CPU, GPU, and Hash Power – What Does it Mean?

If you’re new to the world of cryptocurrency mining and you join us in the WinMiner Telegram Community, you may see some terms flying around that you don’t fully understand. Read this short primer and soon you’ll understand the difference between a CPU and GPU, and what they contribute to hash power.

CPU – Central Processing Unit

Your CPU is responsible for delegating the actions that your computer performs. Using billions of microscopic transistors, it performs calculations that decide which part of the computer should perform which action, and how much of the computer’s resources should be allocated to that action versus any other processes the computer is currently running.
If you look up what processor your own computer has, or research buying a new one, you will see terms like “dual core” and “quad core”. This means that your CPU is actually composed of multiple processing cores in a single unit, allowing it to do 2, 4, or more calculations simultaneously.

GPU – Graphics Processing Unit

You might better know your GPU as your video card. This dedicated processor tells your computer how to display images and video. The better the GPU, the faster visual media will load and the better resolution you have. A high-quality GPU is a must for any gamer, especially online gamers whose computers have to process the actions of a dynamic environment and all of the players in it.
Fun fact: because processing visual media is so complicated, GPUs are very powerful. These high-performance processing units are also frequently called on for non-visual tasks like machine learning and artificial intelligence applications. Cool, huh?

Hash Power or Hashing Power

These terms refer to the amount of power a coin’s network does in a given 10 minutes. Every computer that is on a coin’s network is said to be contributing to their hash power. Every node that is on the network mining the coin increases the hashing power, and the higher this number the better.
WinMiner allows any computer with 2GB of processing power or more to contribute to the hashing power of the WinMiner network, and rewards users according to how much effort their CPU and GPU bring to the table. In general, the more powerful the CPU and GPU, the more you will earn – though it depends on how much of your processing power is being used by your daily computer usage.

These definitions only scratch the surface, of course, but they should give you a good idea of what direction to go in if you’d like to do further research, or have a discussion with your fellow WinMiners about the merits of upgrading your system for crypto mining.

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