Cryptocurrency mining is currently in its third stage and has
Cryptocurrency mining is currently in its third stage and has turned into a legitimate business to earn crypto riches if the direct investment is not an option for you.
In the beginning, when the concept was fairly new and the mining scene was not crowded, transaction verification or mining was easy. It could be done easily using a simple home-based CPU PC.
After some time when the prices of crypto started to rise exponentially, people realized that mining can easily help them earn good Block Rewards. People started using specialized mining rigs to mine the block faster than others.
This phase brought in the era of specialized GPU based mining rigs, and a complete industry grew around it. Brands like Nvidia and AMD which were only focused on producing gaming rigs saw the potential in mining and started manufacturing specialized rigs for the same.
Now we are into the third phase of mining which is being dominated by ASIC chips, but this article would focus on the GPU mining and of which two manufacturers Nvidia and AMD produce better mining rigs.
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Nvidia Mining Vs AMD Mining
Nvidia and AMD are the two major players in the manufacturing of mining rigs, and there is no straight answer to which is better than which. There are areas where Nvidia manufacturer cards are better while there are areas where AMD made hardware trumps over Nvidia.
To understand it broadly, AMD is the king of mid-range and budget mining rigs, and if you are someone who sees the larger picture in the mining business and wants to go all-in you can invest money on high-end GPU based mining rigs manufactured by Nvidia.
AMD provides better value for money and trumps over Nvidia in mid-range and budget rigs, while Nvidia for sure has an upper hand on the technology but you need to shell out a few extra bundles of cash to get our hands on a high-end Nvidia GPU rig.
Let us look at each of the manufacturers on the basis of hardware and software and the features they provide with their mining rigs to understand the difference better.
Hardware
Talking solely about Hardware, Nvidia has a far better ecosystem and thus provides better performing high-end hardware. The Nvidia based GPU is known for better computational output, consumes less energy, and generates less heat when compared to the AMD-based mining rigs.
AMD manufactured rigs make up for the technology through increased memory bandwidth on its low-end rigs, but they are known to consume more power and heat management is poor when compared to Nvidia.
The technological differences are only on the paper and as years go by the differences are getting narrower with time. AMD’s Polaris lineup comprises of both 14 nm chip as well as 12 nm chip based rigs while Nvidia is currently using the 12 nm chip in all its models. However, AMD is gearing up to launch its new 7nm chip based rigs which might tilt the game in its favour.
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Software
Software plays a very important part in any ecosystem, even if you have some of the best hardware in class, and below average software, the hardware won’t make much of a difference. In the software field, both Nvidia and AMD have a good ecosystem and community which bring in timely software updates and stable drivers from time to time.
If we have to specifically pick one of the two, then Nvidia marginally trumps over AMD for stability and consistency.
If we look at the software interface of the two, Nvidia seems to have forgotten to update its user interface as it looks dated and in dire need of an update. On the contrary AMD, the interface looks modern and on-par with the modern internet age.
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Conclusion
After looking at both the manufacturers, there are certain areas in low-end GPUs where AMD provides a better value for money. While the high-end mining rig is certainly dominated by the Nvidia’s technical expertise.
On the software front, Nvidia is known for providing timely driver updates and has better consistency in doing so, while AMD based rigs have a great user interface and command center which makes for ease of use.
A clear winner cannot be decided since it depends on your need, if you are new to the cryptocurrency mining scene and wants to observe and learn the niches, AMD could be your potential choice for its value for money mid-range rigs. If you are a seasoned player and needs a high-end GPU mining rig, Nvidia is the right way to go.
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