Book Image

Bitcoin Essentials

By : Albert Szmigielski
Book Image

Bitcoin Essentials

By: Albert Szmigielski

Overview of this book

Blockchain is being billed as the technology of the future. Bitcoin is the first application of that technology. Mining is what makes it all possible. Exploring mining from a practical perspective will help you make informed decisions about your mining setup. Understanding what the future may hold for blockchains, and therefore for mining, will help you position yourself to take advantage of the impending changes. This practical guide starts with an introduction to Bitcoin wallets, as well as mining hardware and software. You will move on to learn about different mining techniques using the CPU, GPU, FPGA, and ultimately the ASIC as an example. After this, you will gain an insight into solo mining and pool mining, and see the differences between the two. The book will then walk you through large-scale mining and the challenges faced during such operations. Finally, you will take a look into the future to see a world where blockchain-based applications are commonplace and mining is ubiquitous.
Table of Contents (15 chapters)
Bitcoin Essentials
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewer
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Setting up a GPU for mining


In order to use a GPU to mine, you must have at least one GPU installed in your machine. At first, we will go over how to mine with only one GPU. Using multiple GPUs in your system to mine is a very a straightforward extension from mining with a single one.

Drivers

We will concentrate here on AMD GPUs as they offer the best hashing performance for the money when it comes to hashing power, the cost of the GPU, and electricity efficiency. Nvidia GPUs can also be used as long as you have the drivers for your video card installed.

Note

In order to mine with AMD GPUs, we will need the latest AMD drivers. You can find the latest AMD drivers here: http://support.amd.com/en-us.

If your GPU has already been installed in your machine, chances are that you have your driver installed already.

Here are some helpful Linux commands:

  • lspci | grep VGA: This command displays the graphics cards in your system:

  • sudo aticonfig --adapter=all --odgt: This command displays the graphics cards...