New cpuminer-multi Fork With HMQ1725 Algorithm Support

29 Apr
2016

cpuminer-hmq1725

A bit late with this one, but better late than never. We have compiled a 64-bit Windows binary of the new cpuminer-multi fork by ocminer (source) with support for the HMQ1725 algorithm used by Espers (ESP). We have made small source changes in order to use hmq1725 as algorithm name instead of quark in the original source and compiled generic binaries for AMD and Intel CPUs that seem to provide a bit higher hashrate than the Windows binary provided by ocminer. We have tried compiling with optimizations for specific CPU architectures, but since it did not produce noticeable performance increase we are sticking to the generic ones for AMD K8 or newer as well as Intel Core 2 or newer processors. Running some tests on an Intel 5820K CPU has resulted in about 135 KHS with ocminer’s binary and our Windows binaries are giving us about 150 KHS, so they should be around 10% faster, but you are welcome to try and report your results.

– To download the latest 64-bit Windows binary of the cpuminer-multi fork for Espers (ESP) mining…

New Open Source Ethereum Mining Pool Available

28 Apr
2016

open-source-ethereum-mining-pool

If you want to run your own private or public mining pool for Ethereum (ETH) you might be interested in the release of the new open Open Source Ethereum Mining Pool by sammy007 (source). The pool software is functional, however an optimized release of the pool is expected to be released soon as it is being further developed to provide an easy to use pool for Ethereum miners. It already supports getwork and stratum mining, relies on the geth Go Client for Ethereum as a backend and provides good stats for miners to track their mining progress. Do note that as with other pool software although it may not be that hard to setup things, but some experience in managing and maintaining a server and a pool can be quite helpful.

– For additional details and to download and run the new Ethereum pool software…

You Can Now Pay For Your Games from Steam With Bitcoin

28 Apr
2016

steam-pay-with-bitcoin

Valve has officially added support for Bitcoin payments in their Steam platform for distributing games online, meaning that millions of gamers worldwide can now pay with BTC for their new game purchases. There has been some rumors and leaks suggesting that this will happen at some point, but it is official now and you can already pay with Bitcoin at Steam. The payment processor that Valve has selected for Steam is BitPay.

“As the internet’s universal currency, Bitcoin will allow Steam to easily reach gamers in every market around the world – without the high fees or the risk of chargeback fraud that come with card payments.”

Time to spend some Bitcoin for the purchase of some new games, even though there aren’t many big upcoming titles planned for release very soon, there are many indie games that you can support. It will be interesting to see some statistics in a few weeks or months for how gamers around the world have used the new Bitcoin payment feature on Steam, meanwhile we welcome the adoption of BTC by Steam.

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