You might as well invest in a solid-state drive (SSD). Mining will not be sped up. It will minimise energy consumption by a small amount. It will also cut down on startup times and the amount of time it takes to load GPU OC/Power settings.
While this is true for most cryptocurrencies there's an exception
Chia and SSD Mining
Chia is one of the newest cryptocurrencies on the blockchain, and with a current market cap of over $1,000, you might be tempted to dust off your mining gear and get to work. However, be aware that you may go through storage drives at a breakneck speed if you do so. Because of the way Chia works, a 512GB SSD may be ruined in just 40 days.
Unlike most cryptocurrencies, Chia is based on a 'proof of space and time' paradigm, which means you may farm it on idle storage space.
"Installing software that puts a series of cryptographic numbers on the disc into 'plots' allows Chia blockchain users to'seed' vacant space on their hard-disk drive. 'Farmers' are the term for these users. Farmers can scan their plots to see if they have the hash that is closest to the challenge when the blockchain broadcasts a challenge for the next block."
Chia growing is a labor-intensive endeavour. Because SSDs are far faster than HDDs, the most frequent technique is to create plots on an SSD and then move them to an HDD after they're finished.
Chia, on the other hand, is a completely different animal. Mining Chia, according to MyDrivers, can destroy a 512GB SSD in 40 days, a 1TB SSD in twice as long, and a 2TB SSD in just 160 days, or slightly over five months.
The site didn't specify which drive models were failing at that rate, although they're almost certainly consumer SSDs with standard TBW (terabytes written) ratings. The majority of business models are more long-lasting.
The same can be said for TeamGroup's T-Create Expert, which has a 12,000 TBW rating for the 2TB variant. To put that in context, Addlink's S70, one of the greatest gaming SSDs, is only rated for 1,600 TBW in 2TB version.
It will be fascinating to observe how drive manufacturers respond to Chia cultivation by changing their warranty agreements. TeamGroup advertises a 12-year warranty on their ultra-durable T-Create Expert, but when I inquired about more information, including whether it covers Chia mining, I was told that the warranty periods on all of its SSDs are determined by which comes first: the warranty length or the TBW limit.
The T-Create Expert's TBW is 7.5 times that of the Addlink S70. If MyDriver's statistics are accurate, the T-Create Expert might last a little more than three years if it's based on a standard SSD like the S70. Not bad, albeit the warranty duration is far too short. Furthermore, most consumer SSDs are not nearly as long-lasting.
We're crossing our fingers that Chia doesn't cause a storage scarcity.
SSD shortage could follow as a result
Due to the rise of a new cryptocurrency called as Chia, purchasing a new SSD could become as tough as purchasing a new, next-generation graphics card in the coming months. Storage prices in Hong Kong have risen in recent days, according to a new report from HKEPC (thanks Hexus), as miners snap up high capacity drives in expectation of Chia becoming the next big thing, leading some models to run out of stock. To help meet the increased demand, Chinese manufacturers have announced that they will begin producing dedicated bitcoin mining SSDs.
Chia is a cryptocurrency developed by Bram Cohen, the founder of BitTorrent. It differs from other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin in that it places a greater emphasis on having a fast SSD rather than a powerful graphics card. It's based on having a lot of free space on your PC, according to Chia's website, and the high amount of read and write operations it's expected to execute also favours SSDs with high endurance ratings.
Although you can't trade Chia just yet, according to the HKEPC report, SSDs and hard disc drives are in in low supply in Hong Kong, with several 4-18TB units already sold out.Prices have also risen by an average of HK$200-HK$600 in just a few days, which translates to about £20-60 in the UK.
As SSD supplies continue to run out, Jiahe Jinwei, a Chinese manufacturer, has stated that it will begin producing a new line of dedicated cryptocurrency mining SSDs to meet demand. They appear to be primarily aimed at Chia miners, so they may miss the consumer retail market entirely, but the business has previously cautioned that as Chia grows more popular, it may drive a fresh demand on SSDs in general.As a result, we may soon face another huge graphics card-sized SSD shortage, and prices for the best SSDs for gaming may begin to soar around the world as a result.
Since the end of last year, graphics cards have been in desperate short supply due to a double whammy of manufacturing delays caused by Covid-19 and a new surge in cryptocurrency mining, making it nearly impossible for regular people like us to get our hands on new hardware like Nvidia's new RTX 30-series GPUs and AMD's Radeon RX 6000 cards.
Indeed, Nvidia's CFO Colette Kress recently cautioned investors that "demand will continue to exceed supply for much of this year," implying that the present graphics card shortage could last until 2022. For those looking to upgrade their PC right now, that's a long time to wait, and many will likely forego this generation of hardware entirely. Let's hope the changing SSD environment doesn't get quite that terrible in the coming months, but if you've been considering buying a new SSD in the last several weeks, I'd recommend doing so sooner rather than later.
FAQ
Can mining damage SSD?
According to MyDrivers, a typical consumer-grade 512GB SSD can be completely destroyed in just 40 days when mining Chia currency, whereas a 1TB SSD can last up to 80 days and a 2TB SSD can last up to 160 days.
Which SSD is best for mining?
The finest solid state drives for cryptocurrency mining: the best solid state drives for mining Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
- WD. Blue SSD.
- ADATA. SU800 SSD.
- Samsung. 860 EVO SSD.
- Crucial. BX500 SSD.
- SanDisk. Ultra 3D SSD.
Can you mine Crypto with SSD?
Chia, unlike the other common types of cryptocurrency, requires a lot of hard drive space rather than a powerful CPU or GPU. Mining Chia with an SSD puts a lot of strain on the device.
Does hard drive affect mining?
"Yes," says the responder. You'll need a hard drive or a flash drive to store the operating system and mining software.
Does SSD speed matter for mining?
You might as well invest in a solid-state drive (SSD). Mining will not be sped up. It will minimise energy consumption by a small amount. It will also cut down on startup times and the amount of time it takes to load GPU OC/Power settings.
Is 4GB RAM enough for mining?
RAM – Having more RAM does not guarantee greater mining speed, so we recommend having between 4GB and 16GB of RAM. If you're running ethOS, you can get away with 4GB of RAM, but if you're running Windows without virtual memory, you'll need at least 8GB.
What is the best motherboard for mining?
The best motherboards for mining
- Asus B250 Mining Expert. The world's first 19 GPU mining motherboard. ...
- ASRock H110 Pro BTC+ Support for 13 graphics cards. ...
- ASUS Prime Z390-P LGA1151. The budget mining motherboard. ...
- Biostar TB250-BTC Pro. ...
- MSI Z170A Gaming Pro Carbon. ...
- Asus ROG Strix Z270E.
Does Chia mining ruin hard drives?
It means that, in the same way that Bitcoin damages electricity, Chia harms hard discs. According to reports, if a consumer-grade 512GB SSD is used for Chia farming, it would fail in 40 days, while a 1TB SSD will die in less than 3 months and a 2TB drive will die in 160 days.
How much SSD is needed for Chia?
SSD: You'll need at least a 2TB NVMe SSD, preferably one with a high TBW (total bytes written) endurance rating so you don't wear out the drive after a few weeks of constructing plots 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
What is HDD mining?
The practise of obtaining encrypted currency based on hard disc storage is known as HDD mining, often known as "storage mining." Unlike traditional mining using graphics processing units (also known as GPU mining), hard disc miners generate new data blocks in the distributed ledger and collect rewards using hard discs.
What is the full form of SSD?
The two primary storage alternatives to consider are solid state drives (SSDs) and hard disc drives (HDDs).
Is Chia coin mining profitable?
Even huge miners have not been able to profit from Chia.
Hard disc and SSD demand and prices increased as a result. Because of its high usage, an SSD only lasts 80 days when mining Chia, resulting in a low profit margin. No, according to their reports, and they claim that profiting from Chia is difficult.
Which chipset is best for mining?
The Best Mining Motherboard
- Our Top Picks. ASUS B250 MINING EXPERT. Biostar TB250-BTC PRO. GIGABYTE GA-H110-D3A.
- Best Motherboards For Mining: First Look. ASUS B250 MINING EXPERT. Biostar TB250-BTC PRO. GIGABYTE GA-H110-D3A. ASRock H110 Pro BTC+
Can I use a gaming motherboard for mining?
Which motherboard is best for Mining ?
- Asus B250 Mining Expert.
- ASRock H110 Pro BTC+
- Asus Prime Z390-P LGA1151.
- Biostar TB360-BTC D+
- Asus ROG Strix Z270E Gaming.
- ZOTAC B150 Mining ATX.
- MSI Z170A Gaming Pro Carbon.
Does CPU affect mining?
Does motherboard matter for mining?
How much ethereum can I mine in a day?
Is mining ethereum profitable?
Can Bitcoins still be mined?
It will take till about the year 2140 to mint the full quantity of Bitcoin because to the falling reward and growing difficulty level. The reward for mining a block is 6.25 bitcoins as of November 2021.
Further reading:
What is the best hashrate for Bitcoin mining?
How does SSD improve performance?
SSDs can help you speed up your computer in a variety of ways. File copy/write rates are also faster on SSDs because they use nonvolatile storage media that saves persistent data on solid-state flash memory. Another advantage of SSDs is speedier file opening times, which are typically 30 percent faster than HDDs.