A quick description of mining software...
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For each block of transactions, the GPU's on your mining rig repeatedly guess answers to a puzzle until one of them wins and is rewarded with a block reward (in Ether). Once a miner finds the hash, it is broadcasted across the network for each node to validate and add to their own copy of the ledger. The other miners stop working on the block, and start the next block.
Approximately every 12-15 seconds, a miner finds a block. If miners begin to solve the puzzles at a different speed, the algorithm adjusts the difficulty of the problem so that the miners maintain the 12-15 second solution time. The miners randomly earn these ether, and their profitability depends on luck and the amount of computing power they devote to it. |
What to look for when building a mining rig:
Since mining software is very GPU-intensive, the most profitable way to mine Ether is to maximize graphics processing power while minimizing other costs. Currently, only graphics cards with memory of at least 3 GB can even mine Ethereum, because a copy of the DAG file (~2.4 GB) must reside directly in the graphics card's memory. The DAG file is slowly growing every day, so one must keep it in mind when considering graphics cards to buy.
Here is a quick guide to optimizing components for maximum profits while mining:
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