<p>Using a GPU to mine Bitcoins would use a lot more power than watching HD video, since while the video decoder would only use the processing power it needed, a Bitcoin mine would use all of the power available to it.</p>

<p>I don't have any real numbers, but I think mining Bitcoins would be equivalent to, say, playing Far Cry 3 on the maximum settings, while watching HD video would be more like playing Fallout 3 on medium settings.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-04-26T17:24:34.043Z
2013-04-26T17:24:34.043Z
Julian Goldsmith
<p>You can see how much work your video card is doing during various tasks with <a href="http://www.ozone3d.net/gpu_caps_viewer/" rel="nofollow">GPU Caps Viewer</a>.  It will tell you what clock speed your card is running at, what the max it is capable of, and what percentage of your GPU is being used.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-04-26T17:32:27.537Z
2013-04-26T17:32:27.537Z
Ben
<p>Using the built-in ATI video card on my computer, I can mine at about a 30-50 MHps rate. I'm wondering, how does this amount of work compare to normal video card operation? Or how can it be calculated? Is mining for 6 hours at this rate equivalent to watching Transformers 2 in HD over and over again on my monitor?</p>

<p>There's already plenty of questions about equipment wear when GPU mining, I'm looking for an easy-to-understand comparison to normal GPU taks.</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

<mining-hardware><hashpower><gpu>
Energy & performance comparison: GPU mining vs playing HD Video
pinhead
# Energy & performance comparison: GPU mining vs playing HD Video

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-04-26)

Using the built-in ATI video card on my computer, I can mine at about a 30-50 MHps rate. I'm wondering, how does this amount of work compare to normal video card operation? Or how can it be calculated? Is mining for 6 hours at this rate equivalent to watching Transformers 2 in HD over and over again on my monitor?

There's already plenty of questions about equipment wear when GPU mining, I'm looking for an easy-to-understand comparison to normal GPU taks.

Thanks

**Tags:** mining-hardware, hashpower, gpu


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2013-04-26. Score: 1

Using a GPU to mine Bitcoins would use a lot more power than watching HD video, since while the video decoder would only use the processing power it needed, a Bitcoin mine would use all of the power available to it.

I don't have any real numbers, but I think mining Bitcoins would be equivalent to, say, playing Far Cry 3 on the maximum settings, while watching HD video would be more like playing Fallout 3 on medium settings.


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### Answer by username_2 on 2013-04-26. Score: 0

You can see how much work your video card is doing during various tasks with [GPU Caps Viewer](http://www.ozone3d.net/gpu_caps_viewer/). It will tell you what clock speed your card is running at, what the max it is capable of, and what percentage of your GPU is being used.


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