Can you please help me understand how to decipher what coin is more profitable than any other? I hope my question is clear. I read comments where it is discussed that one coin or another is more profitable at a given moment. What is the indicator or information that tells me this? I feel that what I am asking will be obvious once explained so I apologize in advance if I should know this. 1.8 adds use mine coin parameter and unless I know what coin I am going after it is of little use.
I read the FAQ and my eyes glossed over about halfway through. you have done an outstanding job in the past explaining in detail all of my questions. Thank you.
Probably best to just pick a pool that autoexchanges to BTC (Blazepool is my suggestion) and let that run for a while until you get the hang of this, vs. worrying about mining individual coins per the 1.8 update. All it does is allow you to mine individual coins (e.g. RVN) on autoexchange pools like Zergpool...but you can already do this on other pools (e.g. Pickaxe, BSOD), so that functionality was already there. More trouble than it is typically worth as you then have to set up a wallet to mine that individual coin to, then transfer it to an exchange to sell it, etc. If you're just learning, just do an autoswitch pool and let it run.
Apologies for the miscommunication regarding Zergpool and the MC parameter. Zergpool is the only pool that supports it, so Hash Auger 1.8 still won't let you mine individual coins on other auto-exchange pools like Blazepool or HashRefinery because those pools don't provide a way to specify coins. While this feature is conceptually similar to how the software works with pools that don't auto-exchange, like BSoD and Yiimp.eu, a key difference is that it still works with an auto-exchange wallet. Basically, with the MC parameter Zergpool is now more like MiningPoolHub than anything else. You can mine on the auto-switch ports, the individual coins or both while still enjoying the benefits of auto-exchanging to BTC/LTC and automatic coin switching.
For example, sometimes Lux will have a better price estimate than the Phi algorithm port. Hash Auger will pick which option has the better estimate and use the MC parameter accordingly. However, you wouldn't need a Lux wallet to mine Lux on Zergpool with the MC parameter as the pool will still auto-exchange your earnings to BTC or LTC. As an aside you could assign a Lux wallet to Zergpool and Hash Auger will then use that wallet instead of your auto-exchange wallet when mining Lux on Zergpool (just like the software does with pools that don't auto-exchange). Adding wallets for coins that Zergpool doesn't currently auto-trade (such as ElliotCoin) will also allow you to mine those coins using the new MC parameter.
So to answer your question JBeck, you don't have to worry about calculating the most profitable coin on Zergpool as the software will do that for you. Sometimes it will pick the pool's auto-switch coin and sometimes it will pick an individual coin. However, the pool will still auto-exchange your earnings to your LTC wallet. You just get the flexibility of comparing prices across 180+ coins versus just the couple dozen auto-switch ports. I know you have been disappointed in Zergpool's payouts in the past, but you may want to try again and enable the MC Parameter on that pool to see if your earnings on that pool improve. I'm currently doing a little experiment with Zergpool myself to see what my earnings are like if I disable the auto-switch ports and just use the MC Parameter based on the theory that too many miners are following (and increasing the difficulty) on the traditional ports.
I agree with Zirillian that anyone just starting out should stick with the auto-exchange pools rather than trying to mine individual coins on the pools that don't auto-exchange because the risk/reward ratio is much higher when you don't auto-exchange.