After launching seven new products this year, world’s largest cryptocurrency mining equipment manufacturer, Bitmain, has developed a miner with a unique water-cooled system. The company launched the new Antminer S9 Hydro, a miner that provides higher energy savings and creates less noise. The new miner will be Bitmain’s flagship product, after introducing the likes of ANTBOX, Z9mini and Antminer S9i earlier this year.
All About the New Miner
The new Antminer S9 Hydro can be used to mine popular mainstream currencies like Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash. In essence, it is the Antminer S9 with water cooling, and supports SHA-256 algorithm. It has a hash rate of 18T, and wall power consumption rests at 1728W.
The unique water-cooled system is designed for both individual miners and larger mining operations. Individuals can use an S9 Hydro-Hex external water circulation module. Mining farms can use an outdoor water source for achieving better heat dissipation, low noise and higher energy savings. The S9 Hydro is expected to decrease noise by 20dB, compared to the air-cooled miner. In large mining farms, it can help save 8 to 12 percent energy costs.
Bitmain notes:
“Thanks to the customized and high-precision water cooling module, S9 Hydro can support the direct introduction of outdoor water source that meets the water quality requirements and quickly cool down the computing boards and other components inside the miner.”
The Chinese behemoth suggests that the chip temperature difference will only be around 5 degree Celsius, which will help in improving the stability and performance of the miner. The S9 Hydro also tackles dust deposition as it reduces the air volume of the miner.
But Wait! We Have Seen Water-Cooled Miners Before
The S9 Hydro may be the first industrial application of water-cooled miners, but if a report from TNW is to be believed, these miners have been available on YouTube for a while. Innovative miners have used DIY techniques in the past to create these makeshift miners that consume less energy.
Regardless, we can find Bitmain actively working to attract more miners in the industry or at least encourage new sales. According to a recent report, the company is slowly losing out to its competitors in terms of technology.
The new water-cooled miner will serve two purposes. First, it would help in keeping up an appearance that the company is ready to invest in newer, more advanced technology and is investing in innovation.
Second, it will help in reducing the overheads or operating costs of large mining farms. Global Bit Ventures reportedly uses 2,300 Antminer S9s, while Marathon runs 1,400 miners in its facility. As the Bitmain IPO is nearing, bringing innovative products to market is good for its reputation and reiterates its dominance in the industry.
