Windows Binaries for the cpuminer-opt 3.3.4 CPU Miner

31 May
2016

cpuminer-opt-3-3-windows

The cpuminer-opt miner (source) is a fork from cpuminer-multi by tpruvot that adds optimizations for many algorithms for more recent CPUs with support for the AES-NI instruction set, though the miner also works on older SSE2 capable CPUs with lower performance. Up until recently the cpuminer-opt was available only for Linux users, but starting from version 3.3 there is also Windows support and we have compiled 64-bit binaries of the miner for Windows. In the archive below you can find multiple executable files that are compiled for different CPU architectures that support AES-NI instructions, so you are welcome to try them. The default cpuminer.exe is compiled for Intel Westmere, the first architecture that has support for the AES-NI instruction set and cpuminer-amd.exe is bdver1 which should work on all AMD processors with AES-NI. If you have a more recent Intel Sandybridge, Ivybridge, Haswell or Broadwell-based processor you can try the respective binary to see if that will squeeze some extra performance, or you can compile directly on your PC with the native instruction set supported by your CPU. We have not tried much of the algorithms of the miner yet, but we have checked HODL support – one of the more recent interesting CPU-only coins and it seems to be working well, though on some systems it occasionally gives low difficulty shares.

Update: We have updated the binaries to the latest version cpuminer-opt 3.3.4 that has support for the X11Evo algorithm used by Revolvercoin (XRE). The latest version should also fix the low difficulty shares for HODL that were present in the earlier releases and improve compatibility for some CPUs, including resolving issues that some people had with Intel Westmere-based processors. There is also a significant improvement for the performance of the M7M used by the Coin Magi (XMG) over the older versions of cpuminer-opt. We have also added cpuminer-sse2.exe binary for processors that do not have AES-NI support, so you might want to try that one if you have an older processor. Just download the archive below for the latest version of the binaries compiled for Windows.

– To download and try the cpuminer-opt 3.3.4 CPU miner 64-bit Windows binaries…

Bitmain Just Announced the 14 THS AntMiner S9 ASIC Bitcoin Miner

31 May
2016

bitmain-antminer-s9-asic

One more announcement fro Bitmain, the AntMiner S9 ASIC Bitcoin miner is no official and will start shipping on June 12th for $2100 USD without the shipping cost (power supply is not included). The device uses the company’s new 16nm ASIC chips BM1387 and essentially triples the hashrate of the previous generation S7 miners while offering the same level of power usage. The Bitmain AntMiner S9 should be capable of 14 THS SHA-256 mining hashrate with a power usage of 1375 Watts at the wall, so definitely a good improvement over the S7.

Bitmain AntMiner S9 Specifications:
– Hash Rate: 14.0 THS ±5%
– Power Consumption: 1375W + 7% (at the wall, with APW3 ,93% efficiency, 25C ambient temp)
– Power Efficiency: 0.098 J/GH + 7% (at the wall, with APW3 93% efficiency, 25°C ambient temp)
– Rated Voltage: 11.60~13.00V
– Chip quantity per unit: 189x BM1387
– Dimensions: 350mm(L)*135mm(W)*158mm(H)
– Cooling: 2x 12038 fan
– Operating Temperature: 0 °C to 40 °C
– Network Connection: Ethernet
– Default Frequency: 650 MHz

The big question however is if now was the right time to announce the new mining hardware, as of you order now from the first batch you might be getting your units delivered right before the Bitcoin block reward halving. So it might be wise to wait for a later batch of S9 miners after the halving to see how the situation will change and if you might get a better deal in terms of price for the hardware. Then again if you are using S7 miners you might already get to the planning for switching to S9 now that the previous generation S5 is no longer profitable barely covering the electricity costs.

Bitmain Now Offering AntMiner S7-LN with 1KW ATX Power Supply

30 May
2016

bitmain-antminer-s7-ln

Bitmain has a new interesting offer for miners in the form of a lower hashrate ASIC miner for Bitcoin called AntMiner S7-LN that comes packaged with a 1KW Enermax ATX PSU. The new Bitmain AntMiner S7-LN apparently has less chips – 90x BM1385 instead of the 135 found in the regular S7 and as a result you get a bit more than half the hashrate at about half the power usage. The AntMiner S7-LN is rated at 2.7 THS hashrate and about 700W of power usage at the wall and can be yours for $291 USD without the shipping and taxes per unit – the miner and the PSU for it – with the shipping expected to start on June 2nd. The good thing about this offer is that the PSU is a regular ATX one so it can be used for a PC or a GPU mining rig and not only for ASIC miners when the time to shut down the S7-LN comes.

Bitmain AntMiner S7-LN Specifications:
– Hash Rate: 2.7 TH/s ±5%
– Power Consumption: 697W + 10% (at the wall, with Enermax, 25C ambient temp)
– Power Efficiency: 0.25 J/GH + 10% (at the wall, with Enermax, 25°C ambient temp)
– Rated Voltage: 11.60~13.00V
– Chip quantity per unit: 90x BM1385
– Dimensions: 306mm(L)*150mm(W)*275mm(H)
– Cooling: 2x 12038 fan
– Operating Temperature: 0 °C to 40 °C
– Network Connection: Ethernet
– Default Frequency: 700 MHz
– PSU: 1000W Enermax golden power supply

The only drawback is that the Bitcoin block reward halving is right around the corner, so in about a month and a half the coins mined by the miner will be cut in half. So now it might not be the best time to consider purchasing the current generation of Bitcoin ASIC miners even of the offer is an attractive one. So consider carefully whether now is the right time to purchase SHA256 ASIC mining hardware or better to wait for the halving and then consider what to do…

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