Mining News #5: RTX 4090 hashrates, Intel Arc, Lolminer 1.60, news, Decentraland metaverse!
In this fifth episode of Mining News (in French), we review the latest in GPU mining and crypto: first RTX 4090 hashrates compared with the RTX 3090, the arrival of Intel Arc graphics cards, new mining software releases, crypto news and the state of the NFT and metaverse market. Does NVIDIA's new flagship card change the game for miners?
Video from October 2022: the figures below date from that time. See "What about today?" at the end of the article.
Our rigs and our graphics card ranking
First, thank you to everyone who sent us messages of support and encouragement. We had switched our rigs off; we have turned a few of them back on, sometimes with positive results in terms of profitability, even if they remain modest.
We have also updated our document ranking AMD and NVIDIA graphics cards by efficiency for each cryptocurrency (link in the video comments). Radiant has been added: you can see which cards are the most efficient on this algorithm.
RTX 4090: what hashrates for mining?
The RTX 4090 is available for around €2,000, while the RTX 3090 can now be found for around €1,200 including VAT. It adopts a new 12-pin power connector, from the new PCIe standard. Rumours had announced power draws of 600 W: we were pleasantly surprised by the actual consumption.
The mining hashrates measured, compared with an RTX 3090:
- ETHW (Ethash): 130 MH/s at 230 W, versus about 120 MH/s at 300 W for an RTX 3090;
- Flux: 140 Sol/s at 300 W, versus 125 Sol/s for an RTX 3090;
- Ergo: 270 MH/s at 180 W, the same hashrate as an RTX 3090, which draws about 260 W;
- Ravencoin: about 60 MH/s at 270 W, the same hashrate as an RTX 3090;
- Kaspa: nearly 2.2 GH/s, more than double an RTX 3090;
- Radiant: about 3.3 GH/s at 300 W, versus 2 GH/s for an RTX 3090.
The RTX 4090 uses less power for an equal or slightly higher hashrate, but on ETHW, Flux, Ergo and Ravencoin the gain is small: at €2,000, we do not see any significant benefit relative to its price for now. The gain is only really marked on Kaspa and Radiant.
Intel Arc A750 and A770: worth it for mining?
Intel released its Arc A750 and A770 cards at around the same time. The A770, the more powerful of the two, is powered through an 8-pin connector, with an announced TDP of roughly 200 to 240 W. It was available to order, with delivery within 7 days, for about €450.
For mining, we have serious doubts about its real value, and we had not yet found any mining test of this card.
Mining software: lolMiner 1.60, GMiner and dual mining
- lolMiner 1.60 brings a significant gain on Flux with NVIDIA cards: an RTX 3070 goes from about 60 Sol/s to over 70 Sol/s. With driver 510.60, mining did not take off; with 510.85, everything runs better. Version 1.61, released right after, improves performance further.
- GMiner has released a version that adds Kaspa (kHeavyHash algorithm).
- Dual mining: combinations are multiplying, such as ETHW or ETHF + Alephium, Ergo + Kaspa or ETHW + Kaspa.
Be careful with NVIDIA drivers: with more recent versions, NVIDIA has managed to restrict LHR cards again. Our advice: stay on the 510 driver branch.
Crypto news
- Crypto.com, one of the leading crypto platforms, has announced it will set up its European headquarters in France, in Paris, and invest €150 million there.
- Google will probably accept payments in Dogecoin, following a deal with Coinbase.
- BNB Chain: the BNB blockchain had to carry out a hard fork after a hack of about $100 million.
NFTs and the metaverse: OpenSea down, Decentraland still active
Trading volume on OpenSea has fallen sharply, by more than 90%. Even the Bored Ape Yacht Club collection did not hold up: its floor price, i.e. the price of the cheapest NFT in the collection, dropped by 50%. On the new features side, the Avalanche (AVAX) blockchain is going to be supported on OpenSea, which also recently integrated Polygon.
Finally, false rumours have been circulating about Decentraland, claiming it had almost no active users left: that is not the case. We also show you that the metaverse can be accessed directly from your browser, with your wallet connected to make transactions.
What about today?
Since Ethereum moved to proof of stake in September 2022, a few weeks before this video, GPU mining income has collapsed. In 2023, the arrival of Kaspa ASICs (IceRiver, Bitmain's KS series) made Kaspa mining on graphics cards marginal: the algorithm on which the RTX 4090 stood out most is now mined with dedicated machines.
To mine today, discover our Kaspa miners and our full range of ASIC miners, and estimate your earnings with our Kaspa profitability calculator. A question before you buy? Contact us.