Bitmain, the Chinese crypto-mining technology company, is teasing a new hardware solution due to launch “soon”. The Bitmain Antminer E9 system will be powered by custom ASIC(s) for high performance and exceptional energy efficiency and is targeting the popular Ethereum cryptocurrency.
Above you can see Bitmain’s YouTube teaser which was uploaded this weekend. The video starts with the immodest claim that the Antminer E9 can “drive the industry to the next level”. It follows up with an appealing comparison, asserting that the new system has ETH mining power equivalent to the joint efforts of 32 Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 graphics cards.
Fleshing out its claims somewhat, Bitmain shares some key stats of the Antminer E9. It is capable of 3GH/s, with a power efficiency of 0.85J/M, consuming 2556W at peak performance.
According to Tom’s Hardware, the headline 3GH/s figure that the Antminer E9 is claimed to achieve comfortably beats the rival Linzhi Phoenix Ethash ASIC miner (2.6GH/s, 3000W) while using less power. With the Linzhi Phoenix costing in the region of $12,000 the Antminer A9 is expected to go for somewhat more, perhaps the $20,000 mark. Compare that to the cost of a system(s) packing 32 GeForce RTX 3080 GPUs, and the power required, and you can see the attraction of these ASIC solutions.
It would be pleasing for PC DIYers, enthusiasts, and gamers if the likes of Bitmain could supply enough of their ASIC systems to crypto miners to divert interest away from consumer GPUs.
In related news, BTC valuations dropped significantly last week, but as we start the new week there are signs the market pull-back might be over. Meanwhile, ETH’s upwards progress seems relatively smooth.