Cryptocurrencies, mining, bitcoins, asics - all this for some is just a bunch of words. Someone really understands this topic. It is impossible to cover everything with this one article, so it will be much easier to simply describe what ASICs are, and at the same time briefly go over the basic concepts.
Production
In order not to immediately dump all the information on inexperienced readers, you need to consistently enter it into the minds. Therefore, it is worth starting with the culprit of all that was listed earlier.
Bitcoin is now widely known to everyone. It must be immediately explained that this is a decentralized electronic cryptocurrency. It was first developed 9 years ago. There are no centralized servers or any databases that would be involved in its release. There is information that emissions are limited to a certain amount.
Even calculations were already made, according to which it became clear that the release of Bitcoin will be completed by 2140.
Earning
To understand what asics are, you will have to get acquainted with the concept of "mining." Since cryptocurrency has become popular, it has become possible to earn and run a business. It is mining that maintains the activity of electronic cryptocurrency, helps to calculate transactions and at the same time have another source of income.
There is information that if you take this matter seriously, you can get big finances only through such a procedure.
Previously, mining did not require special equipment. More precisely, until some point, users did not realize that some tools were needed for this business. In the end, they used their video cards. With their help, they earned crypto coins and traded them on exchanges.
It so happened that the use of video cards in this case was ineffective. Of course, additional income could be received. But when everyone began to think about the main thing, I had to use asics for mining.
Equipment
Such a cute name for such equipment was due to its English abbreviation. ASIC is an application-specific integrated circuit. This concept describes an integrated circuit that is designed for a specific task.
It is important to understand that there is a significant difference between such a scheme and a general purpose scheme. When the equipment is specialized, it performs only the functions assigned to it, which are characteristic of this device. All this leads to the fact that the tasks are carried out quickly and cheaply.
In principle, considering what an ASIC is, we can recall a circuit designed for a mobile phone or hardware encoding.
Development
As already mentioned, earlier asiks for mining were ordinary video cards. They were used by users to earn coins. Over time, the processes became more complex, which means that it was necessary to use more powerful equipment.
It was necessary to increase the number of video cards, and this led to the appearance of energy costs. All this could make the business unprofitable or very unprofitable. So they began to modernize the whole process.
Types
When you understand what ASIC is in total, we will understand their typology. Probably, when looking at modern devices, it is not surprising that this equipment has acquired different models. All of them differed in forms, size, purpose.
The simplest asics were inefficient. Compact miners could be connected via USB. Power was connected in the same way. Now such equipment is practically never used. It ceased to generate income and left sales.
Behind the scenes can distinguish home and professional asics. They can be distinguished by size, body and power consumption. The home option, of course, is more compact. It is small in size and cheap in quality. The fans installed in it are not so powerful, and the power supply can reach 600 watts.
We learned what asics are, now we need to deal with goals. Professional models are very expensive, but they are the most productive among those offered. They have increased power supply performance indicators, more efficient and thoughtful. Some complain about their noise, but this will have to get used to it for now.
Typically, professional devices are located in data centers and are mounted in racks.
The choice
Only those who don’t understand what they want can make a mistake. The rest is the case, as is the case with other devices. You need to determine for yourself the criteria by which to choose a miner.
In our case, choosing asics, you need to pay attention to three indicators:
- Power.
- Energy consumption.
- Cost.
These are the main parameters that will help at least approximately find similar models among themselves, and then trust intuition or reviews.
Speaking about power, they sometimes use the concept of “hashrate”. The effectiveness of the device will depend on these synonyms. Power consumption for mining is a sore subject. The process is very costly, and have not yet come up with a more economical way. Therefore, in addition to choosing the right device, you will have to understand if your network has a resource for such processes.
And the last parameter that can often be found when choosing other equipment is cost. Usually, in this case, growth and interest in earnings, an increase in the value of bitcoins are taken into account. Once there is an increase in activity in these segments, expect that the cost of miners will rise to heaven.
When the hype subsides, the price drops. In addition, the novelty of the model affects the cost: the newer, the more optimized and productive.
Manufacturers
Cryptocurrency mining with the help of asic miner is now a popular topic. Therefore, there are more and more manufacturers who devote a lot of time to this. Since the device itself is relatively new, most people do not even have a clue who is popular and authoritative in this niche.
Among the most distinguished:
- Coin Terra.
- KnC Miner.
- Butterfly Labs.
- BTC Olympus.
These are the most popular manufacturers, although there are naturally many more.
Coin Terra is a company native to America, which has already gained popularity thanks to its products. The most famous among them was the model Terra Miner IV. The price of such equipment is relatively low - 6 thousand dollars. It consumes about 3 kW / h.
KnC Miner is a company from Sweden, which also creates good mining ASICs. Among the products, the Neptune model has become noticeable. The manufacturer developed it taking into account new technologies. As a result, we get two times lower energy consumption compared to the previous generation. Although the cost of 13 thousand dollars is hardly difficult to name. But the developers claim that it is worth it, and the equipment will be able to pay for itself.
Butterfly Labs is also a no less well-known company, but has already managed to earn a dubious reputation. It so happened that a company with a big lag declared itself. There were people who pre-ordered back in 2012, but only after a year and a half received their goods. And everything would be fine, but after all, much has changed during this time, and the product has become less relevant.
BTC Olympus is an excellent company that has already acquired its own line of ASICs. Among all now stands Poseidon, cost - 8 thousand dollars.
Where to buy?
After you decide on the model, you need to look at the reviews of ASIC miners. Firstly, you can understand from them whether you made the right choice. Secondly, you may be prompted a place where you can buy such equipment.
In general, now it has become easy to acquire ASICs. It used to be hard to find and deal with the purchase. Now miners are on bulletin boards and in specialized online stores.
Even on the popular Chinese website AliExpress, you can find the product you need. And here you are waiting for democratic prices, and in our case it is important. The only thing - look for sellers with high ratings and lots of reviews. Only in this way can you understand that you are not buying a pig in a poke.
Popular models
We have already mentioned some popular models from four manufacturers. There are other devices that are primarily used at home. Antminer S7 is considered a reliable miner, with a good indicator of profit, but with great power consumption.
Antminer S9 is several times better than the previous model. Suitable for advanced users who can "squeeze" the most out of it. Antminer R4 is an absolutely home model that was created specifically for this. Therefore, in order to avoid noise, it was equipped with a transient cooling system.
Do it yourself
After understanding what ASICs are and how much they cost, many people ask themselves whether it is possible to assemble such equipment on their own. Of course, like any other device, this can be created at home. To do this, you need to purchase the right amount of elements and properly design a printed circuit board.
In addition, experts recommend taking into account other points. For example, if you don’t understand anything at all in this topic, it’s better not to mess around, otherwise just translate the product. It is worth preparing for the fact that finding the right chips is not so simple. But most of all, their cost is bewildering. The question immediately arises as to whether it would be cheaper to buy a ready-made device.
To be in trend, you will need to collect everything at a pace, since each element at any time can become irrelevant.
findings
In general, this whole topic with cryptocurrencies is so unstable that at any moment you can turn from a millionaire into a beggar. This is due to the fact that the value of bitcoins is not supported by anything.
In order for mining to really bring good profit, you will have to invest a lot in it. If you do not save on asics, then efficiency and income will be at a high level. And finally, remember that in doing this, you risk losing everything.