How to mine crypto and earn money on your gaming PC in 7 steps

NiceHash is a handy service that allows you to sell others your PC hardware to mine cryptocurrency. It's possible to join mining pools to combine computing power and earn some Bitcoin in return by running this software. You can quite easily.

Products used in this guide

• Best value GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (See at Amazon)
• Mining pool software: NiceHash

How to set up NiceHash

All you need is your gaming PC, so once that's up and running, simply follow the steps below to start mining crypto (well ... technically, it's selling your PC hardware) and earning some Bitcoin.

1. Register an account on the NiceHash website.
2. Download the mining software.
3. Run the NiceHash software.
4. Enter your NiceHash address (double-check to make sure you enter it correctly).
5. Optional: I recommend disabling the CPU under "Devices."
6. Hit the big play button.
7. Profit.

I recommend disabling the CPU because it's simply not worth it, in my opinion. It's better to free up your CPU or power it down to save on consumption and allow your GPU to do all the heavy lifting. If you're looking for the best mining GPU, we rounded up not only the best graphics card for gaming but also more affordable options for crypto mining.

How to optimize your PC for mining

While it's certainly possible to load up NiceHash, set it all up and leave it running for years, it's best to do a little tinkering to get the most out of your GPU without using too much electricity. If we can lower our consumption without affecting performance, we stand to make more profit.

MSI Afterburner is a great tool for altering GPU power, clock speed, and other values.

Lower GPU power draw

1. Run MSI Afterburner.
2. Lower the power limit to 80%.
3. Hit the apply button.
4. Start the NiceHash mining process.
5. Take note of your hash rate (in MH/s) from the miner command line window.
6. Lower the power limit in Afterburner a further 5%.
7. Hit the Apply button.
8. Take note of your hash rate again after 10 minutes.
9. Continue steps 6-8 until you notice a drop in the hash rate or hit the minimum power limit allowed.

Change Windows 10 power settings

1. Hit the Windows key.
2. Type "power."
3. Choose "Power & Sleep" from the results.
4. Change both drop-down menus to "Never."

5. Scroll down and select "Additional power settings."

   

6. Select "High performance."

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti

See at Amazon

NVIDIA's RTX 3060 may be the more affordable GPU in the new 30-series, but it has more than enough grunt to handle some crypto mining.