Mining is the process of validating transactions from a blockchain. It has a fundamental role when it comes to supporting the decentralization and life of a cryptocurrency project. To achieve this, cryptocurrency miners need computer hardware such as RIGs – machines composed of graphics cards – or ASICs – machines with powerful processors that can solve the most complex mathematical problems to validate the proof of work. But they also need systems, software programs, and services to connect the machine with the blockchain ecosystem. The most important programs, especially when it comes to cryptocurrency mining with graphics cards, are the mining software. They are essential when you want to mine and make the link between the miner, the blockchain and a mining pool. In this article, we will give you as much information as possible about mining software, from their usefulness to their functioning, and then we will present Pickminer, our mining software.
Mining software, what is it?
Mining software is a computer program that cryptocurrency miners use to validate blockchain transactions. Miners use mining software to validate as many blocks as possible. Frequently connected to a mining pool, miners get rewards thanks for their work. It can be displayed in a command line interface (CLI) or a graphical user interface (GUI). Mining software is essential for miners. It can monitor in real-time the performance of the miner’s RIG. It is interesting to have information on GPU temperature, hash rate, fan speed, etc.
Each mining software has its own ability/features. The question is to know what mining software will fit you and what is the key points for choosing your software. The first thing is the algorithm availability. Indeed, if you want to mine Ravencoin, you have to select a mining software that can use the Ravencoin algorithm: KAWPOW. The second thing is about the performance of the software. An efficient mining software will provide you with a high hash rate and will help you to find as many shares as your hardware can. Finally, the last thing is stability. Stable software will not cause any issues and will be performed for a long time without any interruption.
Discover Pickminer, the all-in-one mining software
Pickminer is an all-in-one Ravencoin NVIDIA mining software currently on Windows and Linux. Users can enjoy their mining by creating templates, setting up their overclocking, and monitoring their ongoing mining thanks to detailed statistics in an all-in-one place. The whole is integrated into a friendly and ergonomic user interface.
The ambition is to offer you the best possible mining tool with the addition of features that will improve your mining experience. In addition, we have planned to add as many Proof of Work cryptocurrencies as possible. But why you should use Pickminer?
Pickminer is a mining software that aims and allies 3 essential points; stability, performance, and simplicity of use. These points are very important to enjoy your mining experience. For example, Stability is the main thing for mining. Stable software will mine continuously without any issues or without losing performance. The performance will provide the best hashrate for your mining. These aspects have a considerable impact on your earnings and profitability. In addition to that, we think that software must be easy to use. It is essential for us to make it possible for miners to enjoy a proper and clean ecosystem when they set up their mining.
With Pickminer, you will be able to mine Ravencoin. It is a proof-of-work solid project in the crypto-mining universe based on a Bitcoin fork. Its algorithm, Kawpow allows you to mine with at least a 4Gb VRAM graphic card. You can directly overclock your graphics cards on Pickminer. Find the same overclocking options as MSI Afterburner. Increase your hash rate by changing memory and core clock and monitor your card temperature by adjusting the fan speed. No more command lines! Enjoy a simple and friendly launcher where you can create a mining template, set up your overclock, start your mining and track it thanks to our detailed statistics panel.
Interested in Pickminer? Do you want to mine Ravencoin with our software? You can download it by clicking here.
How to use the mining software Pickminer?
Pickminer is an easy-to-use software thanks to its graphical user interface (GUI). However, here are some tips and common things to know to mine with Pickminer.
Set up your mining template
When you launch the software, you have to inform the software of some information to start mining. At your first launch, you have to create a mining template. Click on the Create a template button or Templates in the sidebar.
Then, click on Add a new template. You have to fill in fields with your mining preferences to create your future mining file.
- Name your template – Give a name for your template.
- Enter your wallet address or pool username – Fill in this field with your Ravencoin wallet address or your pool username.
- Name your worker – Give a name for your hardware.
Then, you have to choose your mining pool, click on the option, and a new display will appear where you can choose a pool in a list. Once the pool is chosen, you have to select the server localisation. Depending on the pool you mine, you can filter SSL and SOLO servers. After pool configuration, you can save your template.
Overclock your GPU
Go to the GPU tab, where you can see all the connected GPUs you have on your RIG. You can see some information about your graphic card by clicking on Edit settings. You have also a section where you can adjust some settings for your overclocking. We write a dedicated article about overclocking, with a special interest in how the overclock works on Pickminer. We suggest you read this article. You can check it by clicking here.
Launch your mining
Once the mining template and the overclock are set up, you can launch your mining. Go to the mining page and select your template. After that, you can start your mining but here are some options that might improve your mining experience with Pickminer. The first option is the command prompt. For those who are used to having the command line interface (CLI) open when you are mining, we have added the option to display it. The second option is saving logs. Indeed, you can have a track of your mining thanks to our saving logs. All your mining interactions are saved on a file in a specific folder. To consult these files, go to the Settings tab and click on See logs. When you have chosen your options and selected the right template to mine, you can start mining by clicking on the Start mining button.
During your mining
A new display will appear when your mining is started. On this new page, you can see all the detailed statistics of your current mining as hashrate and shares, and your hardware status as fan speed, temperature, power use and energy consumption. If you want to stop your mining, you just have to click on the Stop mining button.