power they consume for mining, and the expense of the card. The best way is to set up a mining rig for the best output results, and this rig might take a while to build.
Various mining profitability calculators can help you show the amount of Ether you can likely mine at a given hash rate. These calculators also provide information as if the amount of Ethers mined is good enough to make a profit when compared with set up and electricity cost.
Once the hardware requirements are complete, its time to choose a software that will help in the mining procedure. The most popular command line for this is geth, which runs on the Ethereum node. Once the geth is downloaded, it is installed in the system, and then it connects the nodes to the Ethereum network. Other ways to mine Ether are:
- Install Ethminer to mine ‘real’ Ether.
- Join a mining pool to improve productivity and increase the chances of earning Ether.
2. Monero (XMR)
Monero is a digital coin with privacy as its priority and currently sits among the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market cap. Monero coin does not support ASICs mining, so the process using other systems can be a profitable venture for the miners. Monero can be mined with the help of CPUs and GPUs. Advantage of GPU mining are:
- GPUs rig can be used
- GPUs are expandable and flexible as they can be added, removed, or replaced with different models
- multi-GPU rig should be used for specific cases
Monero offers highly anonymous forms of cryptocurrency transactions, as both the sender’s and receiver’s information is hidden from the Blockchain network. This cryptonote algorithm enables the cryptocurrency to be mined using GPU, and also the cryptocurrency can be mined even through mobile phones. This was evident from many of the crypto-jacking incidents that took place within the cryptocurrency market.
Is solo mining better or pool mining?
Solo mining is a time-consuming process with fewer chances of receiving rewards for the services a miner is offering. In solo mining, the miner has a 1% chance of finding a block every 24 hours. However, pool mining is a group of miners with increased hashing power increasing productivity, and miners are rewarded more frequently but in small amounts.
Monero calculator
The Monero calculator for its mining assists in determining the gains one can obtain from any Monero miner. All you have to do is enter the hash rate of your miner. For enhanced accuracy, you can also add additional data such as electricity costs, pool fees, etc. As soon as you commence the details, your calculated profit will be displayed.
3. Litecoin (LTC)
Litecoin is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency that was released in 2011. Litecoin is decentralized, and its creation is done using an open-source cryptographic protocol. Litecoin follows the proof of work system where mining is the process by which the blockchain is maintained and updated timely. Every transaction made by the people on the network is sent to the miners. They then assemble this transaction data into structures called Merkle Trees.
Mining is a competitive field, and the miner who finds a smaller hash than the set target finds the new block and receives the block reward, which is 25 LTC. Litecoin can be mined using CPUs, GPUs, and ASICs. In the case of GPU mining, the user has to choose their software and look after the security aspect as well.
Note: ASICs can be used to mine some other coins as well, depending on the algorithm they are developed on and if it fits well with the ASICs requirements.
The program to be used while mining with GPUs is cgminer, which can be downloaded from the official website of the developers. However, if you’re using Mac, then you’ll have to look for other programs that are compatible with Mac. For PC’s with improved graphics cards can use the cpuminer and cgminer together for better output and rewards.
4. Dogecoin (DOGE)
Launched in 2013, Dogecoin was one of the fastest-growing cryptocurrency because of how the project was launched as a joke. The Dogecoin initial coin production schedule was fast, as 100 billion coins were in circulation in the market by 2015. Dogecoin is well known for its use as a tipping coin and charitable donation.
How to mine Dogecoin
Dogecoin holds the 28th largest market cap of cryptocurrency. It is another altcoin whose mining differs from other coins in several vital areas. To mine Dogecoin, you have three options: Mining solo, using the Dogecoin Mining pool, and try cloud mining. For beginning the process, you require a few essentials:
- A personal computer with Windows or Linux OS.
- A few GPUs.
- A Dogecoin wallet.
Mining solo is a more difficult task with harder mathematical problems. As soon as you get a block, the reward is sent to your wallet. In mining in pools, the reward is distributed according to the contribution of each party. Cloud Mining is, however, the easiest where you don’t own anything; instead, you rent the hardware from a more significant data center. They carry out the process of mining for you and take their share. Also, they charge you for power.
Some GPUs that can be used for the mining process are SAPPHIRE Pulse Radeon RX 580, ASUS RX Vega 64, Nvidia GeForce GTX. The software for the GPUs is CudaMine, CGminer, EasyMiner.
Note: in 2014, Litecoin and Dogecoin decided to merge the mining process making it easier to mine both the coins on the same platform.
5. Vertcoin (VTC)
Working on the proof-of-work mechanism to issue coins and to validate transactions, Vertcoin is an open-source, decentralized cryptocurrency that was launched in 2014. Vertcoin is focused on making the market decentralized as it penalizes large mining pools who plan to control the market.
Vertcoin works on the Lyra2RE(v2) algorithm, which makes the coin resistant to ASICs and can be mined using GPUs. AMD and Nvidia dominate the GPU market, and their products can be used for mining processes. These companies offer a higher price to performance ratios in mining. Mining in a pool will be a better option as the power gets distributed, and the chances of getting a reward increase. Some of the mining pools available are:
- suprnova.cc
- miningpoolhub.com
- easymine.online
Vertcoin Halving
Vertcoin (VTC) is an open-source crypto coin whose primary focus is decentralization. The coin utilizes a proof-of-work mechanism and incentivizes miners to secure the network and validate transactions. Vertcoin halving is similar to BTC halving, where the block-mining reward is decreased after every four years.
First-ever halving took place in 2017 when the halving occurred at 840,000 blocks, and the reward was reduced to 25VTC from 50VTC per block. The next halving will take place in 2021, further reducing the rewards.
6. ZCash
Intending to provide enhanced security using cryptography, Zcash is another cryptocurrency that is available for the user to invest in or to mine. It was launched in 2016 and had a fixed supply amount of 21 million coins, just like Bitcoin.
Transactions on Zcash can be transparent and can be controlled by t-addr or can be private, which will be controlled by a z-addr. Zcash coins are present in either a transparent pool or a shielded pool. Zcash mining is the process of mining new currency from which 12.5 ZEC is given to miners as rewards. The cryptocurrency has a block time of 2.5 minutes.
The limitation with Zcash is that it uses only CPUs to mine the crypto asset. In case if you’re using a GPU rig, then you’ll also need a software that has been optimized to take advantage of the GPUs. Here is a list of top mining softwares that can be used with GPUs:
- AMD GPUs- Optiminer, Genesis SGminer
- Nvidia GPUs- EWBF Cuda, NEHQ
ZEC Profitability
Zcash is categorized as the most profitable cryptocurrency to mine with anticipated returns greater than PoW coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum. As analyzed, Zec profitability exceeds up to 400% more than Mining BTC and up to 200% more than Mining ether.
Conclusion
In case if you’re not willing to invest in the cryptocurrencies and altcoins and have spare time in your hand- then you can consider the field of crypto mining to earn your desired cryptocurrency.
