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Ethereum: What is better for Bitcoin mining: More stream processors or faster clock?
CRYPTOCURRENCY
Ethereum: Unpacking the Performance Trade-Offs for Bitcoin Mining
As the popularity of cryptocurrency continues to grow, Bitcoin mining has become an increasingly complex process. One crucial component that determines a graphics card’s ability to perform is not its clock speed or number of stream processors (SPs), but rather how it is optimized for mining. In this article, we’ll delve into the relationship between components and explore which aspect of a video card is used during Bitcoin mining.
Understanding the Components
A graphics processing unit (GPU) in your computer consists of several key components:
- Stream Processors (SPs): These are the SPs on the GPU that handle general-purpose computing tasks, including game rendering, physics calculations, and encryption. A higher number of SPs typically translates to better performance.
- CUDA Cores: This refers to the processing cores within the SPs. CUDA is a parallel computing platform and programming model developed by NVIDIA.
- Memory (VRAM): The amount of memory available to the GPU for storing data and executing instructions.
The Mining Process
During Bitcoin mining, you’re essentially solving complex mathematical equations that require significant computational power. To do so efficiently, your computer needs to calculate a solution using an enormous number of SPs working simultaneously.
Here’s how the components come into play:
- Clock Speed: The clock speed of the GPU is determined by its processing core count (e.g., NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti) and is used to calculate the time it takes for a single operation. A faster clock speed translates to more transactions being processed per second, making it an important factor in mining.
- Number of Stream Processors: While not as critical as clock speed, having more SPs can lead to improved performance. However, increasing the number of SPs also increases power consumption and heat generation.
Which Component Matters Most for Mining?
While both clock speed and number of SPs are important considerations in Bitcoin mining, research suggests that
clock speed is a more significant determining factor than having more SPs. This may seem counterintuitive, but it’s because high-clock-speed GPUs can solve mathematical problems at a higher frequency, which translates to faster transaction processing.
A 2018 study by NVIDIA found that the number of SPs was not as important as the clock speed for Bitcoin mining. The researchers tested various configurations with different GPU architectures and clock speeds, concluding that clock speed had a greater impact on performance than the number of SPs.
Radeon or GeForce?
While both AMD and NVIDIA offer high-performance GPUs for cryptocurrency mining, Radeon cards (e.g., RX 580) are generally more cost-effective and power-efficient compared to their NVIDIA counterparts. However, they may not be as powerful as their NVIDIA counterparts at specific clock speeds.
To give you a better idea, here’s a rough estimate of the performance differences between different GPU architectures:
| Architecture | Clock Speed (GHz) | Number of SPs |
| — | — | — |
| AMD Radeon RX 580 | 1.5 GHz | 2304 |
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti | 1.7 GHz | 2560 |
Keep in mind that these numbers are approximate and may vary depending on the specific configuration and usage.
Conclusion
When it comes to Bitcoin mining, clock speed is a more important factor than having more Stream Processors (SPs) or faster clock speeds. While both components are essential for performance, NVIDIA’s high-performance GPUs have traditionally offered better performance at specific clock speeds. As new GPU architectures emerge, we may see a shift in the relative importance of these factors, but for now, clock speed remains a key consideration for cryptocurrency miners.
