what if an algo or new stuff (whatever it may be called) is created that it hashes by rendering-> the kind of work where GPUs excel over ASICs and FPGAs...
Rendering is really not that much different from hashing different algos.
Even if there was a similiar algo like that, it would still be possible to create an ASIC.
After Sha256 got ASICs, Scrypt was created by the Litecoin dev as a way to keep it GPU mineable only.
I think it was more intensive than Sha256 but a few years later ASICs came out for that too.
Same with Dashcoin which was based on the X11 algo which was also suppose to be ASIC resistant.
So Equihash and DaggerHash are no different.
I mean like it has to be processed with a "certain" graphics work (like a secret sauce) involved in the computation..not exactly rendering..
doing stuff where GPU's excel...
a) can be merged - mix mix
b) can be separate - a security measure, like "do this stuff first" before hashing....that "stuff" is like something that may or may not be relevant to hashing but only serves as a security like a lock, where the graphics card have to produce a "key" ->the key is something that a GPU can produce but FPGAs and ASICs cannot...or something only GPUs can produce easily but others cannot.
.......what do GPUs do when playing games? maybe that's where we can find the secret sauce..
Please keep in mind that all of the following are ASICs(with different capabilities): Intel, AMD and ARM CPUs, Nvidia and AMD GPUs, FPGAs, DSPs... anything actually.
And there's nothing special about GPU - it just allows for some (massive comparing to CPU) parallel calculations(SIMD/MIMD) has some fast RAM nearby and is more flexible than dedicated mining ASICs. However ASIC can be built as flexible as you desire providing there's a justified need.
The current modus operandi of ASIC makers is not "highly efficient and sustainable", which is generally understandable as it's hard to operate planing long term while the silicon process keep shrinking, and blockchain is exploding at the same time.
Hopefully they will do better now when more competition arrives... First we'll need to see if it will actually make the mining hw generally more available.
Interesting thing though: it probably will only seemingly reduce "exclusiveness" of mining and improve decentralization ... as it will reduce mining profits and thus force only the most optimized operations to be profitable...