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Bitmain has a new miner out that is pretty cool (water cool to be exact) called the Antminer C1.

I have an S1 so I am familiar with the basic operation of the Antminers. However, I'm a bit baffled that it has eight PCI-e connectors for power. I've never seen a PSU with eight PCI-e connectors. I'm not sure how I would power this thing effectively if I got one.

I found a great setup guide, but it doesn't go into detail with the power setup.

Here's a picture of how the connectors are set up:

Top of Antminer C1

Here's my questions:

  • The C1 requires that at least four of the PCI-e connectors are used. Which ones then are the important ones?
  • It is recommended that your PSU be at least 800 watts. Is that correct? Is it different if you only power it through four connectors?
  • Is it possible to use two or more PSU's to power the miner? For example, I have tons of 300 to 500 watt PSU's that have at least one PCI-e connector. How might those be useful to me?
  • Do they even make PSU's with eight PCI-e connectors? What is the best solution for a single PSU to power all eight connectors?
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AntMiner C1 Manual:

You must prepare your own ATX Power Supply. There are 4 PCI-e connectors for +12V DC input and all are required.

That either means:

  1. The manual is right, and some of these are not 12V connectors. This seems unlikely.
  2. The manual is wrong, and you need eight 6-pin PCI-e connectors.

Is it possible to use two or more PSU's to power the miner?

It depends on how they designed the miner. Those connectors might join together inside the miner, which would mean that you'd want one power supply, or they might be two separate circuits, which would mean it would be more or less safe. Generally, you don't want to use two power supplies to power the same part, though. Can you take a picture of those connectors with the case off?

As for the power supply recommendation - power supplies with eight PCI-e are very expensive, primarily because nobody needs that many. I mean, a typical desktop computer is probably going to need one PCI-e connector. They do exist, though.

However, I would recommend getting two power supplies with four PCIe connectors. I suggest the Cooler Master G650M.

Oh, and the manual says this, which suggests that it's not water-cooled out of the box:

Cooling kit is not included in C1, please read the instruction at www.bitmaintech.com to buy them.

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I spoke directly with Bitmain. They said:

The connectors are divided into 4 groups as shown in below screenshot. Connect one of the connectors from each group to the PSU and all 4 hash boards can get power.

C1 which ports to use.

Pretty straightforward. It does indeed need a PSU with only four PCI-e connectors. Personally, I would just pick one slot, left or right, and make sure all the plugs there get a connector. If you are going to overclock the miner I do recommend using the other four connectors to give the boards the extra power they will need.

Regarding using multiple PSU's Bitmain said:

Sure, 2 PSU is OK, make sure the power is enough for the miner.

Also straightforward. The miner uses about 800 watts, plus the fans and the pump for the cooling is maybe 50 watts more. So with this in mind, two 450 watt psu's will be enough to power the miner if you don't overclock. If you do over clock, don't cheap out. Go for a total of 1200 watts in total PSUpower.

In the picture above, the boards run horizontally under the case lid. The power to any board should be by a single PSU. So if your set up is an overclocked miner and two 650 PSU's (meaning you intend to use all eight connectors), I would make sure that the top four connectors in the picture above are all from one PSU while the bottom four are from the other.

Considering that you can use multiple psu's to power the C1, a single PSU solution does not make any sense unless space and available power outlets are a major issues.

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I know you posted this a month ago, but i want to give my 2 cents worth.

If any device has several power connectors, USE THEM. The engineers who designed the product didn't just have extra connectors lying around they needed to use. They are there for an obvious reason.

The C1 pulls over 800 watts. That's double the current draw of the S3 (which is perfectly OK because it hashes at 1 TB). Multiple connectors lower the amount of current that flows through each connector (800 watts divided by 4 connectors -OR- 800 watts / 8 connectors). That means using all 8 connectors will keep the wires and connectors from getting hot. HEAT is BAD. Heat is energy lost, efficiency lost, and an increase in your power bill because part of the energy that was going to power the miner is now heating the room.

Most brand name Power supplies like corsair and EVGA can accommodate 8 pcie connectors. Its not a big deal. They usually have 2 PCI-e connectors on at least 2 of the cables. Follow me?

Personally, I recommend the EVGA 1300 G2 80+ Gold power supply for almost all asics. They are less than $180 and in stock at Amazon, and it comes standard with 8 PCI-e connectors. AND, since its rated at 1300 watts, you will be operating it well below its maximum output, which means it wont get HOT. HEAT is BAD. Heat is electricity LOST. It will cost you less to run your miner with this power supply. Plus, next year you might decide to overclock and you will have no worries about your power supply. PLUS plus this PSU has a 10 year REPLACEMENT warranty. Need I say more?? I can go on and on about this incredibly good deal...

But if you already have a perfectly good 1000 watt or so power supply, by all means use it. Or two 500 watt, or four 250 watt, or ... I like using one PSU simply because its simple that way. Statistically, you are twice as likely to have a failure using 2 PSU as opposed to using 1.

I just got my first C1 yesterday and it is a great piece of work. I already ordered another one. Bitmain Antminer has come a long way

Mark

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The short answer, albeit a late one, for having two power supplies fully powering a C1 is to examine the fat paper clip jumper trick.

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