A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a computer component that processes graphics data and transfers it to a monitor. GPUs have become a favorite of cryptocurrency miners due to their high processing power, relatively better cooling systems, and low costs. Since GPUs are designed for intensive graphics operations, they can easily handle the high transaction volume in mining.
A Brief History of GPUs
The developing gaming industry has brought along innovations in technology. GPUs are used to render graphics in games and are mostly made for this industry. Although GPUs have been around since 1980, they gained popularity when Nvidia introduced the GeForce 256 in 1999.
GPU Mining
GPUs were not actively used for cryptocurrency mining until 2010, as miners were quite satisfied with the performance of the CPUs. Mining was not as difficult and energy-demanding as it is today. However, the difficulty of cryptocurrency mining continues to increase due to Halving. With increasing difficulty, miners have turned to alternatives, and GPUs are one of them. Equipment with advanced cooling technologies that can provide high hash rates are generally preferred by miners. Hash rates help you see how many operations the hardware can perform with a certain amount of energy consumption in a given time.
There are two main reasons why GPUs have replaced CPUs for mining. The first reason is the increased difficulty of Proof of Work and the second reason is that the cooling systems in GPUs are more advanced than in CPUs. Driven by the demand for graphics cards in the mining industry, companies began producing GPUs specifically designed for mining after 2017. Today, Nvidia’s RTX series GPUs are frequently preferred by miners.
Popular GPUs for Mining:
Mining Rigs
A “rig” is a combination of computer components for mining. What distinguishes a rig from a home computer is the number of GPUs included. Each rig consists of a CPU, RAM, Motherboard, HDD, GPU, and PSU. These computer parts are also found in our home computers.
Mining Pools
Before we look at mining pools and learn how to join them, let's take a look at how cryptocurrency mining is done and understand the main challenges. Users send buy/sell requests to the protocol, and miners are needed to confirm these transactions. Miners are rewarded with the protocol's native token for each confirmed transaction. Mining operations involve math problems and solving them requires hardware with high processing capacity such as a GPU.
Miners come together to form a mining pool. Miners can participate in cryptocurrency mining pools such as F2pool, Slush Pool, and AntPool. The biggest advantage of a mining pool is that miners can combine their powers to work together for blocks with high processing capacity. Rewards earned in a mining pool are fairly shared by miners. Thanks to these pools, users with less powerful rigs can increase their chances of earning rewards.
