Avalonminer 741: The Best Bitcoin Miner For Less Than $800
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Do you want to start in the bitcoin mining world? For less than $ 800 the AvalonMiner 741 is one of the best options to consider, thanks to its ease of use, reduced energy consumption and low cost. This ASIC miner has a processing power of 7.3 TH / sec and is ideal for running bitcoins mining both at home and on a large scale.
The bitcoin mining market has been stagnant in the last 12 months for a number of reasons, forcing users to remain more patient than usual due to the scarcity of new options in this already limited showcase. But at the beginning of the year a news item changed the landscape for those who did not expect major changes in 2017, and it is precisely the return of the Avalon miner, this time with the Chinese company Canaan.
2016 closed the bitcoin mining market by placing the Bitmain Company as practically the only manufacturer. The unexpected closures of the Israeli Spondoolies Tech and the bankruptcy of the Swedish KnC Miner, were hard knocks to the free market competition; On the other hand the Chinese manufacturer BW postponed the launch of its next equipment with chips of 14nm and the European BitFury continued with his policy of sale of hardware only to industrial levels.
All this combined left the users at the mercy of the products of Bitmain, which launched the Antminer S9 and later the Antminer R4, the latter being a team designed for mining in domestic spaces. Although all previous batches of these equipments have been exhausted, the Chinese company has received criticism for the S9 model, specifically for factory configurations in the equipment firmware that granted privileges to the mining pools of Bitmain before the rest.
At the margin was Canaan Creative, famous for marketing the first specialized hardware for bitcoin mining, which faced financial problems and its operations had been stopped since 2015. It was then in June that Canaan was bought by a Chinese manufacturer company Hardware, to restart the operations of design and commercialization of equipment specialized for the mining of bitcoins.
Keeping the same board of Canaan, with CEO N.G. Zhan in command, the Avalon miners have returned to the market, thus providing a good news for all users interested in mining bitcoins.
Impressions of the Avalonminer 741
This is the name that the company has given to this team that according to Canaan is the old ROQ Solid Miner, but refined and with a new ventilation system. The AvalonMiner 741 is dimensions of 40 x 21 x 22 cm with a 4.8 kg/unit, which makes it lightweight practical miner ideal for running bitcoins mining both at home and on a large scale.
The equipment has a total of 88 chips of 16nm each, to add a processing power of 7.3 TH / sec and an energy consumption of approximately 1150 Watts. The launch price is US $ 818 (currently available for US $ 714) and has a warranty of 90 days from the time the user receives the miner.
Thinking about the scalability of bitcoins mining with this model, the Canaan offers the AvalonMiner Controller that allows to connect up to 4 converters AUC3 (AvalonMiner USB Convertor 3), and from these converters can connect up to 5 AvalonMiner 741 equipment. In total, a 20 miners array can be quickly configured using the controller and USB converters to combine a total processing power of 146 TH / sec.
This driver is sold separately and is required for the operation of the AvalonMiner 741. Currently it is priced at US $ 60. Further technical details can be found on the manufacturer’s website.
Technical specifications
Image Credit: https://canaan.io/
- Processing power: 7.3 Th / s
- Internal configuration: 88 x A3212 16 nm chips
- Power Consumption: 1150W
- Power Inputs: 6 x 6-pin connectors
- 2 x 5 pin I2C connectors
- Air inlet: -5 ° C to 40 ° C
- Dimensions: 40 x 21 x 22 cm
- Weight: 4.8 kg
- Warranty: 90 days
- Extra devices needed:
- Controller: AvalonMiner Controller (22 x 20.5 x 5.5 cm)
- Power adapter with 5V and 2A USB input
First impressions
The first thing that jumps out in sight of this bitcoin mining equipment is its construction. The AvalonMiner 741, whose current price is $ 714, is very similar in form to the most sold equipment so far, BitMiner AntMiners. However, the differences can quickly be noted: the AvalonMiner 741 has a sturdy metal housing, with precise finishes, worthy of an engineering piece; One puller on the back, two 5-pin I2C connectors (then we’ll see what they are used for), and two processing boards with three 6-pin power connection ports each that can be easily removed for maintenance with just one remove The computer’s front grill.
It also highlights the fact that the miner does not have a network port because, unlike the currently available equipment, AvalonMiner needs an additional controller, which costs $ 60, to connect to work: AvalonMiner Controller.
This small controller is a Raspberry Pi 3 (a mini computer) that has a network port and four USB ports to centralize the connections to the AvalonMiners, allowing to link up to five serial miners (through the 5-pin connectors) by Each USB port; A maximum of twenty AvalonMiners per controller. For this connection a small device is used that the Canaan team calls AUC3, which receives a mini-USB input from the controller and comes out with a 5-pin I2C cable to the AvalonMiner.
As for power, the AvalonMiner 741 can be powered with a power source of at least 1,200W of power. For its part, it is important to note that the controller comes only with a USB cable and not with an adapter to plug it in, so it is necessary to have one that provides 5 volts and 2 amps (since it is a Raspberry Pi 3) for Power the AvalonMiner Controller.
Power supply
You will need to purchase a power supply of at least 1300W to get the most out of the AvalonMiner 741. Among the sources recommended for use with the A741 we have:
- Bitmain AntMiner APW5 PSU 1300 Watts (110v) / 2600 Watts (220v).
- Bitmain AntMiner APW12 1600 Watt PSU.
- EVGA SuperNOVA 1200 Watts P2 80+ PLATINUM.
- EVGA SuperNOVA 1600 Watts T2 80+ GOLD Titanium.
Installation and operation
Once the equipment is connected and configured, there are two pleasant surprises at the start of the mining: first, the AvalonMiner 741 is not as noisy as its current competitors, its sound is comparable to that of a fan operating at high power; Second, its cooling system allows it to operate at relatively low temperatures for equipment of its class (approximately 60 ° Celsius).
Avalon software is simple, with a friendly graphical interface and simple to use. Just click on the “Settings” tab and enter the information for your favorite mine pool. Once saved this data the Antminer 741 will begin to work of automatic form.
At the beginning of work the miner takes a few minutes to reach the final processing speed. This can be seen in the graph that shows the miner in his simple configuration panel that, besides showing some general data of the equipment, also shows the speed of revolution of the extractor with updates every five seconds.
To assist in checking the equipment status, the AvalonMiner 741 has several sets of lights: on the front of the device there is an LED that changes to white, yellow, blue or red, to indicate that the device is on Rest, working properly or overheating / failing, respectively; The lights on the processing cards may also change between green or red, to indicate that the cards are good or badly fed. Also, the interface may display red, green or blue lights to represent the status of the miner’s connection to the controller.
Cost effectiveness
With an average processing of 7.3 Th / s the AvalonMiner 741 is able to generate around 0.00308 BTC per day (about 7.31 $ with the current price of bitcoin to $4360) in those places of the world where the cost of electricity Tends to zero. Given the total cost of approximately $ 1,100 (mining equipment + controller + shipping) and assuming the difficulty of the Bitcoin network constant, this team would return the investment in about five months.
Now, this is an optimal condition, in which electricity does not represent a significant and fictitious cost, in which the Bitcoin network does not increase its difficulty (although it may decrease, it is not a probable case). Therefore, by adding these two factors to the equation, the AvalonMiner 741 would be reaching the return on investment around five to eight months. A time that could be considered reasonable for the mining of a crypt coin that has gone from being a risky investment to a shelter of value.
Conclusion
Avalon miner breaks the domination that Bitmain market as this manufacturers has influence over the mining market. So, the return of the Avalon bring the competition in the sector that can offer us better options every time.
The mere presence of a second actor in this space is a requirement that until now had been non-existent for the company Bitmain in 2016. And very likely serve as a boost to other manufacturers like BW who continue to work on their products, in addition to inspiring new Entrepreneurs wishing to offer one more option in this market.
Beyond the possible calculations, that for crypto currency can become extremely complex if they are added, for example, market factors, the AvalonMiner 741 is without a doubt, a new competitor that is worth to evaluate before beginning in the mining of bitcoins.
