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It technically doesn’t matter whether I am using a super computer or a laptop to do the proof of work, it’s simply that with a super computer I can go through the attempts much faster, which means I have a higher chance of solving the problem before anyone else and therefore claiming the reward, right?
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Right.
The proof of work is computing 2 SHA256 of a sequence of bytes that represent the block header to find a value lower than a target. It doesn't matter if the 2 hashes are computed by an ASIC, a CPU, a GPU or a HP-48. What matters is the number of hashes you can compute per unit of time.
That's why the power of mining hardware is measure in MH/s, GH/s or TH/s (mega, giga and terahashes per second).
Cool thanks. But How can it be that you have to generate a hash below a certain number if there are letters in the hash, and not just numbers? – user18220 – 2014-06-21T15:23:47.760
The hash is encoded in hexadecimal (base 16), you could translate it to base 10 if you want to have a value that's easier to compare for you. – Matthieu – 2014-06-21T19:23:06.897
Isn't that the only thing that does matter? – David Schwartz – 2014-06-15T09:31:06.233
How can it be that you have to generate a hash below a certain number if there are letters in the hash, and not just numbers? – user18220 – 2014-06-21T15:23:00.963
You're confusing values of numbers with representations of numbers. You can represent numbers with letters if you want, the letter "A" can stand for the number ten (as can "10", "ten", "xxxxxxxxxx", "one more than nine" and a dozen other things). It's still a number. It can still be compared. We mean a hash with a lower value, regardless of how you choose to represent the number (as digits in base ten, in hexadecimal, or in scratches on a wooden board, it doesn't matter). – David Schwartz – 2014-06-22T05:12:54.170