This is the best time of the year to invest in a serious mining rig. All the big hardware manufacturers have already rolled out their best offerings. And the crypto industry is once again expanding rapidly. So, let’s take a look at the coolest GPUs to augment your mining hardware.

1. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080

If you can find and afford one, NVIDIA’s latest GeForce RTX 3080 is a monster. Just released in January 2021, and top of the line for the GeForce 30 series, with Ampere microarchitecture.

According to some leaked mining benchmarks, the GeForce RTX 3080 delivers an unprecedented 75 MHash/s on the Dagger Hashimoto algorithm. Now, if you overclock it, performance jumps to 93 MHash/s. To put these figures in perspective, the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti manages approximately 54 MHash/sec, while the older GeForce GTX 1080Ti turns in only 30 MHash/sec. As for specs, this graphic card comes with a base clock speed of 1440 MHz that can be boosted up to 1710 MHz. Besides, it has 10 GB of 10GB GDDR6X.

The best thing about this card is that even with overclocking, this thing runs cool. The temperature always stays within the 65 degrees Celsius range. Although the fans run at 1000 RPM (with no load), you can barely hear them hum.

However, there’s a caveat. It has a TDP rating of 320W, considerably higher than both GeForce RTX 2080Ti and GTX 1080Ti. With an overclock, power consumption easily touches the low ends of 400W. If you can play around with different power limits, clock, and memory speed to maximize your crypto profit, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is your champion for 2021. Go splurge!

These are in short supply are a few similar products on Amazon that have this or similar GPU models:

• GeForce RTX 3060: GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Gaming OC
• GeForce RTX 3070: ASUS Dual GeForce RTX 3070 OC Edition
• GeForce RTX 3070: EVGA GeForce RTX 3070 FTW3 Ultra
• GeForce RTX 3070: EVGA 08G-P5-3755-KR GeForce RTX 3070 XC3
• GeForce RTX 3080: ASUS TUF Gaming NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 OC Edition
• GeForce RTX 3090: MSI Gaming GeForce RTX 3090

And since these are in short supply also you can find them on Ebay:

• GeForce RTX 3070: MSI GeForce RTX 3070 VENTUS 3X OC 8GB GDDR6
• GeForce RTX 3080: MSI RTX 3080 SUPRIM X
• GeForce RTX 3090: ASUS RTX 3090 ROG Strix OC

2. XFX Radeon Rx 5700 XT

When it comes to profitability, the XFX Radeon RX 5700 XT is a huge draw. That’s because the chip is based on 7-nm Fin FET semiconductor technology, which is a lot cheaper than the latest 6800 series that draws considerably more power.

The Navi 10 processor has a 1605 Mhz base clock speed and a 1750 MHz memory clock speed. It features 160 texture mapping units, 2560 shading units, and 64 ROPs. Moreover, it has 8GB GDDR6 memory interconnected via a 256-bit memory bus interface.

The GPU runs at 52 MHash/s, drawing just 105 Watts from the power supply. Of course, you will need to overclock and power tune the GPU to achieve these results. Thankfully, as it’s an old card, you can find plenty of tuning options online.

The only problem is, this GPU is a bit harder to set for Ethereum mining. But, after it’s all set and working stable, the trouble is worth the effort. We strongly recommend it as long as you’re getting it on the MSRP.

Amazon Page: XFX Radeon Rx 5700 8GB GDDR6 3xDP HDMI, Pci-E AMD Graphics Card (RX-57XL8MFG6)

3. AMD Radeon RX 480

The Radeon RX 48 is one of the most economical and cost-efficient pieces of hardware for Ethereum mining, thanks to a hash rate of 25MHash/s. However, to achieve this feat, the GPU runs at a core clock speed of 1095 MHz & a memory clock speed of 2160. That consumes approximately 69 Watts. Not Bad, right?

The AMD Radeon is equipped with 8GB GDDR5 RAM. There’s also a 4GB version, but it’s less suitable for mining. Inside, you get an Ellesmere processor chip with 2304 shaders. The base and memory clock speeds of this beast are 1120 MHz and 2000 MHz, respectively.

The Radeon RX 48 can go toe-to-toe with heavy hitters, such as AMD R9 390x because it consumes far less power. This is because it has a TDP rating of a mere 110W and comes with a single 6 pin connector. So, you can even utilize it for gaming without upgrading your power supply.

It’s also jam-packed with features such as VR readiness, DX12 support, and the latest GCN architecture. Overall, AMD Radeon RX 480 8GB is a great value for Ethereum mining. It has a great hash rate with very little power consumption.

Buy on Amazon Links: AMD Radeon RX 480 8GB Samsung GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 Gaming Graphics Card - OEM

4. AMD RX 6800 XT

AMD RX 6800 XT is AMD’s flagship GPU based on RDNA 2 architecture. In Ethereum mining, AMD’s latest GPU offers a 15 percent better performance than the previous generation of GPUs. When using the Phoenix 5.2c miner on stock settings, Radeon RX 6800 XT shows 59 to 60 MHash/s on 250W power consumption.

Sure, the video memory subsystem hasn’t undergone a drastic overhaul. But the 256-bit memory bus and GDDR6 are a little faster, though. Not to mention, the latest AMD drivers come with the fast timings feature designed to increase the overall performance of this series of GPUs in mining crypto, particularly Ethereum. When you enable this function, the hash rate increases by approximately 2 to 3MHash/s.

To increase performance, you can also overclock the video memory up to 150 MHz. Because it’s one of the newest cards, we don’t have the rich mining experience that backs CPUs like RX 5700 yet, however, in the near future, expect to witness better mining settings for RX 6800 XT to fine-tune crypto-mining rigs. Oh, and don’t forget Infinity Cash!

Note: Using the latest AMD Zen 3 CPU chip and the latest AMD Navi 21 GPU provides a remarkable boost in performance compared to using a Zen 2 or Intel processors.

Amazon Page: XFX RX 6800 XT 16GB GDDR6 2xDP HDMI USB-C PCIe 4.0 Graphics Card RX-68TMATFD8

5. GeForce GTX 1080 Ti

Believe it or not, the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is still a solid value in 2021. What a beast of a card! That’s why we have put it on our number 5. This EVGA model provides a hash rate of nearly 38 MHash/s for Ethereum mining while consuming approximately 150 Watts.

Agreed, it’s an old GPU that has 11GB GDDR5X memory and a 352-bit memory interface. However, the PCB has 9 additional sensors and MCUs embedded in the chip. It has 88 render output, a massive 11 GB frame buffer, and 224 texture mapping units for rendering purposes. That makes it a great choice for crypto-mining.

Inside, you get a GP102 graphics chip with 3584 shaders. The base clock speed of GTX 1080Ti is 1481 MHz, and the memory clock speed is 1376MHz. Overclocking easily adds around +150MHz and +300MHz to both clock and memory speeds, respectively. And the best thing? Even with overclocking, the card stays cooler than 1070.

The price is also reasonable, considering other hard-hitters on our list. Overall, the EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is a solid card for long time use.

Amazon Page: EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti FTW3, 11GB GDDR5X, iCX Technology 9 Thermal Sensors & RGB LED Graphics Card 11G-P4-6796-KR

Best GPU for Ethereum Mining – Buyer’s Guide

As far as Ethereum mining goes, the gaming and rendering performance of a GPU is irrelevant. Instead, you should focus on aspects that really impact your mining efficiency. These include:

AMD vs. Nvidia
We think Nvidia is better for novices. Their GPUs are straightforward to set up and consume comparatively less energy. Additionally, they also work great with more mining algos. On the other hand, AMD cards offer low power consumption per hash rate, making them cost-efficient.

Hashrate
Hashrate, or the problem-solving capability, demonstrations how many hashes your GPU makes per second. This is basically the performance of your GPU. It directly impacts the speed at which your rig mines the crypto and depends on the algorithm of a particular blockchain you’re currently on.

Power Consumption
The running cost of a mining GPU is the amount of power it draws from your system. It shows how much electricity your card needs for a stable and optimal performance. Cards that draw more power will also need system upgrades for stability.

Memory Size and Memory Speed
Both memory size and memory speed are important for performance of a mining system when mining Ethereum blockchain. Generally, GPUs with a bigger memory size and offer better memory speed should be prioritized over others. However, they also tend to be more expensive.

Warranty
Always check for a warranty. Many top brands offer a one-year limited warranty. Since mining is rather resource-intensive, GPU parts such as a fan can malfunction or stop working altogether. You can also experience other issues. Therefore, a warranty is a great option, so you can either fix or replace your card for free.

Price
The price of a card will be your initial investment. And make no mistake, mining cards don’t come cheap. You have to empty your wallets to get the best mining GPU for Ethereum mining. So your goal should be to find a suitable option that fits your budget.

Final Thoughts

That’s a wrap on our best GPU for Ethereum mining guide! We hope this article helps you find your next Ethereum mining GPU. Remember, the performance of a GPU varies depending on the coin that is being mined. That’s why ROI also varies. To optimize your ROI, check various online resources for your profit ratios. This way, you can adapt to the changing market accordingly. Finally, always send your profits to your own crypto wallet and not to exchange. Otherwise, you can lose your hard-earned profits.

As the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization and the most popular blockchain-based distributed computing platform featuring smart contract functionality, Ethereum is a very attractive investment with a huge potential for growth. Just like Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, Ethereum can be mined using specialized hardware and software, but the mining of Ether, a cryptocurrency whose blockchain is generated by Ethereum, comes with its own peculiarities one should be aware of to achieve the largest possible profit.

Where Are Ethereum Mining ASICs?

In 2017, a company called HMiners announced three powerful ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) mining rigs capable of mining Ethereum. “Using the H2U Miner, H4U Miner, and Rack Equipped with 5 x H4U from the company, many users have already been able to receive a 100 percent return on their investment within just one month,” claimed HMiners in their press release.

If you’ve ever read about Ethereum’s mining algorithm, the possibility to achieve a 100 percent return on investment within just one month probably sounds too good to be true to you. Well, that’s because it was, as many people found out first-hand after HMiners was confirmed to be a scam.

The reason why there are no Ethereum mining ASICs is the fact that the Ethereum mining algorithm has been designed from the ground up to be ASIC-resistant.

“The benefit from creating specialized hardware for the algorithm should be as small as possible, ideally to the point that even in an economy where ASICs have been developed the speedup is sufficiently small that it is still marginally profitable for users on ordinary computers to mine with spare CPU [and GPU] power,” states the proposed specification for the mining algorithm for Ethereum 1.0.

Ethereum developers accomplished the resistance to ASICs by creating a mining algorithm that consumes nearly the entire available memory access bandwidth and allowing anyone to introduce a large number of contracts into the blockchain specifically designed to hinder certain ASICs.

What’s the Best Way How to Mine Ethereum?

With ASICs out of the question, Ethereum miners are left with only one profitable way how to mine Ether: GPUs (Graphics Processing Units). Compared to CPUs (Central Processing Units), GPUs offer a much higher hash rate, which is the measuring unit of the processing power of the Ethereum network.

The good news is that GPUs are very easy to set up and start mining with. While there are specialized cryptocurrency mining motherboards that make it possible to mine using several GPUs at once, you can just as well start with a single consumer-grade GPU to test the waters before you upgrade to something better.

Besides a suitable GPU, you will also need an Ethereum software miner and the command line interface geth (available for Linux, macOS, and Windows) to control it. The ethminer, which is an actively maintained Ethereum GPU mining worker, is your best bet. It supports OpenCL, CUDA, and stratum, offering standalone executables for Linux, macOS, and Windows. Although ethminer is a command line program, it actually doesn’t take much to learn how to use it.

As a solo miner, you should definitely join an Ethereum mining pool otherwise mining will be more like a lottery for you than a steady source of revenue. The high-performance Ethereum mining pool ethermine is a great choice because it offers instant payouts and a low fee of just 1 percent. It’s available globally, and you can connect to it using ethminer by following the instructions on the official website of ethermine.

Best Ethereum Mining GPUs

Both AMD and Nvidia offer several GPUs that are highly suitable for Ethereum mining. To calculate just how much you can earn with a GPU, we recommend you use this online mining calculator, which allows you to input your card’s hashing power, its power consumption, and your cost per kWh to calculate your daily, weekly, monthly, and annual profit.

Nvidia GTX 1070 Founders Edition

• Price: $749 on Amazon.com
• Hash rate: 27 to 31 MH/s
• Power consumption: 150 W
• VRAM: 8 GB
• Compatible miner: ethminer

Despite consuming only around 150 watts of electricity, the Nvidia GTX 1070 Founders Edition can mine at very respectable 27 MH/s out of the box and at up to 31 MH/s when overclocked. Unfortunately, the massive demand for this excellent graphics card has increased its price from $400 to $749, and used GTX 1070s disappear from eBay nearly instantly. But if you can find it on sale or you don’t mind paying the steep price, the Nvidia GTX 1070 is a great way how to get started with Ethereum mining.

AMD RX 480

• Price: $600 on Amazon.com
• Hash rate: 24.5 to 28 MH/s
• Power consumption: 150 W
• VRAM: 8 GB (4 GB version is also available and gives 21 MH/s)
• Compatible miner: ethminer

Even though the RX 480 is one generation behind AMD’s current product line, it actually is better for some cryptocurrencies than the new RX 580. The only problem is that the RX 480 has been discontinued for quite some time now, making it hard to come by. That said, there are still many gamers with the RX 480 who will eventually upgrade to something better and probably put the card up for sale. Without overclocking, the RX 480 mines at 24.5 MH/s, and it can achieve up to 28 MH/s when overclocked, all while consuming only 150 watts of power.

• Price: $600 to $700 on Amazon.com
• Hash rate: 29 MH/s
• Power consumption: 185 W
• VRAM: 8 GB
• Compatible miner: ethminer

The successor to the popular RX 480 offers even better mining speed and only slightly higher power consumption. The biggest downside of the RX 580, apart from its inflated price, is its poor cooling efficiency. Avoid RX 580s with a single fan at all cost. We recommend the ASUS RX 580 8 GB Dual-Fan OC Edition, which provides doubled airflow for 3-times quieter mining. Expect to mine at around 29 MH/s.

Nvidia Titan V

• Price: $3,999on Amazon.com
• Hash rate: 70 to 82 MH/s
• Power consumption: 185 W
• VRAM: 12 GB HBM2
• Compatible miner: ethminer

When it comes to raw hashing power, no graphics card can beat the new Nvidia Titan V and its 620 Tensor cores capable of delivering over 100 teraflops per second. Of course, it doesn’t really make sense to spend $3,999 on the Titan V when you can get three GTX 1070s for much less and achieve even greater hashing power. The Titan V only makes sense if you intend to use it for other tasks besides mining, such as deep learning or playing Roblox once it finally comes to Linux.

The Top 5 Best Ethereum Wallets for Ubuntu

Ethereum is a blockchain platform that runs smart contracts. Ethereum was the 2^nd most valuable cryptocurrency after Bitcoin but on the final Friday of 2017, Ripple surpassed Ethereum to become 2^nd most valuable cryptocurrency in the world. Ethereum currently ranks 3^rd in terms of market share.

Even if Ethereum slipped to 3^rd in terms of most valuable cryptocurrencies, many investors are looking towards Ethereum with optimism. If you are one of them then you must be looking for a secure Ethereum Wallet. So today we will have a look at top 5 Ethereum Wallets you can use on your Ubuntu.

1. Jaxx

Jaxx is a secure cryptocurrency wallet which is developed by Canada-based Decentral. It has simple but most futuristic user interface and it also supports 13 different cryptocurrencies. It is backed by a innovative community which helps you keeping it up-to-date with regular updates.

Jaxx is a cross-platform wallet which is available for Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Android and iOS. Jaxx also offers its Chrome and Firefox extensions.  Jaxx Wallet has a slick user interface which will make you feel very comfortable even if you are using it for the first time.

2. Exodus

Exodus is a Blockchain Wallet Asset which was launched in July 2016 and worth mentioning that it has become very popular cryptocurrency wallet in very short time period. The user Interface of Exodus client is very attractive but simple. If you don’t have any knowledge about cryptocurrency and how it works you can still use this wallet.

Exodus offers some unique features like offline private keys storage and cryptocurrency exchange. This wallet is only available for desktop and there is no mobile version available as of now.

3. MyEtherWallet

MyEtherWallet does not have a dedicated client for desktop or mobile phone but it directly provides a web interface where you can create, send and receive Ethereum. It is an open-source where you can write and access smart contracts.

MyEtherWallet website has a simple user interface. On the home screen you will see Create New Wallet option where it will guide you through process of setting up your Ethereum account.

4. Coinbase

Coinbase is one of the popular Blockchain Wallet Asset clients and recently it has extended support for Ethereum. Coinbase Wallet is very easy to use and has elegant user interface. Private keys are stored on its hosted servers hence user doesn’t have control on private keys.

Coinbase is available for Windows, Mac, Linux and Android and iOS platform. One drawback about Coinbase is that it doesn’t offer Smart Contracts Support.

5. Mist

Mist is a dedicated Ethereum Wallet which has very unique and user friendly interface. Mist desktop client is available for Windows, Mac and Linux platforms.

Some of the notable features in Mist include ShapeShift which helps in exchanging other cryptocurrencies.  Private Keys are stored on users device making it more secure process.

So these are the Top 5 Ethereum Wallets you should try to manage your Ethereum account. Ethereum Wallets are still in their early days so if guys have any better alternative other than these then feel free to tweet us your thoughts at @linuxhint.

What Is Ethereum?

Figure 1 Credits to https://ethereum.org/

That being said it is actually used to fuel this ecosystem known as Ethereum. Ethereum is a decentralized platform with its block chain for its apps to function, and these apps are powdered by these tokens known as ether. So basically ether may or may not be used as a currency, but rather as a fuel to power the Ethereum ecosystem, however it’s widely used as fungible currency as an alternative to bitcoins.

Furthermore, like Bitcoins, Ethereum can be mined, and this process is known as mining ether. Even though the term Ethereum is used interchangeably, it’s more appropriate to use the term ether as it’s actually mined through this process. Ether can be mined with either CPU or GPU, and there are many miners around the world developed by various professionals specifically for this purpose only. The mined tokens then can be stored in wallets, which then can be exchanged or consumed to fuel the app running on Ethereum ecosystem.

What Is Ethminer?

This articles demonstrates how to make use of Ethminer which is used to mine ether with the help of a GPU. Ethminer is an open source cross platform application developed specifically for mining ether, and makes use of OpenCL, and Nvidia CUDA technologies for mining purposes. It also supports stratum protocol which is used for pool mining across a network; hence it can be used even without having a physical computer nearby, as long as the user has access to the Internet that’s all that is needed.

Ethminer is at the moment developed for Windows, MacOS and Linux, and uses the command line to execute its codes. App developers use AppVeyor, and Travis CI which respectively generate Windows executables and MacOS, Linux executables with each commit made in the Github repository, and thus there is no need to compile the source codes like with many Bitcoins miners available out there. Ethminer is easy to use, and extremely fast as long as the recommended hardware is utilized for mining purpose.

How to Install Ethminer

Ethminer, at a glance does seem hard to install, at least on Linux systems, but it’s actually rather easy to install given the right commands. This tutorial assumes the user has either Ubuntu 16 or 17, but it may still work for both newer and older versions as well though it isn’t recommended. Since Ubuntu is free of charge, it’s recommended to upgrade to at least Ubuntu 16.04 prior to following these steps.

The installation assumes the user has either AMD or Nvidia hardware installed on the system, and some steps of the installation should be slightly altered depending on the graphics card.

1. First install the graphics drivers. If it’s unable to locate the information related to the graphics adapter, use the following commands in the terminal. Either one is fine, however the second command requires access to the root as it returns more information of the graphics adapter.

$ lspci | grep VGA
$ sudo lshw -C display

2. Once the currently installed graphics adapter is located, note it down somewhere as it’s useful in later steps.

3. Now install the appropriate graphics driver. Only Nvidia and AMD GPUs are supported at the moment, however CPU mining is also possible through Go-Ethereum which has native support for CPUs, but it’s not recommended to use CPUs to mine as it’s not feasible to generate a profit out of it.

• Visit this URL for Installation instructions for Nvidia: https://linuxhint.com/install-nvidia-drivers-linux/
• Visit this URL to download Nvidia drivers for Ubuntu http://www.nvidia.com/Download/Find.aspx?lang=en-us
• Visit this URL to download AMD drivers for Ubuntu http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/linux

4. Now depending on the hardware adapter, install the appropriate graphics driver.

5. For Nvidia adapters, install the CUDA toolkit. CUDA is a property API (application programming interface) developed for general purpose processing on CUDA enabled hardware such as most of Nvidia graphics adapters. This is useful for a range of applications such as mathematical calculations, video and audio converting, simulation applications. Make sure to use sudo su and get root access.

apt-get install nvidia-cuda-toolkit

6. For AMD adapters, install OpenCL ICD (installable client driver) which allows multiple implementations of OpenCL to exist on the same system. OpenCL is same as CUDA, an API for general purpose processing, but works on a range of hardware devices, including Nvidia graphics adapters as well.

apt-get install opencl-amdgpu-pro-icd

7. Once either step is completed, install GIT package for retrieving the latest sources of Ethminer, MESA developer package which is a 3D graphics library works on graphics adapter to assist in mining, then cmake to build the sources.

apt-get install git mesa-common-dev cmake

8. Now make a directory to store retrieved Ethminer sources, and then focus on that directory. Creating the directory in Terminal makes the folder in the HOME directory of the currently logged in user. CD changes the focus to the stated folder.

mkdir ethminer
cd ethminer

9. Retrieve the source codes from Github straightly to aforesaid folder with the following command.

git clone https://github.com/ethereum-mining/ethminer .

10. Then Build the sources with cmake.

mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
cmake --build .

11. To gain full potential on graphics adapters, use the DETHASHCUDA=ON flag DETHASHCL=OFF flags. What these flags do are respectively enable CUDA, and disable OpenCL. So, the cmake step should be slightly altered like this

cmake .. -DETHASHCUDA=ON -DETHASHCL=OFF

12. Additionally if pool mining is intended to be used, then append the following flag as well to enable Stratum protocol. -DETHSTRATUM=ON, then cmake is altered like this.

cmake .. -DETHASHCUDA=ON -DETHASHCL=OFF -</strong> <strong>DETHSTRATUM=ON

13. Once the package is built, now it’s time to install it. So install it with the following command. This assumes the user is already in root access as suggested earlier.

sudo make install

14. Now use the following command to make sure it’s installed for sure. If it shows the available command lines, it means Ethminer is installed in the system successfully, otherwise repeat these previous steps at the outset until it’s sorted out.

ethminer --help

15. Additionally, to find out the performance of the available hardware adapter, use one of the following commands. The OpenCL one is for measuring the performance of AMD adapters, and CUDA one is for measuring the performance of NVidia adapters.

• OpenCL Benchmark

  ethminer -G –M

• CUDA Benchmark

  ethminer -U -M

How to Configure Ethminer to Mine Ether

Once Ethminer is installed on the system, the remaining part is configuring it so it’s ready to be used to mine Ether. First of all, before initiating the mining, it’s important to get a valid Ethereum address which is used to retrieve mined Ether. This address is a public; hence it’s shareable, however the given private key is supposed to be kept hidden.

1. Visit the following web URL https://www.myetherwallet.com
2. Type a valid password and create a wallet to store Ether.
3. Now save the given Keystore file which contains relevant information of the wallet.
4. After it’s downloaded, proceed by clicking “I understand, Continue” button.
5. Save the Private Key. The Website lets users to print it on a paper too. Once the address is saved, proceed by clicking “Save Your Address” button.
6. Then it will ask how would you like to access to your wallet, what it means how to retrieve information related to the account. This basically contains “Account Address”, “Account Balance in ETH”, “Transaction History”, “Private Key”, “Public Ethereum Address”.

7. Use the following command in Terminal window after filing stated placeholders. HashRate is calculated at the 15th step of the previous segment, use that retrieved value here, Ethereum Address is the public address created with previous steps, RigName is the name of the machine, which is optional, and thus can be omitted if desired. Any custom name can be used there.

   ethminer -G -F
   http://ethereumpool.co/?miner=<HashRate>@<EtherumAddress>@<RigName>

How to Tweak the Performance?

Performance of mining can be improved in multiple ways, but this is only relevant for CUDA enabled graphics adapters. Use the following flags when benchmarking and then use the returned hash value at the previous segment’s 8^th step in HashRate placeholder along with the flags. The hash value is generated at 15^th step of segment before the previous segment.

–cuda-block-size: A block is a group of threads which can be executed parallelly, by increasing the block size the application can make use of many threads at the same time. But according to this report after the block size 16,32 depending on the CUDA enabled adapter, the performance gain goes downhill as the time increases. The recommended values are 16,32,64.

–cuda-grid-size: Grid is a group of blocks, as previously, increasing the grid size increases the performance. The recommended values are 8192, 16384, 32768, 65536.

–cuda-parallel-hash: Is a variable parameter which assists in increasing the performance.  The recommended values are 8,16.

–cuda-streams: In CUDA stream means a sequence of operations which are executed as they are issued on the video adapter. Here operations mean the mathematical calculations performed by GPU. In both Bitcoins and Ethereum mining, mining means basically solving complex mathematical problems; hence having a higher stream value improves the performance, but there is a limit depending on the model of the graphics adapter. The recommended values are 16,32.

Conclusion

Ethereum is a rising star in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, which plans to lead the information technology to the decentralized way. In Ethereum system, ether is a token which fuels the ecosystem, which can also be traded just as Bitcoins. Ether can be mined with modern graphics adapters just as Bitcoins used to be. The popular selections for this purpose are Nvidia and AMD. Nvidia uses CUDA, whereas AMD uses OpenCL. The Ethminer slightly favors Nvidia GPUs by providing more flags for CUDA APIs, and thus it’s expected that Nvidia GPUs will out perform others. Since contemporary Nvidia graphics adapters are extremely power efficient, it’s more beneficial to use Nvidia graphics adapters compared to AMD which is still popular among Bitcoin miners. Either way Ether is an important part of the future of cryptocurrency, and will probably coexist with Bitcoins instead of replacing it altogether.