What The Hell Is An ASIC? - Tech Shorts - Part 5.
technology·@techmojo·
0.000 HBDWhat The Hell Is An ASIC? - Tech Shorts - Part 5.
# If you are a Bitcoin miner or an Altcoin miner, you may have seen or used an ASIC miner. But what is an ASIC?  [Image Source](http://procrypto.network/2018/04/11/asic-chipy-dlya-majnerov-halong-mining-proizvodit-samsung/)  ### What is it? - An application Specific Interrogated Circuit, or ASIC for short is a very specific type of microchip that is designed to do a very limited amount of tasks, and do it very efficiently. If you were to compare one with a [CPU or GPU](https://steemit.com/technology/@techmojo/cpu-vs-gpu-what-is-the-difference-tech-shorts-part-4) in a factory, the CPU would be the Manager that takes care of everything. The GPU would be the Supervisor that does what the manager wants and the ASIC would be that guy on the line that only has one job to do. These types of chips, although limited by what they can do have a wide variety of applications they can be used in from Voice recording, Modem transmission, aerial transmission... they can even be found inside your PC as they are integrated with Memory on both system and graphics. But there biggest use in recent years has been with Bitcoin Miners.  [Image Source](https://www.parallelminer.com/product/tested-at-600mhz-antminer-s7-4-0th-s-23w-gh-28nm-asic-bitcoin-miner-btc-bch/) - When ASIC's are designed, the manufacturers tend to use a Hardware Description Language (HDL) that determines the function of the ASIC chip. In terms of Bitcoin Miners, the ASIC's use a specific language like Verilog which is used for digital verification. This is what makes Bitcoin ASIC miners as efficient as they are. Other languages that are similar to Verilog, like Cryptonite, Equihash and Ethereum can be found in the mining software adopted by different Altcoin that use a GPU to do a very similar task. But because of the nature of GPU's they are not as efficient when compared to ASIC when it comes to mining. If the roles were reversed and we asked ASIC's to do the work of a graphics card, it would probably run away with its balls retreating back inside. This is because, as mentioned, ASIC's can only do a limited amount of workloads, depending on the type of HDL used.  [Image Source](https://www.coinbureau.com/services/gpu-mining-basics-making-cryptocurrency-mining-available-everyone/) - In an average ASIC miner unit, such as an Antminer S9 there could be well over 100 of these chips inside, all pre programmed to do one thing which is to authenticate transactions on the blockchain. The can also come in much smaller units that run on a USB interface. While they can not compete with the larger scale ASIC's, they are just as efficient.  [Image Source](https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/New-Design-Asic-Bitcoin-Miner-USB_1899051277.html) - The only real downside to ASIC mining, well any mining, is power draw and heat. To do all the calculations needed to mine bitcoin, the ASIC's have to run at full speed 24/7. and this produces a lot of heat. If you were to look inside an ASIC miner, you will notice that each chip on the PCB has its own heat sink attached to it. This is to help draw the heat away from the hot chip. When combined with the single or dual fans, (which are overly powerful and loud) it helps even further by taking the heat away from the heat-sink. Allowing to keep running and not let the chip just melt, because of the intense heat. To keep up with the ever increasing difficulty of mining Bitcoin, faster and more efficient ASIC miners are manufactured constantly. Because they are running so fast, and because of the amount of ASIC chips working at once in the same miner, the power draw is enormous. So much so that many mining operations are moving places like Greenland where electricity costs are low, or they adopt green, renewable energy to supplement there existing power needs. Moving to a cold environment like Greenland, Alaska, Canada, Russia.. apart from the mining operations finding somewhere, where the energy costs are low, they also have the added benefit of the cold climate which can help towards dissipating the heat from the ASIC chips.  [Image Source](http://www.g-enews.com/view.php?ud=201708251301451704d6eb469fd3_1)  While the ASIC as a whole is not as interesting or has a broad range of abilities like [CPU's or GPU's](https://steemit.com/technology/@techmojo/cpu-vs-gpu-what-is-the-difference-tech-shorts-part-4), it is still very vital in everyday life as they can be found in most tech from TV's to PC's to Mobile phones, that help the function of that particular bit of tech. But when it comes to mining Bitcoin, there is no better type of chip available or as efficient as what ASIC's do. They are the backbone of Cryptocurrency that handles millions of dollars every single day. Banks and governments have even employed this technology as they can see the benefits of it and the reason why, all of us are here today on this [Steemit Platform](https://steemit.com/@techmojo). Without it, not only would we not have most of the tech you see today, but we also wont be here, blogging and earning money by writing awesome posts like this. #### Thanks for reading. ### Stu @TechMojo  ## Don't Forget to Upvote, ReSteem and Follow for more content like this!  ___ > | Join the chat | [TechMojo Discord Channel](https://discord.gg/CXYxhY) | > | :-----------: | :--------------------------------------: | > | **Follow us** | **[TechMojo Dlive Channel](https://dlive.io/@techmojo)** | > | **Like us** | **[TechMojo Facebook Page](https://www.facebook.com/OfficialTechMojo/)** | > | **Follow us** | **[TechMojo Twitter](https://twitter.com/Tech_Mojo)** | > | **Follow us** | **[TechMojo OnG Social Page](https://ong.social/TechMojo)** | ____ #### @TechMojo Recommended Blogs you should follow. ___ > | @Deeviras | @Gaming-Stuff | @retro-room | > | :----------------: | :------------------: | :-------------------: | > | **@gamesociety** | **@Rerez** | **@C0ff33a** | > | **@Free999Enigma** | **@deadspace** | **@SteemGC** | > | **@GeekClub** | **@XR-HammerGaming** | **@tygergamer** | > If you want to apper here, then contact us via our [Discord Channel!]( https://discord.gg/CXYxhY) ____________ <a href="https://smartsteem.com?r=techmojo" target="_blank"><img src="https://smartsteem.com/static/smartsteem_banner.gif" /></a> ______ <a href="https://discord.gg/yCYmeSJ" target="_blank"><img src="https://steemitimages.com/DQmbqN1jpu2Mg6zXjPLQTVJm7huQoKoXA44BWwLKSuVVRJS/TECHMOJO%20DISCORD%20BANNER.png" /></a>
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