They design software that allows mining Monero with GPU and CPU in parallel

The latest version of the software for cryptocurrency mining using the CryptoNight algorithm is now available to the public. The renewed XMR-stak offers its users the possibility to mine either with graphics cards (GPU), processors (CPU), or both simultaneously.

The developers known as fireice-uk and psychocrypt recently unveiled a new update for their client to mine cryptocurrencies such as Monero and Aeon, using the CryptoNight mining algorithm. It uses a protocol commonly used for pool mining, which is called Stratum.

PROPERTIES OF XMR-STAK

The most outstanding feature of this version of the software is that it provides support for mining with both Nvidia and AMD graphics cards, as well as for the PC processor, whose features can be configured manually. There is also the possibility of mining with GPU and CPU as a whole or separately, whereas previously different clients had to be executed for each of these functions.

However, it is not the first software that integrates GPU and CPU for the resolution of mining algorithms, because NiceHash already offered a similar solution.

In terms of operating systems, XMR-stak offers support for the most viewed in the market: Windows, MacOS and Linux. Likewise, in order to simplify things for new users, the client presents a startup guide that makes it unnecessary to dedicate himself to modify the configuration file to use it for the first time.

Other improvements in this open source client are the addition of a monitoring interface, as well as support for pools backups and for the TLS protocol (Transport Layer Security according to its acronym in English) which is responsible for ensuring the security in the exchanges of data between each user and the server.

In addition to mining Monero's CryptoNight algorithm, XMR-stak also supports Aeon's CryptoNight-Light algorithm. On the other hand, the application increases the performance of the CPU by 10% if it does not have the encryption scheme AES (Advanced Encryption Standards according to its acronym in English).

According to estimates published in a well-known mining blog, this client promises a fairly competitive performance in terms of data processing speed when compared to others such as Cast-XMR. In turn, it is important to take into account that by default the miner's pool has a commission of 2% established but the user is free to edit this feature.

The site to download XMR-stak is in the following link, where the source codes of that client also lie.

FUTURE PROJECTS RELATED TO XMR-STAK

The pair of developers behind the mining software described in this article have plans to continue working towards the decentralization of mining in Monero (XMR). One of the projects for those who are raising funds consists of a graphical user interface (GUI) dedicated to the mining of this cryptocurrency.