Bitmain Antminer E9 Ethereum Mining ASIC Packs Power Of 32 GeForce RTX 3080 GPUs

We can blame this shortage partially on cryptocurrency miners, who are buying up scores of these GPUs to mine for Ethereum. However, a new application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) is being released to the market that would forgo the need to secure massive amounts of consumer-level GPUs to belt out epic hash rates. Enter the Antminer E9, which has a claimed hash rate of 3 GH/s.

For those keeping score, 3 GH/s equals roughly 32 GeForce RTX 3080 or 25 GeForce RTX 3090 graphics cards. A single GeForce RTX 3080 has a hash rate of 95 MH/s, while a GeForce RTX 3090 chimes in at 120 MH/s. While each GeForce RTX 3080 and GeForce RTX 3090 have TDPs of 320 watts and 350 watts, respectively, the entire Antminer E9 is rated for just 2,557 watts.

The current Linzhi Phoenix ASIC miner is rated for 2.6 GH/s at 3,000 watts to put those figures in perspective. If Bitmain's figures are accurate, its Antminer E9 is not only slightly faster but is nearly 15 percent more efficient in the process.

While the performance sounds promising for dedicated miners looking to make a buck during this cryptocurrency gold rush, we still don't have any official word on pricing from Bitmain. However, according to Linzhi's official website, the Phoenix is priced from $11,300 to $13,700. Given the Antminer E9's performance edge, however, a price tag of $20,000 to $25,000 doesn't seem to be out of the realm of possibility.

Breaking that down, 32 GeForce RTX 3080 GPUs at MSRP ($899) would cost you nearly $29,000, while 25 GeForce RTX 3090 GPUs (MSRP $1,499) would cost you over $37,000.  But we don't live in a fantasy world where either GPU is selling at MSRP (and they likely won't be for a long time). The GeForce RTX 3080 sells for around $2,400 on third-party marketplaces, and the GeForce RTX 3090 is going for about $3,000. Purchasing an Antminer E9 at even $25,000 would be an absolute bargain given current GPU prices.

At this time, it is unknown when the Bitmain Antminer E9 will hit the market or if it will be able to satisfy the insatiable demand from crypto miners. However, the answer to the last question will likely be a resounding "NO."