AvalonMiner 821 Review/Guide: 11.0 Th/s, 1200W Bitcoin ASIC Miner

AvalonMiner 821 Review/Guide: 11.0 Th/s, 1200W Bitcoin ASIC Miner Check out the larger image. Image credits go to Canaan Creative. 1) General info and other essentials 2) Unboxing 3) Overview 4) Setting up the controller unit 5) Physical installation for the miner and controller 6) Configuration steps 7) Testing 8) Measuring power usage 9) Wrap-up 10) How to place an order Last updated: February 25, 2018. For those interested in a more nicely formatted version, it's available for download here (Mega.nz cloud): 1) General info and other essentials (top) The AvalonMiner 821 is an ASIC miner for Bitcoin (SHA-256) using 16nm chip tech. This unit is made by Canaan Creative, based in Beijing, China. This miner belongs to the 8th generation AvalonMiners, featuring a new A3210 ASIC chip that enhances power efficiency compared to the older 7th generation models. Keep in mind, the AvalonMiner 821 doesn't come with a built-in controller, so you'll need a separate AvalonMiner Controller or one of the Raspberry Pi models to get it running. A cool thing is that you can connect up to 20 AvalonMiners using a Raspberry Pi, which can help you save on networking costs if you're running a big mining setup. The AvalonMiner 821 weighs around 4.7 kg.

Thank you for review. Why your fan is running at 100% with such a low temperatures 27 / 75 ?

Thanks for the comment. It is just because of the way Canaan has programmed the fan control algorithm in the firmware.

Might be interesting to see if it works with voltage offset +1 and what is the hashrate and power consumption.

@ Logan4el I might look into it later. I tried my best using my Microsoft Word skills and I made an nicely formatted version of this review/guide, which is more pleasing to eyes and can be printed to paper easily if needed. Link is available in the opening post.

Nice review. So you tested at 0 offset correct? does this gear offer +1 0 -1 -2 options as did the 721 and 741? I am curious  to see if the -2 and or -1 offset  get us to .1 at the wall or even 0.098 at the wall .11  at the wall is pretty much equal to or better then an s-9 Alas the price point is very high I may not order any. 35000 usd for 10 units  delivered in march  is far too much money for me.

extra) Testing different voltage offset values and writing down miner performance results Note: This extra chapter is updated in February 25, 2018. This is a second and successful attempt to test the voltage offset values. To get the voltage offset value working, we need to put it as a Cgminer command in the 'More Options' field found in the Cgminer configuration page. Here is an example: "--avalon8-voltage-level-offset -2". See more details in screenshot images below. The original review was done with the default setting for the voltage offset, which is 0. I will go ahead and test the miner with every available voltage offset value. I will let the miner run for at least one hour and then I look at the results. Just like with the previous AvalonMiner generation, it is possible to choose a value from -2 to +1 for the voltage offset. Instead of changing the hash board frequency setting, AvalonMiner performance can only be controlled by changing the voltage offset value. Source: https://canaan.io/question/in-the-controller-dashboard-what-does-the-voltage-offset-option-do/ This time I was able to see difference in performance and power consumption value, when testing each different voltage offset value. Power consumption was moving in about 1200 - 1300W area, and the hash rate was in 11.2 - 11.4Th/s area. Best power efficiency results were achieved with the voltage offset value -2. Please notice that these power consumption results are measured power at wall, so the power supply power efficiency also has an effect in the result. Voltage offset value    Hash rate (Th/s)    Power consumption (W)    Power efficiency (J per Gh/s)    -2  11.2311950.1064-1  11.2112220.10900  11.3612490.1099+1  11.3912950.1137 Cgminer status page view and Cgminer configuration page view, when the voltage offset value is -2. Click for a bigger version. Cgminer status page view and Cgminer configuration page view, when the voltage offset value is -1. Click for a bigger version. Cgminer status page view and Cgminer configuration page view, when the voltage offset value is 0. Click for a bigger version. Cgminer status page view and Cgminer configuration page view, when the voltage offset value is +1. Click for a bigger version. Power consumption measurement, when the voltage offset value is -2. Click for a bigger version. Power consumption measurement, when the voltage offset value is -1. Click for a bigger version. Power consumption measurement, when the voltage offset value is 0. Click for a bigger version. Power consumption measurement, when the voltage offset value is +1. Click for a bigger version. Note: This failed attempt in February 13, 2018 to test different voltage offset values was failed, because the A821 did not actually apply the voltage offset value setting set in the cgminer configuration page. After good discussions in this thread I realised that we need to add the voltage offset value manually as a cgminer command in the 'More Options' field to get it to work properly. Thanks to lrowland21093 & akadamson for pointing this out.   Failed attempt, February 13, 2018 - Testing different voltage offset values and writing down miner performance results The original review was done with the default setting for the voltage offset, which is 0. I will go ahead and test the miner with every available voltage offset value. I will let the miner run for at least one hour and then I look at the results. Just like with the previous AvalonMiner generation, it is possible to choose a value from -2 to +1 for the voltage offset. Instead of changing the hash board frequency setting, AvalonMiner performance can only be controlled by changing the voltage offset value. Source: https://canaan.io/question/in-the-controller-dashboard-what-does-the-voltage-offset-option-do/ I got kind of mixed results after I had tested the performance with each voltage offset value. Changing the voltage offset value did not have such a huge effect on the AvalonMiner 821 power consumption or performance. This is different from what we have seen with previous AvalonMiner generations. With previous generations the highest voltage offset value has resulted the highest hash rate and highest power consumption. And the lowest voltage offset value has resulted lowest hash rate and lowest power consumption. Hash rate was little different with each voltage offset value, while the power consumption remained about the same all the time. Best hashrate and efficiency results were achieved with voltage offset value -2. Voltage offset value    Hash rate (Th/s)    Power consumption (W)    Power efficiency (J per Gh/s)     -2  11.5012810.1114-1  11.44 12780.11170  11.3712780.1124+1  11.3812770.1122 Cgminer status page view and Cgminer configuration page view, when the voltage offset value is -2. Click for a bigger version. Cgminer status page view and Cgminer configuration page view, when the voltage offset value is -1. Click for a bigger version. Cgminer status page view and Cgminer configuration page view, when the voltage offset value is 0. Click for a bigger version. Cgminer status page view and Cgminer configuration page view, when the voltage offset value is +1. Click for a bigger version. Power consumption measurement, when the voltage offset value is -2. Click for a bigger version. Power consumption measurement, when the voltage offset value is -1. Click for a bigger version. Power consumption measurement, when the voltage offset value is 0. Click for a bigger version. Power consumption measurement, when the voltage offset value is +1. Click for a bigger version.

Thanks for the great report. I hope in future Software updates the fans can be adjusted to auto mode so they do not run 100% all the time due to noise level. Or temp limits could be adjusted.

Nice review Haggsfin, I'm a little surprised with the voltage offset results.

Thanks. Video tutorial links updated, there are now two tutorial videos available.

The 741  got a software tweak  and the offset  improved. My guess is the 821 will be tweaked for fan and power use. Nice gear same solid heat sinks as older models.  Price is high  but I may order  in the future.

Hopefully Canaan comes with a similar software tweak to improve the voltage offset effect in the A821 performance.

Seems like 821 will be EOL soon. Just received Canaan newsletter about shipping 841 in April. The performance is estimated to be 13TH and 1200 Watts.

Yeah, they might switch their focus into the A841 model quite soon, which will be most likely at least 13 Th/s with 1200W power consumption. ASIC chip for the A841 model will be the same one used in the A821 (A3210).

Nice pics & review. Out of sheer curiosity, I wish you had taken pictures of the other side of the 2 PCBs that hold the PCIe power connectors   It looks like you might have the first 821 released to the public. Is this correct?

I don't know if this is the first, but this is one of the engineering sample units without a tech specs label printed on the miner.

Excellent review! Got notice yesterday from Blokforge my 2x 821's are on their way via FedEx, should arrive next Tues. Good timing on that as 1 of my old s9's (b3) decided to go off line for a few hours today...

Thank you, much appreciated.   Nice to know that Blokforge orders have started shipping.

Got my Avalon 821 up and running for 48 hours. Software lets me adjust voltage and with -2 the miner still runs with 11,34TH/s. Superstable:)

I think if you look at the above, you'll see that -2 on the 821 isn't the same as -2 on the 741.  Most are reporting *higher* hashrate and wattage at -2, than 1.  Makes ya wonder if they got the values reversed in their firmware...