Finally, the full-fledged tests of NVidia RTX 2070 in mining have appeared, which shed light on the performance of the video card. The mining community expected these results almost more than the rest of the RTX series cards, because the * 070 model has always been distinguished by an advantageous ratio of power and cost.
Has the RTX 2070 surpassed expectations and become the hope of GPU mining, how much revenue can the video card bring, and is it worth considering as a promising option?
Last year, Nvidia began rolling out new GeForce RTX models with the Super prefix. Even before the start of conveyors at assembly plants, the Chinese forum Weibo «declassified» the alleged specifications of three video cards equipped with a TU 104-450 graphics chip. New Super gpu, occupied the price niche of old video cards. As a result, mining RTX 2070 has become more attractive and this card needs to be paid more attention.
The mining of virtual coins on the RTX 2070 differs little in productivity from the flagship 2080 model and, if not for the high price, it could claim the top line in the ranking of cryptocurrency farms. Let’s take a closer look at Nvidia Geforce RTX 2070 mining specs, pros and cons compared to other Nvidia models.
It should be noted right away that in 2021 cloud GPU mining became the most profitable, which is much more profitable than buying your own equipment, is more flexible in the amount of investment and does not require setting up / maintaining your farms. We have made a detailed review about cloud mining of cryptocurrency, within which we have compiled a rating of the best services for 2021.
Next, we will select the optimal overclocking parameters for mining on NVIDIA RTX 2070. We will find out which drivers to use the most correctly and efficiently. Let’s look at the main characteristics and measure the hash rate for popular algorithms.
Geforce RTX 2070 Specifications
So, the main parameters of the RTX 2070 graphics adapter compared to its predecessor, the GTX 1070.
The RTX 2070, when compared to the 1070, outperforms in everything except memory, but 8 GB is enough for mining. Now you need to check the new device in operation, see its hash rate, stability in overclocking 2070 and consumption in mining, which is also not unimportant. Well, who exactly will we start with, which manufacturer you ask better?
The release of the RTX 2070 was expected by many GPU miners at one time and the hopes were partially justified. The graphics adapter demonstrates performance at the level of 1080 Ti, and even surpasses the best green miner on certain algorithms. Compared to its predecessor, the GTX 1070, the new RTX 2070 looks even more preferable. On some algorithms, its results are 80-160% higher. However, given the high cost of the device, these figures are not so phenomenal.
Which RTX 2070 graphics card should you choose for mining?
To answer the question of which of the manufacturers released the best 2070 for mining will not work right away.
There are brands:
- MSI GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER;
- GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER GAMING OC 3X 8G;
- Palit GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER GameRock 8GB;
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX2070 Super Founders Edition 8Gb;
- Palit GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER GP OC 8GB;
- ASUS DUAL GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER EVO OC 8GB
Important!!! In terms of characteristics, they differ little, the most budget options are Armor, Palit and Gigabyte. In principle, you can mine on any RTX 2070, especially as the screenshots show all manufacturers prefer to use Micron memory. Although, of course, there are also models with chips from Samsung and other companies.
What to mine on the RTX 2070? Selects the most profitable algorithm
Now let’s find out how profitable mining Ethereum and other altcoins will be in 2070. For reference, all cryptocurrencies except for the «patriarch» of the Bitcoin coin are called altcoins. However, large blockchain networks such as Ethereum, Monero have many of their own cryptocoins based on the main coin. But it all started with BTC.
And so, the hash rate by mining algorithms:
RTX 2070 develops a very decent speed in the mining of cryptocurrencies. The video card was able to seriously surpass not only the GTX 1070, but also the RTX 2060. On YouTube channels and mining forums, you can see quite a few tests that clearly confirm the numbers in our article. Now let’s define what to mine for 2070 and show a list of profitable coins. We indicate the amount of profit per day in US dollars, without deducting the cost of electricity.
- Ethereum (ETH) – 3.70 $;
- BitTubeCash (TUBE) – 3.26$;
- Swap (XWP) – 3.10 $;
- Aeternity (AE) – 2.82 $;
- Firo (XZC) – 2.79 $;
- Conflux (CFX) – 2.60 $;
- Veil-ProgPow (VEIL) -2.22 $;
- MWC-CT31 (MWC) – 2.19 $;
- Grin-CT32 (GRIN) – 1.88 $;
- Ravencoin (RVN) – 1.85 $;
- Zano (ZANO) – 1.55 $;
WhatToMine mining calculator demonstrates the current profitability of coins, tomorrow the indicators may be slightly different. Until Ethereum surpassed $ 1000, it was not very profitable to mine it on Nvidia cards, but now everything has changed. As of 1/31/2021, ETH is the most profitable coin to mine on almost all GPUs. However, as for the rest of the altcoins of the Ethash algorithm, on ETC, or any other token, green miners traditionally have lower income than red ones.
When big Ether goes to PoS rigs collected on Nvidia, you will have to transfer to MimblVimble forks. MTP or new Octopus algorithm. And maybe new profitable coins will appear. Dual mining for 2070 could be very profitable 2 years ago, the card practically does not lose the Ethereum hash rate in double mining, but now this is no longer relevant. You can activate the combined ETH + Zill mining on the pool https://ezil.me/ or https://zil.rustpool.xyz/ and then you will receive Zilliqa coins in addition to ether.
Combined mining differs from traditional dual mining in that your farm does not run on two blockchains at the same time, but periodically switches from mining the main Ethereum coin to zilik.
The Zill coin uses a combined POS + POW consensus algorithm, so miners are only needed to maintain this network occasionally, for short periods of time. After working for 10-15 minutes on Zilliqa, the miner automatically switches to Ether until the next window. Thus, you earn several Zill crypto coins without losing anything on ETH.
Overclocking and lowering power consumption
The RTX 2070 graphics card overclocks pretty well. Using MSI Afterburner, you can increase the memory and core frequency and adjust the consumption limit. Recommended parameters for Ethereum:
- Core Clock 0;
- Memory Clock +1000.
- Power Limit +100
With such indicators, the card produces 42.5 Mh / s.
Consider too high an overclock of 2070 will not bring an increase in the actual number of shares sent to the pool. By and large, the server does not care what speed indicators you have on the display. Money pays for confirmed shares, it is in them that your hash rate on the pool is measured. If you overclock, even top-end video cards can freeze.
An alternative to MSI Afterburner is Nvidia Inspector. It is used exclusively on greens.
With the Nvidia Inspector, you can:
- Overclock the GPU.
- Change voltage parameters.
- Set the fan speed.
- Edit driver profile.
You can also get information about the maximum operating frequencies and voltage of your video card on other specialized resources on the Internet. It must be understood that your video card model may have different characteristics from the presented ones, despite the fact that it will fully correspond to the video card index in the material. Therefore, all overclocking manipulations should be carried out with an eye on this fact.
Reduce consumption by 2070; in mining, you can use Power Limit, the minimum value is +73. As tests have shown, capacity limitation does not have a large effect on production productivity. Specific figures depend on the mining algorithm. On a foreign YouTube channel, the miner demonstrated an experience with lowering the Power Limit of the RTX 2070 GPU to +43. With the parameters core Clock -500 and Memory Clock +1000, the card overclocked on Phoenix to 37 Mh / s, with a consumption of 110 watts. There is still no data on the use of undervolting on top models, and it is clear why. Few people buy video cards at this price for mining.
Conclusion
What conclusion can be drawn? Let’s assume that the net income will remain at about 200 rubles per day until the end of the year. By purchasing an RTX 2070S for 60,000 rubles, you will get your money back in about 10 months. The payback period is quite acceptable, however, even a few months ago such a video card could be bought at half the price. But, who did not have time, he was late. And do not say that we did not warn our readers that the rate of digital currencies will skyrocket and that it is necessary to collect rigs in advance, despite the low current profit.
Important!!! It is not worth buying a used GTX 1080Ti in the secondary market. In the mining business, the manufacturer’s warranty is of great importance, the card can work in crypto mining for 2-3 years, but sometimes it does not last even 6 months, especially for beginners. And what will you do with a used GPU then? Take it for repair or just throw it in a landfill. In any case, you will suffer losses.
Graphics chips of used gpu-devices often have internal defects of the crystal and are notable for the instability of the video memory. These problems lead to a significant decrease in production efficiency. The cooling system of used video cards is also seriously worn out and the fans often need to be replaced. It so happens that after a week the card becomes unusable.
In order not to throw money down the drain, remember one rule. To assemble a mining farm, you cannot buy used video cards and power supplies, all other parts can be from the secondary market. Of course, in times of crypto fever, all equipment is bought in a row, but the supported components can break at any time. Therefore, if you are a principled supporter of Nvidia, then the new line of video cards is just what you need and the RTX 2070 is a good option. Of course, price is an important aspect, but if you have enough funds it is better to get the most powerful graphics adapters with an acceptable payback period.
