What is Central Processing Unit (CPU)? | CryptoWallet.com

What is Central Processing Unit (CPU)?

The central processing unit (CPU) is considered the brains of a computer and works by performing operations of a computing device. Since the 1950’s CPUs have been vital in computing, with recent advancements making them more minor chips with many transistors. 

CPUs have been popular in the crypto space, especially when it comes to crypto mining. Initially, Bitcoin was supposed to be mined by computers with the standard CPUs.

Why CPUs Are Common in Crypto Mining

CPUs have become a significant component of crypto mining in recent years due to their large processing capacity. CPUs can compute millions of hashes to create a random block. Generally, CPUs can manipulate arithmetic functions in a short time and thus lead to crypto mining. 

Of course, CPU mining is a prevalent technique. However, for low-intensity blockchains, CPU mining can be pretty profitable. Monero is one of the coins that work pretty well with CPU mining. 

But, more robust chains like bitcoin need more powerful machines to mine just a fraction. Hence, people switched to more robust systems like GPUs and ASICs.

Classifications of CPUs

It’s common knowledge that crypto mining is quite an intensive task. As such, miners must find the most reliable CPUs. When choosing a CPU to mine crypto with, it’s vital to look into the processing capability. Here are the factors that can help you select the best CPUs to mine crypto. 

  • Cores. The number of cores can quickly tell how powerful a particular CPU is. The best CPU to start with should have about eight processors. 
  • Threading. The more threads that your processor can split to, the better the CPU. If a four-core processor can split into eight threads, then it’s pretty good for mining. 
  • Clock Speed. This involves considering the GHz or MHz provided. The higher the CPU clock speed, the better for mining.