The year 2017 was a watershed moment for cryptocurrency. The bull run brought mainstream attention, and GPU mining became a household activity. This guide revisits the top GPU-minable coins of that era—Ethereum, Zcash, Monero, and more—while breaking down the hardware choices, electricity costs, break-even analyses, and setup strategies that defined the landscape. Whether you are a veteran looking back or a newcomer studying crypto history, this practical retrospective offers valuable, evergreen lessons in mining economics.
📅 Updated: July 16, 2026 • ⏱ 12 min read
In 2017, the cryptocurrency market experienced an unprecedented bull run, with Bitcoin reaching nearly $20,000 by December. This surge created a massive rush into mining, as enthusiasts sought to generate passive income. At the time, GPU mining was still highly viable for several altcoins because ASICs (Application-Specific Integrated Circuits) had not yet dominated those algorithms.
The surge in coin prices made even moderately efficient GPUs profitable. Hardware manufacturers like AMD and Nvidia struggled to keep up with demand, leading to widespread shortages and inflated retail prices. Meanwhile, mining pools exploded in popularity, allowing individuals to combine their hash power and earn consistent payouts.
Successful mining in 2017 (and today) hinged on three key variables: Hashrate (the computing power per second), Power Consumption (watts drawn), and the Block Reward (plus transaction fees). The profitability formula was simple: Revenue = (Hashrate / Network Difficulty) × Block Reward × Coin Price. Miners had to constantly monitor these metrics to ensure their electricity bills didn't eat up all their profits.
While dozens of coins were mineable, a handful stood out as the most profitable for GPU rigs, depending on whether you ran AMD or Nvidia hardware.
Ethereum (ETH) was the undisputed champion for AMD GPUs. Its Dagger-Hashimoto algorithm was memory-hard, making it resistant to ASICs and perfectly suited for the high-bandwidth memory (GDDR5) of the Radeon RX series. In 2017, a single RX 580 could achieve ~27-31 MH/s on ETH, yielding a daily profit of around $2-$3 at peak prices.
Why it trended: High market cap, strong community, and the promise of "The Merge" (which eventually happened in 2022) kept ETH in the spotlight.
Zcash (ZEC) utilized the Equihash algorithm, which was highly efficient on Nvidia GPUs due to their superior CUDA core architectures. A GTX 1070 could push ~30-32 Sol/s (Solutions per second) on Zcash, often making it more profitable than mining ETH on the same hardware. Zcash's focus on privacy also attracted a dedicated user base.
Monero (XMR) ran the CryptoNight algorithm, designed to be ASIC-resistant by favoring large memory usage and integer operations. While CPUs were highly efficient for Monero, GPUs still provided respectable hash rates. It was a popular choice for miners who wanted to support decentralized privacy-focused currency.
Vertcoin (VTC) was explicitly designed to resist ASIC mining by using the Lyra2REv2 algorithm. It had a strong grassroots community and offered a "One-Click-Miner" that made it incredibly easy for beginners to start mining with a single GPU.
The battle between AMD and Nvidia was fierce in 2017. The "best" card depended entirely on which coin you targeted and your local electricity cost.
The RX 570 and RX 580 were the kings of price-to-performance for Ethereum mining. With a bios mod (memory timing tweak), an RX 580 could hit 30-32 MH/s while drawing around 120-150W. The lower-tier RX 470 also offered incredible value, often achieving 25-27 MH/s with just 100W.
The GTX 1070 was the sweet spot for Equihash coins, offering 30-32 Sol/s at just ~120W. The GTX 1080 Ti was the raw performance leader, delivering ~70-75 Sol/s on Zcash, but its high price tag ($700+) and 250W power draw made it less profitable per dollar for budget-conscious miners.
Profitability in 2017 was a moving target. Let's break down the financial anatomy of a mining operation.
The global average electricity price in 2017 was around $0.10-$0.12 per kWh. However, in regions like the US Northeast or Europe, prices could exceed $0.20/kWh. For a 6x RX 580 rig pulling ~850W from the wall (including PSU inefficiency), daily electricity costs ranged from $2.00 to $4.00 depending on the rate.
Most mining pools in 2017 charged a 1% to 2% fee to cover server costs. Payout methods varied: Pay-Per-Share (PPS) offered guaranteed payouts but higher fees, while PPLNS (Pay-Per-Last-N-Shares) offered lower fees but variable rewards based on pool luck. Miners had to factor these fees into their daily net revenue.
Break-even is the point where cumulative mining rewards equal the initial hardware and operating costs. In late 2017, with ETH at $400-$800 and ZEC at $200-$400, a $3,000 rig could break even in 4 to 8 months. However, this assumed static prices and difficulty—which was rarely the case.
Setting up a mining rig in 2017 was a hands-on, technical process that required patience and a bit of DIY spirit.
Miners typically built open-air rigs using aluminum or wood frames to maximize airflow. Windows 10 was the most popular OS due to ease of use, while EthOS (a Linux-based mining distribution) and SimpleMining gained traction for their stability and remote management features.
The choice of software was critical. For AMD, Claymore's Dual Miner was the go-to, allowing simultaneous mining of ETH and Decred/Siacoin to maximize revenue. For Nvidia, EWBF's Cuda Miner was the standard for Zcash. Configurations involved tweaking memory clocks, core clocks, and voltage to find the optimal efficiency sweet spot—commonly known as "undervolting."
| Coin | Algorithm | Best GPU (2017) | Est. Hashrate | Power Draw (GPU) | Daily Revenue* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ETH Ethereum | Dagger-Hashimoto | RX 580 | ~30 MH/s | ~120W | $2.50 - $4.00 |
| ZEC Zcash | Equihash | GTX 1070 | ~32 Sol/s | ~120W | $2.20 - $3.80 |
| XMR Monero | CryptoNight | Vega 56/64 | ~1.5 KH/s | ~150W | $1.80 - $3.00 |
| VTC Vertcoin | Lyra2REv2 | GTX 1080 | ~50 MH/s | ~180W | $2.00 - $3.50 |
* Daily revenue estimates at peak 2017 price levels (ETH ~$600, ZEC ~$300). These are historical snapshots and are not indicative of current profitability. Always use a live calculator for current figures.
Cost Breakdown: 6x GTX 1070 GPUs (~$450 each) = $2,700 + Motherboard/PSU/RAM/CPU ($400) = $3,100 total hardware cost.
Performance: Total Hashrate = 6 × 32 Sol/s = 192 Sol/s on Equihash. Power draw at the wall = 6 × 120W + 50W (mobo) = ~770W or 18.5 kWh per day.
Revenue (November 2017): Zcash price ~$300. Daily gross revenue = ~$5.50. Electricity cost (at $0.12/kWh) = 18.5 × 0.12 = $2.22/day. Net profit = $3.28/day.
Outcome: Break-even time = $3,100 / $3.28 = ~945 days (2.6 years). However, this doesn't account for the insane bull run in December 2017 where Zcash hit ~$800. If the price doubled, break-even shrunk to ~1.3 years. But—when the 2018 bear market hit, Zcash dropped to $100, pushing break-even to infinity. This scenario illustrates the profound impact of market volatility and timing on mining profitability.
This example is for educational purposes only. Historical price action is not indicative of future returns.
Cryptocurrency mining—whether in 2017 or today—is a high-risk, capital-intensive activity that can lead to significant financial losses. The data presented in this retrospective is historical and should not be used to evaluate current mining profitability.
Modern risks include:
This article does not provide personalized financial, legal, or tax advice. Before purchasing hardware or starting a mining operation, conduct your own research using current metrics. Use real-time calculators like WhatToMine or Hashrate.no to evaluate potential profitability with your specific hardware, electricity rate, and pool fees.
The AMD Radeon RX 580 and RX 570 were widely considered the best value-for-money GPUs in 2017, especially for mining Ethereum. For Nvidia, the GTX 1070 offered excellent efficiency for Equihash-based coins like Zcash, while the GTX 1080 Ti was the top performer for raw hashpower but came at a premium cost.
Ethereum (ETH) was consistently one of the top performers for AMD cards due to its memory-hard Dagger-Hashimoto algorithm. However, profitability fluctuated. Zcash (ZEC) often offered better returns for Nvidia cards, and sometimes smaller coins like Vertcoin (VTC) or mining-switching platforms like NiceHash provided higher daily yields depending on market conditions.
Popular mining software included Claymore's Dual Miner (for Ethereum and Ethereum Classic), EWBF's Cuda Miner (for Zcash), and XMR-Stak (for Monero). For beginners, NiceHash provided an easy-to-use GUI that automatically switched algorithms to mine the most profitable coin.
As more miners joined the network in 2017, the difficulty of solving cryptographic puzzles increased significantly. This meant that even if the coin price held steady, the amount of coins earned per day decreased over time, squeezing profit margins. This is known as 'difficulty adjustment'.
No. By 2017, Bitcoin mining was entirely dominated by specialized ASIC hardware. GPU mining for Bitcoin had been unprofitable for years. Miners used GPUs for altcoins that were designed to be ASIC-resistant.
GPU mining profitability in 2026 depends entirely on the current price of coins, local electricity costs, and network difficulty. The landscape has shifted, especially after Ethereum's transition to Proof-of-Stake (The Merge in 2022). Always use up-to-date calculators like WhatToMine or Hashrate.no to check current profitability based on your specific hardware and electricity rate.
The main risks included hardware failure (burnout), skyrocketing electricity costs, extreme price volatility of mined coins, rapid increases in network difficulty, and the ever-present risk of scams or wallet hacks. Many miners who bought GPUs at peak hardware prices in late 2017 failed to break even when the 2018 bear market hit.
Ethereum transitioned from Proof-of-Work (PoW) to Proof-of-Stake (PoS) in an event known as 'The Merge' in September 2022. This upgrade replaced miners with validators who stake ETH to secure the network, permanently ending GPU mining for ETH. Former Ethereum miners had to switch to other PoW coins like Ethereum Classic, Ravencoin, or Ergo.