Bitmain Antminer E9 Vs GPU Mining: Which is More Powerful

This post will compare Bitmain Antminer E9 and GPU mining to see which one is more powerful mining.

There has been a global shortage of graphics cards for almost two years. The crypto mining market has arguably lost the most money as a result of the shortage, even though the PC gaming industry has been the loudest to complain.

Numerous miners were unable to upgrade their rigs because of inflated GPU prices. This cost them thousands, if not millions, in potential profits. Are ASIC miners the answer to this issue?

The most potent Ethereum miner currently on the market, the Bitmain Antminer E9, will be examined, along with its potential effects on GPU mining as a whole.

Can You Mine Ethereum With ASIC?

Only GPUs could be used to mine Ethereum in the past. In recent years, though, this has changed. 2018 saw the debut of the first-ever Ethereum ASIC, which was released by the Chinese company Bitmain. Soon after, more companies followed suit. Nonetheless, their Bitmain Antminer E3 was a popular choice among Ethereum miners for a few years.

The business has made the decision to update its well-liked line of Ethereum miners this year. The Bitmain Antminer E9 has been made available, which will aid in the transition of Ethereum mining from the PoW (Proof of Work) period to the PoS (Proof of Stake) period. They have claimed that this will be the fastest Ethereum miner available ever since they first announced it at the beginning of the year.

Read more: How to Set Up Bitmain Antminer E9 to Mine Ethereum Classic (ETC)

ASIC Mining With Bitmain Antminer E9

When the first announcement came, most people thought that the Bitmain E9 would cost somewhere in the $30,000 vicinity. To the surprise of many, the machine turned out to be much more cost-effective. Without shipping charges, the cost of a single unit is $17,000.

The company also revealed the tech specs of the E9. It’s the first Ethereum miner with a 3 GH/s hash rate, which is a significant advancement. For reference, the previous fastest miner had a hash rate of only 2.5–2.6 GH/s.

ASIC miners and GPUs differ from each other in terms of hash rate. One would need to run 32 RTX 3080 graphics cards simultaneously to get the same results. Considering just how much these graphics cost on the secondary market, we are talking about saving a few dozen thousand of dollars.

The Bitmain Antminer E9 is not only a much more cost-effective purchase, but it is also much less expensive to maintain. That’s right—the E9 uses a lot of energy by itself. According to Bitmain, their device needs 2,556 watts to operate properly. However, to replicate the E9’s performance, one would need significantly more electrical power.

Simply put, 32 graphic cards operating simultaneously result in one large electrical bill at the end of the month. Another huge convenience of using an ASIC rig is the space. Approximately three dozen graphic cards require a lot of room and large fans for cooling. The E9 can fit into a corner of your basement and you won’t even have to worry about an additional cooler either.

What Caused the GPU Shortage

Prior to talking about the Bitmain Antminer E9 and its effects on the market, we must first discuss the beginning of the GPU shortage. In order to mine cryptocurrencies, you need processing power. The simplest way to do it is with powerful graphics cards, which can handle a lot of it. The same ones are used for gaming.

At the end of 2020, the price of cryptocurrencies skyrocketed. This resulted in a sharp rise in the demand for graphic cards. Since the manufacturers couldn’t meet the demand, the secondary market bloomed, and the prices shot up.

An unprecedented crisis was brought on by the hardware shortage. GPUs for retail prices were unavailable for both miners and gamers. NVIDIA and AMD graphics cards, which are already pricey, were being resold for 3X to 5X the original cost by the resellers.

Could the Antminer E9 ASIC Miner Be the Solution to the GPU Shortage?

Unlikely, But It’s Still A Possibility If The Stars Align For Bitmain

ASIC miner designed specifically for Ethereum, the Bitmain Antminer E9 is said to have a hash rate of up to 3 GH/s when mining Ethereum. That much mining power equates to 25 NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090s (120 MH/s per 3090) or 32 RTX 3080s (94 MH/s per 3080). The Antminer E9 has a throughput of 26 MH/s per 30HX, which is equivalent to 115 CMP 30HXs in terms of current NVIDIA mining cards. Despite having an efficiency of 0.85 J/M, the Antimer E9 will consume a lot of power at 2,556W. With that much power, the Antiminer E9 could earn about $236 per day at an electricity cost of $.13 per kWh (average in the US).

The Antminer E9 will be the most potent ASIC cryptocurrency miner available if the 3 GH/s hash rate claim is true. It would be mined using the 2.6 GH/s Linzhi Phoenix miner. Furthermore, at 3000W, the Linzhi Phoenix uses less energy. Thus, mining performance is 15.3% faster and 14.8% more efficient on the Antminer E9. This ASIC miner won’t be cheap, and according to current rumors, the Antminer E9 will cost more than $20,000. Some people even predict that it might increase to $30,000. For comparison, the Linzhi Phoenix is priced between $11,300 and $13,700.

The time to break even will be between 85 days and 127 days if the Antminer E9’s price is between $20,000 and $30,000. It’s unquestionably a better investment than 25 RTX 3090 cards, which would cost about $75,000 on the secondary market and require 311 days to break even in the best-case scenario assuming that electricity is inexpensive and the price of Ethereum remains stable. The Antminer E9 appears to be a very alluring purchase for a cryptocurrency miner when considering this proposal.

The shortage of graphics cards might be addressed by this.

It’s possible that the answer is both yes and no. The Antminer E9 could undoubtedly play a significant role in the shortage of graphics cards if Bitmain is successful in manufacturing it in sufficient numbers. As ASIC miners take the place of graphics cards in the hands of cryptocurrency miners, consumers will finally have access to the most recent graphics cards. More likely, because of the global shortage of semiconductors, Bitmain won’t be able to manufacture the Antminer E9 on a large enough scale.

The NVIDIA CMP series of cryptocurrency mining cards will undoubtedly compete with the Bitmain Antminer E9 ASIC miner. Though it is irrational to assume that it will be produced in large quantities, it is unlikely that it will carve out a significant portion of the market share. Unless the stars align for Bitmain, consumers will continue to experience a shortage of graphics cards.

ASIC Mining Vs. GPU Mining

A lot of powerful hash power is required for cryptocurrency mining. In terms of hash rate, ASIC is the better option. The new currency is produced when the miner finds a solution to the issue. You still want a machine that can finish the job quickly even though the share of the reward is not directly related to your hash rate. It ought to be a more potent option than a GPU, unless you have an outdated ASIC. ASICs have a single purpose: to mine a particular cryptocurrency. GPUs, on the other hand, have the ability to mine and perform other useful tasks.

For a short time, ASICs were superior to GPUs. ASICs, however, found it challenging to solve the PoW algorithms that were developed by many people. Even when ASICs were able to solve the puzzles, they were not more efficient than a basic GPU. Indeed, some cryptos (such as Equihash and Cryptonight) modified their software to the point where ASIC is now essentially obsolete. Don’t forget that there are a lot of new ASIC-resistant coins entering the market right now.

If you look at the efficiency levels, Per hash, ASICs do outperform GPUs. But when you mine for cryptocurrencies, you are not solving the hash. An average ASIC can use up to 800 watts of power. Whether you have an older or newer ASIC, they will use the same amount of power for only a portion of the profits. Dollar-for-dollar, GPUs are more effective than other hardware in these setups. ASIC requires 800 watts to mine a $1 cryptocurrency today, whereas a GPU miner only uses 100 watts. Those figures show that GPUs mine crypto more effectively than ASICs.

A GPU mining rig is larger than an ASIC one, but physical space is not an issue in many cases. However, once you hit the power wall with an ASIC unit, upgrading can be costly. You can mine more coins with a GPU before considering an upgrade.

Ease of Use

You probably want something simple to use if you are thinking about mining cryptocurrency. ASICs are user-friendly, and beginners can start mining in a few short steps. Just keep in mind that mining efficiency is inversely correlated with profitability. Consider the mining industry to be a sport. You will succeed more if there is a barrier in the way of those rewards. Your rewards will be much smaller if everyone can win. Easy mining is not a good thing. At that level, everyone can compete with you, reducing your profits.

However, using GPUs to mine cryptocurrencies is more difficult. To start your mining business, you can assemble a rig with some software. Keep in mind that you may want to Rather than purchasing a ready-made rig, build your own. Again, when mining is simple, profitability suffers. Consider using your mining rig to mine cryptocurrencies that are not frequently mined.

Price Comparisons

An ASIC rig is inexpensive. They are frequently available for less than $2,000 on the market. You should not, however, choose the least expensive choice. Consider following this formula:

Return on investment = income – sticker price – electricity + residual value

ASICs are known as one-trick ponies – they can only mine specific types of cryptocurrency. These miners can be used for other things if they have GPUs. Gamers can purchase the mining rig from miners when profitability drops. Low profits result in being stuck with an ASIC that has no other use because it is only used for mining. Owners of GPU mining rigs are more likely to continue mining than those who use ASICs, particularly when electricity prices rise. The rig is useless once an ASIC’s profitability stops outpacing the cost of electricity.

For the most part, your The first day you purchase an ASIC rig, its profitability will be at its highest. Purchasing cryptocurrency or spending money on a GPU unit will yield higher returns, unless you have access to free or inexpensive electricity. Paying for power actually results in a greater financial loss than cryptocurrency mining.

When compared to ASICs, GPU prices could be higher or lower. Although an entire 6-GPU miner can be more expensive than the typical ASIC, it is a modular setup. Although there are many options and price points, the starting price for GPUs will be between $500 and $700. The cost of running these machines is lower. Since they are made up primarily of computer components that are readily available off the shelf, they are simpler to buy, maintain, and sell.

Yes, it can cost more to build a single GPU mining than an ASIC, but GPUs are more efficient on a dollar to watt basis. So, compared to the ASIC unit, this setup uses less power. Although the initial cost of GPUs is high, over time, the cost decreases.

Keep in mind that the cryptocurrency market is very unstable. Always be ready for the eventuality that the market collapses and mining becomes unprofitable. Crypto prices will always continue to rise and fall. Even Bitcoin is prone to those issues. During those times, many miners give up, but it might be the best time to persevere. You could benefit from your mining rig’s efforts if there was less competition.

Flexibility

If you want a flexible crypto mining rig, you cannot find that with an ASIC machine. They can mine more than one algorithm, yes, but ultimately, they can only be used for mining cryptocurrencies.

This debate is won by GPUs without a doubt. With that in mind, GPUs are the best choice for small or medium-sized miners. You can switch your computer from one cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin, to another, like Ethereum. Despite the ASIC’s ability to mine cryptocurrency, they are being outperformed by it.

ASICs continue to be static, whereas GPUs can adapt to the needs of the market. When you have that flexibility, even in a volatile market, you can continue to be profitable. You are left with a machine that is useless because the ASIC can’t adapt to many changes. At the end of the data, when the GPU is no longer useful for mining, you can convert it for other purposes.

You can always sell the system to a buyer who is prepared to pay top dollar for it to be used for what it was made for, which was to play video games. There is no denying that there are significantly more gamers than miners. As a result, GPUs can be resold without devaluing them. Anybody who wants those components for their computers can find value in the HDDs, CPUs, motherboards, and every other component. You should use computer components that are readily available because of this. You can always find a buyer for computers at a fair price, barring a global computer apocalypse.

The Bitmain Antminer E9 and whether it will render GPU mining obsolete are the subjects of today’s discussion as a result of all of the foregoing.

Bitmain Antminer E9 Equals 32 GPUs

As a business, Bitmain has a lengthy history. Their name is recognized for quality and innovation in the cryptocurrency community, and their brand is well-known. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that they created a device that mines Ethereum using the processing power of 32 RTX 3080 graphics cards.

The latest version of the Antminer series has a 3 GH/s power. If you didn’t know, that is the unit of measurement for mining cryptocurrencies. Given that the aforementioned RTX 3080 only has 12 MH/s, almost three dozen cards would be required to match the power of a single E9.

The Bitmain Antminer E9 offers more than just that. An Antminer E9’s electricity consumption is a question that seasoned miners have. Even though the machine requires a lot of energy to run properly, it uses much less than other, noticeably less powerful miners.

For instance, the average ASIC miner will give you the power of 2 GH/s to 2.5 GH/s while consuming more than 3,000 watts. On the other hand, the Antminer E9 won’t use more than 2,556 watts. Of course, the return on investment is significantly higher as a result.

Bitmain Antminer E9 Profitability

All of the aforementioned factors would be meaningless if the Bitmain Antminer E9 couldn’t give you a sizable return on investment.

So, is the Antminer E9 profitable? Yes, without a doubt. You can make between $200 and $250 per day with the E9, according to some calculations. Naturally, the profit is based on a variety of variables, including the cost of electricity in your area.

In the US, the cost of electricity is roughly $0.13 per kWh, so it is possible to make a profit of $236 per day, for example. Electricity costs are higher in some European nations, including France and Spain. In these places, you can expect a lower daily profit.

But remember that is a fantastic profit. Bitcoin mining hasn’t been this profitable for quite some time.

The Bitmain Antminer E9’s price is its strongest feature. When you take into account the potential returns, $17,000 is incredibly low. With that amount, you can anticipate having your machine paid off and ready to start generating serious revenue in less than three months.

Final Words: is the End of GPU Mining?

Regardless of your preferred mining technique, you have to admit that the Bitmain Antminer E9 is impressive. The miner will undoubtedly rule the market in 2021 and 2022. It’s most likely going to be remembered as the first authentic ASIC Ethereum miner of the PoS era.

Is GPU mining now extinct? is the main query at this point. No, we can’t really expect everyone to switch to ASIC miners overnight. We can anticipate that many miners will join the hype because of the E9’s unexpectedly low price, low power consumption, and high potential profitability.

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