With the prices of graphics cards rising due to the cryptocurrency gold rush, it's now more sensible to buy a pre-built device for mining cryptocurrencies, which is where our best mining rig 2018 list comes in.

Unlike the best mining desktop PCs, which can be used for other day-to-day tasks as normal PCs, mining rigs are specially-designed for one purpose only: to efficiently and effectively mine cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

This means you won't be able to use a mining rig for other tasks, but it does mean you'll be getting the very best mining results thanks to the best mining rigs being designed to eke out the maximum return when running.

If you still want to build your own mining rig, check out our guides on the best mining GPUs, best mining CPU, best mining motherboards and best mining SSDs to help you get started.

Shark Mining is a well-regarded company that makes some excellent pre-built mining rigs. Its Shark Mini is a compact rig that comes with four GPUs. The base model comes with AMD RX 570/580, but your can configure it to have a NVIDIA GTX 1070 GPU or 1070 Ti GPU, which could net you an extra profit, and you can also add a touchscreen display for keeping an eye on the rig. Shark Mining estimates a profit of $200 a month if you mine ZCash , and up to $300 a month with Ethereum if you use the base model with, though of course that could change.

• Buy now from $2,690 (around £2,034, AU$3,642) 

The Bitcoin Gold GPU Miner 2000 H/s from Ethereumminer.eu  is a pre-built mining rig that offers the potential of a pretty excellent profit. While values may fluctuate, you could see this rig paying for itself after not long at all. Especially as it has recently had a price cut - something of a rarity with mining devices which usually see price rises! This rig can also be customised to suit your needs and budget.

• Buy now for €2999.95 (around $3,600, £2,700, AU$5,000)

Application-specific integrated circuit chips (ASICs) differ from other mining rigs as they don't utilize GPUs to do the mining, which means price and power consumption is reduced. They can also solve Bitcoin blocks faster, which means they are definitely worth looking into. This ASIC miner from Mineshop.eu is a good mid-range miner that has a hash rate of 19.5 GH/s. Definitely one to consider if space is at a premium.

• Buy now for €499.87 (around $583, £441, AU$789)

Shark Mining has another entry in this list of best mining rigs, this time with its Shark PRO mining rig. Like the Shark mini, this is a well-built device for mining that comes with a range of configuration options. The base model comes with six AMD RX570/580 cards, but these can be upgraded to NVIDIA GTX 1070, GTX 1070 Ti or GTX 1080 Ti GPUs. It's an expensive rig, but the build quality and potential profit makes it a very tempting choice if you're serious about mining.

• Buy now for $3,790 (around £2,866, AU$5,130)

The PandaMiner B5 Plus is a brilliantly put together miner that's compact and attractive, while also being excellent at making profits when mining for cryptocurrencies. However, it is very expensive, and due to its popularity it can often be sold out. Luckily Pandaminer has a number of different models to choose from.

• Buy now for  ¥12,000.00 (around $1,800, £1,400, AU$2,500)

• Best ASIC devices for Bitcoin mining in 2018

Amid the mining of blocks and chains currently keeping PC components alive, you’re best off to refrain from building your own computer for the time being, so if you're keen on getting into mining, you'll want to check out our list of the best mining PCs that you can buy right now.

Because the demand for the best mining GPUs is so high, it means getting your hands on a graphics card can be difficult - and expensive. This has led to a rather bizarre situation where it's actually cheaper to buy a whole new PC for mining, rather than a single graphics card!

Also, if you're not interested in fiddling around with wires and components, it means you can get a ready-made desktop PC that can start mining cryptocurrency as quickly as possible.

So, here are the best mining PCs you can buy in 2018.

• Understanding Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies
• Bitcoin explained: what is Bitcoin?
• How to buy Bitcoins in 2018
• Bitcoin vs distributed ledger vs Ethereum vs blockchain
• The best Bitcoin exchanges 2018

The best mining PCs 2018

If you don't mind spending (a lot) of money, then the Origin Millennium PC is a worthy choice for the ultimate mining PC. This is because you can deck it out with some seriously impressive components, such as two EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Founders Edition graphics cards and the Intel Broadwell-E Core i7-6950X processor, which gives you an excellent base for mining with. If you're canny with your mining and cryptocurrency choice, you could even end up making a decent profit after paying off the cost of this beast.

Read the full review: Origin Millennium

• If for any reason you aren't able to get this PC: check out a fine alternative in the Overclockers 8Pack Asteroid.

The Dell XPS Tower Edition is a compact and almost plain-looking PC, but hidden beneath this exterior is an impressive array of components. Inside you’ll find your choice of the latest in GPU tech, in addition to a blazing-fast 7th generation Intel CPU and a spacious hard drive and/or SSD. Now, the Special Edition is only available in the US, but our readers in the UK and Australia will still be able to buy the regular Dell XPS Tower and beef it up to the same level through Dell’s configuration page. This is definitely a great mining PC that allows you to tweak and configure without having to know about building your own PC.

Read the full review: Dell XPS Tower Special Edition

The Lenovo ThinkCentre M900 is an excellent desktop PC for cryptocurrency mining use, as it combines speed and power with an excellent build quality and reliability which is essential for PCs that will be left on for long periods of time. The Lenovo ThinkCentre M900 comes in a range of configurations, with the top-end model boasting a huge amount of power. This flexibility lets you build a Lenovo ThinkCentre M900 that suits your needs, and there's plenty of room to upgrade and expand this desktop in the future. 

This is another fantastic gaming PC that also doubles as a versatile mining PC. Thanks to its powerful components, you'll be getting some good returns when you put it to mining, and the excellent cooling system of this PC means it can run for long periods of time without overheating - or getting too noisy. It's another expensive outlay, but one that could quickly pay off if you mine wisely.

Read the full review: MSI Infinite A

•  If for any reason you aren't able to get this PC: check out a fine alternative in the Overclockers 8Pack Asteroid.

• While you’re at it, we’ve also found the best gaming desktop PC you can buy
• Check out also the best VPN services of 2018 that we've nailed down.