GeForce GTX 1060, one of the best budget cards of the old generation, recognized by both gamers and miners. If you are a principled supporter of Nvidia products you suddenly became interested in mining for some reason, GTX 1060, thanks to its characteristics and low price is suitable for the assembly of the budget rig even now, in 2022. Although, of course, this model is already outdated.
Technical specifications
GTX 1060 graphics cards from different companies can be equipped with 3 or 6 GB of RAM. The device uses a 16 nm chip, which allows the graphics card to consume little electrical power, compared to the GTX 960.
Specifications:
The memory is GDDR5;
Graphics processor architecture – Pascal;
Core Frequency – Standard/Turbo – 1506/1708 MHz;
Video memory speed – 8GB/s;
Memory speed – 2000 MHz;
Number of universal processors – 1280;
Bus size – 192 bits;
Required power – 120W;
Power connectors – 6 pin;
Rasterization blocks – 48.
The maximum temperature under load of the chip is 94°, and for everyday Ethereum mining it is necessary not to exceed the mark of 70°.
To build a farm based on GTX 1060, it is better from the version with 6 GB of RAM, because video cards with 3 GB are not relevant in 2022. Due to increased DAG-file volume they can no longer mine large Ether. But for ETC, the size of its DAG-file almost halved after the hard fork, they are good now. But it will not last long. The 3GB GTX 1060 can not be used for Grin mining either.
The version with 3 GB will be more suitable for stable earnings on CLO, QKC. Coins are not very profitable and are mostly mined on old versions of Innosilicon ASICs. Just don’t take three-gigs for mining, and if you already have them, be content with working on ETC+ZILL pools, or other altcoins, for mining which such a small amount of memory will be enough.
Graphics processor manufacturer ASUS stood out from the rest and produced a series of cards with a higher bandwidth of 9 GB/s. This value is higher than that of cards from other manufacturers. This will allow you to mine faster.
What 1060 video card to choose for mining
The choice of card by manufacturer is an important factor that will affect profits in the future. After all, the money saved on the cost of the video card can be invested in the purchase of additional equipment, providing an increase in income. On average, graphics cards with 6 GB cost 8 – 10,000 rubles more than those with 3 GB. The choice is not so great. Yes, it’s understandable, few people will buy a 1060, if there are 1660Super and 3060Ti.
It doesn’t matter if you buy a regular card or a more expensive version. First of all, there is not much choice, and secondly, you won’t make more money with a more expensive card anyway. For mining these values are not as important as for gaming tasks, for which the cards are designed. A regular card can also be overclocked, and it will give results similar to the expensive card. To learn how to overclock a 1060 for mining, see below.
The optimal option, would be the middle price range, which includes:
Palit Dual;
JetStream;
Gigabyte Windforce;
Asus Strix.
The latter, a bit more expensive than the others, but has a better cooling system and will more than pay for itself after downvolting.
On the other hand, if the room is well ventilated and the room temperature is below room temperature, you can choose MSI Armor. The best 1060 for mining in a relatively warm room will be a video card from Palit or ASUS. The important thing when choosing equipment depends on the current cost, because first of all, the calculation is made taking into account the minimum payback period of the video card.
If you can order or buy a few video cards at a bargain price or with an attractive discount, it is better to take the chance. Even if the card has only one fan, it can provide almost as much income. In this case, you just need to take care of good cooling of the farm.
In the implementation of the choice can help a special mining calculator Wattomine. He can do the calculation and show the profitability of the equipment.
In 2018 the GTX 1060 video card was one of the best, it was possible to recoup the money invested to buy and assemble the farm in 7 months. When the recession hit, things changed. In addition, there were new more productive lines of graphics cards, and now miners are no longer building rigs on GTX 1060.
However, not everything is that simple. Prices even for older graphics cards are very high and if you buy a GTX 1060 6GB , it will pay for itself in about a year and two months if the current rate of Ethereum cryptocurrency is maintained. But, most likely, this blockchain project will finally switch to the PoS consensus algorithm much earlier, and then the profitability of these cards will decrease significantly. So, the new models are still a better option.
It will take about two years to fully recoup the cost of the initial payment, unless the rate varies greatly. If you want to have a mining farm of Nvidia video cards, buy the next generation GPU devices, such as the GTX 1660. At first glance, it may not seem like there is much difference in hashray between the 1060 and 1660 without the prefix Super and Ti, but there is still a difference. In addition, you can buy a GTX 1660 new in the store, while the 1060 is only sold on the secondary market right now. Mining on used cards is very dangerous. You can buy a used frame or even a motherboard, but cards and power supplies are better to buy new.
