How to Build an ASIC Miner

What is ASIC Mining?

ASIC miners are specialized pieces of hardware that are designed to solve the hashing algorithm for specific cryptocurrency assets, such as SHA-256 for solving Bitcoin mining problems. Because they are more specialized than CPUs or GPUs, ASICs use less energy than both, while also having a higher hash rate. 

A higher hash rate means a higher chance to solve problems and win the block reward, meaning a higher chance at profitability. For more information on how mining works, check out this article.

ASIC Mining Profitability

Whether ASIC mining is profitable depends on a variety of factors. The first factor is the asset that you choose to mine. Since you’re learning how to build an ASIC miner, you’ll likely want to be mining Bitcoin, as that’s what ASIC miners are designed to mine.

Mining Bitcoin can certainly be profitable, but whether it actually ends up being profitable will depend on the cost you pay to build an ASIC miner, the costs of your electricity or other resources required to keep it running, and the potential return against all of those initial costs. 

There are calculators you can find online to estimate rewards based on the hardware/ASIC you are considering buying or building, and these should be used before investing anything into building and running a miner. 

Essential Components for Setting up an ASIC Miner

There are a variety of components required for setting up an ASIC miner which we’ll note below, along with quick descriptions of what they are and why they’re necessary. You’ll also need basic things like a data cable and Ethernet cables for internet access.

Hashboard

A hashboard is where most of the work is done by your ASIC miner, as it is composed of your ASIC chips that aim to solve the hashing problem. You’ll likely need to buy this sort of component of a secondary market, as manufacturers of them tend to create miners you can just buy instead of making your own.

Heatsink

Heatsinks are strands of aluminum that sit on your hardboard and draw heat away from the circuits. Without them, your miner/ASIC chips will overheat and burn out.

Cooling Fan

You generally need two fans for your ASIC miner, one to blow cool air into the rig, and one to pull warm air out. These tend to run all the time causing a lot of noise.

Printed Circuit Board

Printed Circuit Boards or PCBs are the brains of your miner. They distribute power to your hashboard and host your ethernet port for Internet, internal memory for mining software, and power buttons. The PCB receives all functions before they are sent to your hashboard for execution. 

RAM

RAM or random access memory is required to host an operating system and Bitcoin mining software. You’ll need enough to store an OS and the software, which should be 4GB of RAM at an absolute minimum. 

Power Supply Unit

Power supply units are required to regulate the amount of power going to your mining components. Just be sure to pick one based upon the power consumption of your rig, but make sure it’s not going to be maxed out on power output or that could cause problems. 

Frame

The frame holds all your mining components together and can be bought once everything else has been acquired so that you know you get the right size. 

How to Build an ASIC Miner from Scratch

Below you’ll find the basic steps for building an ASIC miner from scratch. It’s worth noting that this is not as simple as the steps below, and is actually difficult if you’ve never done it before. 

It may be best to simply buy a premade ASIC miner from a manufacturer if you find the below steps to be in any way confusing.

Step 1: Prepare your Components

Create a clean workspace and get all your components together there, ready for assembly. Be sure you have all the tools necessary.

Step 2: Mount ASIC Chips

You’ll first need to mount your ASIC chip/hashboard to the PCB. This will require soldering.

Step 3: Connect Power Supply

Then, you’ll need to connect your power supply unit to the PCB as well.

Step 4: Install Fans/Heatsinks

Set up your cooling fans and heatsinks in the right places to ensure your miner is sufficiently cooled while it’s running. 

Step 5: Connect Miner to Controls

You’ll then need to connect your miner to your controller, whether that is a dedicated computer, or something like a Raspberry Pi.

Step 6: Final Assembly and Turning It On

Once all your connections have been made and all your components are properly connected, you can assemble them into the frame and turn the system on to begin mining. 

Maintaining an ASIC Miner

Maintenance of an ASIC miner requires you to clean dust from the components, keep cooling systems running smoothly, and update firmware and software.