Five lowest power-hungry GPUs for Ethereum mining on a budget
If you are new to mining Ethereum, you will probably be looking for GPU options that are within budget but still worth your time and money. Everyone has been stressing how important it is to invest in the right GPU since it forms the heart of mining but when it comes to hashing and mining, cheap does not mean useless. In fact, after looking at all the GPUs in this list, you will probably agree that ‘good’ Ethereum mining GPUs are not as costly as you were thinking. Let us look at the options:
1. Radeon RX 480
RX 480 is the cheapest and one of the most loved Ethereum mining GPU available in the market. It has a decent hash rate of 25 MH/s and consumes considerably very less power. On an average with current rates as of time of writing, a single RX 480 can earn you approximately $1.20 per day. Although this looks small but considering that this GPU costs a little less than $200 on Amazon and many other marketplaces, the margin and the annual savings are very high.
2. Radeon RX 470
Another from AMD, RX 470 is a cheaper but a decent Ethereum mining GPU. It produces a hash rate of 24 MH/s and consumes almost same power as its successor (RX 480 mentioned above). However, we would recommend going for this GPU only and only if you are unable to get your hands on the AMD Radeon RX 480. This GPU costs somewhere around $220 and is not so easily available.
3. Radeon HD 7990
At first, buying a HD 7990 might look like a costly affair but since it consumes a lot less power than most of the mining GPUs available in the market and provides an excellent hashing rate, we would recommend giving a though to this GPU as well. It has a high hashing rate of 36 MH/s and if you can find a second-hand card somewhere in the market, chances are you will be able to make a fortune sooner than you imagine.
4. Radeon RX 580
The reason why miners love AMD and especially RX 580 is the fact that this card produces amazing hash rate with a minimal power consumption. Operating at a mere 140 watts, a RX 580 can give you a hash rate of up to 29 MH/s. This is the reason why you will not find a RX 580 so easily in the market and even if you are able to find one, it will be priced so heavily that you would probably not buy it and look at the other options.
5. Nvidia GTX 1070
Surprisingly, when it comes to the best mining card, AMD fails to deliver. What is even more surprising is the fact that a card which was earlier supposed a failure at mining, was later discovered to be the best at mining after tweaking it a little. This card is Nvidia GTX 1070. Once overclocked at the right speed, a GTX 1070 can give you an impressive hash rate of 32 MH/s. Now, considering its power consumption (140 watts) and the cost (approx. $360), this is THE thing you want.