Intel just introduced the BonazaMine, a unique Bitcoin (BTC) ASIC processor and the company’s first foray into mining crypto.
Intel said its cryptocurrency mining chip is 1,000 times quicker than other GPUs when revealing the news at the IEEE 2022 International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC), which began on February 20 and ends on the 24th.
Intel also presented the BonanzaMine System, which contains 300 BonanzaMine ASICs and has a capacity of 40 THash/s while consuming 3600W of power. However, crypto reporter Colin Wu, referencing a report by wccftech.com, points out that this will not be able to match the efficiency of Bitmain’s newest mining equipment.
Furthermore, while Intel reveals the capacities of its firstly launched Bitcoin (BTC) mining chip, Wu stated that this could just as well be a 2018 product in this regard, by positing that: “Intel disclosed the technical details of its first-generation bitcoin mining chip, 40T+3600W, but it should be noted that this may be a 2018 product. The latest second-generation chip has not been disclosed, and the performance may be around 35J/T.”
Intel disclosed the technical details of its first-generation bitcoin mining chip, 40T+3600W, but it should be noted that this may be a 2018 product. The latest second-generation chip has not been disclosed, and the performance may be around 35J/T. https://t.co/Ikhx40MQPr
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) February 21, 2022
In addition, the recently launched device will have 75 BonanzaMine ASICs which will be processed on every hashboard as a 25 chip voltage stack. As a result, over each combined ASIC group, the combination will enable a span of the division of 335mV from a total of 8.875 V input voltages.
Intel also suggests a way for enhancing mining performance by up to 5% while lowering IR drop losses. A microprocessor unit is installed on each board. To ensure efficiency and to document performance, voltage rates and temperature will be checked.
Raja Koduri, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Accelerated Computing Systems and Graphics department of Intel, stated that: “our blockchain accelerator will ship later this year. We are engaged directly with customers that share our sustainability goals. Argo Blockchain, BLOCK (formerly known as Square), and GRIID Infrastructure are our first customers for this upcoming product. This architecture is implemented on a tiny piece of silicon so that it has minimal impact on the supply of current products.”
Because Intel is demonstrating an extensive Bitcoin (BTC) mining system, the edge of microchip sizes allows for implementation into smaller machines used for mining cryptocurrencies, which is a market segment that has no competition at the time being.
Though Intel has not released a release date or any other details about the chip or the system as a whole, Intel’s first client to adopt the new crypto hardware unveiled earlier in February is the up-and-comer crypto company GRIID.