After graphics cards and, in the meantime, even hard disks, processors are now moving more and more into the focus of cryptominers. Raptoreum
is called a new currency. And they don’t target the computing power of 3D accelerators like Ethereum and Co., but lie in wait for the fast L3 cache of processors, like Bitcoin Press reported. But does this inevitably make CPUs more expensive?
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Graphics cards are at least becoming a luxury item again. You can find out how hard we are this time in the following article:
more on the subject
Price explosion for graphics cards
How does Raptoreum work?
According to the Developers of Raptoreum The main focus of the new cryptocurrency is to break the dominance of ASIC and FPGA and give normal users the chance to benefit from the system.
What do ASIC and FPGA mean?
- ASIC: The abbreviation stands for
application-specific integrated circuit
. With a view to mining, this means specially tailored systems that are usually very expensive. Here we are happy to talk about tens of thousands of dollars. - FPGA: The abbreviation stands for
Field Programmable Gate Array
. This is an integrated circuit in which logic circuits can be loaded without having to be hard-wired. FPGAs are used, for example, for mining Bitcoin, as they can be used much more efficiently or in a more targeted manner than GPUs. However, programming requires appropriate knowledge.
Raptoreum uses the so-called GhostRider mining algorithm as the basis for calculating the hashes, which in turn is a combination of two other algorithms (x16r and CryptoNight), and the fast level 3 cache of CPUs.
What is cache
Cache is a buffer memory that is integrated directly into the CPU. This allows data to be cached much faster (with less delay). At the same time, cache is also faster than main memory.
There are several cache levels: L1 and L2 cache are usually wired to a single processor core, while L3 cache is available to several or even all cores.
Current high-end CPUs are therefore best suited for mining Raptoreum from the AMD Ryzen and Ryzen Threadripper series, as they offer the largest L3 caches. The developers have published a corresponding document:
Are CPUs getting more expensive now?
It is not yet possible to say with certainty. According to Bitcoin Press, Raptoreum is already responsible for increased prices for processors. In Europey, too, there has been a slight price increase for Ryzen 9 5950X and Ryzen 9 5900X since the beginning of September, as a look at the following image shows:
Price development AMD Ryzen 9 5900X (Image source: Geizhals.de).
You can order CPUs here
However, it is unclear whether Raptoreum or the general shortage of chips on the market is the reason for this. Nevertheless, we will keep an eye on the price development for the processors. Should Raptoreum prevail and be part of the next big mining wave, the prices for CPUs are likely to skyrocket.
The upcoming AMD processors could be particularly affected: Ryzen 6000 as a refresh of Ryzen 5000 is to be equipped with a so-called 3D cache. Stacking the memory chips can significantly increase the capacity of the last-level or L3 cache.
Using the example of Cryptocurrency Chia, which focuses on prospecting via hard drive, has shown, however, that not every trend is a success in the end. After a short time, interest in Chia was a thing of the past.
What do you all mean? Will processors soon be as expensive as graphics cards? Or will Raptoreum flop like Chia? Feel free to write it in the comments!
