Crypto-currency mining is a computationally intensive business. To obtain it, miners must constantly seek out the most powerful GPUs. The recent rise in the price of Bitcoin and other cryptos has prompted even more people to buy graphics processors to get into the business. This has led to shortages, but also to price rises. In the end, gaming enthusiasts who want to build their PCs and other GPU users find themselves penalized.
How much GPU does it take to mine crypto?
The best answer to this question would be "more and more". Indeed, the race to mine the next block of Bitcoin is fierce. Miners need all the computing power they can get. In the early 2010s, CPUs were used predominantly for mining. However, CPU mining is counted in kilohash per second, around a thousand times less powerful than GPU mining, which is counted in megahash per second.
What's more, the graphics processor is an ideal compromise, being more flexible and powerful than the CPU, but also much more affordable than ASIC miners, whose mining power is calculated in terahash per second. Of course, as the ongoingcrypto news shows, technology is evolving rapidly, so ASICs could become more affordable and profitable in the future.
The effect of GPU mining on the graphics processor market
Strong demand for graphics processors has driven up prices on the market, and miners are the first to feel the impact of this surge. However, they can complain less, since they use this hardware to make money.
The ones to worry about most are gamers. Gamers who buy GPUs to build gaming PCs and play games for fun are the biggest losers. The same goes for content creation professionals, whose computers need powerful GPUs for computationally-intensive rendering.
Consumer strategies
Consumers have had to adapt to these challenges. Here are some strategies for coping with the GPU shortage:
- Buy PCs integrating a GPU: a pre-built PC offers better value for money than buying a GPU separately.
- Look for second-hand GPUs: some miners sell their GPUs to cushion losses when prices fall on the crypto-currency market.
- Use GPU alternatives: you can use cloud gaming solutions such as GeForce Now.
- Ask to be notified if prices drop : websites allow users to track developments so they can decide when to buy at the best price
Some manufacturers, such as Nvidia, offer solutions for everyone. For example, the company has developed special GPUs for mining. Nvidia had in fact implemented LHR technology in certain GPUs, which made the equipment unsuitable for mining, but this was cracked a year later, enabling everyone to get back to mining.
