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Crypto Cloaks has just released the 3D printable STL files for their custom Bitmain AntMiner S9 modification from a noisy ASIC miner to a silent space heater that mines Bitcoin while keeping you warm during the cold winter days. They have already made available their DIY guide to help you build your own AntMiner S9 space heater even without the need of a custom case, but with the case that you can print yourself if you have access to a 3D printer – things not only work well, but also look well with your new space heater. The PDF includes their pretty detailed experience and tests during the creation process making it easier for anyone with a helpful walkthrough of the data collected and what you need and how to make your noisy S9 ASIC miner into a silent space heater that still manages to pay for the part of the electricity it uses thanks to the mined BTC.
Even if you do not own or have easy access to a 3D printer (like a friend that can print it for you) you can still order the case to be 3D printed and have an old Bitmain AntMiner S9 ASIC miner turned into a silent space heater mining BTC for less than $400 USD including buying a used S9 if you don’t have one lying around unused already. If you do have an S9 and a 3D printer that you can use to 3D print all the required parts, then the cost is significantly reduced, so you will need to buy just the extra fans and Ethernet to WiFi adapter. So, why not get to doing yourself a space heater that mines Bitcoin now instead of buying a pre-built one such as Heatbit that will cost you more than twice what you would normally spend if you buy everything and built it yourself.
And something from us to think about, you can swap the AntMiner S9 with an AntMiner L3 Scrypt ASIC and similarly have it optimized for silent operation, it will be easier since it can consume less power for optimal power efficiency with a custom firmware installed on it or you can up the heating power and get extra performance. The thing is that thanks to merged mining LTC and DOGE the L3+ ASIC miner might be able to pay for more of the electricity it uses compared to what an S9 could at the moment. Scrypt ASIC miners haven’t outperformed the L3+ and what it can do with custom firmware unlike SHA256 ASIC miners that have been faster in development and the S9, although from the same period is not as profitable nowadays. So, you might want to experiment with an AntMiner L3+ instead of an AntMiner S9 as a base ASIC miner for your new space heater, especially if you have one lying around and unused already…
– Download the S9 Space Heater Box STL files and the PDF DIY guide from Crypto Cloacks’ File Factory
- Published in: Mining Hardware
- Related tags: Antminer L3, AntMiner L3 Space Heater, AntMiner S9, Antminer S9 space heater, Bitcoin DIY Space Heater, Bitcoin Space Heater, BTC Space Heater, Crypto Cloacks, Crypto Cloacks S9 Space Heater, Heatbit, Heatbit alternative, Heatbit DIY alternative, S9 Space Heater, S9 Space Heater DIY Guide, Space Heater DIY Guide, Space Heater mining Bitcoin, Space Heater mining BTC, The Future of Space Heaters
The ASIC manufacturer Goldshell has started selling an updated version of their smaller KD BOX PRO home-oriented ASIC miner for Kadena (KDA) dubbed Goldshell KD BOX II capable of up 5 TH/s hashrate with 400 Watts of power usage with a price of $325 USD (without shipping and customs expenses), starting to ship in mid-January from Asia. The new device comes in a similar small-scale form factor with increased performance and two 6-pin PCI-E power connectors instead of just one due to the increased power usage as well (still a bit on the edge for 24/7 400W power usage though in our opinion). Interestingly enough there is no WiFi capability, just Ethernet port and the wireless connectivity especially for home miners is a really useful feature that the previous PRO model did come with. Interestingly enough even with the higher power usage the new KD BOX II is still rated at the same noise level as the PRO version, we kind of expected to be noisier, and it actually could still be.
Goldshell KD BOX II Specifications:
– Default Hashrate Mode: 5 TH/S (±5%)
– Default Hashrate Power: 400 (±5%)
– Low-Power Hashrate Mode: 3.5 TH/S (±5%)
– Low-Power Hashrate Power: 260 W (±5%)
– Dimensions: 178x150x84 (mm)
– Weight: 2KG
– Noise level: <35 dB
– Connection Port: Ethernet
– Operating Temperature: 0~35°C
– Relative humidity: ≤65%
– Input Voltage: 100-240V
So, the new Goldshell KD BOX II comes in the same compact size case, weights the same, however is capable of increased performance compared to the older PRO model. It consumes more power, yet it should remain with the same low noise level that is very acceptable for home use – great for a heater/miner choice, or so the official specs claim. There are apparently two modes of operation (a single miner replacing the regular and Pro models in the previous generation?) resulting in 5 TH/s mining hashrate for KDA with 400 Watts of power usage or 3.5 TH/s at 260 Watts of power usage.
As a comparison the KD BOX PRO is rated for 2.6 TH/s at 230 Watts of power usage… that is just about 0.0885 Watts per Gigahash of hashrate. As a comparison the new KD BOX II does manage to offer 0.0743 Watts per Gigahash in low power mode when running at 3.5 TH/s or 0.08 Watts per Gihagash in full power 5TH/s hashrate mode. These numbers actually show that there is just about 10% improvement in power efficiency in the high-power mode when the new miner runs at full 5 TH/s hashrate, the lower power mode is better though.
What is our verdict for the Goldshell KD BOX II then? Considering the not that much of power efficiency improvement in the full power mode that will most likely also come with significant increase in noise level (the less than 35 Decibels is probably the rating in low power 3.5 TH/s mode we suspect) and the lack of WiFi capability it might not actually be that much better choice than the KD BOX PPRO model. The only advantage is the lower price and the fact that the older models are no longer available for sale from Goldshell. We kind of expected to see something like the difference between the KD BOX and the KD BOX PRO models where improvement was much more significant than what we are getting there between the KD BOX PRO and KD BOX II.
– For more about the Goldshell KD BOX II Kadena (KDA) ASIC Miner…
- Published in: Mining Hardware
- Related tags: Blake2s, Blake2s ASIC, Blake2s ASIC miner, Blake2s miner, Goldshell, Goldshell KD BOX, Goldshell KD BOX II, Goldshell KD BOX II ASIC, Goldshell KD BOX II ASIC miner, Goldshell KD BOX II miner, Goldshell KD BOX PRO, GSKDB2230103-01-X, Kadena, Kadena ASIC, Kadena ASIC miner, Kadena home ASIC, Kadena home miner, Kadena miner, KD BOX, KD BOX II, KD BOX II ASIC, KD BOX II ASIC miner, KD BOX II miner, KD BOX PRO, KDA, KDA ASIC miner, KDA home ASIC, KDA home miner, KDA miner
It seems that the first FPGA miner (not an ASIC) for mining KASPA (KAS) and its kHeavyHash algorithm might be out now – the Osprey Electronics E300. The device is apparently capable of 14 GH/s hashrate on the kHeavyHash algorithm with power usage of 250-500 Watts depending on settings with future support for ERG and RXD claimed. According to the manufacturer of these devices the E300 is based on Xilinx UltraScale+ VU35P FPGA technology and each miner comes with 3 Hash Boards + 1 Control Board, with each hash board having one Xilinx VU35P (872K LUT, 224Mb on-chip RAM, 8GB HBM2, 420 GB/s Bandwidth) and the control board is based on Xilinx Zynq 7010. The price of the miner on the official website is $4999 USD and it is currently listed as out of stock.
Do note that we have not seen or tried the E300 KASPA FPGA miner ourselves, so we cannot confirm its actual existence and there is very little information about it online. The photos on the Osprey Electronics website of the device do seem to be from an actual AntMiner S9 with the company’s logo on it. There are some screenshots from the miner’s interface that show it mining KAS on woolypooly.com from early November as well as an official video showing the miner interface. The same company apparently also makes a Helium (HNT) hotspot miner as well called Osprey hotspot G1 that has slightly more online presence. The official Discord channel does have some more information and things going on around the development of the device, so you might want to check it out if interested and want to ask some more questions. The great thing about FPGAs is that they can be reprogrammed to mine other algorithms or dor other things, unlike ASIC miners that are designed specifically for one task.
- Published in: Mining Hardware
- Related tags: E300, ERG FPGA, ERG FPGA miner, Ergo FPGA, Ergo FPGA miner, FPGA miner, KAS FPGA, KAS FPGA miner, Kaspa FPGA, Kaspa FPGA miner, Osprey Electronics, Osprey Electronics E300, Osprey Electronics E300 FPGA, Osprey Electronics E300 FPGA miner, Osprey Electronics E300 miner, Radiant FPGA, Radiant FPGA miner, RXD FPGA, RXD FPGA miner