Table of Contents
CPU mining is now at the peak of popularity and every day more and more people want to try to earn in this field. It is hard to deny that the mining industry is not an easy business: besides the fact that a novice miner must have an entrepreneurial streak and understand the basics of doing business, he must also necessarily understand all the technical details of the process.
It can be difficult for a newcomer to understand this topic, because the variety of incomprehensible terms sometimes leaves him stumped. If you want to start as soon as possible, without investing money and time to buy equipment and study the intricacies of the process, try . Now this way is considered more profitable. But if you want to get acquainted exactly with independent mining on the CPU, this article is for you.
What is CPU mining
Cryptocurrency mining is a series of complex calculations involving the enumeration of parameters in order to find a hash with given properties. Such a process requires a lot of computing power.
You’ve probably heard that mining on and (or GPUs) is a great option for passive income, but there are a lot of conflicting opinions about mining on CPUs. For example, that it is not the most profitable option.
In the first years after the appearance of cryptocurrency, it was enough to use a regular CPU for mining. Now the situation has changed: this option is not considered by miners due to its low profitability.
CPU is hardly enough for getting serious earnings, but CPU mining will be quite suitable for getting small altcoins – because in the context of “initial investment/profitability” ratio this option is the most optimal. Please note, if you are aiming at higher profits, you will need to develop your business and switch to more productive equipment in time, or invest in .
So, the central processing unit (or CPU) is an integrated circuit, which is the main part of the hardware of a personal computer or any other equipment.
Nowadays, any modern high-performance computer is equipped with a powerful CPU with a high operating frequency and multiple cores. Accordingly, if you have a good personal computer, you don’t have to invest hundreds or thousands of dollars in hardware.
The success of CPU mining is also determined by the cryptocurrency you intend to mine. Of course, it makes no sense to mine on CPUs, but there are digital currencies whose hashing algorithms are “tuned” to mine on CPUs, so it will be easier for your CPU to mine them. These digital currencies include: Monero, ZCash, Dogecoin, Litecoin, Dash, Sibcoin, etc.
Today, there are the following types of cryptocurrency mining on the processor:
Solo mining is the process of mining a cryptocurrency using only your own computing power without involving other miners;
working through . A mining pool is a server that allows miners to mine digital currencies together (in this case, miners’ computing power is combined, and the reward for closing the block is distributed between the pool participants in proportion to their “contribution” to the pool);
multipool is a server that allows you to mine several virtual currencies and switch between different cryptocurrencies, depending on their profitability (for example, , , , ).
What cryptocurrency can be mined by the processor
The reality is that you can get the highest income if you mine the coins that work based on Cryptonight cryptocurrency algorithm: Monero XMR, Bytecoin, Electroneum, DigitalNote, etc. In addition to this algorithm, the CPU is able to decrypt the following algorithms:
SHA-256 (Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Syscoin, Peercoin, Namecoin, etc.);
x11 (Dash, Pura currencies, etc.);
Ethash (Ethereum ETH, Ethereum Classic, Metaverse ETP, Ubiq currencies, etc.);
Scrypt (Litecoin, Dogecoin, etc.);
Equihash (Zcash, Komodo, etc.).
See also:
In theory you can mine all of these cryptocurrencies, but in practice in most cases the game is just not worth the candle. It’s best to consider mining Monero, ZEC and Dogecoin.
What kind of processor to choose for mining?
Unfortunately, there is simply no unambiguous answer to this question. The choice of processor depends on too many factors, so this question should be approached individually. One thing is for sure: the more powerful processor you choose, the higher the hash rate will be, which means that the performance of your mining equipment will be high and the mining process will be profitable. When choosing a processor, you should pay due attention to the following characteristics of the CPU:
clock frequency;
The number of cores.
It is these parameters that will determine the hash rate. At the moment, it is believed that one of the most promising options is a central processor of Xeon line. Also a good option would be a processor from the manufacturer AMD or Intel (i3, i5, i7 series). Below is a table of processor performance, which should help in choosing the right equipment (the table shows the most popular CPU models).
Processor performance for mining
How to choose the software for mining on the processor
The choice of software is usually given insufficient attention, but believe me, the right one is a very important detail in the context of profitability and half of your success.
For those who do not understand what we are talking about, let’s make it clear. A cryptocurrency mining program is specially designed software that allows you to use the processing power of your equipment. The main task of this kind of software is to perform calculations in order to get rewards for developing blocks.
It makes sense to choose software for mining digital currencies only after you have decided exactly what kind of cryptocurrency you will be mining. Mining software is designed specifically for mining a particular (or several) virtual currencies (see table below). All programs are freely available online, so, for example, you can download the software from Github. In addition, there are programs that allow you to mine on CPU and video card at the same time.
How to set up mining on the processor
In order to start mining any cryptocurrency on the processor, you will need to follow certain steps in a specific sequence. Setting up will not take you much time and is not particularly difficult – even a beginner will cope with the task. The whole process is carried out in four steps:
- Choosing a processor;
- Installing the cryptocurrency wallet;
- Selecting and installing the program;
- Creating a bat file and running it.
At the first stage you will need to choose a powerful central processor.You should also choose a good motherboard, fast RAM, connect the hard drive, power supply and monitor. When choosing a CPU you should pay attention to how much electricity your CPU will consume, because the profitability of mining will depend on this parameter. If your CPU will not be economical in terms of power consumption, then, alas, most likely, you will not be able to earn a penny, there is a risk even to go into deficit. Consider eight- and sixteen-core processors from AMD with high clock speed; mining on a server CPU will increase your chances of profit (see above CPU performance table). Look for more information on the web (on forums, for example), look up CPU ratings in terms of performance and power efficiency.
In the second step, you will need to install a cryptocurrency wallet. To do this, you will need to go to the official website of your chosen cryptocurrency and download a special wallet program. The wallet will send your mined coins to the wallet, and then you can either store this digital money in the wallet, or withdraw it. On the official sites, as a rule, there are links to download a wallet for different software, you will need to select the appropriate file. After you download and install your wallet program, you will need to synchronize it with the network and find out the wallet address.
The third step is to choose and install the program-miner. Note that the program must be suitable for the selected virtual currency. You can download the software from the network, for example, from Github. There will be links to download, you will need to select the desired version of the software. Then you will install the program on your personal computer. Now all you need to do is to configure your software.
The fourth step is to create a file with a bat extension and start the mining process. A file with a bat extension is a file that contains the basic parameters for mining digital currencies and is responsible for launching the program with the specified configurations. In particular, this file contains the following parameters: the path to the program’s exe file, pool address, port, wallet address, type of computing architecture, miner number, password, etc. For different programs and pools, as a rule, the list of characteristics differs, but not cardinally.
You can create a file with bat extension in Notepad. You work with a standard text file, prescribe all the settings, and then save this file in bat format.
Mining Monero on CPU
So, as we have already found out, the best option is to mine the cryptocurrency . To start mining monero on CPU, you need:
The CPU itself;
A cryptocurrency wallet where your mined coins will be sent;
a pool for mining;
Software (miner software).
Let’s assume that you have already chosen the hardware. Now it is necessary to choose a cryptocurrency wallet. You can use a local wallet, or you can use a wallet on the exchange. The second option is more preferable, because you can quickly withdraw the coins you have mined into fiat, or buy another cryptocurrency. Choose exchanges with user-friendly interface, easy entry and withdrawal of funds, as well as built-in methods of withdrawal to card or qiwi-wallet. You can choose the option that is right for you using our . You will need to register at the exchanger, and you will be able to copy the wallet address in your personal account.
Then you need to select . You may prefer any pool that will suit you in terms of commission and capacity. Register in a pool, add a new worker and enter your wallet address.
Next, all that’s left is to download the necessary software. Previously, we have already written what programs you can use for monero. You will need to download your chosen program-miner, unzip it to a convenient place and open the file config.txt. In notepad you have to write the following text:
“-o /and then your pool address/ -u /and then your wallet address/ -p /and then password, for almost all pools you should leave x/”.
Then you will need to save this file with a bat extension and run the bat file. If you’ve done everything right, the mining on CPU is already going on. After waiting for a while, you will be able to view the mining statistics. To do that you have to go to your pool’s website, enter your wallet address and you will see a graph with your stats: your current hashrate, balance and so on.
Setting up Dogecoin mining on CPU
So, based on all of the above, mining on a CPU is hardly a great option. Its efficiency is decreasing every year, giving way to mining on specialized expensive equipment.
In our opinion, considering it as a source of income is definitely not the best idea, because the profit you can get is incredibly low.
In general, nowadays you can mine only the beginning cryptocurrencies or promising cryptocurrencies, which are based on CryptoNight algorithm, like Monero, for example. But you must realize, that even mining of such digital currencies can’t bring you good profit, so if you are aiming for impressive sums, this option is definitely not for you.
Also consider that there is no point in buying a CPU specifically for mining, so if you don’t have a powerful processor, then you should definitely give up on mining on a CPU.
So, before you start the process, weigh up the pros and cons and decide for yourself how much time and money it makes sense to spend on this idea.
