Nvidia has launched the next Ada Lovelace RTX 4070 generation graphics card, which may be of significant interest to miners due to the growing popularity of mining cryptocurrencies with an emphasis on pure GPU performance: Nexa, Kaspa and others. If the RTX 4070 can offer the same mining efficiency as its older brethren, then it could be the best choice for miners, as has been the case with previous mid-range Nvidia graphics cards. Actually, this is what we will try to find out and evaluate the RTX 4070 video card as a tool for cryptocurrency mining, and not a gaming solution.
But first, a few technical characteristics of the RTX 4070 in comparison with other video card models.
| Specifications | RTX 4070 | RTX 4070 Ti | RTX 4080 | RTX 3070 | RTX 3070 Ti | RTX 3080 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Release date | 13.04.2023 | 05.01.2023 | 16.11.2022 | 29.09.2020 | 10.06.2021 | 17.09.2020 |
| Frequency GPU (BOOST) MHz | 1920 (2475) | 2310 (2610) | 2210 (2505) | 1500 (1725) | 1580(11770) | 1440 (1710) |
| Cuda Cores | 5888 | 7680 | 9728 | 5888 | 6144 | 8704 |
| GFLOPS FP32 | 29150 | 40090 | 48740 | 20314 | 21750 | 29768 |
| Memory | 12Gb GDDR6X | 12GB GDDR6X | 16Gb GDDR6X | 8Gb GDDR6 | 8GB GDDR6X | 10Gb GDDR6X |
| Memory bus width | 192 | 192 | 256 | 256bit | 256bit | 320bit |
| Total memory bandwidth | 504 | 504 | 716 | 448Gbit/s | 608Gbit/s | 760Gbit/s |
| Power usage | 200W | 285W | 320W | 220W | 290W | 320W |
| Announced price, USD | 599 USD | 799 USD | 1199 USD | 499 USD | 599 USD | 699 USD |
| Etchash Hashrate |
63Mh/s 124W |
65Mh/s 126W |
91Mh/s 182W |
60-65Mh/s 135W |
75-81Mh/s 190W |
95-110Mh/s 240W |
| Kaspa Hashrate |
878Mh/s 105W |
1150Mh/s 131W |
1450Mh/s 203W |
560Mh/s 105W |
620Mh/s 120W |
910Mh/s 190W |
Test results of Nvidia Geforce RTX 4070 on other mining algorithms:
ETHash/ETChash (Ethereum classic): 63Mh/s 124W
KheavyHash (Kaspa): 878 Mh/s 105W
KawPow (Ravencoin): 33Mh/s 160W
Zelhash (Flux): 67H/s 124W
NexaPow (Nexa): 122Mh/s 173W
Autolykos2 (Ergo): 134Mh/s 83W
DynexSolve (Dynex): 2.9Mh/s 55W
Radiant (Radiant): 1.2GH/s 105W
Blake3 (Alephium): 1.84Gh/s 116W
ERGO (autolykos2): 132Mh/s 100W
Conclusion: If we compare two generations of Nvidia RTX 3000 and RTX 4000 video cards, we can conclude that with the new generation RTX 4000 on GPU-dependent algorithms (Kaspa), a significant increase in hashrate is noticeable. Which is not surprising, since it was the GPU that received the main improvements compared to the RTX 3000. Unfortunately, the RTX 4070 video card not only received improvements in the form of more modern GDDR6X memory and a larger 12GB instead of 8Gb for the RTX 3070, but also received a narrower 192-bit memory bus instead of 256. What affected not in the best way the memory dependent algorithms (Ethash, ETChash). Actually, this can be seen from the results, where the RTX 4070 shows the same 60-65MH / s as the RTX3070, but with lower power consumption.
But in GPU-dependent algorithms (Kaspa), the new RTX 4070, like all new Nvidia video cards, shows a hashrate increase of more than 50% with the same power consumption. If we compare the price per MH using the kHeavyHash algorithm, then among the released models of 4000 series video cards, the RTX 4070 will not have the worst price: 0.68 USD/MH. For comparison, RTX 4070 Ti has a price per megahash of 0.69 USD/MH, RTX 4080 has 0.82 USD/MH, but RTX 4090 is a little out of the general trend, when the price per MH does not decrease in more expensive models, but vice versa grows, showing a result of 0.65 USD/MH.
Summing up, we can say that if you take the RTX 4070 video card with an eye on mining GPU dependent algorithms, then this will be a good choice in terms of price / hashrate, however, like the entire line of RTX 4000 video cards. For ETHash algorithms and its derivatives, the RTX 4070 no longer looks so presentable, especially given its price compared to last year's RTX 3070 and even more so the RTX 3070 Ti.
There is, of course, the RTX 4090 video card, which breaks all the patterns, and if you find this video card at a good price and are ready to put up with its hot temper, then today the RTX 4090 will not only be the ultimate cryptocurrency mining solution, but also one of the the most profitable in terms of return on investment.
