Intel had been preparing to showcase its first Bitcoin mining ASIC at ISSCC 2022 and when the event kicked off on February 20, Intel revealed more details of the Bonanza Mine ASIC, as well as its Bonanza Mine System – a self-contained computer, which features 300 Bonanza Mine ASICs to deliver 40 terahashes per second (THash/s) of performance while consuming 3,600W of power. The chipmaker’s presentation was devoted to the first-generation ASIC Bonanza Mine code-named BMZ1, as well as a system based on it, but the company is already planning to ship a second-generation product to customers, whose details have yet to be revealed by Intel.
While that sounds like a barrage of numbers for non-miners, it’s worth noting that Intel’s performance numbers for the BMZ1 don’t quite match up to Bitmain’s competition, as noted by CryptoAge. But as mentioned, the company has already started shipping a second-generation product code-named BMZ2 to its customers.
According to a CoinTelegraph report, Bonanza Mine System contains four hashboards, an Intel FPGA control unit, four fans and a programmable power supply. An FPGA is a “field programmable” integrated circuit that gives customers the ability to reconfigure the hardware to meet specific use case requirements – in this case Bitcoin mining – after the manufacturing process.
Intel’s patent for “high-performance Bitcoin mining” was filed in November 2018 and proposed to reduce total energy consumption by 15 percent. At the time, Intel executives expressed confidence in competing with established companies such as Bitmain, MicroBT and Nvidia.
Intel’s new mining chips, the BMZ2, will be available later this year with US electric utility GRIID Infrastructure, crypto mining company Argo Blockchain and Jack Dorsey-led Block as the first customers in line to receive the first batch of mining chips.
Now, based on information revealed so far by Intel, the second-generation BTC miner will be able to deliver a balanced performance of 40.4THash/s by drawing 2,293W of power – with a low power consumption of 56, 97 joules per THash. Compared to Bitmain hardware, the Antminer S19j ASIC Bitcoin Miner consumes 3,100W to deliver up to 90THash/s at room temperature, resulting in an efficiency of 34.5 Joules per THash.
As highlighted by a Tom’s Hardware report, Bitcoin mining company GRIID’s supply agreement with Intel includes numerous editorials to protect sensitive information, but still reveals references to Intel’s Reference Design Materials, essentially documents intended for customers to read. use as a guideline when integrating the Bonanza Mine chips into their own custom systems.
This means Intel will supply the silicon to some of its customers, who will then create their own systems. This also bodes well with Jack Dorsey’s plans for Block, which he says will create a “Bitcoin mining system based on custom silicon and open source for individuals and businesses around the world.”
