diff --git a/benchmarks/ark_prover_bench.nim b/benchmarks/ark_prover_bench.nim
index 199caac8..59a06871 100644
--- a/benchmarks/ark_prover_bench.nim
+++ b/benchmarks/ark_prover_bench.nim
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ when isMainModule:
     maxslots: 256, # maximum number of slots  
     cellsize: 2048, # cell size in bytes 
     blocksize: 65536, # block size in bytes 
-    nsamples: 5, # number of samples to prove
+    nsamples: 1, # number of samples to prove
     entropy: 1234567, # external randomness
     seed: 12345, # seed for creating fake data
     nslots: 11, # number of slots in the dataset
@@ -122,7 +122,12 @@ when isMainModule:
     ncells: 512, # number of cells in this slot
   )
 
-  for i in 1..10:
+  for i in 1..9:
     args.nsamples = i
-    echo "\nbenchmarking args: ", args
+    stdout.styledWriteLine(fgYellow, "\nbenchmarking args: ", $args)
+    args.runBenchmark()
+
+  for i in 1..16:
+    args.nsamples = 10*i
+    stdout.styledWriteLine(fgYellow, "\nbenchmarking args: ", $args)
     args.runBenchmark()
diff --git a/benchmarks/create_circuits.nim b/benchmarks/create_circuits.nim
index e325ca39..c198027a 100644
--- a/benchmarks/create_circuits.nim
+++ b/benchmarks/create_circuits.nim
@@ -31,7 +31,8 @@ var
   circuitDirIncludes = "vendor" / "codex-storage-proofs-circuits" / "circuit"
   ptauDefPath = "benchmarks" / "ceremony" / "powersOfTau28_hez_final_21.ptau"
   ptauDefUrl =
-    "https://storage.googleapis.com/zkevm/ptau/powersOfTau28_hez_final_21.ptau"
+    # "https://storage.googleapis.com/zkevm/ptau/powersOfTau28_hez_final_21.ptau"
+    "https://storage.googleapis.com/zkevm/ptau/powersOfTau28_hez_final_23.ptau"
   codexProjDir = ""
 
 proc checkEnv*() =