Compass Mining, a bitcoin mining company, published a blog post saying that Bitmain, the company behind the application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) mining rig, has made changes to its design. The post advised miners to be aware of the changes as Compass Mining identified “three issues” with two different Antminer S19 series mining units.
Bitcoin Miner Compass Mining Identifies 3 Issues With Antminer S19 Series
Compass Mining, a bitcoin mining company, published a blog post titled “Bitmain Changed Its ASIC Design. Miners Need to Be Ready,” highlighting changes to Bitmain’s ASIC design. Compass believes bitcoin mining operators should be aware of the changes , which can cause problems.For example, the firm identified three problems with the Antminer S19, which produces 90 terahash per second (TH/s), and the S19 XP, which offers 140 TH/s.
William Foxley of Compass Mining explains that the new machines lack a peripheral interface controller (PIC) on the ASICs, making it more difficult to control individual hashboards compared to those with a PIC. The units use aluminum plating on the side of the mining rig, which Foxley believes could contribute to overheating issues. Additionally, there is a “consolidation of all components on one side of the board, causing an increased chance of hashboard failure.”
An Antminer S19 XP without the peripheral interface controller. Photo credit: Compass Mining.
Foxley explains that without a PIC, devices can’t subhash on “one or two boards,” and hashboards made with aluminum sheets can fail more often in hot climates like Texas than those made with printed circuit boards (PCBs). Additionally, Compass Mining believes that non-Bitmain repair shops may have difficulty replacing damaged chips. The operations team discovered these issues over the past six months, and they “significantly impact a device’s performance.”
In closing, Foxley notes in the blog post that third-party firmware can solve the PIC problem and enable a miner to run on one or two boards. Third-party firmware can also lower specific variables to keep the ASIC mining rig cooler. The post suggests choosing the best environmental conditions as another solution. As for the aluminum coating, Compass Mining sees it as a net negative.
“We view the design decision to switch to aluminum plating on hashboards as a net negative – one that will increase ASIC errors and underhashing while increasing service and maintenance costs,” Compass’s blog post concludes. “Coupled with the lack of a PIC and increased difficulty in replacing bad chips, we encourage miners to double their repair game as they onboard next-generation devices into their fleets.”
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aluminum plating, Antminer S19, Antminer Series, ASIC design, ASIC failure, Bitcoin mining, Bitmain, Bitmain rigs, Blockchain, BTC Mining, Compass Mining, Cryptocurrency, Digital Assets, environmental conditions, fleets, hashboard failure, hashboards, hot climate, miner , Mining BTC, Mining Devices, Mining industry, mining operators, net negative, next generation devices, overheating issues, PCB, peripheral interface controller, PIC, circuit board, repair games, service and maintenance costs, Texas, third party firmware , underhashing
What do you think of Bitmain’s decision to change the ASIC design? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Jamie Redman
Jamie Redman is the news editor at Bitcoin.com News and a financial technology journalist living in Florida. Redman has been an active member of the cryptocurrency community since 2011. He has a passion for Bitcoin, open source and decentralized applications. Since September 2015, Redman has written more than 6,000 articles for Bitcoin.com News about the disruptive protocols emerging today.
Image credit: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, Compass Mining
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