Cryptocurrency, specifically Bitcoin, gave enterprising people an additional source of earning money. Businessmen trade in crypto attributes, traders speculate on the stock exchanges, investors invest in the ICO – and this is not a complete list of ways to earn money in the cryptocurrency sphere. However, the most popular way to earn money on digital currency is mining. From hummer miner mars h1 you can simply have the best support in this matter.

Mining is the extraction of cryptocurrency through special equipment. Initially, Bitcoin (and other tokens) mined on video cards and CPUs, and it was profitable – the income covered the cost of electricity. Over time, the complexity grew (the key criterion for mining) and it became less profitable to mine cryptocurrency. ASIC miners are the solution to the problem.

What is an ASIC MINER?

ASICs that we will consider today are different from their ancestors. The first models of miners are made in the form of flash drives. They were actively bought up and created farms that brought significant profit. The issue with cooling in the case of using such miniature miners was solved by using modest and inexpensive coolers.

fusionsilicon x2

Time passed and ASIC-flash drives became a souvenir that you can give to a friend for a birthday. With their main task, they now cannot cope. Replaced by a completely new type of miner, it is in the form of a computer unit. Such a computer coped with the task of mining a coin, the complexity of which is growing exponentially (Bitcoin).

ASIC in the form of a computer unit

Having passed the path of evolution, ASIC reduced the size more than four times and gained a familiar look:

A popular form of ASIC Miner

As you can see, mining pushes the computer industry forward and makes manufacturers improve equipment. This phenomenon applies to video cards.

Externally, the ASIC looks like a metal unit with two fans (there are models that make up the exception), an ethernet input and wires for connection. The device itself is a computer, but unlike a more popular colleague, it performs one task. Some will consider this feature of a miner as a disadvantage; however, in the matter of mining crypto values, this is a decisive advantage. Getting rid of background tasks and concentrating computational power on achieving one goal, ASIC becomes the strongest mining tool.

The name “ASIC” speaks for itself – Application Specific Integrated Circuit (integrated circuit for special purposes). So, manufacturers warn in advance that using ASIC for anything other than mining cryptocurrency will fail.

Advantages and disadvantages of ASIC

The advantages of ASIC are much greater than the disadvantages. Select the key:

  • Unlike processors and farms from video cards, ASIC, as noted, concentrates all the power on one task – mining bitcoin or another cryptocurrency. Similar feature
  • Less complexity when setting up work and launching a miner
  • The payback time comes faster than that of a farm of video cards
  • The space that the ASIC occupies is much smaller than the space occupied by the farm (reaches a meter of cubic and more due to the frame installation)

Despite significant advantages, ASIC miners also have some drawbacks, including:

  • High power consumption (which is offset by high hashrate)
  • Heat dissipation is much more noticeable than that of mining farms (in winter it perfectly replaces heating)

In the event that the complexity of the mined coin jumps sharply, then the ASIC will also turn sharply into metal. With video cards, the situation is different.