New lolMiner 1.69 and BzMiner v13.3.0 Bring NEXA Support for AMD GPU Miners

2 Mar
2023

While the latest updates of lolMiner and BzMiner are not the first to bring support for the Nexapow algorithm used by the NEXA project, they currently offer the fastest performance on AMD GPUs. Previously you could mine NEXA on AMD GPUs only using the WildRig Multi miner, now you can get significant performance boost with either the latest lolMiner 1.69 or BzMiner v13.3.0 (NEXA support is being jointly developed by both). Depending on your AMD GPU you could expect to get somewhere between about 12 and 20 percent performance boost compared to mining NEXA using the WildRig Multi miner, so if you were already mining NEXA on AMD GPUs you might want to upgrade your mining software now.

Meanwhile the NEXA project has also announced that it will be listed on the MEXC Global exchange at 14:00 on Mar 7 (UTC), bringing significant exposure to the crypto project to much wider market with MEXC being in the TOP 20 exchanges in terms of trading volume according to CoinMarketCap’s Exchange ranking data. So, you could expect that the interest, price and profitability of mining NEXA to also come up in the following days preceding the listing and after that as well. And that goes not only for AMD GPU miners, but also Nvidia GPU miners as well that had a heat start in being able to mine NEXA early on… it might still not be too late to join though.

– To download and try the latest lolMiner 1.69 AMD/Nvidia GPU miner…
– To download and try the latest BzMiner v13.3.0 AMD/Nvidia GPU miner…

The Goldshell MINI DOGE II 420 MH/s Scrypt ASIC Miner is Now Available

1 Mar
2023

Goldshell has completed their new BOX II home-oriented mini miners line-up with the release of the MINI DOGE II miner that is now available on their website for orders. The new Goldshell MINI DOGE II ASIC miner, much like the other BOX II devices, comes with dual operating modes – 420 MH/s at 400 Watts or 355 MH/s at 260 Watts for the Scrypt algorithm. The device can merge-mine LTC and DOGE simultaneously or any other Scrypt-based crypto currency. The new Mini DOGE II miner comes in the updated slightly larger and heavier form factor compared to the older MINI DOGE PRO devices and with dual 6-pin PCI-E power connectors due to the increased power usage, just like the rest of the BOX II product line. There is a slight improvement in terms of efficiency for the higher hashrate mode where you get 0.95 Watts per Megahash (compared to 1.1 Watt per Megahash for the MINI DOGE PRO), but the more interesting efficiency wise number is in the low power mode where you get 0.78 Watts per Megahash in terms of power usage.

The new MINI DOGE II Scrypt ASIC miner is available for order at a price of $495 USD from the official Goldshell website, the price does not include shipping and taxes and it is for a WiFi equipped version (apparently wireless connectivity comes standard for this model). Expected date for the orders to start shipping is said to be before March 13, so in about two weeks. Do note that the official specs, just like with other BOX II devices are wrong in terms of the actual size cited by Goldshell, the devices are slightly larger and heavier compared to the previous PRO models!

Official Goldshell MINI DOGE II Specifications:
– Default Hashrate Mode: 420 MH/S ±5%
– Default Hashrate Power: 400 W ±5%
– Low-Power Mode: 335 MH/S ±5%
– Low-Power Mode: 260 W ±5%
– Operating Temp: 0~35 ℃
– Dimension: 178mm*150mm*84mm
– Noise： ≤35 dB
– Connection Port: Ethernet/Wi-Fi
– Net Weight: 2.3 kg

In terms of efficiency even in the low power mode the Goldshell MINI DOGE II is still very far from what the latest Bitmain Antminer L7 Scrypt ASIC miner is able to offer, but not everyone can afford an L3 or be able to run it due to its high-power requirements. Goldshell MINI DOGE II comes as a more affordable, even though not the most efficient solution, that you can easily run at home or in a small mining operation. It is pretty silent and easy to operate, placement around the home is easier if using WiFi connectivity and can be used as a compact home heater that kind of covers the whole electricity it uses (depending on your electricity costs) at the moment. Interesting, but not very profitable new release with the current market conditions, so do think twice before pulling the trigger on this one.

– To visit the official Goldshell MINI DOGE II Scrypt ASIC miner product page…

Quick Comparison of the Goldshell KD BOX PRO and Goldshell KD BOX II Kadena ASIC Miners

20 Feb
2023

Goldshell’s new KD BOX II Kadena (KDA) ASIC miners are getting into the hands of more and more small and home miners and we’ve also picked up one (now also a WiFi version is available) and have decided to do a quick comparison between the KD BOX II and the older KD BOX PRO model. The older KD BOX PRO model was rated at 2.6 TH/s with 230 Watts of power usage or 0.088 W/GHs and the new KD BOX II is rated at 5 TH/s at 400 Watts of power usage or 0.08 W/GHs or with other words more powerful and just slightly more efficient (there is also a more efficient low-power mode with 3.5 TH/s at 260 Watts). The advantage of the new model is the higher hashrate in a slightly bigger size compared to the older model as you can see from the photo with just a tiny bit of power efficiency improvement. Interestingly enough Goldshell’s website does cite the same size of the case for both miners and contradicting numbers regarding their weight, well the new KD BOX II is clearly a bit larger and weights more. The noise level cited in the specifications is also the same, though the new model definitely is a bit noisier with just a few decibels (can vary greatly on conditions you use it at), but nevertheless still runs pretty silent and is fine for home use.

Just like with the previous model, the new KD BOX II does get pretty hot inside as the miner is designed to run silently, while keeping the operating temperatures of the ASIC chips inside pretty high, making the new devices great for use as home heaters as well with their 400W of power usage… especially if you pick a few. The new KD BOX II miner however does get hotter as expected both on the inside and the outside as you can see on the comparison thermal image with an average of about 10 degrees Celsius.

The increased power consumption to almost double the one of the previous model and adding a second 6-pin PCI-E power connector doesn’t help much in keeping the power cables much cooler. We are not too keen on the idea on pulling 200W or even more over a 6-pin PCI-E power cable even if it is a thicker good quality one (16 AWG), let alone using cheaper and lower quality 18AWG or even 20 AWG (this could be dangerous). So, good quality power cables can easily get to slightly over 40 degrees C on both the old and the new models…

The real issue with the new Goldshell KD BOX II Kadena ASIC miners however is not the fact that they are slightly larger, hotter and not very much more power efficient, after all their price per TH/s is lower than that of the previous gen when it came out. The real problem is that they are coming on the market at a time when the new generation of large scale powerful KDA ASIC miners are also getting deployed such as the Bitmain Antminer KA3 ASIC that does 166 TH/s with 3154 Watts of power usage… that is 4 times more power efficient compared to the KD BOX II and a lot more hashrate.

All this new hashrate coming from more efficient miners getting deployed on the KDA network is driving the amount of new mined Kadena coins with the small home miners down quite fast each new day (network difficulty is skyrocketing). So, unless we see a good increase in price of KDA, the purchase of a new Goldshell KD BOX II might be pretty pointless by the time you get the device actually delivered to you, thus you should think carefully if it is actually a good idea to go for these new miners. And going for the older KD BOX PRO or even the previous KD BOX miners might be an even worse idea at this point, even if they do give them to you for free.

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