Topic: Q: Most reliable SHA-256 Asic Miners (Read 431 times)

It's also amazing how many problems are reported by others about the BM 17 range.

Also important to note that running too many miners on one controller can have a noticeable increase in stale shares.
The controller USB has a limit to now many I/Os it can perform per second, which is separate to the total Bytes/second.

If you have a lot of miners, you can trial this by running a few controllers with say only 4 miners on them, to see if they get lower stales.
It's also a must to run miners on separate USB ports rather than all on one port.

Would definitely look into it. Thumbs up 👍.


Thanks a lot for the details. Honestly, never had my hands on one but since being an IT guy, I would say it won't be that hard specially with your instructions.


That's great, if it runs perfectly @42 it's perfect. I won't let the room temp reach it. Will have some swamp coolers to cool down the area. According to some basic designs, it won't. Unless I'm missing something. I really don't know how much heat will be created by the miners (don't know the calculations) but I think for an area of 90m^2, 2 to 3 swamp coolers with both cold and hot rooms fully isolated will do the job to keep the room cool during the summer where outside ambient temp is around 45c.

That is mostly it. Thing is, some folks also have issues with setting up Ants and those are as simple as it comes... With the Avalon's the spot some folks have a problem with is either burning the SD card or dealing with the initial default static IP address. What I do is:

 burn a micro SD card
 change your PC LAN connection to use 192.168.0.101 or any address on the 192.168.0.xxx range EXCEPT for .100
 plug in the micro SD card and fire up the controller with it
on PC log into 192.168.0.100 and change pool and user settings to what you want
 change from static to DHCP or set a different static address (I prefer DCHP)
 Save and apply changes
 Power off controller
 remove SD card and plug back into card reader
 read card and create an image file with the new setup
 Then use that new file to burn cards for your other controllers

Plug sd cards into controllers and power up. Now being DHCP look for the controller on your router and log in to check miner operation.

As for temps, the Avalons have a few ways to deal with that. In the more options field you can use --avalon8-temp to have them throttle back to hold at any temperature you want. I've ran mine up to 42C ambient temp without using that temp limiter with the miners reaching 105C and no problems.

Just refer to Hagss setup guide for the A8's and you should have no problems.

@cryptostashman
See my reviews/guides for Avalon, they are not too hard to setup and operate.

Aren't they 11.5th @ 1200W? Or these are another marketing numbers?

Where can I get a good deal of the 821s with bulk order?


This is a very helpful info. I really didn't know this, since I have been reading about old gears they seem all familiar with the 6-pin connectors.


This might be a small problem for me as the temperature in summer here reaches upto 47 degrees. Celsius. Yes you read it right. But I think I can compensate it by adding an AC if the swamp coolers don't do a good job (but I think they can do a pretty job) I got a friend which has a mixture of gear like s9, L3++, and some s19s. I would be doing the same cooling setup, but the thing is according to the datasheet of the avalons, their max temp is rated @40 degC, while the bitmains are mostly 40.


Do you mean like the array connection of the miners using the AUC3 cables, AUC3 converters, and the controller? Or are there more to it?

I have newer avalon the a1041 and the a1066

I had an a1066 psu die. So far 110 days lost waiting for a new psu.

I should get on next week.

If it were an s9 psu or a721 or a841 or a921 I would have switched in a new one.

new gear has these bespoke psu’s and it is extremely annoying to deal with.

I used 'periodically changes' as a simple way to describe it. They use a stratum security hole 'feature' called xnsub to seamlessly redirect where some shares are received from/sent to (DevPool) without actually resetting/restarting a miner like changing a pool would do. The effect of using xnsub in that manner does not show up on any miner GUI or monitoring software as all it knows is that the miner is hashing at x speed.

Aside from dev fees, the main use of xnsub is to allow rental places like NiceHash to have (rented) miners point to wherever the person renting it from them wants without forcing the hardware to constantly restart. Another example would be if you point a SHA256 miner at Slush and let them mine other SHA256 coins as well as BTC, again, xnsub lets them switch the work between different coins w/o restarting cgminer.

As to modern miners all using custom PSU's - ja I see that as a major 'gotcha'. Aside from the higher efficiency gained by eliminating secondary on-board Vcore regulators, the only other advantage to them is eliminating the field of PCIe power connectors that can often burn up by replacing the power connections to hash boards with solid bus bars. I'm rather surprised that no PSU manufacturer has stepped up to address that point. After all, it is simply a programmable PSU that either responds to a 0-5v signal or I2C command to set the output according to what the controller tells it to put out. All the PSU maker needs to know is the input commands used, expected voltage output range and max wattage.

edit: as Mikey pointed out later, it was (probably) xnsub - not #xnonce I was thinking of. Corrected that. Thing is, #xnonce does come up on searches as being similar crypto function. Move further discussion on this to https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.56205843 which Mikey started up as we are getting OT here...

Side thoughts.
I have found that some gear is more temperature sensitive then others. As the temp climbs some will draw more power (bitmain) some will slow down a bit (Avalon) some will do both (Whatsminer )
At least that is what I have found with VERY LIMITED use of the older gen stuff. So, depending on power vs cooling it's another data-point to think about.

Bitmain / Whatsminer are more plug and go. Avalon which I do like better and do find more reliable does tend to require a bit more setup knowledge.

-Dave

Thank you for bringing this point up, this is a mistake that many people do, perhaps most of us has done a similar mistake, it's best to buy miners that use the same PSU and preferably the same control board, doing so allows you to have a spare of everything at a very low cost, buying say S17, T17e, Whatsminer M21s, and an S9, means you need 4 spares of PSUs and control boards, buying the same gear model you will need only 1 PSU and 1 Control board, in many cases, you might not end up using the spare because before the PSU or the control board goes bad, a few hash boards will die and then you end up with more spares.


At $66 for that gear, I would be very interested myself, I think OP should go for it, the price is very decent compared to today's prices.

yes grab those 821's they are decent gear.  good price. they use 100 watts a th

so 11 of them is about 100th and uses 240kwatts at day

240 x 2.5 = 6 dollars a day in power

100 x .1945 = 19.45 dollar a day in earnings

13.45 profit

cost is 11 x 66.54 = 731.94 for the miners. not sure if you get psu's

the guy I hooked you up with is 30 for a real quality psu.

so if you are 732/13.45 = 55 days

if you need the psu's

1110/13.45 = 83 days

Not sure show much you are sinking into it but your margins are decent.

Newer gear costs $$

Newer gear has a second issue all the psu's are bespoke ie they must be a perfect match or they do not work.

the Avalon 821's do not have this issue. any 1600 watt or larger 12 volt psu should be good.

Ya mainly 2-3%, any firmware that asks for more should be avoided, and I don't think it "periodically changes", at least not for Vnish, they claim "Parallel mining" which seems to be the case when you observe the reported hashrate on the pool, it doesn't seem like it discounts at all, but you do see that hashrate being equal to what shows on the pool minus the fees so a few gigahashes are going to be lost


Cost per terahash won't favor Whatsminer M21s, it's a newer generation gear, not in the S17 range but somewhere in between, it's about 56w/terahash, but you should keep in mind that most gears mentioned here including my own pick of S9 are gears that have been around for way too long, the last time Bitmain made an S9j/S9i was probably around 2018 or very early 2019, so most gears in circulation are  AT LEAST 2 years old and above, the average would be 3-4 years, a very critical age as far as I am concerned,  pretty soon most S9s on planet earth will either die or go through a major rebuild which might not make sense in terms of cost.

In other words, IMO, you should hedge yourself against the lifespan of these old gears buy acquiring a few newer and more efficient gears, while your 2.5 cents Khw rate is very good, it's isn't perfect, so eventually, you will be kicked out by the efficient gears, so maybe 20-30% of your hashrate should be in the 60 or less w/terahash.

I'd say take it. The 821 is only about 1-2 THs slower than the 841 though again, remember you cannot mix different models on 1 controller.

Regarding the mention of 3rd party firmwares for s9's - keep in mind that most charge you a couple % usage fee that is taken by the miner periodically changing to what is called DevPool. The Avalon's have no need for those 3rd party firmwares because they already support an extensive list of built-in performance tweaks to change clock rates, chip voltage, fan speed, operating temp, etc.

Noted.

I Lost a deal with the 852s. Currently I have a deal with 821s but they're too old. But price per Tera is so cheap that makes me think of taking the deal, and whatever I save from the difference of my other deal with s9js would give me the chance to purchase the latter.


This is a very good information. Thank you a lot for this.

I think I accept the fact that Canaan is a better choice, and the good thing is it can save wiring Lan cable because of the array style it's using. My only problem now is to look for another offer from the suppliers since the 852s might not be the choice now. I'm thinking since I have a very cheap rate and a good supply of power I can still mix my farm between 821s 841s and s9js if I can get my hand on a very cheap 821s.

Yesterday I had a deal for 821s @85 CAD.


My list is open since what I care is reliability + cost/Tera. I might be open to whatsminers too.

I don't have any experience with Avalon mining gears but I trust the other gentlemen's judgment, so reliability wise, I think Avalon beats bitmain easily, if I had to choose one gear in the world it would be Whatsminer M21s, but since that isn't in your list I would go with the S9.

While an Avalon gear could be more robust than S9, the latter is a lot more popular and has a variety of custom firmware that supports it, so you can get anywhere from about 10th at 800w range to a lot more powerful gear of 15.5-16th, also the spare parts are available everywhere, of course, you want to avoid the (K) and the (SE) versions as those are far from reliable.

With that being said, the Avalon 841 and the Bitmain S9 are pretty similar in terms of efficiency, so between the two, it would be a matter of cost per terahash.

it is amazing how i managed to be 17 for 17 on my s17pros. still all work just fine.

s9s were good in general.
if he could score a841 he would like them.

with his 2.5 cent power i would look for gear that can shift psus

s9 ,a841, a921 would all work well with the psu 7empest sells.

Short answer:

If you are looking for reliability, durability and stability, my order would be this (from best to worst):

Canaan>Whatsminer>Innosilicon>Bitmain (with exception of S9 and maybe S19 units).

Long answer:

I've had very few of Canaan and Whatsminer units, but they were always reliable and I never RMA-ed a single one. Everyone I knew who used these had really good "luck" with reliability compared to Bitmain.

Innosilicon is a bit different story, I've had a tad bit more of units that went through my hands or that I used personally. They were all really good and with exception of one T2T's PSU giving me blue smoke after solid 2 years of working (tho it was put through hell - it was used in miner oil a few times, then it was OC-ed to maximum "Performance+" mode during summer).

Bitmain is a complicated one... S9 were really good for me and everyone I knew personally. Out of 100 units that I had and later sold locally, they are ALL still working with OC (using exactly 1.8kW or less - depending on PSU). X11 and X15 were short series not worth mentioning. And then came X17 series, pure hell of units, I've had 75% failure rate on them. S17e was only unit that didn't break even through OC during summer. S17/S17Pro/S17+ all broke even if they were used on factory settings or underclocked. I would never recommend anyone to buy that generation of miners. X19 seems to be better, but more time has to pass so we can determine exact failure rate on them.

Thanks for the shoutout Philip.

@crytpostashman, there is a PM for you.

I tested a851/a852 they sucked do not get them.

a841 are very good.

and s9 is good.

my single a921 was better then the a851 i had.

if you have a deal for the a921 and have 240 volt power there is a seller of really good psu in the marketplace.

it will do 2400 watts at plat levels.

7empest is the seller.

I have no experience with the 851/852 so not sure about their speed or efficiency. Frankly I'd get the 841's, main reason is that there is a ton of PSU's out there for that power range. Max a 841 will pull even when over clocked is under 1,500w. As I recall the 85x series push 1.5-1.6kw and I know the 921 will pull up to 2.2kw

Highly suggest you peruse HagssFIN guides on the Avalons:
841 guide & review
851 review/guide
A7xx & A8xx troubleshooting and repair guide

Thank you for the information.

Well, if I'm to choose from A841, A851, and A852. Which one should I get? Specially I can't find deep information about the A852.


But if I found some cheap ones which has less $/TH price.  Would I buy them? Let's say I found A852 for $200 that's around 13.33$ per TH, and I found A921 for $240 which will be valued @ $12/TH. Is it worth it to save more with the A921 and deal with the maintenance or no?