The equipment that is worth it
You will be able to choose sensible hardware, set the thread count properly, and know what mining costs you in electricity before you start.
What actually mines
A CPU, and that is deliberate.
The proof of work is double SHA-256 over the block header, and the node mines with CPU threads. There is no GPU path in the shipped software and no ASIC for this network. On testnet that keeps the barrier at "a computer you already own", which is exactly what a network needs while it is learning to be decentralised.
Illustration to come
REAL photograph of actual hardware: an open desktop case with the CPU cooler visible, dust and cables included. No render, no neon lighting.
Threads
Leave one core for the machine you are using.
The installer defaults to CPU count minus one, and that default is the right one for a machine you also work on: mining with every core makes the desktop stutter and gains a few per cent. Set it explicitly with `--threads N` when the machine is dedicated. More threads is more attempts per second, and nothing else changes.
Illustration to come
Real screen capture of a system monitor (htop or Task Manager) with most cores loaded and one visibly free. Real numbers from a real machine.
The bill
Electricity is the real cost, and it is measurable.
A mining machine draws power continuously, and on testnet what it earns has no monetary value. Measure the draw with a plug meter before deciding what to run: a modest desktop mining full time costs real money over a month, and it is better to know that number than to discover it. A node that only validates costs a fraction of it.
Illustration to come
Real photograph of a domestic plug power meter in a socket with a real reading visible. Ordinary wall, ordinary plug.
Small machines
A mini PC in a cupboard is a perfectly good node.
Producing blocks and validating them are different jobs. A low-power machine that never wins a block still stores the chain, checks every rule, relays blocks and answers RPC — which is most of what makes a network resilient. The node this project runs on its own anchor is a small fanless box on a shelf.
Illustration to come
REAL photograph of an actual mini PC or single-board machine running in a home, on a shelf. Real dust, real cables. Honesty over glamour.
In short
- Mining here is CPU work: no GPU path and no ASIC exists for this network.
- Default to cores minus one; set --threads explicitly on a dedicated machine.
- Electricity is the real cost — measure it before committing, and remember testnet VIGI has no monetary value.
- A low-power node that never mines a block still validates, stores and relays, which is most of the value.