Samsung Building Mining Chips

FrgMstr

Just Plain Mean
Staff member
Joined
May 18, 1997
Messages
55,601
This is the best thing I have heard all year when it comes to mining! Samsung is now in the mix with TSMC and GloFlo when it comes to making mining ASICs. I hope we see more specialized chip production for mining-specific applications to ease some of the burden on the dwindling GPU supply that is screwing every PC gamer and enthusiast on the planet. It however does not seem that Samsung is deadset on providing a lot of capacity or what other products this might take volume from. You will need to use a translator to read this page for the details. Thanks cageymaru.

According to Samsung Electronics and related industries on the 29th, Samsung Electronics completed the process development of semiconductor ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) for bit coin mining last year, and started mass production from January.

The ASIC, which Samsung Electronics began mass production, is an on-demand semiconductor designed in a way optimized for bit coin mining. Bit coin mining requires high-speed, energy-efficient hardware. As a result, companies that mined bit coins in large quantities have commissioned dedicated ASIC chips customized for their mining operations and installed them in mining equipment.
 
The one argument I keep hearing from miners is there is no value in this hardware if the cryptocrazed maket crashes, where a GPU can be sold to recoup some of the investment.

I hope Samsung, and others, are successfull getting those into the market. I want a video card,...damn it!
 
Might be wishful thinking. If they are building for bitcoin only then it sounds to me like GDDR6 GPUs will be the next target...
 
Well, "wishful thinking" is about the best we got right now. Of course, my "wishful thinking" runs along a couple of different paths.

1) I wish and hope the cryptocrap crashes!

2) I wish and hope they find another toy to use rather than the video cards!
 
Even if crypto ever crashed there would still be money to be made because tons of miners would leave and difficulty would lower allowing for profits yet again.
 
ASICs =/= GPU Mining.

There are ASIC Resistant cryptocurrencies. It's one of the draws for Etherum, if I recall correctly.
 
Even if crypto ever crashed there would still be money to be made because tons of miners would leave and difficulty would lower allowing for profits yet again.

It could be regulated into oblivion and that is what I am hoping for. I have already written letters and am pushing others to do so.
 
It could be regulated into oblivion and that is what I am hoping for. I have already written letters and am pushing others to do so.
Why though? Just so you can buy cheap video cards every other year? Whether we like it or not lots of people make a living off of this.

If anything GPU makers just need to make more cards.
 
You have any idea how many businesses have hardware purchases on hold right now? Just in my area there are 18 I know of (one of those companies employs over 30,000 people). They also have a hiring freeze in place.
 
You have any idea how many businesses have hardware purchases on hold right now? Just in my area there are 18 I know of (one of those companies employs over 30,000 people). They also have a hiring freeze in place.
what company has over 30,000 people? o_O
 
what company has over 30,000 people? o_O

Seriously?

How about Baylor Medical, Texas Health Resources, Lockheed, Boeing, Verizon, AT&T, and so on. That is just off the top of my head. THR might actually be closer to 28,000.
 
If the mining craze crashes, Folding at home or other distributed computing enthusiasts should be able to pick these ASIC's and adapt them. may not be optimal, but if you can pick up a bucket of them cheap after the crash, could be worth playing around with.
 
I don't see how this will help. Miners will just pick up the ASICs *and* GPUs.

As long as some see it as a bottomless pit of free money no doubt. Clearly that's not sustainable but cryptocurrency isn't going to disappear.
 
The one argument I keep hearing from miners is there is no value in this hardware if the cryptocrazed maket crashes, where a GPU can be sold to recoup some of the investment.

I hope Samsung, and others, are successfull getting those into the market. I want a video card,...damn it!

I think crashing is a very real fear too. The whole market is way overvalued. The dogecoin analysis was proof of that. I think a few of them, like ether (smart contracts) and monero (privacy) have some real value and merit but they are also inflated. Part of me thinks it's going to repeat the .com bust but as more and more governments regulate them and people start accepting them it also makes them more legitimate. It's fun to watch... unless you want a video card. But if it busts soon you'll be able to buy them cheap on ebay. I've seen people starting to sell already (but still at retail prices or higher). Most coins are currently holding value or falling so there are signs that it's slowing and people are losing interest.
 
Big companies with 30k employees are not putting off Major business wide PC purchases because of video card shortages due to miners / gamers
NOT happening, having a hiring freeze of any large size is NOT happening because you can't get Gaming / Mining GPUs.

First off, in bigger companies you'll find very few of the "gaming / mining" cards being used outside of specialized applications / departments & if you have that kind of purchasing clout, you can easily get the video cards you need direct from the manufacturers in guaranteed quantities & delivery dates.

Yes you might have to pay a bit more for the Gaming card that you didn't want to buy last year when you could get it at MSRP but were hoping AMD/Nvidia would be hurting and sitting on a glut of them & have to offer you some discounts/rebates/free stuff to get you to purchase one by now.
However look at the positive side, you may pay a bit more, but instead of just gaming with it, when you are not gaming, let your new video card run mining applications and in about a year it will have most likely paid for itself, so you are not really loosing out & are actually coming out better than your previous idea of buy it for gaming and let it sit idle most of the time. (You'll be wanting to upgrade your video card for faster performance LONG before your card is out of warranty & mining will ever "wear out" your card).

If you are actually holding up your whole life waiting for getting a video card, then get on the various websites, EVGA sends me an e-mail about every other day with cards in stock.
There are large amounts of AMD RX580 and Nvidia 1080 / 1060 cards on the market, you can get 1080 cards pretty easily and they make a great gaming card, as does the 1060 and the Vega 56 / RX580
The ones that take a bit of work to get are the 1080Ti and Vega 56, the only one really unavailable is the Vega64
 
Should have mined with your old cards and bought new ones, only people seeming to struggle to get a GPU are ones that watch people play games on youtube rather than actually playing them. Not sure what the struggle is managed to make enough to buy a few TitanXPs and Vegas that weren't marked up.
 
Mindless waste? Yeah it might be, but from what I read, it's not the low hanging fruit when it comes to cutting energy consumption over all.
 
Big companies with 30k employees are not putting off Major business wide PC purchases because of video card shortages due to miners / gamers
NOT happening, having a hiring freeze of any large size is NOT happening because you can't get Gaming / Mining GPUs.

First off, in bigger companies you'll find very few of the "gaming / mining" cards being used outside of specialized applications / departments & if you have that kind of purchasing clout, you can easily get the video cards you need direct from the manufacturers in guaranteed quantities & delivery dates.

Yes you might have to pay a bit more for the Gaming card that you didn't want to buy last year when you could get it at MSRP but were hoping AMD/Nvidia would be hurting and sitting on a glut of them & have to offer you some discounts/rebates/free stuff to get you to purchase one by now.
However look at the positive side, you may pay a bit more, but instead of just gaming with it, when you are not gaming, let your new video card run mining applications and in about a year it will have most likely paid for itself, so you are not really loosing out & are actually coming out better than your previous idea of buy it for gaming and let it sit idle most of the time. (You'll be wanting to upgrade your video card for faster performance LONG before your card is out of warranty & mining will ever "wear out" your card).

If you are actually holding up your whole life waiting for getting a video card, then get on the various websites, EVGA sends me an e-mail about every other day with cards in stock.
There are large amounts of AMD RX580 and Nvidia 1080 / 1060 cards on the market, you can get 1080 cards pretty easily and they make a great gaming card, as does the 1060 and the Vega 56 / RX580
The ones that take a bit of work to get are the 1080Ti and Vega 56, the only one really unavailable is the Vega64

The large company I mentioned has an engineering department which needs high end video cards to use with thier 4K monitors for CAD work. And no they cannot get them directly as they have been told there is a very long lead time (months) to get them. They got away from OEM computers becuase every system seemed to be a compromise of some sort. However, they may look again.

I cannot find a 1080 for under $1,000.00. That is, at least, $300.00 higher than it should be. I want a 1080Ti class of card becuase I would like to get into the VR market.

Then there is the stupid RAM prices, which is not entirely miners fault. At least, I do not think it is.
 
  • Like
Reactions: WhoMe
like this
I cannot find a 1080 for under $1,000.00. That is, at least, $300.00 higher than it should be. I want a 1080Ti class of card becuase I would like to get into the VR market.

Buying new at or near MSRP is pretty hard right now but there are places to find at least below MSRP on used parts. I just sold a couple of 1080s for $500 a piece and I was even really trying, I just mentioned that I was in a thread and like 10 minutes later I had them sold.
 
The large company I mentioned has an engineering department which needs high end video cards to use with thier 4K monitors for CAD work. And no they cannot get them directly as they have been told there is a very long lead time (months) to get them. They got away from OEM computers becuase every system seemed to be a compromise of some sort. However, they may look again.

I cannot find a 1080 for under $1,000.00. That is, at least, $300.00 higher than it should be. I want a 1080Ti class of card becuase I would like to get into the VR market.

Then there is the stupid RAM prices, which is not entirely miners fault. At least, I do not think it is.


Yes. My buddy is an aerospace engineer and they build clusters using GPU compute to actually science the shit out of stuff and the shortage of GPUs is a concern. Smaller outfits especially who build their own workstations. Machine learning applications etc etc. No cards affects a lot of individuals and industry in some way.
 
Buying new at or near MSRP is pretty hard right now but there are places to find at least below MSRP on used parts. I just sold a couple of 1080s for $500 a piece and I was even really trying, I just mentioned that I was in a thread and like 10 minutes later I had them sold.

You are right. I never considered looking for a used card. Makes me nervous. Even though you can get a new DOA card, there is a warranty with it.
 
The one argument I keep hearing from miners is there is no value in this hardware if the cryptocrazed maket crashes, where a GPU can be sold to recoup some of the investment.

I hope Samsung, and others, are successfull getting those into the market. I want a video card,...damn it!

Make the big miners eat the cards.
Don't buy used GPUs, you're only encouraging the shit that's going on.
 
Don't buy used GPUs, you're only encouraging the shit that's going on.

What's wrong with buying used GPUs? While I get the speculative flipping that's going on now gamers have long used reselling to help offset costs and to help others get lower pricing on good if not current tech.
 
I cannot find a 1080 for under $1,000.00. That is, at least, $300.00 higher than it should be. I want a 1080Ti class of card becuase I would like to get into the VR market.

Then there is the stupid RAM prices, which is not entirely miners fault. At least, I do not think it is.

On the Nvidia GTX 1080 cards, you could get them under $900 each.
There are several listings on eBay for brand new EVGA overclocked ones like the 08G-P4-6286-KR in the $869 mark, probably could get 4 or more in the $850 range if you contacted the sellers directly.
Probably can get some good lightly used ones in the $700 range.

If you want 1080Ti cards, then you can get them one at a time from EVGA in the $700 to 850 range, or pay $1100 to $1200 new or $900 used on eBay
 
I have contacted EVGA, and have had no luck with them yet.

I just want one 1080Ti card. I am just a tightwad and refuse to be gouged. My issue, to be sure.
 
ASICs =/= GPU Mining.

There are ASIC Resistant cryptocurrencies. It's one of the draws for Etherum, if I recall correctly.
How about a coin that is better than all coins: resistance to AMD and Nvidia processing! I kid, but the point is: miners are not only unintentionally but intentionally screwing gamers over by using us as their backup plan if the market crashes.
 
What's wrong with buying used GPUs? While I get the speculative flipping that's going on now gamers have long used reselling to help offset costs and to help others get lower pricing on good if not current tech.

Presumably the thought that it's a horse that's been flogged near to death. It could be, too, as not all miners undervolt or keep a close eye on temps.
 
Seriously?

How about Baylor Medical, Texas Health Resources, Lockheed, Boeing, Verizon, AT&T, and so on. That is just off the top of my head. THR might actually be closer to 28,000.
yes seriously which one.
 
From the article:

"Samsung Electronics has been attracting attention not only for its foundry business, but also for mass production of DRAM for graphics cards, which is suitable for virtual currency mining. The 10-nanometer 16Gb GDDR6 DRAM, which has just begun mass production, is the model. GDDR6 DRAM is twice as fast as conventional GDDR5 DRAM and low power design, which improves power efficiency by more than 35% and can improve GPU performance for virtual money mining."

Rut ro raggy, looks like some new GPUs with GDDR6 will soon be constrained when all the miners see the hashes it produces! LOL
 
I see an awful lot of arm chair quarterbacks and supposed experts around the net concerning crypto. So what coins can be mined on these? I would bet that not a single coin that is RAM intensive, which is what drives the price of video cards up. This isn't going to make a difference for GPU miners.

Also complaining to the government to end the mining craze sounds an awful lot like people that hate freedom. What else do you want stopped? People using too much water to flush their toilets? Taking away meat from people, my goodness we have some real despots in this world.

The amount of water to be used for a standard flush is regulated and has been since '92. http://homeguides.sfgate.com/federal-regulations-toilet-gallons-88640.html
 
  • Like
Reactions: WhoMe
like this
I have contacted EVGA, and have had no luck with them yet.

I just want one 1080Ti card. I am just a tightwad and refuse to be gouged. My issue, to be sure.

People have had almost an entire year to get a 1080 Ti at MSRP or below, and a year and a half to get a 1070 or 1080. However for a few weeks they've been 10-15% above MSRP unless you're too unmotivated to look around.

Why is it now suddenly that a luxury tier GPU is life and death, and you have to drag your runny nose across every thread crying about how you can't get one?
 
People have had almost an entire year to get a 1080 Ti at MSRP or below, and a year and a half to get a 1070 or 1080. However for a few weeks they've been 10-15% above MSRP unless you're too unmotivated to look around.

Why is it now suddenly that a luxury tier GPU is life and death, and you have to drag your runny nose across every thread crying about how you can't get one?

As I am fairly new here, I have not had the time to cover every thread with snot concerning the expense of a video card I would like to own.

I buy video cards once every few years (4-5 actually), so when I do, I try and get a nice one. This time around, I would like to consider VR support as an option. That said, the fastest video card you can get seems to be a good idea.

Now, if you don't mind, I see a spot I missed with my snot.
 
If you just want 1 card for yourself, I've had good luck with the EVGA website & just got in one of the Hybrid 1080Ti cards today that I was notified of.
Sign up for e-mail notifications for each of the cards you might want to get and watch your e-mail like a hawk and be ready to buy & check out that moment that you get an e-mail.

If you have to buy NEW only, then I don't expect the prices to go down much at all, but if you don't mind buying used, there will probably be a bunch of much cheaper 1080 and 1080Ti cards in 2 months from gamers who will be selling their old cards to pay for the new generation. (like me).
 
Back
Top