Mining news #1 (Russia, tests of the RTX 3050, 3080 12GB, RX 6500XT...)
With this video (in French), we launch "Mining News", our format covering mining news and the arrival of new graphics card models. On the agenda for this first episode: Russia's stance on cryptocurrencies, then how three new cards perform for mining, the NVIDIA RTX 3050, the AMD RX 6500 XT and the NVIDIA RTX 3080 12GB.
Video from late January 2022: the figures below date from that time. See "What about today?" at the end of the article.
Russia: the central bank wants a ban, Putin softens the tone
Cryptocurrencies had just fallen sharply, partly because of a report by the Bank of Russia that was highly critical of mining and cryptocurrencies: in its view, mining and holding cryptocurrencies should be banned in Russia.
Vladimir Putin then returned to the subject and toned down that message, calling for a broader consensus. He pointed out that the central bank had its own position, while stressing that the country had competitive advantages in mining: surplus electricity and well-trained staff. As a reminder, Russia is reportedly the third country in the world by hashrate.
RTX 3050: a card to avoid for mining
The RTX 3050 is the new entry-level model in NVIDIA's 3000 series. Announced at €260, it was already out of stock and actually selling for €450 to €500. For mining, the first tests are disappointing:
- Ethereum: only 14 MH/s, even overclocked, because of the LHR limiter. Its real potential is thought to be around 26 to 27 MH/s, without any certainty. Power consumption is low, around 46 to 50 W;
- Ravencoin: barely 13 MH/s at 100 W, very slightly better than a GTX 1660 Super (11 to 12 MH/s), but with slightly higher consumption (100 W versus 90 W);
- Flux: 22 sol/s at 120 to 130 W, versus 24 sol/s for a GTX 1660 Super;
- Ergo (Autolykos): slightly affected by LHR, it barely exceeds 30 MH/s, while a GTX 1660 Super gets close to 60 MH/s.
So it is not even as good as a GTX 1660 Super. Our verdict: a card to steer clear of for now, although it always depends on the price.
RX 6500 XT: not made for mining
AMD's entry-level card, released at about the same time as the RTX 3050 to compete with it, leads to the same conclusions, perhaps even worse. It has no LHR limiter but still underperforms:
- Ethereum: 13 to 14 MH/s, like the RTX 3050;
- Ravencoin: about 9 MH/s;
- Flux: not even 10 sol/s, at 62 W: it uses little power but produces far too little;
- Ergo: about 26 MH/s.
These values come from recent tests and better settings may exist, but it is clearly not an interesting card for mining.
RTX 3080 12GB: more powerful, not more efficient
NVIDIA has released a 12GB version of the RTX 3080, previously available with 10GB. It does not just add 2GB of memory: more CUDA cores, slightly more Tensor cores, and an improved memory bus and bandwidth. Power consumption also rises, to 350 W instead of 320 W. It cost about €200 more than a standard RTX 3080, i.e. €1,600 to €1,700 on average.
- Ethereum: 60 MH/s, which is disappointing. The 10GB LHR version, unlocked to 74%, runs at about 75 MH/s, and without the limiter these cards are supposed to reach around 100 MH/s;
- Ergo: about 250 MH/s at 215 W;
- Flux: 80 sol/s at 253 W.
On the other algorithms, which are barely affected by LHR, it is slightly more powerful than the 10GB version, but it also uses more power: its efficiency (hashrate per watt) is no better. Depending on whether you pay for electricity, and at what price, it may be worthwhile, but it remains more expensive than the 10GB version.
What about today?
Since Ethereum moved to proof of stake on 15 September 2022, Ethereum can no longer be mined with graphics cards and GPU mining income has collapsed: the comparisons in this video are out of date. Today, mining is mainly done with ASIC miners, designed for a single algorithm and far more efficient.
To understand the impact of the LHR limiter, read our article LHR vs non-LHR GPUs: which is more profitable? To mine today, browse our ASIC miners and estimate their earnings with our Bitcoin mining profitability calculator.