GPU

A GPU (graphics processing unit) has thousands of small cores built for parallel maths, which is exactly what most mining algorithms need. GPUs are flexible: the same card can mine many coins and be reused for gaming or AI.

That flexibility is the main reason miners choose GPUs. When one coin becomes less profitable, the same card can switch to another algorithm with a change of miner settings. An ASIC cannot do that.

Not every algorithm uses a GPU the same way. Some are limited by memory speed, so memory clock and memory size matter most. Others are limited by the cores, so core clock and power matter more. Some newer algorithms use special units, such as tensor cores, so they need a recent card. A coin's How to Mine page lists the cards and miners that are known to work.

Video memory size can rule a card out. An algorithm that needs a large dataset in memory will not run on a card with too little. This is also why the same card can show very different hashrates on two coins.

GPU mining changed in September 2022, when Ethereum moved from proof of work to proof of stake and stopped paying miners. That was the largest GPU-mined coin at the time, so many cards moved to other coins. GPU mining continues today on many other proof-of-work coins.

Drivers matter more than most people expect. A miner may need a minimum driver version, and an update can raise or lower hashrate. If a card suddenly mines slower or crashes, check the driver version against your miner's README before anything else.

A common mistake is to push a card with a heavy overclock straight away. Start from stock, tune one setting at a time, and watch rejected shares and temperatures, including the memory temperature where the card reports it.