In this article, I review the best Monero Mining hardware. Let’s dive straight into it.

Monero blockchain is one of the first fully anonymous blockchain networks to be created. Its mining algorithm, the Cryptonight algorithm, is highly efficient and does not require Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) for mining. Miners get rewarded with the Monero coin, XMR, for performing computations using the Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus algorithms. By design, ASIC mining is discouraged by the Monero community.

With ASIC miners ruled out of Monero Network, Monero miners are left with two options – Monero CPU mining and Monero GPU mining – that is, crypto mining using Central Processing Unit (CPU) hardware and Graphic Processing Unit (GPU) hardware, respectively. Alternatively, a hybrid crypto mining rig utilizing both CPU and GPU can be assembled. However, this is more complicated and rarer to find.

Best Monero CPU Mining Hardware

Unlike bitcoin mining which requires more sophisticated ASIC mining hardware, you can use a standard computer with a powerful CPU to mine Monero blocks. The following are the top 5 CPU mining hardware:

1. AMD Threadripper 3990X

With up to 4.3 GHz processing speed and an average hash rate of 53 Kilo Hash per second (53 KH/s) AMD Threadripper 3990X is an extremely powerful processor. We rank it as the best CPU for Monero mining.

Key specs:

• Hashrate: 53 KH/s
• Base Clock: 2.9 GHz
• Max Clock: 4.3 GHz
• Processing cores: 64
• Processing threads: 128
• Power consumption: 280W
• Cost: $5,000

2. AMD EPYC 7742

The closest competitor to Threadripper 3990X in terms of hash rate is AMD EPYC 7742. This CPU has an average hash rate of 29 KH/s.

Key specs:

• Hashrate: 29 KH/s
• Base Clock: 2.25 GHz
• Max Clock: 3.4 GHz
• Processing cores: 64
• Processing threads: 128
• Power consumption: 225W
• Cost: $1,500

3. AMD Ryzen 9 5950X

When it comes to price efficiency AMD Ryzen 9 5950X has an impressive performance. It exhibits low power consumption and it is very pocket-friendly considering its hash-rate and power efficiency.

Key specs:

• Hashrate: 21 KH/s
• Base Clock: 3.4 GHz
• Max Clock: 4.9 GHz
• Processing cores: 16
• Processing threads: 32
• Power consumption: 105 W
• Cost: $1,100

4. Intel Core i9-10900K

Intel isn’t muscular enough to wrestle AMD processors in the gaming and mining sphere. However, Intel Core i9-10900K has cut out its niche in this domain. It is not only a pocket-friendly standard computer but also has a significant hash rate of 4.7 KH/s.

Key specs:

• Hashrate: 4.7 KH/s
• Base Clock: 3.7 GHz
• Max Clock: 5.3 GHz
• Processing cores: 10
• Processing threads: 20
• Power consumption: 125 W
• Cost: $499

5. AMD Threadripper 1950X

As a lighter member of the Threadripper processors, the AMD Threadripper 1950X is pocket-friendly. However, it has a relatively slow hash rate of just about 1.3 KH/s.

Key specs:

• Hashrate:  1.3 KH/s
• Base Clock: 3.4 GHz
• Max Clock: 4.0 GHz
• Processing cores: 16
• Processing threads: 32
• Power consumption: 150 W
• Cost: $900

Best Monero GPU Mining Hardware

If you prefer to mine Monero using graphics cards, the following are the top 5 best GPU hardware for your Monero GPU mining rig:

1. NVIDIA TITAN RTX

Boasting the latest Tensor Core technology, NVIDIA TITAN RTX ranks amongst the fastest Monero GPUs. This Nvidia GPU has an average hash rate of 17 KH/s. Its power efficiency makes it the best option for your Monero cryptocurrency mining.

Key specs:

• Hashrate: 17 KH/s
• Base Clock: 1350 MHz
• Max Clock: 1770 MHz
• CUDA Cores: 4608
• Tensor Cores: 576
• Power consumption: 185 W
• Cost: $2,800

2. AMD RADEON VII

The best competitor to NVIDIA TITAN RTX is the AMD RADEON VII. Both have the same hash power at a rate of 17 KH/s. However, compared to the former, this AMD graphics processor has a very high rate of power consumption which makes it costly to run. This lack of power efficiency seems to have contributed to its lower price.

Key specs:

• Hashrate: 17 KH/s
• Base Clock: 1400 MHz
• Max Clock: 1750 MHz
• CUDA Cores: 3840
• Tensor Cores: 60
• Power consumption: 280 W
• Cost: $2,000

3. ASUS STRIX RTX 2080TI

Striking a balance between performance and price is the ASUS STRIX RTX 2080TI which has a hash rate of 14 KH/s at a price of about $1,300. This GPU exhibits a fairly good level of power efficiency compared to others at a similar hash rate.

Key specs:

• Hashrate: 14 KH/s
• Base Clock: 1350 MHz
• Max Clock: 1650 MHz
• CUDA Cores: 4352
• Tensor Cores:544
• Processing cores: 150 W
• Cost: $1,300

4. AMD RADEON RX Vega 64

Being one of the older generation graphics cards, AMD RADEON RX Vega 64 still brags of an impressive hash rate of 11 KH/s. Though, low power efficiency could be a turn-off.

Key specs:

• Hashrate: 11 KH/s
• Base Clock: 1247 MHz
• Max Clock: 1546 MHz
• CUDA Cores: 4096
• Tensor Cores: 64
• Power consumption: 195 W
• Cost: $700

5. EVGA GTX 1080 Ti Kingpin Edition

Wrapping up the top 5 GPU graphics cards is EVGA GTX 1080 Ti Kingpin Edition. This GPU card effectively competes with AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 in terms of hash rate. However, its high rate of power consumption is a big turn-off. Nonetheless, this is the most pocket-friendly GPU Card on the list.

Key specs:

• Hashrate: 11 KH/s
• Base Clock: 1582 GHz
• Max Clock: 1695 GHz
• CUDA Cores: 3584
• Tensor Cores: 0
• Power consumption: 250 W
• Cost: $400

GPU vs CPU

The GPU architecture is different from the CPU architecture. When it comes to GPU, parallel multiprocessing is the key factor. Two types of cores that enable parallel multiprocessing are:

• Computing Units (Tensor Cores) – are units that make hash computations.
• Stream processors (CUDA Cores) – are units used for graphic processing.

The terms ‘CUDA’ and ‘Tensor’ for GPU have been introduced by Nvidia for its AI graphics cards. These terms are increasingly being adopted by the industry, although alternative terms are often used.

While both types of cores matter, bias toward Computing Units (Tensor Cores) should be prioritized since mining is more about mathematical operation than graphics display.

Factors to consider in choosing the right mining hardware

Your Monero mining needs depend on many factors. Without going into technical details, the following are the important factors to consider when choosing your Monero mining hardware:

1. Hash power

Hash power is measured in terms of hash rate. The hash rate refers to the cryptographic processing speed. All else equal, the higher the hash rate, the better the mining hardware. Mining rewards are based on the hash rate. Thus, a higher hash rate grants you a better chance of earning a block reward in the form of XMR tokens.  

2. Power consumption

Power consumption determines the ultimate cost of mining. Thus, the power rating of your mining hardware is important since it contributes to your electricity costs. Ceteris paribus, the lower the power rating, the better the mining hardware.  

3. Power efficiency

Power efficiency refers to how much hash rate is output per every unit of power consumption. In general, the greater the power efficiency the better the mining machine.

4. Mining Method

There are three main types of Monero mining:

• Solo mining
• Pool mining
• Cloud mining

Each of these types of mining can influence the type of mining hardware that you choose to use.

Solo mining

In solo mining, you are fully responsible for the entire mining process. You have to acquire consumer-grade hardware while putting all factors into consideration. Thus, as a solo miner, you are the sole contributor to the total mining hash rate. To increase the chances of gaining a block reward, you have to go for expensive hardware to acquire a higher hash rate.

Pool mining

When it comes to pool mining, you jointly contribute to the total mining hash rate and share the mining rewards on the agreed formula. Thus, you don’t have to acquire very expensive hardware to make a profit, unlike solo mining. All you need to do is to join Monero mining pools. Nonetheless, each mining pool has specific requirements regarding the hash rate contribution, hence, you need to be aware of this in advance so that you can purchase the appropriate equipment.

Cloud mining

Cloud mining service is the last method. In this method, instead of buying the hardware, you hire its computing power from a cloud provider who already has established mining rigs at their data center.  You are billed according to the computing power in terms of hash rate.

5. Mining Software

The Monero mining software that you intend to use is an important consideration. The software greatly contributes to the success of your mining operation. Different kinds of software have different capabilities and ease of use.

If you have a specific software that you would like to use, or you are familiar with, then, you need to make sure that the mining hardware you buy is compatible with that particular software.

6. Budget

Ultimately, your budget determines the mining hardware that you can afford to buy or not. When factoring your budget, consider power efficiency and price efficiency. Some hardware may have a lower price tag but you end up spending more on power usage or earning less due to lower hash rate. You need to balance affordability with profitability.

7. Profitability

Even though XMR coins rank among the best-performing cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, Mining Monero does not translate to outright profit. Your choice of hardware for mining XMR should be based on profitability targets.  It makes no sense to buy a machine that will make you earn an outright loss.

An XMR mining calculator can enable you to easily determine Monero mining profitability based on various levels of hash rate contribution so that you choose the most viable option.

Most Monero mining pools (such as CryptoCompare, Minerstat, Whattomine, etc.) have a built-in calculator.

This 99Bitcoins.com page provides greater details about how the Monero XMR mining calculator works, especially if you are a solo miner.

To determine profitability, you need to know the power cost (KW/h), the XMR/USD cryptocurrency exchange rate, your hardware power consumption (Watts), the hash rate, XMR Block Reward, Difficulty Factor, and Hardware Cost. In the case of pool mining, you also need to know the pool fee.

8. Performance factors

Performance factors improve the efficiency of a mining rig.

In coming up with the best Monero Mining rig, many performance factors can influence the choice of mining hardware. The following are the main ones:

(a) Clock speed

We’ve indicated two types of clock speeds:

• Base clock – this is the normal speed of a processor
• Max clock – this is the maximum clock speed that can be achieved when the processor is boosted or overclocked.

A higher clock speed means faster processing power. Ceteris paribus, choose a hardware with higher clock speed.

(b) Number of cores

Cores are the different computing units in a given processor. Cores increase multiprocessing capability. That is the ability to carry out multiple processing at the same time. Ceteris paribus, the higher the number of cores, the better.

(c) Number of threads

Threads are the different processing channels. A computing unit can have one, two, or more threads. Threads allow parallel processing. Hence, the higher the number of threads, the better.

(d) Memory

• Memory type – this refers to the memory architecture. We have DDR1, DDR2, DDR3, DDR4, and DDR5 (latest). The later versions are more efficient than the earlier versions. The latest the better.
• Memory size – memory size is based on the capacity to handle the volume of data and instructions required for immediate processing. GPUs can handle several times higher memory sizes compared to CPUs. Memory size is based on the number of Gigabytes (GB). The higher the better.
• Memory clock – this is the speed by which data and instructions are fetched into memory. The clock speed is expressed in Mega Hertz (MHz), the higher the better.

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