Finding the best mining GPU for mining crypto is a lot like picking out any other crypto-mining gear - it can be a very tricky balancing act, especially given the number of algorithms in play for GPU mining, many of which vary in terms of requirements and an ever-evolving set of coins that may be profitable to mine.
As someone who has built over 100 mining rigs professionally for small to mid-range consumers over the last few years, I'm uniquely positioned to provide insights when it comes to mining hardware, including ASICs, mining motherboards, and in this case, the best graphics cards.
The best GPU for mining crypto overall is still the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080, which proved an excellent all-rounder for performance and price. For those just starting out, I also like the RTX 3060 here, which is a great pick for those on a budget, since it comes with 12GB of fast GDDR6 memory that allows it to run pretty much any GPU mining algorithm out there and is a relatively cost-effective to begin your journey. Check out the full reviews below, and some top alternatives based on our extensive benchmarking.
For other important components, check out our guides on the best mining CPU, best mining motherboards, and best mining SSDs.
Best GPU for mining overall
Nvidia's RTX 5080 is its penultimate GPU based on its new Blackwell architecture and it meanders close to the RTX 4090 in raw performance in addition to slightly edging the latter in most mining benchmarks.
Much of this has to do with its newer architecture and better power efficiency to boot when mining that allows it to outperform the last-generation king-of-the-hill in most mining benchmarks even as its new GDDR7 VRAM configuration is just shy in terms of raw bandwidth to the Ada Lovelace-based juggernaut.
The overwhelming reason why users might want to pick the RTX 5080 over the RTX 4090 (and the RTX 5090 to a certain degree) is the raw ROI in play for the GPU which pays for itself much faster than its much more expensive sibling and its predecessor.
It is also a good starting point for gamers who want to mine as well as users looking to run productivity-centric tasks thanks to its compact design (if one opts for the FE SKU), excellent raw performance and DLSS4 that increasingly complements productivity applications in addition to games.
The mix of future-proofing, 16GB of high-speed memory, and efficiency for mining workloads as well as offering the best all-round experience make the RTX 5080 a superior all-around candidate for users planning to start GPU mining or simply looking to add more to their existing setup.
Read our full Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 review
Best GPU for mining on a budget
The Nvidia RTX 3060 comes in 2 different SKUs: the launch unit, which came with 12GB of GDDR6 RAM (and a few mining-centric restrictions, particularly for Ethereum, that have since been circumvented), and a lower-end 8GB SKU with a 128-bit (versus 192-bit) memory bus.
For miners, the former makes considerably more sense: the higher VRAM offering and bandwidth in play make it both, future-proof and performant respectively while allowing them to run a plethora of algorithms to mine whatever flavor of cryptocurrency is relatively profitable at any given time.
The RTX 3060 is relatively inexpensive versus other GPUs on TechRadar's list here but delivers an ROI that is considerably better than its peers even if one has to account for the PCI-E slot it takes up on a mining rig in addition to some of its quirks thanks to Nvidia's GPU driver based restrictions for certain algorithms (like Ethash).
It also happens to be great for most games at an FHD resolution even in 2025 while delivering adequate productivity-centric performance versus its peers in the same price range. Finding a new unit, however, might be a bit more challenging than some of the more recent RTX 40 and 50 series or AMD's Radeon-based RX 60 and 70 series GPUs currently, making some users consider the RTX 4060 instead (check out our Nvidia RTX 4060 review). It offers similar performance, but more limited memory capacity at 8GB.
Read our full Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 review
Best last-gen GPU for mining
The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 is Nvidia's flagship GPU (if you don't count the unfashionably late RTX 3090 Ti) from 2 generations ago but still manages to pack a punch for most modern games mining use cases. It continues to be an excellent GPU for mining as well as AI workloads due to its beefy GPU core as well as its fast and plentiful GDDR6X VRAM on offer.
As with the RTX 3060, finding a brand new unit might be a bit more challenging than some of its peers, but for users able to do so, it offers excellent all-round performance, a decent ROI, and can be repurposed fairly easily for other use cases such as AI workloads including an on-premises LLM deployment for example.
For most users looking at a brand new unit, the RTX 5080 might be a better option at MSRP versus the RTX 3090, but the latter enjoys better availability and lesser premiums for high-end AIB SKUs, making it a great (and balanced) alternative if you do not want to wait for a GPU and are set on buying an Nvidia-based option this time around.
Read our full Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 review
Best AMD GPU for mining
AMD's Radeon RX 7900 XTX is Team Red's most powerful consumer-grade RDNA3 GPU from its last-generation offerings. While it has recently been superseded by the RX 9070 and the RX 9070 XT, it continues to pack a punch in most gaming, AI and mining workloads while commanding the best performance that money can buy from a readily available GPU in the market.
This could change with the Radeon RX 9070 XT being more readily available in the coming days, but for mining use cases, the RX 7900 XTX offers more VRAM, better availability, and a plethora of options to mining enthusiasts without needing to experiment with a newer platform that has significantly lower memory bandwidth on offer.
This makes the Radeon RX 7900 XTX both, AMD's most well-rounded, if somewhat expensive GPU for mining and gaming alike currently for users with its AI-centric performance gains functioning as icing on the cake.
The RX 7900 XTX is, however, not AMD's cheapest or fastest ROI option by far for GPU mining with preowned older AMD GPUs such as its RX Vega line-up enjoying that particular distinction. It does offer a more future-proof and efficient option versus these while also allowing for a more compact solution versus 3 or more GPUs one would need to get a similar hash rate for mining, albeit at a lower per-GPU cost.
Read our full AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX review
Fastest mining GPU
Nvidia's fastest consumer-grade GPU for mining based on most mining algorithms is also its most expensive sadly, clocking in at a whopping $2000 if you can score an FE off shelves that are overwhelmingly empty over the last few weeks.
Most users however, (including me for the former) have been forced to go for a prebuilt PC or pay a scalper for an AIB unit that already costs a significantly higher price than the FE in addition to their margins, making the RTX 5090 a great bragging rights option for mining, but a somewhat poor ROI play for users focused primarily on profit.
This is because it realistically costs twice as much in terms of ROI (given current market prices) versus the RTX 3090 and even more versus the RTX 3060 while dwarfing even most RTX 5080s in terms of ROI.
If you need the fastest GPU for gaming and AI productivity with mining performance as an afterthought however, the RTX 5090 is the most powerful option bar none for your needs, albeit at a price tag that will make your wallet bleed for the foreseeable future.
Read our full Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 review
How to choose the best mining GPU for crypto
One of the reasons why identifying the best mining GPU can be a challenge is because most coins, including Bitcoin (BTC), see their mining pools being dominated by Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) which, although bound to specific workloads, can be cheaper to deploy than GPUs on average.
One of the most demanding cryptocurrencies in terms of GPU power, Ethereum (ETH), which brought a sizeable amount of GPU-specific requirements to the table thanks to its ASIC-resistant algorithm, Ethash has since moved to a Proof-Of-Stake (PoS) since September 2022, making users turn to other algorithms and cryptocurrencies to maintain profitability, including its fork, Ethereum Classic (ETC).
The ideal candidates need power and adequate memory to keep up with the demands of mining. Maximizing value is an overarching concern since most users are looking to minimize cost in terms of both, power and the initial investment required to get up and running.
Most calculations therefore take into account a mix of future-proofing, efficiency, and the GPU's current market price, making options like the RTX 3060 one of the best budget-centric candidates to get the ball rolling. Users might also want to use their GPU for more general-purpose tasks on the side such as gaming, productivity, and AI workloads making it somewhat hard to find a one-size-fits-all solution.
The world of cryptocurrency has been growing at a mercurial rate recently, thanks to a mix of increasing prices for some of the biggest players in the game in addition to growing interest in a US-backed 'strategic reserve' announced recently. Bitcoin, Ethereum, and altcoins are gaining more traction because miners can easily trade one mined coin for another on the plethora of exchanges out there, there is increased interest in crypto mining as a result.
We’ve collected our top picks for the best mining GPUs has to offer here, balancing power, efficiency, and price. That way, you can make the most out of your mining operation by maximizing your yield per dollar spent, both initially and in the long term when accounting for power consumption.
For more crypto tools, we've rounded up the best Bitcoin exchanges and best Bitcoin wallets around.
How we test the best GPUs for mining
At TechRadar, we aim to benchmark as many GPUs as possible on as many different mining workloads as possible to determine what the best models are every time there is a new generation of graphics cards in play.
This means we pay particular attention to stability when mining, an important metric to consider when calculating one's return on investment (ROI) as well as price-to-performance ratios as opposed to raw throughput.
A lot of this as a result tends to center around power draw, an increasingly important metric for mining GPUs especially in regions where the cost of power is an important variable when it comes to calculating one's net gains while GPU mining.
Finally, we also take into account both, the capacity of memory and its underlying performance when it comes to making a decision given how important it is to have both, adequate as well as fast VRAM for one's mining needs.
You might also want to check out the best cheap graphics cards.
