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What program is needed to mine cryptocurrency? What to consider when choosing equipment for mining? How to mine bitcoins and ethereum using a video card on a computer?

It turns out that powerful video cards are needed not only for fans of spectacular computer games. Thousands of users around the world use graphics adapters to earn cryptocurrency! Multiple cards with powerful processors miners create farms - computing centers that extract digital money practically out of thin air!

With you, Denis Kuderin is an expert of the HeatherBober magazine on finance issues and their competent multiplication. I will tell you what it is mining on a video card in the 17-18 years, how to choose the right device for earning cryptocurrency, and why mining bitcoins on video cards is no longer profitable.

You will also learn where to buy the most productive and powerful graphics card for professional mining, and get expert advice on how to improve the efficiency of your mining farm.

1. Mining on a video card - easy money or unjustified expenses

A good graphics card is not just a digital signal adapter, but also a powerful processor capable of solving complex computing problems. And including - calculate the hash code for the blockchain (blockchain)... This makes graphics cards ideal for mining - mining cryptocurrency.

Question: Why graphics card processor? Doesn't any computer have a central processing unit? Isn't it logical to carry out calculations using it?

Answer: The CPU processor can also compute blockchains, but it does it hundreds of times slower than a video card processor (GPU). And not because one is better, the other is worse. They just work differently. And if you combine several video cards, the power of such a computing center will increase several times.

For those who have no idea about how digital money is mined, a small educational program. Mining - the main and sometimes the only way to produce cryptocurrency.

Since no one mints or prints this money, and it is not a material substance, but a digital code, someone must calculate this code. This is what miners, or rather their computers, do.

In addition to calculating the code, mining performs several more important tasks:

  • support for the decentralization of the system: lack of attachment to servers - the basis of the blockchain;
  • transaction confirmation - without mining, operations will not be able to enter a new block;
  • formation of new blocks of the system - and entering them into a single register for all computers.

I want to immediately cool the ardor of novice miners: the mining process becomes more difficult every year. For example, using a video card has long been unprofitable.

Bitches with the help of GPUs are mined now only by die-hard amateurs, since video cards have been replaced by specialized processors ASIC... These chips use less power and are more efficient in terms of computing. Good to everyone, but worth the order 130-150 thousand rubles .

Powerful Antminer S9

Fortunately for miners, Bitcoin is not the only cryptocurrency on the planet, but one of hundreds. Other digital money - ethereum, Zcash, Expanse, dogcoins etc. it is still profitable to mine with graphics cards. The remuneration is stable, and the equipment pays off in about 6-12 months.

But there is another problem - the lack of powerful video cards.... The excitement around cryptocurrency has led to an increase in the cost of these devices. It is not so easy to buy a new, suitable for mining, video card in Russia.

Novice miners have to order video adapters in online stores (including foreign ones) or purchase used goods. By the way, I do not recommend doing the latter: mining equipment becomes obsolete and wears out at a fantastic rate.

On Avito, they even sell entire farms for mining cryptocurrency.

There are many reasons: some miners have already “played enough” with the extraction of digital money and decided to engage in more profitable operations with cryptocurrency (in particular, exchange trading), others realized that they cannot compete with powerful Chinese clusters operating on the basis of power plants. Still others switched from video cards to ASICs.

However, the niche is still making a certain profit, and if you do it with a video card right now, you will still have time to jump on the bandwagon of a train leaving for the future.

Another thing is that there are more and more players on this field. Moreover, the total number of digital coins does not increase from this. On the contrary, the reward is getting smaller.

So, six years ago, the reward for one bitcoin blockchain network was equal to 50 coins , now it's only 12.5 BTK ... At the same time, the complexity of the calculations increased 10 thousand times. True, the cost of bitcoin itself has increased many times over this time.

2. How to mine cryptocurrency using a video card - step by step instructions

There are two options for mining - solo and as part of a pool. It is difficult to deal with a single prey - you need to have a huge amount of hashrate (units of power) so that the started calculations have the probability of a successful close.

99% of all miners work in pools (English pool - pool) - communities involved in the distribution of computing tasks. Joint mining eliminates the random factor and guarantees a stable profit.

One of my acquaintances, a miner, said this about this: I have been mining for 3 years, during this time I have not communicated with anyone who mined alone.

Such prospectors are similar to those of the 19th century. You can search for your nugget for years (in our case, bitcoin) and never find it. That is, the blockchain will never be closed, which means that you will not receive any reward.

The "lone hunters" for ether and some other crypto-coins have a little more chances.

Due to the peculiar encryption algorithm, ETH is not mined using special processors (they have not yet been invented). Only video cards are used for this. Numerous farmers of our time are still holding on to Ethereum and other altcoins.

One video card will not be enough to create a full-fledged farm: 4 pieces - "living wage" for the minerexpecting a stable profit. A powerful cooling system for video adapters is equally important. And do not lose sight of such expense item as electricity bills.

Step-by-step instructions will protect you from errors and speed up the process setup.

Step 1. Select a pool

The world's largest cryptocurrency pools are located in the PRC, as well as in Iceland and the United States. Formally, these communities do not have state affiliation, but Russian-language pool sites are a rarity on the Internet.

Since you will most likely have to mine Ethereum on a video card, then you will need to choose a community that is busy calculating this currency. Although Etherium is a relatively young altcoin, there are many pools for mining it... The size of your income and its stability largely depend on the choice of the community.

We choose a pool according to the following criteria:

  • performance;
  • working hours;
  • popularity among cryptocurrency miners;
  • positive feedback on independent forums;
  • convenience of withdrawing money;
  • the size of the commission;
  • principle of profit accrual.

The cryptocurrency market changes every day. This also applies to leaps in the exchange rate, and the emergence of new digital money - forks bitcoin. Global changes also happen.

So, recently it became known that in the near future the ether is switching to a fundamentally different system of profit distribution. In a nutshell - miners who have “a lot of kets”, that is, coins, will have income in the Etherium network, and novice miners will either have to close the shop or switch to other money.

But such "little things" never stopped enthusiasts. Moreover, there is a program called Profitable Pool. It automatically tracks the most profitable altcoins for mining at the moment. There is also a search service for the pools themselves, as well as their ratings in real time.

Step 2. Install and configure the program

Having registered on the pool's website, you need to download a special miner program - do not calculate the code manually using a calculator. There are also enough such programs. For bitcoin, this is - 50 miner or CGMiner, for ether - Ethminer.

Setting up requires attention and skill. For example, you need to know what scripts are and be able to enter them into the command line of your computer. I advise you to check the technical points with practicing miners, since each program has its own nuances of installation and configuration.

Step 3. Register a wallet

If you do not have a bitcoin wallet or ethereum storage yet, you must register them. We download wallets from the official sites.

Sometimes the pools themselves provide assistance in this matter, but not for free.

Step 4. Start mining and monitor statistics

It remains only to start the process and wait for the first receipts. Be sure to download an auxiliary program that will monitor the state of the main components of your computer - workload, overheating, etc.

Step 5. Withdraw cryptocurrency

Computers work around the clock and automatically calculating the code... You just have to make sure that the cards or other systems do not fail. The cryptocurrency will flow into your wallet at a rate directly proportional to the amount of hashrate.

How to convert digital currency to fiat currency? A question worthy of a separate article. In short, the fastest way is through exchange offices. They charge themselves interest for the services, and your task is to find the most profitable course with the lowest commission. A professional service for comparing exchangers will help to do this.

- the best resource of this kind in Runet. This monitoring compares the performance of more than 300 exchange offices and finds the best quotes for the currency pairs you are interested in. Moreover, the service indicates the cryptocurrency reserves at the checkout. The monitoring lists contain only verified and reliable exchange services.

3. What to look for when choosing a video card for mining

You need to choose a video card wisely. The first one that comes across or the one that is already on your computer will also mine, but this power even for ethers will be negligible.

The main indicators are as follows: performance (power), power consumption, cooling, overclocking prospects.

1) Power

Everything is simple here - the higher the processor performance, the better for calculating the hash code. Excellent performance is provided by cards with a memory capacity of more than 2 GB. And choose devices with a 256-bit bus. 128-bit are not good for this.

2) Power consumption

Power is, of course, great - high hash and all that. But don't forget about the energy consumption figures. Some productive farms "eat up" so much electricity that the costs are barely or not even paid off.

3) Cooling

The standard one consists of 4-16 cards. It produces excess heat that is harmful to the iron and undesirable for the farmer. Living and working in a one-room apartment without air conditioning will be, to put it mildly, uncomfortable.

High-quality CPU cooling is a prerequisite for successful mining

Therefore, when choosing two cards with the same performance, give preference to the one with less heat output (TDP) ... The best cooling parameters are demonstrated by Radeon cards. The same devices work longer than all other cards in an active mode without wear.

Additional coolers will not only remove excess heat from the processors, but also extend their life.

4) Overclocking capability

Overclocking is a forced increase in the performance of a video card. The ability to "overclock the card" depends on two parameters - gPU frequencies and video memory frequencies... It is them that you will overclock if you want to increase the processing power.

What video cards should I buy? You will need the latest generation devices or at least graphics accelerators that were released no earlier than 2-3 years ago. Miners use cards AMD Radeon, Nvidia, Geforce GTX.

Take a look at the payback table for video cards (the data is current at the end of 2017):

4. Where to buy a video card for mining - an overview of the TOP-3 stores

As I said, video cards with the growing popularity of mining have become a scarce commodity. To buy the device you need, you have to spend a lot of time and effort.

Our overview of the best online selling points will help you.

1) TopComputer

Moscow hypermarket specializing in computer and household appliances. Has been working on the market for over 14 years, supplies goods from all over the world at almost manufacturer prices. There is a prompt delivery service, free for Muscovites.

At the time of this writing, there are cards on sale AMD, Nvidia (8 Gb) and other varieties suitable for mining.

2) Мybitcoinshop

Special shop, trading exclusively in goods for mining... Here you will find everything for building a home farm - video cards of the desired configuration, power supplies, adapters, and even ASIC miners (for new generation miners). There is paid delivery and self-pickup from a warehouse in Moscow.

The company has repeatedly received the unofficial title of the best store for miners in the Russian Federation. Prompt service, friendly attitude towards customers, advanced equipment are the main components of success.

3) Ship Shop America

Purchase and delivery of goods from the USA. An intermediary company for those looking for truly exclusive and cutting edge mining products.

Direct partner of the leading manufacturer of video cards for games and mining - Nvidia... The maximum waiting time for goods is 14 days.

5. How to increase income from mining on a video card - 3 useful tips

Impatient readers who want to start mining right now and receive income from tomorrow morning will certainly ask - how much do miners earn?

Earnings depend on the equipment, the rate of the cryptocurrency, the efficiency of the pool, the capacity of the farm, the amount of hashrate, and a bunch of other factors. Some people manage to receive monthly up to 70,000 in rubles others are content 10 dollarsin Week. This is an unstable and unpredictable business.

Useful tips will help you increase your income and optimize your expenses.

You will mine a currency that is rapidly growing in price, you will earn more. For example - the air now costs about 300 dollars , bitcoin - more 6000 ... But you need to take into account not only the current value, but also the growth rate per week.

Tip 2. Use the mining calculator to choose the optimal hardware

A mining calculator on the pool's website or on another specialized service will help you choose the optimal program and even a video card for mining.

One of the more hidden features in the recent Windows 10 update is the ability to check which apps are using your graphics processing unit (GPU). If you've ever opened Task Manager, you've probably looked at your CPU usage to see which applications are CPU-heavy. The latest updates add a similar feature, but for GPU GPUs. It helps you understand how intense your software and games are on your GPU without having to download third party software. There is another cool feature that helps offload your CPU to GPU. I recommend reading how to choose.

Why don't I have a GPU in Task Manager?

Unfortunately, not all graphics cards will be able to provide Windows with the statistics needed to read the GPU. To be sure, you can quickly use the DirectX Diagnostic Tool to test this technology.

  1. Click " Start"and in the search write dxdiag to run the DirectX Diagnostic Tool.
  2. Go to the " Screen", on the right in the column " drivers"you should have wDDM model more version 2.0 for using GPU graphs in the task manager.

Enable GPU graph in Task Manager

To see the GPU usage for each application, you need to open the Task Manager.

  • Press the button combination Ctrl + Shift + Escto open the Task Manager.
  • Right-click in the task manager on the empty field " Name" and check from the dropdown menu GPU. You can also check GPU coreto see which programs are using it.
  • Now in the task manager, on the right you can see the GPU graph and the GPU core.


View Overall GPU Performance

You can track the overall GPU usage to monitor it under heavy loads and analyze it. In this case, you can see everything you need in the " Performance"by choosing graphics processor.


Each GPU element is broken down into separate graphs to give you even more insight into how your GPU is being used. If you would like to change the graphs displayed, you can click the small arrow next to the name of each task. This screen also displays your driver version and date, which is a good alternative to using DXDiag or Device Manager.


Today, it is especially actively discussed and many users are interested in where to start mining coins and how it generally happens. The popularity of this industry has already had a tangible impact on the GPU market and a powerful video card has long been associated by many not with demanding games, but with crypto farms. In this article we will talk about how to organize this whole process from scratch and start mining on your own farm, what to use for this and why it is impossible.

What is GPU mining

GPU mining is the process of mining cryptocurrency using graphics processing units (GPUs). To do this, use a powerful video card in a home computer or a specially assembled farm of several devices in one system. If you're wondering why GPUs are used for this process, the answer is quite simple. The thing is that video cards were originally designed to process a large amount of data by performing the same type of operations, as in the case of video processing. The same picture is observed in cryptocurrency mining, because here the hashing process is just the same.

Full-fledged discrete video cards are used for mining. Notebooks or processor-integrated chips are not used. There are also articles on the network about mining on an external video card, but this also does not work in all cases and is not the best solution.

What video cards are suitable for mining

So, as far as the choice of a video card is concerned, it is common practice to purchase AMD rx 470, rx 480, rx 570, rx 580 or Nvidia 1060, 1070, 1080 ti. Video cards such as r9 280x, r9 290, 1050, 1060 are also suitable, but will not bring much profit. Mining on a weak video card like geforce gtx 460, gts 450, gtx 550ti will definitely not bring profit. If we talk about memory, then it's better to take from 2 GB. Even 1 GB may not be enough, let alone 512 MB. If we talk about mining on a professional video card, then it brings about the same amount as conventional or even less. Taking into account the cost of such VCs, this is unprofitable, but you can get them with their help if you already have them.

It is also worth noting that all video cards can get a performance boost thanks to unlocking the values \u200b\u200bthat the manufacturer has set. This process is called overclocking. However, this is unsafe, leads to a loss of warranty and the card may fail, for example, by showing artifacts. You can overclock video cards, but you need to read the materials on this topic and proceed with caution. You should not try to immediately set all values \u200b\u200bto the maximum, or even better, find examples of successful overclocking settings on the Internet for your video card.

The most popular video cards for mining 2020

Below is a comparison of video cards. The table contains the most popular devices and their maximum power consumption. I must say that these indicators may vary depending on the specific model of the video card, its manufacturer, the memory used and some other characteristics. There is no point in writing about outdated indicators, such as mining litecoin on a video card, so only the three most popular algorithms for farms on video cards are considered.

Video card Ethash Equihash CryptoNight Energy consumption
AMD Radeon R9 280x 11 MH / s 290 H / s 490 H / s 230W
AMD Radeon RX 470 26 MH / s 260 H / s 660 H / s 120W
AMD Radeon RX 480 29.5 MH / s 290 H / s 730 H / s 135W
AMD Radeon RX 570 27.9 MH / s 260 H / s 700 H / s 120W
AMD Radeon RX 580 30.2 MH / s 290 H / s 690 H / s 135W
Nvidia GeForce GTX 750 TI 0.5 MH / s 75 H / s 250 H / s 55W
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 TI 13.9 MH / s 180 H / s 300 H / s 75W
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 22.5 MH / s 270 H / s 430 H / s 90W
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 30 MH / s 430 H / s 630 H / s 120W
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 TI 30.5 MH / s 470 H / s 630 H / s 135W
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 23.3 MH / s 550 H / s 580 H / s 140W
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 TI 35 MH / s 685 H / s 830 H / s 190W

Is it possible to mine on one video card?

If you do not want to build a full-fledged farm from a variety of GPUs, or you just want to try this process on your home computer, then you can also mine with one video card. There are no differences, and in general the number of devices in the system is not important. Moreover, you can install devices with different chips or even from different manufacturers. You just need to run two programs in parallel for chips from different companies. Let us remind you once again that mining on the integrated video card is not performed.

What cryptocurrencies can be mined on video cards

Any cryptocurrency can be mined on the GPU, but it should be understood that performance on different ones will differ on the same card. Older algorithms are already poorly suited for video processors and will not bring any profit. This happens due to the appearance on the market of new devices - the so-called. They are much more efficient and significantly increase the complexity of the network, but their cost is high and amounts to thousands of dollars. Therefore, mining SHA-256 (Bitcoin) or Scrypt (Litecoin, Dogecoin) coins at home is a bad idea in 2018.

Besides LTC and DOGE, ASICs made it impossible to mine Bitcoin (BTC), Dash, and other currencies. Cryptocurrencies that use ASIC-protected algorithms are much better choices. So, for example, using the GPU, it will be possible to mine coins using the CryptoNight algorithms (Karbovanets, Monero, Electroneum, Bytecoin), Equihash (ZCash, Hush, Bitcoin Gold) and Ethash (Ethereum, Ethereum Classic). The list is far from complete and new projects based on these algorithms are constantly appearing. Among them, there are both forks of more popular coins, and completely new developments. Occasionally, new algorithms even appear that are designed to solve certain problems and can use different equipment. Below we will talk about how to find out the hash rate of a video card.

What you need for mining on a video card

Below is a list of what you need to create a farm:

  • The video cards themselves. The choice of specific models depends on your budget or what is already in stock. Of course, old AGP-based devices will not work, but you can use any mid-range or top-end card of recent years. Above, you can return to the graphics card performance table, which will allow you to make a suitable choice.
  • Computer to install them. It is not necessary to use top-end hardware and make a farm based on high-performance components. An old AMD Athlon, a few gigabytes of RAM and a hard drive will be enough to install the operating system and the necessary programs. The motherboard is also important. It should have enough PCI slots for your farm. There are special versions for miners that contain 6-8 slots and in certain cases it is more profitable to use them than to assemble several PCs. Particular attention should be paid only to the power supply unit, because the system will operate under high load around the clock. It is necessary to take a power supply unit with a power reserve and it is desirable to have 80 Plus certificates. It is also possible to connect two blocks into one using special adapters, but this solution causes controversy on the Internet. It is better not to use the case at all. For better cooling, it is recommended to make or buy a special stand. In this case, video cards are carried out using special adapters called risers. You can buy them in specialized stores or on aliexpress.
  • Well ventilated dry area. The farm should be placed in a non-living room, or better generally in a separate room. This will eliminate the discomfort that arises from the noisy operation of cooling and heat transfer systems. If this is not possible, then you should choose video cards with the quietest cooling system. You can find out more about it from reviews on the Internet, for example, on YouTube. Consideration should also be given to air circulation and ventilation to keep the temperature as low as possible.
  • Miner program. GPU mining takes place using a special one that can be found on the Internet. For manufacturers ATI Radeon and Nvidia, different software is used. The same applies to different algorithms.
  • Equipment service. This is a very important point, since not everyone understands that a mining farm requires constant maintenance. The user needs to monitor the temperature, change the thermal paste and remove dust from CO. You should also remember about safety and regularly check the system for proper functioning.

How to set up mining on a video card from scratch

In this section, we will consider the entire mining process from choosing a currency to withdrawing funds. It should be noted that this entire process can be slightly different for different pools, programs and chips.

How to choose a video card for mining

We recommend that you familiarize yourself with the table above and with the section on calculating potential earnings. This will allow you to calculate the approximate income and determine which hardware you can afford more, as well as figure out the payback period. Do not forget about the compatibility of the power connectors of the video card and the power supply. If different are used, then you should get the appropriate adapters in advance. All this is easily bought in Chinese online stores for a penny or from local sellers with a certain margin.

Choosing a cryptocurrency

Now it is important to decide which coin you are interested in and what goals you want to achieve. If you are interested in making money in real time, then you should choose the currencies with the highest profit at the moment and sell them immediately after receiving. You can also mine the most popular coins and hold them until the price spikes. There is also a kind of strategic approach, when you choose a little-known, but promising currency in your opinion and you invest power in it, hoping that in the future the value will increase significantly.

Choosing a pool for mining

They also have some differences. Some of them require registration, and some just need your wallet address to get started. The former usually keep the funds you earn until the minimum amount for payment is reached, or pending manual withdrawal of your money. Suprnova.cc is a good example of such a pool. They offer a lot of cryptocurrencies and to work in each of the pools, you just need to register on the site once. The service is easy to set up and is well suited for beginners.

The Minergate website also offers a similar simplified system. Well, if you do not want to register on some site and store the earned funds there, then you should choose any pool in the official topic of the coin you are interested in on the BitcoinTalk forum. Simple pools only require specifying the address for charging the crypt, and in the future, using the address, it will be possible to find out the mining statistics.

We create a cryptocurrency wallet

You don't need this item if you are using a pool that requires registration and has a built-in wallet. If you want to receive payments automatically to your wallet, then try reading about creating a wallet in the article about the corresponding coin. This process can vary significantly for different projects.

You can also simply indicate the address of your wallet to one of the exchanges, but it should be noted that not all exchange platforms accept transactions from pools. The best option would be to create a wallet directly on your computer, but if you work with a large number of currencies, then storing all blockchains will be inconvenient. In this case, it is worth looking for reliable online wallets, or light versions that do not require downloading the entire block chain.

Choosing and installing a mining program

The choice of a program for mining a crypt depends on the chosen coin and its algorithm. Probably all the developers of such software have threads on BitcoinTalks, where you can find download links and information on how to set up and launch. Almost all of these programs have versions for both Windows and Linux. Most of these miners are free, but they use a certain percentage of the time to connect to the developer's pool. This is a kind of commission for using the software. In some cases it can be disabled, but this leads to functional limitations.

Setting up the program means that you specify the mining pool, wallet address or login, password (if any) and other options. It is recommended, for example, to set the maximum temperature limit, upon reaching which the farm will shut down, so as not to harm the video cards. The speed of the cooling fans and other finer settings that are unlikely to be used by beginners are adjustable.

If you do not know which software to choose, see our material on or study the instructions on the pool website. There is usually always a section on getting started. It contains a list of programs that can be used and configurations for .bat files. With its help, you can quickly figure out the setup and start mining on a discrete video card. You can immediately create batch files for all currencies with which you want to work, so that in the future it will be more convenient to switch between them.

We start mining and monitor statistics

After launch .bat file with settings, you will see a console window where the log of what is happening will be displayed. It can also be found in the folder with the executable file. In the console you can see the current hash rate and card temperature. Hotkeys usually allow you to call up the actual data.

You will also be able to see if the device is not finding hashes. In this case, a warning will be displayed. This happens when something is configured incorrectly, the wrong software is selected for the coin, or the GPU is not functioning properly. Many miners also use remote PC access tools to keep track of the operation of the farm when they are not where it is installed.

Withdraw cryptocurrency

If you use pools like Suprnova, then all funds are simply accumulated in your account and you can withdraw them at any time. The rest of the pools most often use the system, when funds are automatically credited to the specified wallet after receiving the minimum withdrawal amount. You can usually find out how much you earned on the pool website. You just need to specify the address of your wallet or log into your personal account.

How much can you earn?

The amount you can earn depends on the market situation and of course the overall hash rate of your farm. It is also important which strategy you choose. It is not necessary to sell everything mined at once You can, for example, wait for a jump in the rate of the mined coin and get many times more profit. However, everything is not so simple and it is simply unrealistic to predict the further development of events.

Payback of video cards

A special online calculator will help you calculate the payback. There are many of them on the Internet, but we will consider this process using the example of the WhatToMine service. It allows you to get data about the current profit based on the data of your farm. You just need to select the video cards that you have in stock, and then add the cost of electricity in your area. The site will calculate how much you can earn per day.

It should be understood that only the current state of affairs in the market is taken into account and the situation may change at any time. The rate may fall or rise, the difficulty of mining will be different or new projects will appear. So, for example, the production of ether may stop due to the possible transition of the network to. If you stop mining Ethereum, then farms will need to direct their free power somewhere, for example, to mining ZCash on a GPU, which will affect the rate of this coin. There are many similar scenarios on the market and it is important to understand that the current picture may not persist throughout the equipment payback period.

The question often came up: why is there no GPU acceleration in Adobe Media Encoder CC? And the fact that Adobe Media Encoder uses GPU acceleration, we found out, and also noted the nuances of its use. There is also a statement: that in the program Adobe Media Encoder CC removed support for GPU acceleration. This is an erroneous opinion and stems from the fact that the main Adobe Premiere Pro CC program can now work without a prescribed and recommended video card, and to enable the GPU engine in Adobe Media Encoder CC, the video card must be specified in the documents: cuda_supported_cards or opencl_supported_cards. If everything is clear with nVidia chipsets, just take the name of the chipset and enter it in the cuda_supported_cards document. When using AMD video cards, you need to register not the name of the chipset, but the code name of the kernel. So, let's check in practice how to enable the GPU engine in Adobe Media Encoder CC on an ASUS N71JQ laptop with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5730 discrete graphics. Technical data for the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5730 graphics adapter shown by the GPU-Z utility:

Launch the Adobe Premiere Pro CC program and turn on the engine: Mercury Playback Engine GPU Acceleration (OpenCL).

Three DSLR videos on the timeline, one above the other, two of them create a picture-in-picture effect.

Ctrl + M, select the Mpeg2-DVD preset, remove the black bars on the sides using the Scale To Fill option. We also include an increased quality for tests without a GPU: MRQ (Use Maximum Render Quality). Click on the button: Export. CPU load up to 20% and 2.56 GB RAM.


The GPU load of the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5730 chipset is 97% and 352MB of onboard video memory. The laptop has been tested on battery power, so the graphics core / memory is running at lower frequencies: 375/810 MHz.

Final rendering time: 1 minute and 55 seconds (on / off MRQ when using the GPU engine, does not affect the final rendering time).
With the Use Maximum Render Quality checkbox checked, now click on the button: Queue.


CPU clock speeds when running on battery: 930MHz.

Launch AMEEncodingLog and see the final rendering time: 5 minutes and 14 seconds.

We repeat the test, but with the Use Maximum Render Quality checkbox unchecked, click on the button: Queue.

Final rendering time: 1 minute and 17 seconds.

Now turn on the GPU engine in Adobe Media Encoder CC, launch the Adobe Premiere Pro CC program, press the key combination: Ctrl + F12, execute Console\u003e Console View and type GPUSniffer in the Command field, press Enter.


Highlight and copy the name to GPU Computation Info.

In the directory of the Adobe Premiere Pro CC program, open the opencl_supported_cards document, and in alphabetical order, type in the chipset code name, Ctrl + S.

Click on the button: Queue, and we get GPU accelerated rendering of the Adobe Premiere Pro CC project in Adobe Media Encoder CC.

Total time: 1 minute and 55 seconds.

We connect the laptop to an outlet and repeat the results of the miscalculations. Queue, the MRQ checkbox is removed, without turning on the engine, the RAM load has grown a little:


Processor clock speeds: 1.6GHz when plugged in and switched on: High performance.

Total time: 46 seconds.

We turn on the engine: Mercury Playback Engine GPU Acceleration (OpenCL), as you can see from the network, the laptop video card works at its base frequencies, the GPU load in Adobe Media Encoder CC reaches 95%.

Final rendering time, decreased from 1 minutes 55 seconds, before 1 minute and 5 seconds.

* Adobe Media Encoder CC now uses a graphics processing unit (GPU) for rendering. CUDA and OpenCL standards are supported. In Adobe Media Encoder CC, the GPU engine is used for the following rendering processes:
- Change in definition (from high to standard and vice versa).
- Timecode filter.
- Pixel format conversions.
- De-interleaving.
When a Premiere Pro project is rendering, AME uses the GPU rendering settings for that project. This will use all the GPU rendering capabilities of Premiere Pro. A limited set of GPU rendering capabilities are used to render AME projects. If the sequence is rendered using the original support, the GPU setting from AME is applied, the project setting is ignored. In this case, all of Premiere Pro's GPU rendering capabilities are used directly in AME. If the project contains third party VSTs, the GPU setting of the project is used. The sequence is encoded using PProHeadless, as in earlier versions of AME. If Enable Native Premiere Pro Sequence Import is unchecked, PProHeadless and GPU setting are always used.

We read about the hidden partition on the system drive of the ASUS N71JQ laptop.

The developer should learn to use the device's graphics processing unit (GPU) effectively so that the application does not slow down or do unnecessary work.

Configure GPU rendering parameters

If your application is slow, then some or all of the screen refresh frames are refreshed for more than 16 milliseconds. To visually see the frame updates on the screen, you can enable a special option (Profile GPU Rendering) on \u200b\u200bthe device.

You will be able to quickly see how long it takes to render frames. Let me remind you that you need to fit into 16 milliseconds.

The option is available on devices starting from Android 4.1. Developer mode must be activated on the device. On devices with version 4.2 and higher, the mode is hidden by default. To activate goes to Settings | About phone and click on the line seven times Build number.

After activation, go to Developer options and find the item Configure GPU rendering parameters (Profile GPU rendering) which should be enabled. In the pop-up window, select the option On the screen in the form of bars (On screen as bars). In this case, the chart will be displayed over the running application.

You can test not only your application, but others as well. Launch any application and start working with it. As you work, you will see an updated graph at the bottom of the screen. The horizontal axis is responsible for the elapsed time. The vertical axis shows the time for each frame in milliseconds. When interacting with the application, vertical stripes are drawn on the screen, appearing from left to right, showing the frame performance over time. Each such column represents one frame to draw the screen. The higher the bar height, the longer it takes to render. The thin green line is a reference point and corresponds to 16 milliseconds per frame. Thus, you need to strive to ensure that the graph does not stray beyond this line when examining your application.

Consider a larger version of the graph.

The green line is responsible for 16 milliseconds. To keep within 60 frames per second, each bar of the graph must be drawn below this line. At some points, the column will be too large and will be much higher than the green line. This means the deceleration of the program. Each column has cyan, purple (Lollipop and above), red, and orange.

The blue color is responsible for the time used to create and update View.

The purple portion represents the time it took to transfer the rendering resources of the thread.

The red color represents the time to render.

Orange indicates how long it took the processor to wait for the GPU to shutdown. It is the source of problems at large values.

There are special techniques to reduce the load on the GPU.

Debug GPU overdraw rate

Another setting lets you know how often the same area of \u200b\u200bthe screen is redrawn (i.e., extra work is done). Again we go to Developer options and find the item Debug GPU overdraw rate (Debug GPU Overdraw) which should be enabled. In the pop-up window, select the option Show Overlay Zones (Show overdraw areas). Don't be alarmed! Some items on the screen will change color.

Go back to any application and watch it work. The color will indicate the problem areas of your application.

If the color in the application has not changed, then everything is fine. There is no overlay of one color on top of another.

Light blue indicates that one layer is being drawn on top of the bottom layer. Okay.

Green color - redrawn twice. You need to think about optimization.

Pink - redrawn three times. It's all very bad.

Red - redrawn many times. Something went wrong.

You can check your application yourself to find problem areas. Create an activity and place a component on it TextView... Give the root element and text label some background in the attribute android: background... You will get the following: first, you painted over the lowest layer of activity with one color. Then a new layer is drawn on top of it from TextView... By the way, actually TextView the text is also drawn.

In some moments, overlapping colors cannot be avoided. But imagine that you set the background for the list in the same way ListViewthat occupies the entire activity area. The system will do double work, although the user will never see the bottom layer of activity. And if, in addition, you create your own markup for each element of the list with its own background, then in general you will get brute force.

A little advice. Place after method setContentView () calling a method that will remove screen redrawing with the theme color. This will help remove one extra color overlap:

GetWindow (). SetBackgroundDrawable (null);