Bitcoin Forum

Hello - just a few questions.

First, what is a share?  The pool stats say that there were x number of shares contributed in the current round, while my GUI Miner says 0 shares accepted.  Zero shares out of the huge number listed as contributed makes it look like I'm not going to see much action here.

Second, I'm seeing hash rates of 57 Mh/s.  When I see posts of people with x Gh/s, it makes me wonder if I should bother.  I don't have the money to invest in specialized equipment, so of course I'm using my GPU.

Thanks!

Hi.

The way bitcoin mining works is that you give some processing power away from your computer to solve complex mathematics equations. These equations are used to secure bitcoin transactions around the internet. In return for giving some processing power and solving the equation, you get a reward in bitcoins!

However, the difficulty goes up and up and now it is impossible to mine bitcoins by yourself, which is why you join a mining pool. You join up with other miners and pool your power, each of you solving a part of the equation - a share.
Then, the reward is split between everyone who has contributed by solving shares in the pool. If you didn't join a pool, it would take you hundreds of years to make anything, probably thousands.
In short, a share is a part of an equation, a term used in pooled mining.


Second, if you are mining bitcoins, your hardware and MH/s is way too low. Now the difficulty is so high, CPU and GPU mining are no longer viable and you will lose more in power costs than you make in bitcoins.
Your best bet is buying some ASIC external mining equipment, which is specifically made for bitcoin mining. An affordable option is the new antminer series, starting at around £35 for one U1 USB miner.

HOWEVER - there is still some hope for you! You can still mine alternative cryptocurrencies like litecoins with your GPU as the difficulty is not so high with them. However, information is less easy to find about these other coins.

hash power of 50 MHs gives you about 1 satoshi per block ... not worth it
I can recomend you to choose alt coins (with lower difficulty)

here is an overview of alt currencies: http://www.coinchoose.com/

good luck