Intel's Second-Gen Miner's Efficiency Second Only to That of Bitmain's S19 XP: Griid
The new miners boast power efficiency of 26 J/TH, better than most Bitmain and MicroBT models, according to miner and client Griid Infrastructure.
Feb 28, 2022 at 4:11 p.m. UTCUpdated May 11, 2023 at 5:06 p.m. UTC
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Intel's second-generation miner, dubbed the Bonanza Miner 2, is the second most efficient on the market, according to an investor presentation filed in November by Griid Infrastructure, one of three firms known to have secured supply agreements with the chip giant.
- The new miner will reach 135 terahash/second (TH/s), a measure of computing power, at an electricity efficiency of 26 joules/terahash (J/TH). This makes it more efficient than Bitmain's latest model, the Antminer S19 Pro+ Hyd., which delivers hashrate of 198 TH/s with an efficiency of 27.5 J/TH. The miner is also more efficient than MicroBT's Whatsminer M30S++, which brings 112 TH/s at an efficiency of 31 J/TH.
- The second-gen Intel miner doesn't beat out Bitmain's Antminer S19j XP, however, which can be as efficient as 21.5 J/TH, reaching 140 TH/s of hashrate. Power efficiency is crucial for bitcoin miners, as energy is one of their biggest operational expenses.
- It is unclear whether Intel will be selling exactly the same mining rigs to all of its customers. Its supply agreement with Griid includes design materials, which indicates that the miners' rigs could be tailor-made for or by the clients using Intel's mining chips. Jack Dorsey, whose company Block, formerly known as Square, is also buying Intel chips, has said they are designing an open source mining system based on "custom" silicon.
- The new miner is half the price of an Antminer S19 Pro, while being 15% more efficient, improving gross profits by 130%, Griid's presentation said.
- The presentation doesn't specifically identify the miner as Intel's, but Griid is known to be working with Intel based on a previously published supply agreement and Intel's own statements.
- Intel revealed the details of the first generation of its mining chip at a semiconductor conference earlier in February. But it is the second generation that will be shipped to Griid, Argo Blockchain and Block later this year.
- The chip giant's entrance into the mining rig game is expected to break a supply side dominated by a few companies.
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Eliza Gkritsi is a CoinDesk contributor focused on the intersection of crypto and AI.