啥是比特币（虚拟货币）？

要回答上述的提问，我们首先要知道什么是比特币？比特币（BitCoin）的概念最初由中本聪在2009年提出，根据中本聪的思路设计发布的开源软件以及建构其上的P2P网络。比特币是一种P2P形式的数字货币。点对点的传输意味着一个去中心化的支付系统。

从比特币的本质说起，比特币的本质其实就是一堆复杂算法所生成的特解。特解是指方程组所能得到无限个（其实比特币是有限个）解中的一组。而每一个特解都能解开方程并且是唯一的。

为什么要用显卡挖矿？

相比较于CPU的复杂运算，显卡使用的GPU进行的是通用计算。因此可以堆叠成百上千个流处理器，每一个流处理器就像是小小的CPU，虽然其运行复杂程序的能力远远没有CPU来的给力，但是架不住流处理器多，因此实际性能尤其是单精度浮点性能要比CPU强的多。

▲显卡的架构图，密密麻麻的就是流处理器

挖包括比特币之内的动作大家可以认为是利用显卡在做不断地通用计算，并且这个计算复杂度比较低而且相当重复，显卡使用的流处理器正好适合这样的算法。就像是不断地解方程组，显卡是2000位中学生，而CPU则是8名数学博士。虽然数学博士的数学知识远远超过中学生，但是像解虚拟货币这样的中等方程组的速度8名数学博士肯定不如2000名中学生来的快。

▲比特币挖矿机

因此大家一开始就使用显卡来挖掘虚拟货币。之后有人研究出特定的算法，让显卡的流处理器针对的虚拟货币特解进行大幅强化，这就是矿机的由来。

为什么AMD的显卡被矿工抢购？

和Nvidia的显卡相比，AMD的显卡在通用性能上具有比较大的优势，或者通俗来讲就是说流处理器多。普通消费者一般使用显卡主要是玩游戏，而玩游戏则需要显卡进行图形输出，其运算复杂度远超比特币这样的算数学解。因此实际游戏性能，相同定位的N卡和A卡是差不多的。

但是我们之前说到过，A卡由于流处理器多，因此对于获得虚拟货币这样的通用计算来讲十分地适合，获得特定解的速度也比N卡高的多，因此众多矿工如今大量抢购A卡来进行虚拟货币的运算以谋求利润。

当然随着Nvidia推出了Pascal架构的显卡，目前N卡在挖掘虚拟货币上的能力已经不像之前那样和A卡相差巨大。于是在目前A卡普遍缺货的情况下那些中端N卡也就成为矿工们退而求其次的选择。

矿卡有啥坏处？

最后说说为什么大家在淘二手卡的时候不能选择矿卡。由于矿工们挖矿比特币最重要的就是谋求利润。因此他们使用的显卡每时每刻都在运行和计算，其强度远甚于日常的游戏应用。或者说运行这样的计算一天，相当于我们普通人运行显卡一个月。

并且挖掘虚拟货币的场所基本都是多显卡聚集的地方，成千上万的显卡在一个房间内不断地运算，其发热量也是相当巨大的，而矿工们也不可能像普通消费者一样选择散热条件良好的机箱让热量能够顺利放出，这样子显卡还在高温条件下进行7*24小时的运算，更是加深了其老化程度。

如此所作所为导致的结果便是用来挖矿的显卡过早地损耗，如果购买的这些显卡，结果便是运行不稳定，重启等事情会不断发生。

而且目前厂商对于矿卡也是严格要求，比如说严禁二手买卖以及缩短保质期，如果用户购买了这些矿卡显卡，日后维修也将是一个不小的挑战。

希望通过这么一篇小小的文章来让大家明白为什么如今的AMD显卡如此紧俏，以后看新闻的时候能够有所了解。

Why use a video card to dig virtual currency? You’ll understand after reading it

 

In recent months, including a variety of virtual currency bitcoin, bitcoin is popular, especially the more so, the price even more than 10000 yuan, the price can be said to take a similar rocket. The result is that the AMD cards are miners robbed, 400 line and 500 line cards on the market are basically disappeared.

So what is the virtual currency? Why use the graphics card, especially the AMD graphics card to calculate? IT’s home here to do a small popular science, so that we will see later bitcoin and other virtual currency news will no longer be confused.

What is bitcoin (virtual currency)?

To answer these questions, we first need to know what bitcoin is The concept of bitcoin (BitCoin) was originally proposed by Zhong Cong in 2009. According to the idea of China, we design and publish open source software and build P2P network on it. Bitcoin is a digital currency in the form of P2P. Peer to peer transmission means a centralized payment system.

From the essence of bitcoin, the essence of bitcoin is actually a special solution generated by a complex algorithm. A special solution is a set of solutions that can be obtained by an infinite set of equations (in fact, a finite number of bitcoins). And every particular solution can solve the equation and is unique.

Why use graphics mining?

Compared to the complex operations of CPU, the GPU used by graphics cards is general-purpose computing. It can be stacked hundreds of processors, each stream processor is like small CPU, although its ability to run complex applications far from CPU to awesome, but JiaBuZhu stream processor, so the actual performance especially the single precision floating point performance is much better than CPU.

– chart graphics, the stream processor is dense

Including digging bitcoin within the action we can think is the use of graphics in constantly general calculation, and the computational complexity is relatively low and quite repetitive, stream processor is suitable for the use of graphics algorithm. It’s like solving equations, video cards are 2000 middle school students, and CPU is 8 math doctor. Although Dr math’s knowledge of mathematics is far superior to that of middle school students, the speed of the medium equations, such as the solution of virtual money, is certainly not as fast as that of 2000 middle school students in 8.

"Bitcoin mining machine

So people started using video cards to mine virtual currencies. Later, someone developed a specific algorithm, so that the graphics processor’s virtual currency for the special solution to substantially strengthen, and this is the origin of the mine.

Why was AMD’s video card being snapped up by miners?

Compared with Nvidia graphics cards, AMD graphics cards have a wide range of advantages in general performance, or, in general terms, more streaming processors. Ordinary consumers generally use graphics cards, mainly to play games, while playing games require graphics cards for graphics output, and its computing complexity is far more than the mathematical calculation of bitcoin. As a result, the actual game performance is about the same as the N card and the A card.

But we said before, because the A card processor, so to get virtual currency calculation so that in terms of very suitable, get the solution specific than N card number, so many miners now a large number of A cards for panic buying virtual currency operations to seek profits.

Of course, with the introduction of Pascal Nvidia graphics card, N card in the virtual currency on the current ability is not as before, and A card is a huge difference. Thus, in the current A card is generally out of stock, the middle end of the N card has become the miners retreated for second choice.

What’s the disadvantage of mine card?

Finally, why can’t you choose the mine card when you use the second-hand card?. The miners mining bitcoin is the most important thing is to seek profits. As a result, their graphics cards are running and computing at all times, far more powerful than their everyday game applications. Or to run such a computing day, equivalent to the average person running video cards for one month.

Mining and virtual currency are the basic premises of the multi card gathering place, tens of thousands of cards operation constantly in a room, the heat is quite large, but the miners is not like ordinary consumers as select chassis good cooling conditions that the heat can be released, 7*24 hours of operation like this the card is still under the condition of high temperature, also deepen the degree of aging.

So the doings is the result of loss to dig card prematurely, if buy these cards, the result is unstable, restart things will continue to happen.

And the current manufacturers for mine cards are also strict requirements, such as prohibited the sale of second-hand and shorten the shelf life, if the user purchased the mine card card, after the repair will be a challenge.

I hope that through such a small article to make you understand why today’s AMD card so tight, and later to see the news when you can understand.