GPU mining history
Hardware
algorithm is difficult to solve in memory. In order to make DAG suitable for memory, each GPU needs 1-2gb of memory. If you get an error prompt: error GPU mining. GPU memory fragmentation? It means you don't have enough memory. GPU mining software is based on OpenCL, amd GPU will be faster than NVIDIA GPU of the same level. ASIC and FPGA are relatively inefficient, so they are blocked. To get OpenCL for chip integration platform, try:
amd SDK OpenCL
NVIDIA CUDA OpenCL
Ubuntu Linux settings
for this quick guide, you will need Ubuntu 14.04 or 15.04 and fglrx image driver. You can also use NVIDIA drives and other platforms, but you have to find your own way to get an effective OpenCL installation, such as genoil's ethminer fork
if you are using 15.04, go to & quot; Software and updates 〉 extra drives & quot; Set to & quot; Use the video driver & quot; from fglrx for AMD graphics accelerator
if you are using 14.04, go to & quot; Software and updates 〉 extra drives & quot; Set to & quot; Use the video driver & quot; from fglrx for AMD graphics accelerator;. Unfortunately, for some people, this method may not work, because there is a known program error in Ubuntu 14.04.02 that will prevent you from switching to the exclusive graphics drive necessary for GPU mining
therefore, if you encounter this program error, go to & quot; "Software and update" update & quot; Select & quot; Pre release reliable update proposal & quot;. Then, back to & quot; Software and updates 〉 extra drives & quot; Set to & quot; Use the video driver & quot; from fglrx for AMD graphics accelerator;. After restarting, it's worth checking that the drive is now properly installed (for example, by going to & quot; Additional drives & quot;)
no matter what you do, if you are using 14.04.02, once installed, do not change the drive or drive configuration. For example, the use of aticonfig – initial (especially the - F, - force option) will & quot; Destruction & quot; Your settings. If you accidentally change the configuration, you will need to uninstall the drive, restart, install the drive again and restart.
In short, mining is the use of chips for a random number related calculation, get the answer in exchange for a virtual currency. Virtual currency can be exchanged for the currency of each country through some way. The stronger the computing power, the faster the chip can find this random answer. Theoretically, the more virtual coins can be proced per unit time. Because it's about random numbers, you can only get rewards if you happen to find the answer
In his paper, Nakamoto stated:"in the absence of central authority, it not only encourages miners to support bitcoin network, but also enables bitcoin's currency circulation system to have the initial source of money injection."
Nakamoto compares the generation of bitcoin by consuming CPU power and time to the consumption of resources by gold mines to inject gold into the economy. Bitcoin mining and node software mainly initiates zero knowledge proof and verification transactions through peer-to-peer network, digital signature and interactive proof system
each network node concts broadcast transactions to the network. After these broadcast transactions are verified by miners (computers on the network), miners can use their own work proof results to express their confirmation. The confirmed transactions will be packaged into data blocks, and the data blocks will form a continuous data block chain
Nakamoto himself designed the first version of bitcoin mining program, which was later developed into the first generation of widely used mining software bitcoin, which was popular from 2009 to mid-2010
each bitcoin node will collect all the unconfirmed transactions and gather them into a data block. The miner node will add a random adjustment number and calculate the SHA-256 hash value of the previous data block. The mining node tries again and again until it finds the random adjustment number so that the hash value is lower than a specific target
extended data
at the earliest, bitcoin miners were mining through Intel or AMD CPU procts. But because mining is a computing intensive application, and with the continuous improvement of mining number and equipment performance, the difficulty graally increases, now using CPU mining has no profit or even loss
as of 2012, since the first quarter of 2013, miners graally began to use GPU or FPGA and other mining equipment [5]. At the same time, a large number of ASIC devices were launched in mid 2013
since July 2013, the computing power of the whole network has shown a straight-line rise e to the large number of ASIC equipment put into operation. Based on the average computing power in July 2013, all CPU mining equipment has been unable to generate positive revenue, and FPGA equipment is close to no revenue
according to the estimation of average computing power in September 2013, the existing small ASIC mining equipment developed for indivials will also be close to no positive revenue in the next 1-2 months. A large amount of computing power is monopolized by cluster ASIC mining equipment with 5 th ash / s or more. Because of no profit, indivial mining is almost squeezed out of mining groups. Some bitcoin miners have raised funds to build machine rooms and install a large number of mining equipment in places where low-cost electricity can be obtained
in order to save the cost of mining, some bitcoin miners make mining programs into malicious programs to infect other people's computers on the network to mine for themselves
The first step in setting up mining equipment is to choose the right hardware. This article will focus on GPU (graphics card) mining, of course, you can use CPU or ASIC equipment mining. Amd graphics card architecture is very beneficial to mining. NVIDIA card is not suitable for mining because of its low hash rate. The best NVIDIA graphics cards are less than 0.5 megahash. Notebook Hardware mining is not as good as NVIDIA card, which is a bad option for mining. You need to use a desktop system for mining. There is a desktop system to ensure adequate cooling of the hardware
the graphics card or card needs to be able to match the motherboard, and the power supply must have enough PCI-E connectors. Before determining the graphics card, pay attention to these. In order for the system to cool down sufficiently, you need to remove the cover of the chassis in order to get better heat dissipation. This is what people call "open air rig.". If you can aim the system at a fan or air conditioner, you can make the device cooler when it's running, thus extending its life and keeping it efficient
there are many stream processors in GPU of graphics card. For example, the old HD5770 has 800 stream processors, which is equivalent to 800 computing cores. In recent years, the mainstream high-end graphics card has more built-in stream processors and more powerful computing performance. Using GPU for mining operation, the stream processor is used for parallel operation, and the mining program also optimizes the GPU parallel operation, so the operation efficiency is particularly high, and the efficiency of bitcoin mining has been greatly improved
the number of CPU cores is relatively small. At present, the number of the most powerful mainstream desktop processor cores is no more than 10 or 20 (many are logic cores virtualized by hyper threading technology), and the parallel computing power is far less than that of GPU.
therefore, high-end graphics cards are used in mining. Large GPUs operate together. It's much faster.
GPU mining generally does not require high processor performance, but without CPU, it certainly can not. Without CPU control, GPU can not carry out mining operation.
CPU mining → GPU mining → professional miner mining → mine pool mining
on January 3, 2009, the founder of bitcoin, Nakamoto Tsung, g up the first batch of bitcoin with computer CPU
with the recognition of bitcoin, more and more people are mining, the computing power of the whole network is rising, and the difficulty of mining is graally rising
the first graphics card mining software was released on September 18, 2010. A graphics card is equivalent to dozens of CPUs, and the mining capacity has been significantly improved
later, someone invented a professional mining equipment based on mining chip, namely mining machine. At present, the instry-leading ant miner is equipped with nearly 200 bm1387 chips, which is equivalent to the computing power of more than 30000 GPUs
as more mining machines are added to mining, it is difficult for a single mining machine to dig bitcoin. As a result, the miners concentrated their mining machines and formed mines and pools.