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Instructions for setting up your Windows based computer to mine Zcash coins

In this post I’ll break down the various steps required to mine the eagerly anticipated Zcash which is due to be released on the 28/10/16. In advance of the launch day we can prepare our machines to be ready right from the very start.

 

We’ll be mining using the Suprnova pool so if you don’t already have a account their you’ll need to create one.

Use the link below to register for Suprnova and get your account user name.

https://zec.suprnova.cc/index.php?page=register

After creating an account you’ll need to setup a worker to help keep track of your mining progress, to do this use the link below and add a new worker to your account called worker1 and set the password as x. (or use details as you see fit)

https://zec.suprnova.cc/index.php?page=account&action=workers

zcash-worker

With the account and worker setup at Suprnova we’re now ready to download and setup the miner.

The miner we’ll be using today is a fork of the Nicehash miner but cruicailly it can be used on the pool of our choice, in this case Suprnova.

Use the link below to download the Zcash Miner for Windows. Two versions of the miner are available select the version your CPU supports. For newer cpus  choose AVX and for older cpus choose SSE2.

Zcashminer-Windows-SSE2

Zcashminer-Windows-AVX

Once downloaded extract the files into a new folder.

Inside the folder you will see a file called start-sse2-suprnova.bat (its the same name for AVX miner, don’t worry)

Open this file with Notepad.

zcash-batch

Update text within the file nheqminer.exe -l zec.suprnova.cc:2142 -u Riskyfire.workerx -p x -t 4

Replacing Riskyfire.workerx with your correct username.workername

-t 4 Is where you can change the cpu threads to used for mining, I would recommend using one less thread than your actual cpu cores / threads. So on a 4 core cpu I would set the threads to -t 3

Save the file. Ensure the file has saved as a .bat file and not a .bat.txt file.

You are now ready to start mining.

Double click on start-sse2-suprnova.bat to start the mining program.

Allow the program access through your Firewall if required.

zcash-hashing

 

 

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siacoin-sgminer-r7-370

Testing SGMiner 5.4.0 performance using 2 x MSi R7 370 4GB AMD GPU’s

I recently did a post on using the Marlin miner at the Siamining.com pool and in this post I wanted to do a comparison using another pool and different mining software.

SGMiner has been extensively tested and developed and is one of the most popular miners due to it’s performance and also the wide range of algorithms it supports. This miner can be used by Nvidia and AMD graphics cards.

Today we’re using a custom version which is best suited for use mining Siacoin and it can be downloaded using the link below.

Download Link – SGMiner 5.4.0 Siacoin GPU Miner

I tested the miner at the Suprnova pool and had my batch file configuration set like this

sgminer -k sia -o stratum+tcp://sia.suprnova.cc:2786 -u riskyfire.worker1 -p x -I 25

Using the 2 X R7 370’s installed in this machine and using their default clocks speeds of core 1030 memory 1400 I was able to get a average hash rate of 870 Mh/s around 435 Mh/s for each GPU.

siacoin-sgminer-default

When testing the cards with a overclocked core speed of 1150 mhz memory 1500 mhz the performance was improved by about 10% and increased the average hash rate to 978 Mh/s

siacoin-sgminer-r7-370

I did test the effect of changing the miner intensity but it didn’t seem to yield any obvious performance gains during this brief test.

I also tested this miner on another GPU a Gigabyte R9 280x using factory clocks speeds of core 1100 mem 1500 and it hashed at 910 Mh/s for comparison.

Overall this miner and pool combination performed very well and with no advantage or disadvantage in comparison to using the Marlin miner on the Siamining.com pool. A longer duration test or wider range of tested hardware might provide a better indication of the best combination but I think the time would be better spent on optimizing drivers, clock speed and voltage use to get the best overall performance and efficiency from mining Siacoin.