I'm not saying my method "wins". I'm saying that on average prefix theories have EXACTLY the same speed as a linear search. Which this script demonstrates beautifully.
My only issue with this statement, is that you and ktimes have chit all over h160 partial matches, and anyone who says anything about a prefix lol, saying they are useless. At worse, they divide the range up differently than what you are doing, range / x = y subranges.
Let's clarify what I mean by useless : They do not provide a statistical edge over a linear search, but makes the code you have to write more complex, and potentially not GPU friendly. It's only drawbacks in my opinion.
Appologies if anyone thought they were shat on. My intention was not to hurt but to let people know there is no magic statistical edge there.