<p>Currently, for a custom-built high-performance desktop, 16 GB of RAM (or even 32 GB) is typical, while one of the best GPUs, the <a href="http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/7000/7990/Pages/radeon-7990.aspx" rel="nofollow">AMD Radeon HD 7990</a>, has 6 GB of GDDR5.</p>

<p>Suppose the memory requirements were raised to 4 GB. That means that each thread will require 4 GB, so a CPU can mine on 4 threads at a time (16 / 4 = 4), while a GPU can only mine on 1 thread at a time (6 / 4 = 1.5, with greatest integer part 1).</p>

<p>Contrast this to the current requirement of 2 MB. A CPU is bottlenecked by the maximum number of threads it can do (even the very best Intel Xeons are typically capped at 32 threads), while a GPU with just 2 GB could easily do 1000 threads at once.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-03-20T07:01:18.933Z
2014-03-20T07:01:18.933Z
Tony
<p>I am focusing on an anti scrypt coin called Vertcoin which increases it's N-factor at a set interval. On their main page on bitcointalk it states that CPU computation will make gains as N-factor (memory requirements) increase. Can anyone explain as to how this is possible if the memory requirements can reach to > 4gb</p>

<scrypt><algorithms><cpu><altcoin-development><memory>
Does CPU mining become efficient as memory requirements increase?
rdadkins
# Does CPU mining become efficient as memory requirements increase?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-03-20)

I am focusing on an anti scrypt coin called Vertcoin which increases it's N-factor at a set interval. On their main page on bitcointalk it states that CPU computation will make gains as N-factor (memory requirements) increase. Can anyone explain as to how this is possible if the memory requirements can reach to > 4gb

**Tags:** scrypt, algorithms, cpu, altcoin-development, memory


---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2014-03-20. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

Currently, for a custom-built high-performance desktop, 16 GB of RAM (or even 32 GB) is typical, while one of the best GPUs, the [AMD Radeon HD 7990](http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/7000/7990/Pages/radeon-7990.aspx), has 6 GB of GDDR5.

Suppose the memory requirements were raised to 4 GB. That means that each thread will require 4 GB, so a CPU can mine on 4 threads at a time (16 / 4 = 4), while a GPU can only mine on 1 thread at a time (6 / 4 = 1.5, with greatest integer part 1).

Contrast this to the current requirement of 2 MB. A CPU is bottlenecked by the maximum number of threads it can do (even the very best Intel Xeons are typically capped at 32 threads), while a GPU with just 2 GB could easily do 1000 threads at once.


---

