What is the 1GB huge page option in XMRig and does it help RandomX?

XMRig’s 1GB huge page option lets RandomX use extra-large chunks of memory on supported Linux systems. It can improve your Monero mining speed, but usually only by a small amount—roughly 1–3% over standard huge pages, and sometimes less.

What “1GB huge pages” means

Your operating system divides memory into chunks called pages. A normal page is often just 4 KB. Huge pages are much larger, commonly 2 MB.

Your processor keeps track of where those pages sit in physical memory. With larger pages, it needs fewer entries to track the same amount of data. That can reduce memory-management overhead.

The 1GB option takes this a step further: each page holds 1 GB. It does not make your RAM faster or give your computer more memory. It changes how memory is arranged and accessed.

Why it can help RandomX

RandomX is Monero’s mining algorithm—the set of calculations your processor performs to help secure the network.

In its normal, fast mining mode, RandomX uses a 2,080 MB dataset, a large collection of data that your processor repeatedly accesses. Larger memory pages can reduce the work needed to translate those accesses into physical memory locations.

There are two different upgrades to distinguish:

• Normal pages to standard 2 MB huge pages: Often a substantial improvement for RandomX.
• 2 MB huge pages to 1 GB huge pages: Usually a much smaller additional gain.

So, if ordinary huge pages are not working yet, fix that first. The 1GB option is a finishing touch, not a substitute for the basics.

What you need to enable it

XMRig’s 1GB RandomX page support is Linux-only and requires a processor and operating system that support that page size.

You can request it with this command-line option:

--randomx-1gb-pages

Or enable it inside the randomx section of your XMRig configuration:

"randomx": {
  "1gb-pages": true
}

You also need enough reserved 1GB huge pages. The dataset needs three 1GB pages, so this raises its memory allocation to 3 GB, with additional memory still needed for XMRig and your system.

On machines with multiple NUMA nodes—groups of processors and nearby memory—XMRig may allocate a separate dataset for each node. That can multiply the requirement.

Linux may need boot-time configuration to reserve the pages reliably. Simply adding the XMRig flag does not guarantee success. Check its startup output for successful 1GB page allocation.

How to decide whether it is worth using

Compare your hashrate, the number of mining calculations completed each second, with the option off and on.

Keep your thread count, power settings, and other workloads unchanged. Let startup finish and temperatures settle before comparing sustained results.

A small speed gain does not guarantee better profit. Check power use, and avoid reserving so much memory that your computer struggles with everyday tasks.

This setting applies to native XMRig, not browser-based mining. A web page cannot enable XMRig’s Linux huge-page option.

The bottom line

Use 1GB huge pages if you already have standard huge pages working and want a small extra RandomX improvement. Verify allocation and measure the result; for most home setups, it is optional tuning rather than a major upgrade.