Mining with a really low end gpu?

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CoinNoob12
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2021 1:17 pm

Mining with a really low end gpu?

Post by CoinNoob12 » Wed Jul 28, 2021 1:42 pm

I have an nvidia geforce 940MX in my laptop and I'm trying to get it to mine with the equihash algorithm on gminer. It seems to connect okay and starts working but it never submits a share. I get an error message on the dashboard that the algorithm is too hard for my computer, is there any way to make it easier?
mHxLegacy
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Jun 03, 2021 2:28 pm

Re: Mining with a really low end gpu?

Post by mHxLegacy » Wed Jul 28, 2021 2:10 pm

Unfortunately not, as more time passes the algorithms become more and more difficult. I think the only algo you can now mine with a GPU with that little VRAM is Ethash-LowMemory. I could be wrong though just going from my limited knowledge about it all. Best of luck.
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-MaVerick-
Posts: 137
Joined: Wed May 12, 2021 3:12 pm
Location: Germany

Re: Mining with a really low end gpu?

Post by -MaVerick- » Wed Jul 28, 2021 2:22 pm

Mining on a laptop is risky. I've seen dead laptops due to heatproblems, it's not pretty. Mining is complete and utter stress for your hardware. Prices for desktop GPUs are dropping hard at the moment, so wait a bit and get a second hand desktop with decent cooling.
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bMeister1
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Joined: Tue Jun 01, 2021 12:41 pm

Re: Mining with a really low end gpu?

Post by bMeister1 » Wed Jul 28, 2021 8:29 pm

Most algorithms are gonna require way more computing power than what your laptop's GPU can handle even at minimum difficulty and it's only going to get worse, unfortunately. My recommendation is to either a) try Ethash-LowMemory (be sure to set the l= argument to the amount of graphics memory you have) or b) ditch using your GPU entirely and try RandomX which will use your CPU instead. Echoing -MaVerick-, I would definitely wait to do any serious mining until you have a desktop with some good fans and/or water cooling. Trust me, you're gonna need it. The amount of money you could potentially make is nowhere near worth the risk of frying your laptop.
CoinNoob12
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Mining with a really low end gpu?

Post by CoinNoob12 » Wed Jul 28, 2021 9:16 pm

bMeister1 wrote: Wed Jul 28, 2021 8:29 pm Most algorithms are gonna require way more computing power than what your laptop's GPU can handle even at minimum difficulty and it's only going to get worse, unfortunately. My recommendation is to either a) try Ethash-LowMemory (be sure to set the l= argument to the amount of graphics memory you have) or b) ditch using your GPU entirely and try RandomX which will use your CPU instead. Echoing -MaVerick-, I would definitely wait to do any serious mining until you have a desktop with some good fans and/or water cooling. Trust me, you're gonna need it. The amount of money you could potentially make is nowhere near worth the risk of frying your laptop.
ethash-lowmemory is doing the same thing where it appears to be working but never submits a share. :(
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bMeister1
Posts: 51
Joined: Tue Jun 01, 2021 12:41 pm

Re: Mining with a really low end gpu?

Post by bMeister1 » Thu Jul 29, 2021 2:54 am

CoinNoob12 wrote: Wed Jul 28, 2021 9:16 pm
bMeister1 wrote: Wed Jul 28, 2021 8:29 pm Most algorithms are gonna require way more computing power than what your laptop's GPU can handle even at minimum difficulty and it's only going to get worse, unfortunately. My recommendation is to either a) try Ethash-LowMemory (be sure to set the l= argument to the amount of graphics memory you have) or b) ditch using your GPU entirely and try RandomX which will use your CPU instead. Echoing -MaVerick-, I would definitely wait to do any serious mining until you have a desktop with some good fans and/or water cooling. Trust me, you're gonna need it. The amount of money you could potentially make is nowhere near worth the risk of frying your laptop.
ethash-lowmemory is doing the same thing where it appears to be working but never submits a share. :(
That is a sure sign that your GPU does not have enough processing power to handle it. I checked out stats on the 940MX to make sure and it is not suitable at all for mining. You might have gotten away with some Equihash-144_5 a few years ago but at this point the difficulties are just too high. If you're still interested in trying to mine something, use the CPU mining guide on the main website to download XMRig so you can mine on the RandomX algorithm. Keep a close eye on your temps though (a free program called Core Temp is my personal favorite way to do that) because CPU mining will max it out and generate a ton of heat, which laptops are notoriously bad at managing. Still, it can be a fun way to mess around with crypto mining until you can get your hands on something that is better suited to the task.
jreysack
Posts: 40
Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2021 5:08 pm

Re: Mining with a really low end gpu?

Post by jreysack » Thu Jul 29, 2021 6:11 pm

go to https://prohashing.com/help/optimizing- ... fficulties and use a low difficulty for ethash-lowmemory

d=### in the password could try a .25 or .5 for difficulty
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