CGminer 3.7.2 - Download and Customize for Windows

Without software, any equipment is just “hardware”. Therefore, in order for a mining farm to work, it needs the appropriate software that will direct computing power to mining. From the right choice of a program for mining, the efficiency depends no less than on the choice of equipment. Incorrect software selection can be the reason for losing half of the power.

Features of CGMiner program

CGMiner — one of the most popular mining programs
on AMD graphics cards, allowing you to combine computing power
equipment with the pool. With its help, the performance of graphics
AMD processors in mining are improving significantly, as evidenced by the
numerous tests. Some users using the improved
version of CGMiner, it was possible to achieve a multiple increase in hash rate.

CGMiner appeared at a time when cryptocurrency mining was mostly performed on AMD graphics processors. CUDA cores and NVidia graphics cards were used for mining later, and the developers did not start to remake the software for them, but focused on improving and updating the old software.

The finalized version of the program has support for NeoScrypt technology, which integrates the latest AMD drivers, which significantly increases the power of video cards in operation. NeoScrypt allows you to achieve a higher hash rate of the farm and thus increase the profitability of mining.

In addition to the main function, CGMiner has a few additional features that help maximize farm efficiency:

video card overclocking;
speed control of the cooling coolers;
automatic shutdown of inoperative vorkers;
displaying detailed statistics;
setting the parameters of the farm operation.

This software is designed mainly for experienced users who are used to working with scripts, as it lacks a graphical interface. Setting up and connecting the console client is quite problematic for beginners. All parameters for connecting to the pool, mining settings, and load level will have to be entered manually in the configuration file.

The lack of a graphical interface is considered to be the main disadvantage of the software, as manual editing is quite tedious, and lack of experience often makes novice miners redo everything again if they make a mistake. Therefore, ProstoCoin recommends installing the CGWatcher GUI developed for the program to simplify work with the software.

CGMiner is an open source program. You can install the official client from the program page on GitHub.

CGMiner installation and configuration

The first thing to do is to install the latest version of the program, suitable for the operating system, from any reliable source, and then the program should be prepared for work and set in it personal data for mining.

The connection process begins with the selection of an optimal mining pool. It is necessary to register on it, create a Worker and identify the equipment by giving it any name.

Next, the pool must be connected to the program. All CGMiner settings are performed through the console. In order not to make settings at each startup, it is recommended to create a .bat file where a personal connection script will be written. The bat file is created in the folder with the software using Notepad. The file itself is a text document with the .bat extension that starts the execution of the connection script that is specified by the user.

The standard string that connects a miner to mining on a pool looks like this:

cgminer --scrypt -о- stratum+tcp: pool access address: -u warker name-p passcode,

Where:

cgminer – address to the startup file;
scrypt is a working algorithm;
o – the transition required to specify the pool address;
address of the pool, which is specified on its official page in the section of connection settings;
login on the pool and the name of the created vorker;
p – password for access to the vorker.

CGMiner is one of the few console clients that comes with detailed configuration instructions. Users can check it out on the official GitHub page to properly perform advanced mining setup. The following parameters are considered to be the most important ones in the customization:

Intensity — mining intensity. The parameter can be set in the range from 1 to 20. It should be taken into account that high intensity does not always have a positive effect on mining productivity, because the load on the equipment is too high. If there is not enough RAM, the mining speed may, on the contrary, decrease, and many errors and malfunctions may occur. If this parameter is left unset, the software will independently adjust the intensity of mining, depending on the resources of the equipment. To find the optimal intensity value, you can start mining with different set values and monitor the hash rate of the farm, and at the end of the experiment, set the value at which the hash rate was the highest.
Thread-concurrency — calculation volumes. Initially this parameter is set to maximum, but in order to increase performance it is recommended to search for the optimal value for the connected equipment. This parameter should be a multiple of the number of shader blocks of the graphics processor.

How to use CGMiner

After all settings have been entered into a .bat. file and saved in the software folder, the file should be opened by double-clicking the mouse. If everything has been done correctly, a console window will appear after opening.

The CGMiner program automatically connects to the pool by executing the configuration script defined in the file. The user only has to leave his farm in this position.

An important feature of the program is that it can independently disconnect idle vorchers on the pool. The user is able to customize mining by Load Balance and Round Robin strategies and independently set time periods for reconnection, create forced delays or change the width of vectors.

List of Supported Coins

The program is designed to mine cryptocurrencies running on the Scrypt algorithm, which provides the ability to mine Litecoin or Dogecoin.

It is also possible to mine cryptocurrencies that function on the Cryptonight algorithm. These coins include the popular mining cryptocurrency Monero, as well as Bytecoin and Aeoncoin, which have some mining advantages over other coins, namely:

phasing out emissions;
generation of new blocks at small time intervals;
less wear and tear on GPUs during mining;
to search for a signature, you can use combined power, leveraging video cards and processors at the same time.

In addition, these cryptocurrencies have fundamentally different principles of operation compared to Bitcoin, which causes a high interest of the cryptocurrency community in them and provides prospects for further growth.

In version 3.7.2. it is now possible to mine cryptocurrencies based on the SHA-256 algorithm. Bitcoin is among such coins.

This software is best suited for mining Lightcoin and Monero on AMD GPUs. The software is not best suited for mining Ethereum and using Nvidia GPUs.

Management and statistics

After starting the program, it automatically executes the specified script and immediately connects to mining. For users, it has the form of a console window, where the hash rate of the mining farm and detailed mining statistics are displayed. Already after a few hours of work, you can safely go to the official site of the pool and check the mining results in your personal cabinet.

Statistics of opened blocks will also be reflected in the console window. If something went wrong, it means that an error was made when entering data into the configuration file. It is necessary to check everything again and restart mining.

Advantages and disadvantages

Benefits of the program:

provides a high level of performance for AMD-branded graphics processors;
automatically disconnects and reconnects idle pool wokers;
supports the mining of attractive cryptocurrencies for mining;
allows for flexible production settings;
You can overclock the performance of the video card and adjust the speed of the cooler;
the developers provide detailed instructions on setup and management.

The only disadvantage of the software is the lack of a graphical interface, which makes connecting and configuring the program problematic for beginners.

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