In September 2022, the Etherium blockchain switched to the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) algorithm. However, not all miners agreed with this decision, so the chain split. Some pools and exchanges announced support for ETHW (Ethereum PoW). Crypto mining on Ethash requires more RAM (RAM). The amount of data grows by 8 MB every 4-5 days. Therefore, the technique inevitably becomes obsolete. It is no longer possible to mine Ether PoW on devices with 4 GB of memory. Now the calendar of ETH epochs can be tracked through monitoring. For example, Minerstat helps you navigate the periods of mining and the volume of DAG files of 23 cryptocurrencies.
What is an Ethereum era
Before the transition to PoS (Proof-of-Stake), Ether was called the most mined cryptocurrency. More than 70% of capacity was configured for the coin. In 2022, some miners are still mining Ethereum on a Proof-of-Work network. After the hardfork, the cryptocurrency was named ETHW. The asset is mined under the same conditions: the epoch (mining period) and the size of the DAG file are taken into account.
The latter serves to protect the decentralization of the network. Developers implemented it to prevent asic mining of Ether.
The DAG file is the data that needs to be downloaded to the device to start crypto-mining. Its size is constantly increasing. At first, the developers programmed the growth of DAG every 30,000 blocks by 8 MB. The period over which these calculations are carried out is called an epoch (epoch).
Despite the measures taken, in 2018, the first ASIC for mining coins on the Ethash algorithm – Antminer E3 – was released. Efirium developers have spoken out against the dominance of asics on the network. Vitalik Buterin’s team promised to release an update that would change the consensus algorithm so that ASICs would not be able to mine cryptocurrency. The threat worked, miners were forced to artificially reduce the power of asics so as not to harm the decentralization of the network.
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ETH DAG file epoch
When a mining program starts, a set of data (transactions, blocks) is loaded into the video memory of the device. This is a DAG file. In order to build a new block, you have to do the complex computational work of selecting a hash using the loaded information.
Today (December 2022), the size of a DAG is 5.19 GB. It is estimated that by 2027 it will exceed 8GB. Therefore, mining coins on Ethash requires more RAM compared to Bitcoin mining. Despite the complexity, DAG file technology has advantages:
- Provides high blockchain security. The hash cannot be obtained randomly by a simple brute force search of variants.
- Increases the speed of transaction validation. Nodes communicate with each other to verify the solution. This reduces the block creation time to 15 seconds.
- Increases the profitability of GPU mining. DAG counteracts the performance of ASICs.
In 2021, Ether’s DAG size exceeded 4GB. This made it difficult for private miners to mine the asset. Developers felt that the withdrawal of this segment from the market would decrease the decentralization of the blockchain. Therefore, they increased the epoch duration from 30,0000 to 60,000 blocks. These measures helped to reduce the size of the DAG file. The miners were able to continue working with 4GB of RAM on video cards.
In December 2022, ETHW’s DAG weighs 5.19 GB. The cryptocurrency requires 6GB of GPUs for mining. These can be used until April 2024 as long as the file size does not exceed the 6GB threshold.
Where it is stored
Once the mining program is turned on, the DAG file starts downloading to your computer. By default, it ends up in the C:/Users/Username/AppData/Local/Ethash folder. Another way to find the file is to type the query Ethash into the search box.
On some PCs, the system folders with all contents may be hidden. To display the data you need to:
- Click on the “My Computer” button.
- Open the “View” section, go to the options.
- Uncheck the box next to “Hide system-protected files”.
- Click on “Apply”.
After that, you can work with documents. For security purposes, after completing the use, you can do the actions in the opposite direction to hide system folders.
How to delete
Some users face the problem of downloading a DAG file. The issue can be solved in 2 ways:
- Go to the Ethash folder and open the document in a text editor. Next, you need to change the parameter responsible for the memory load. By default the value is set to 100%, you need to reduce it to 93-98%.
- Delete the DAG file and download it again. The latest version will be downloaded, so the process may take 10-20 minutes.
The size of the Etherium DAG file
The technology emerged as a defense against ASICs. Since the power of integrated circuits is constantly increasing, the size of the DAG file is also dynamically growing. At the time of Ether’s launch in 2015, users could mine the coin even on the simplest graphics cards with 1 GB of RAM. In 2022, 6 GB is already required for mining.
When buying a graphics card, you should take into account the dynamics of DAG growth to exclude the situation in which the equipment will not have time to pay off.
You can find out the current figure in several ways:
- To look at the hard disk of the computer.
- Run the GPU-Z program simultaneously with crypto mining and track the actual size of RAM. To do this, go to the Memory Used section. The program will show the total amount on all connected cards.
- View the data in the monitoring. Online resources that broadcast reference information in real time are considered the easiest and most reliable way to determine the size of the DAG file.
How to find out which era is current
Information can be tracked through mining monitors such as Minerstats. To find out what era of Etherium is now, you need to:
- Go to the resource.
- Select a coin (ETHW) and press Enter.
By default, the service will display data for the current date: block height, epoch number and DAG file size. Users can also use the calendar to see the growth forecast for a specific period. The option allows you to calculate when crypto mining on VCs will become impossible.
Each coin on the Ethash algorithm has a certain length of periods for each coin. For example, now the change of the Ethereum PoW era comes after 60,000 blocks (previously – after 30,000), for ETC – similarly. The time to find the correct hash for each coin is also different. Therefore, in December 2022, it is the 275th epoch for ETC and the 536th epoch for ETHW. The size of the DAG for Ethereum Classic is 3.14GB. It is estimated that users will be able to mine the coin on graphics cards with 4GB of RAM for about another year.
Epoch Calendar
The hash calculation scheme is the same for all Ethash coins (Ethereum PoW, MOAC, Expanse, Pirl and others). Due to different solution search time and number of blocks in one period, the epoch calendar for each cryptocurrency is different. The table contains data for the ETHW coin.
| Epoch | DAG size | Block height | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
Frequently Asked Questions
✨ CUDA error 11 appears when mining. What does it mean?
The message pops up if the user is running on outdated hardware. This means that the DAG is larger than the amount of memory available on the GPU. But in some cases, the error occurs due to a failure of the mining software. It can be solved by rebooting the PC.
📢 How to extend the work of a video card for a certain number of epochs?
GPU RAM is responsible for outputting graphics, color information and other things to the monitor. You can reduce the OS video memory consumption: run the video card in text mode, install HiveOC or change the eros 2 to eros 0 parameter in the .bat program. This will allow you to mine ETHW on old hardware for another 1-5 months.
⚡ Is it possible to mine Ether PoW on 2 4GB video cards?
No, the DAG file is downloaded to each device. In December 2022, a GPU with 4GB of memory is not enough to mine ETHW.
🔥 How will the epoch calendar help you choose a graphics card?
A GPU with 8GB of memory will be enough for mining until 2027. Given that the average lifespan of GPUs is 24-36 months, users won’t have to think about replacing their farm.
📌 Does GPU RAM affect the speed of mining?
No, RAM is only required for storing DAGs. The mining speed depends on the hash rate of the graphics card.
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Author: Saifedean Ammous, an expert in cryptocurrency economics.
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