Can a Ethereum miner to successfully replace the GeForce RTX 3080 GPUs of NVIDIA in cryptomining? Η Bitmain says yes and presents the Antminer E9 Ethereum miner.
Chinese mining company Bitmain has released a teaser of its upcoming Antminer E9 Ethereum miner. Although it did not mention a specific date, the company said that the Antminer E9 will be released very soon.
The Antminer E9 could solve the problems faced by gamers lately. If the cryptominers switch to this new ASIC miner, they might stop buying NVIDIA products, putting an end to the lack of graphics cards. This is of course a hypothetical scenario. Furthermore, the shelves will not magically fill up, as cryptominers are not the only cause of the shortage of cards. However, there may be more stock on the market.
Learn more: Problems in the gaming laptops market due to... crypto-miners
The Antminer E9 allegedly provides Ethereum hash rate up to 3 GH/s, which is equivalent to mining which allow 32 NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 graphics cards (Ampere). If Bitmain keeps its promise, the Antminer E9 will be the fastest ASIC miner available and will even exceed the Linzhi's Phoenix Ethash ASIC miner providing up to 2,600 MH/s.
Bitmain did not reveal too many details about the Antminer E9. But some little information suggests that the Antminer E9 will not only be faster than the Phoenix miner, but also more energy efficient. It is said that the Antminer E9 miner consumes 14.8% less energy.
Obviously, an ASIC miner equivalent to 32 NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 graphics cards will not be cheap. There have been various speculations on Twitter and some of them say that the miner could cost over 20.000 $. Linzhi's Phoenix miner is sold between 11,300 $ and 13,700 $. Even with 30,000 $, the Antminer E9 could be a very attractive option for mining farms, as GeForce RTX 3080 graphics cards start at 2,500 $ and the market for 32 cards reaches 80,000 $.
See also: NVIDIA employee suggests a solution to gaming problems
On the other hand, NVIDIA might not be too happy with the release of such a miner, as their graphics cards are currently in high demand. In the fourth quarter of 2020, a large percentage of the company's revenue came from cryptomining-related sales.
See also: Grace CPU: NVIDIA's first data center ARM-based processor
In addition, Nvidia recently introduced the products Cryptocurrency Mining Processor (CMP) that focus on Ethereum mining.
Of course, the Antminer E9 miner will not significantly impact Nvidia's cryptomining business unless the Ethereum miner is mass produced. It will certainly be a challenge given the global shortage of electronic components that is affecting all industries.
Source: Tom's Hardware
