Bitdeer Review: S19 vs.S19Pro

Hey guys, thanks for tuning in to Bitdeer's channel. We are launching a new video series called Bitdeer Review. As the first video in this series, we would like to share reviews on some of the most popular miner models, which includes the Antminer S19 Series. Let’s cut to the chase and get started.

Bitmain revealed the Antminer S19 and S19 Pro as their flagship products in February 2020. A year later in February 2021, they released S19j and S19j Pro. The appearance of these models is identical. In fact, their performance is pretty similar too. If anything, the S19j may be cheaper, while the S19 is better in terms of stability.

As for product specs, the dimensions of the bare S19J machines are 400 x 195.5 x 290 mm with a weight of 14.6 kg. The S19 models share the same dimensions but are lighter in weight. Of note is that the S19 Pro is the lightest among the 4 models, coming in at 13.2 kg.

For internals, the S19 uses the same type of hash board as the T19, which is equipped with 7nm processing chips. Meanwhile, the S19 Pro has a greater chip density which helped it establish 2 records within the industry: it is the first miner model that surpasses 100TH and achieves an energy efficiency ratio as 30j/TH or lower.

When we look at performance, the S19 crushes all its competitors. The S19 Pro has achieved double the power of an Antminer T17+ (55TH/s) while consuming 500w less. Though both models are equipped with 7nm chips, S19 Pro has 50% greater energy efficiency.

To help you digest the information more easily, we are sparing no expense today by disassembling an Antminer S19 Pro.

The case is made of aluminum alloy materials and with the mining chip and power supply integrated along with a parallel four-fan structure. The shape of the design is simple and rectangular in shape, to save as much space as possible when placed on-site.

As for air exhaust, the S19 pro uses a front and rear dual-barrel fan design which aids in cooling. The mesh inside the fan is controlled by EMI to prevent foreign objects being drawn in. The outer side of the fan is covered by a mesh structure, which further prevents O&M personnel from accidentally touching the blades and causing injuries.

On the hash board, the S19 Pro utilizes a design that enables quick disassembly. It has multiple hash board tracks at the bottom of the chassis, which leaves more space for potential future upgrades.

The front of the hash board has two heat sinks. Its design is light in the front and heavy at the back, and this little thing next to the power connector is the Power Control Chip. The back of the hash board consists of 77 independent heat sinks, which are aligned with the arrangement density of the chips, effectively enhancing the cooling capacity of the miner. The S19 series improves the design of the small independent heat sink, from the low-temperature soldered type in the S17 series. The large heat sink and thermal conductive material are fixed to the hash board by spring screws to prevent the heat sink from falling off during transportation. It is also effective in preventing the solder from melting and burning the hash board, which is known to have occurred in the S17 series of products. It's worth mentioning that this thermally conductive silicone pad is said to be very expensive and made of a very special material.

Next, after peeling off the front heat sink you can see the chips directly. A single piece of heat sink covers 38 7nm chips that have been custom built by Bitmain. The remaining chips on the hash board are mirrored, and with 3 hash boards it brings the machine to a total of 228 chips.

Through careful observation we can see that silicone grease material has been evenly coated between the chips and the heat sinks, with almost no excess spillage. The chips have been arranged more densely than previous models. As for the heat sink, it is thinner towards the air inlet while the opposite is true for the air outlet. This design also ensures that the miner can dissipate heat in a uniform manner.

Now that we've seen the core part of the machine, next we'll disassemble the power supply. We can see that the power supply for the Antminer S19 Pro is the newly designed APW12, which is more efficient and powerful than the APW9 found on the S17.

After opening the cover, we can see 3 Nidec fans side-by-side . Compared to the 40mm fans in the S17 series power supply, those in the S19 have been upgraded to 60mm, with increased cooling channels, but operate at a lower fan speed. The purpose of this design is to further reduce the failure rate of the power supply. Insulation layers are found on both sides of the power supply, which can effectively prevent short circuits and other hazards. This part seen at the top of the power supply is designed to leave a safe distance between the power supply and the chassis.

Now that we’ve disassembled the miner, you should have a preliminary understanding of it. So what does the Antminer S19's actual usage data look like? We selected 5 of the questions which you are very concerned about, and we'll be answering each of them separately.

Q: [During the operation of the miner within the mining farm, how does the actual hashrate, power consumption and energy efficiency ratio compare to the official specifications?]

A: In terms of the S19 miners that our operations personnel have been exposed to on-site, almost 100% of the miners have a higher hashrate than the specs given by the manufacturer, by an average of about 1%-3% gain.

The actual power consumption varies depending on the temperature and humidity in the mining farm, the inlet and exhaust air conditions, the cold and heat isolation of the shelves and the number of miners arranged on the shelf, etc. Overall, it is generally within ±5% of the official data.

Our mining farm has not collected any specific statistics for the actual energy efficiency, but since the actual hashrate exceeds the theoretical hashrate by 1%-3%, and the actual power consumption and theoretical power consumption has a difference of ± 5%, we can calculate that the actual energy efficiency ratio should be roughly consistent with the officially published ± 5% range.

Q: [What is the breakdown rate of the S19 in the mining farm?]

A: Overall, the stability of the S19 miner is commendable with a low breakdown rate. Breakdown rates differ in mining farms, mainly due to the site’s varying O&M capacity and conditions. Usually, mining farms with decent conditions can maintain a breakdown rate of less than 1%, such as in our Norway mining farm.

The failure rate of the S19 also varies widely from one mining farm to another, but the overall failure rate is basically between the S9 series and the 17/15 series. There are 2 reasons for this:

1. The 19 series is the latest model, so ordinary maintenance personnel have less access to the S19 model and less training with it, resulting in a generally low maintenance capacity. As a result, some miners cannot be repaired by the mining farm and are recycled by miner resellers who find professional maintenance personnel to repair them. They can then use or sell the repaired machines.
2. The S19 series has been optimized and improved a lot compared to the 15/17 series, and it therefore has an improved failure rate than predecessors. Compared to the S9 series, it has a hashrate approximately 10 times greater and utilizes new chips and other processing technologies. Moreover, it has been through long periods of optimization like the S9. It's expected that it has a better breakdown rate than the S9 series.

Q: Will the front and back have uneven heat dissipation with rear dual-barrel fan design?

A: The S19 has a high temperature protection mechanism. The machine will automatically enter standby status when the temperature is too high. It can only be reset by manually powering the machine off. From our practical experience, the S19 series does not suffer from uneven heat dissipation or overheating under normal farm conditions. Because of its heat dissipation, the breakdown rate of the S19 series is relatively low.

Q：[Are there any details I should be aware of about the maintenance for S19 miners?]

A: There are no operational differences in terms of maintenance between S19 series and 15/17 series or even S9 series. The only difference is that S9 can run on mining pools with default settings and without additional configuration. Meanwhile the S19 and 15/17 series must undergo further configuration.

Q:[ What is the profitability of the S19 series like?]

A: The S19 series are still very profitable at the moment. Let’s do some quick math here：S19 Pro with 110TH/s is priced at $7764 while the current Bitcoin market price is $47,012.3. With an electricity cost of $0.54 kWh, each day the gross earning is around $35.3 and the daily electricity cost is $4.2. The electricity cost ratio is about 12%, which leaves $31.1 daily net revenue. Thus you can say the static ROI period is about 250 days. For miners or mining farms, such an ROI cycle is pretty ideal.

What do you think of the Antminer S19 series? Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment down below. This is the end of the current episode of Bitdeer Reviews. Please subscribe to our channel if you feel our content has been helpful to you. See you in the next episode!