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Graphics CardsMining

The Best Graphics Cards for Mining ERGO (ERG) in 2022

7 Mins read

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Microsoft
Newegg

These days graphics cards are no longer useful for mining Ethereum (ETH), and ASICs are becoming the only tool to make some profit. Just like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum is becoming increasingly difficult to mine with mainstream GPUs, and will soon switch to proof-of-stake mechanism, meaning it will no longer be suitable for GPU mining. However, mining cryptocurrencies with GPUs will still remain relevant for years to come, as other coins such as Cardano (ADA), Conflux (CFX), Ravencoin (RVN), and Ergo (ERG) are slowly growing in popularity.

Ergo in particular seems to be one of the shining stars of the new generation of cryptocurrencies. There are several reasons for that. Ergo was founded by Alex Chepurnoy, the same man who contributed to the development of Cardano and who founded smartcontact.com (now known as Chainlink). The Ergo platform aims to build advanced cryptocurrency features and radically new DeFi functionality on the robust and stable foundations in order to provide financial contracts in an efficient and secure way.

Read more: The Best Power Supply (PSU) for Mining Cryptocurrency in 2022

Ergo is very much akin to the early Bitcoin, but in many ways it brings improvements to the areas in which Bitcoin lacked. First of all, Ergo is based on Proof of Work (PoW) mechanism, and is ASIC-resistant, just like Ethereum, due to memory requirements. This makes Ergo extremely suitable for mining with GPUs. Secondly, Ergo’s contracts are built on Sigma protocols which introduce privacy functionalities to the script at a much deeper level then Ethereum or Cardano. Thirdly, Ergo incorporates NIPoPoW (Non-Interactive Proofs of Proof of Work) mechanism which frees its clients from downloading the whole chain to interact with the network, thus bringing a huge step forward in terms of security and decentralization.

However, probably the most important feature of Ergo is that it’s fully compatible with Cardano’s ecosystem, and is bringing all the advantages of its Proof of Work system to users of Cardano network. Unlike Cardano, which can’t be mined (since it’s based on Proof of Stake mechanism), Ergo can be mined, and is fully interoperable with Cardano through its Extended UTXO (eUTxO) accounting model. This means that Ergo will provide oracle pools for Cardano, and will post information from its own pools onto the Cardano blockchain. Overall, Ergo aims to revolutionize and upgrade existing blockchain technologies, and as such has the potential to find real-world applications in finance, personal identity security, supply chain logistics monitoring, real-time IoT operating systems, etc.

Since its market cap is still quite low (compared to other major cryptocurrencies), mining Ergo is still quite easy, and minimum payouts can be reached fairly quickly, which is perfect if you are a casual miner with a single graphics card. The Autolykos algorithm for mining Ergo is also much more energy efficient than the Ethereum’s Daggerhashimoto algorithm, so you can expect much less wear and tear on your GPU if you plan to start mining Ergo. Lastly, Ergo is best mined with NVIDIA RTX 30 series graphics cards, since Autolykos V2 algorithm features certain optimizations for the latest generation of CUDA graphics processing cores. Down below you can check out our list of the best graphics cards which you can use to mine Ergo in 2022.



Best Overall: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 LHR

Boost Clock: 1,725 MHz | Memory: 8GB GDDR6 | Hashrate: 169 MH/s @ 120 W | Efficiency: 1.40 MH/W


  • Great mining efficiency
  • High mining speed
  • Also good for mining other coins
  • Runs cool and quiet
  • Good resell value
  • Retail price still slightly inflated

Right now, the GeForce RTX 3070 LHR is one of the best graphics cards for mining Ergo. It can deliver 169 MH/s hashrate for a total power consumption of 120 W, which results in a power efficiency of 1,408 kH per watt (the highest among all GeForce RTX 30 series GPUs). The card can also boast with great shading and raytracing performance, meaning it has a high resell value. Thanks to the 100% LHR unlocks, this card is also suitable for mining Ethereum, as well as other coins. In the past few months retail prices of various custom designed RTX 3070 cards have fallen close to the MSRP level, which is why we strongly recommend getting this card if you plan to mine Ergo.

Highest Hashrate: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090

Boost Clock: 1,695 MHz | Memory: 24GB GDDR6X | Hashrate: 279 MH/s @ 260 W | Efficiency: 1.07 MH/W


  • Very high mining hashrate
  • Decent power efficiency
  • Fantastic 4K performance
  • Good overclocking headroom
  • Retails below MSRP
  • High power consumption
  • Still quite expensive

At launch, the RTX 3090 Founders Edition cost $1,499, while custom designed models retailed at around $2,000. These days, the GeForce RTX 3090 can be found for $1,000 to $1,200 at Amazon and Newegg, and is the only RTX 30 series GPU that now retails below its MSRP. Compared to the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti, the RTX 3090 is slightly slower, but can boast with much better power efficiency.

When it come to mining Ergo, this card obliterates competition. The RTX 3090 can deliver 279 MH/s for a power consumption of 260 W, which results in great efficiency score of 1.073 kH per watt. However, to achieve such good power efficiency, you’ll need to apply custom overclock settings, which is why we recommend getting a premium RTX 3090 model, such as the ASUS ROG Strix or the Gigabyte AORUS, since these cards can handle high overclocks well due to their large amount of power phases and high-end cooling solutions.

Best Value: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti LHR (GA103)

Boost Clock: 1,665 MHz | Memory: 8GB GDDR6 | Hashrate: 160 MH/s @ 139 W | Efficiency: 1.15 MH/W


  • Great price-to-performance ratio
  • Perfectly suited for mining Ergo
  • Very energy efficient
  • Compact dimensions
  • None

Up until recently, the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti LHR wasn’t considered to be a very good graphics card for mining due to its built-in mining limiter. Fortunately, in May 2022, new cryptocurrency miners with 100% LHR unlocks have started appearing online, and have enabled this card to deliver its full potential.

The GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is simply an outstanding graphics card for mining, especially if you are on a limited budget. Its latest revision, featuring GA103 graphics chip, can deliver an impressive 160 MH/s on Autolykos algorithm for a power consumption of 139 W. Featuring such performance, this card is just slightly below GeForce RTX 3070 in terms of power efficiency, but is much more affordable as it’s $100 cheaper. Overall, this is a fantastic graphics card with very few flaws.

Best Efficiency: AMD Radeon RX Vega 56

Boost Clock: 1,471 MHz | Memory: 8GB HBM2 | Hashrate: 187 MH/s @ 120 W | Efficiency: 1.55 MH/W


  • Outstanding mining efficiency
  • Very strong compute performance
  • 8GB of HBM2 memory
  • Runs cooler than NVIDIA RTX GPUs
  • Complicated overclocking
  • Only second-hand cards are available for purchase

The Radeon Vega 56 was heavily criticized for being a very underwhelming gaming video card. However, the Vega 56’s main advantage always lied in its computing power, rather than shading performance. With 8GB of super-fast HBM2 memory, the Vega 56 is able to deliver more than 400 GB/s of memory bandwidth, which is perfect for heavy-duty workloads such as 3D rendering, or mining.

The Vega 56 is currently one of the most efficient graphics card for mining Ergo. It can deliver 187 MH/s hashrate for a total power consumption of only 120 W, meaning it can deliver a full 1.55 MH per watt. However, keep in mind that in order to achieve this kind of performance you’ll have to fiddle around a lot with Vega 56’s core and memory clocks. Not all cards can achieve such performance, as it largely depends on silicon lottery. The Vega 56 is no longer produced, but second-hand cards can be found on eBay.

Lowest Power Consumption: AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT

Boost Clock: 2,589 MHz | Memory: 8GB GDDR6 | Hashrate: 62 MH/s @ 80 W | Efficiency: 0.77 MH/W


  • Very low power consumption
  • Features no cryptocurrency mining limiters
  • Good gaming performance
  • Affordable price
  • Low mining hashrate
  • No dual BIOS support

Although not as efficient as the GeForce RTX 3060 when it comes to mining Ergo, the Radeon RX 6600 XT is a very environmentally friendly GPU for mining cryptocurrencies. The RX 6600 XT can deliver 62 MH/s on Autolykos algorithm for a power consumption of only 80 W, which means it can boast with a mining efficiency of 775 kH per watt. The RX 6600 XT can also secure you up to 32.5 MH/s on Ethash algorithm for the same power consumption, meaning it’s also suitable for mining Ethereum.

Despite its rather unimpressive mining hashrate, it must be stressed that the Radeon RX 6600 XT is a fairly cheap graphics card, and as such is perfect for miners who are on a very tight budget. It is also worth saying that this is a very cool graphics card, and is also great for miners who live in areas where price of electricity is high.

Fastest ROI: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB

Boost Clock: 1,709 MHz | Memory: 6GB GDDR5 | Hashrate: 61 MH/s @ 83 W | Efficiency: 0.73 MH/W


  • Cheap price
  • Decent mining performance
  • Low power consumption
  • Only 6GB of VRAM
  • No resell value

Believe it or not, the old GeForce GTX 1060 6GB is the card that needs the least days to break even if you plan to mine Ergo with it. Sure, it is a few years old, its mining speed isn’t very impressive, and its power efficiency could be better, but there is one aspect in which this card beats all of the competition – it is cheap!

These days second-hand GeForce GTX 1060 6GB cards can be found for less than $150 on eBay. Featuring low cost and pretty decent mining performance, this card is able to offer great bang for the buck, even in 2022. So, if you are on a tight budget and want to mine Ergo or other cryptocurrencies, the GeForce GTX 1060 6GB is still worth a shot.

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About author
Frank is the Editor-in-Chief at ViCadia. He is an avid PC gamer, as well as a tech enthusiast. Besides being a tireless writer, he is also ViCadia’s web developer.
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